Dark Embers

by R. L. Giddings

  “Was he dangerous?” I asked.

  “Stone cold killer. Course, he didn’t look it. And that made him twice as dangerous.”

  “But you managed to catch him?”

  He arranged his cutlery with a big smile. “With some difficulty, but yes, we eventually tracked him down to a little place outside of Sacramento. He’d taken to targeting banks which offered a safety deposit service. Worked out to be a very lucrative side-line.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Course, it was a set-up. We didn’t want to take any chances so we loaded one of the boxes with a Djinn. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t appreciate being woken up. Soon as he opened that particular safety deposit box it was game over. The hardest part was persuading the bank trustee not to open the vault until all the screaming had stopped.”

  “Messy?”

  “Took a week to clean it up. Glad it wasn’t me with the mop and bucket.”

  “You seem to still get a kick out of what you do.”

  “Oh no. I’m too respectable for that line of work now. I just run my desk. Though we are always on the look-out for talented operatives.”

  He spread his hands wide by way of an invitation.

  “Sounds a bit too dangerous for me.”

  “From what I’ve heard, it’s the sort of challenge you seem to relish.”

  I didn’t know whether he was making a serious offer or simply trying to disarm me.

  I said, “Speaking of jobs, how’s your speech coming?”

  O’Hagen gave me a puzzled look but then his brows unknitted.

  “Oh, you mean the nominations. No, that’s very kind of you but I’m sitting this one out.”

  “Really? But I thought…”

  “No, I’m backing Macmillan. He’s very English in his ways. Very methodical. And while that can be a little frustrating at times, I think it’s what we need at the moment. He gets the job done and he knows more about how the Sidhe operate than anyone I’ve ever met.”

  I wasn’t convinced. “Do you think he’s the sort of man to lead us into a war?”

  “I don’t think that it’ll come to that. The Faerie Queen, or whatever it is she calls herself these days would have to be mad to take us on. Short term her troops could do a lot of damage, sure, but long term they’d be compromised. That old thing about being out of their element counts for a lot. Be like us fighting a war underwater. It’s possible but not sensible.”

  I felt a huge sense of relief at that. After listening to some of the speeches earlier, I’d started to see war as some terrible foregone conclusion.

  O’Hagen spotted the waitress coming back with our food and teased out his napkin.

  “I’m not saying that there aren’t those on the Council who are looking for a confrontation. They are there but – luckily - they’re very much in the minority. If we can get the more sensible ones among us to pull together then I think that we can ride out this particular storm with a minimum of fuss. Macmillan will step up to do his statesman thing, there will be talks and talks about talks but, in the end, it’ll all blow over.”

  I started to relax. Finally, here was somebody I could trust. I wanted to tell him about the body we’d found but I hesitated. I needed to check with Millie before doing something like that but I didn’t think that she’d have any objections.

  The food was laid out, giving us a natural break from the conversation. O’Hagen had gone for an enormous mixed platter while I’d ordered the ribs. They were delicious but awfully messy even with a finger bowl and a couple of wet wipes. So, I made my excuses and retired to the bathroom.

  I’d rolled up my sleeves and was washing my hands at the sink when one of the toilet doors swung open.

  I looked in the mirror to see Salazar sitting there. It was unnerving seeing him in those surroundings, his hands hanging loosely between his knees.

  “Interesting company you keep,” Salazar said.

  “What are you doing in here?” I spoke to his reflection.

  “I’m reminding you of our deal. Had you forgotten?”

  I took a moment to rinse the suds off my hands then went across and got a handful of paper towels.

  “Did we have a deal? I remember that you had a proposal but I don’t remember any deal.”

  “Forty eight hours which, I think you’ll find, runs out at eleven o’clock tonight.”

  I took out my phone to check the time. 2.10.

  At that precise moment, the phone started pinging with new messages.

  Salazar straightened up and stepped out of the stalls.

  “You might want to check those.”

  What was he talking about?

  “I’ll do it later,” I looked at the door. “Someone’s bound to come in.”

  Salazar sniffed. “I think that’s a risk I’m willing to take. You, on the other hand, are on very dangerous ground.”

  I finished drying my hands. “You may not have noticed but I’ve been working very hard to acquire the blade for you.”

  “You’re talking about Daniel Cardoza I presume.”

  “You know about him?”

  “Please, Miss Fellows. With the resources that the Faerie Queen has granted us, there is very little that we don’t know about.”

  “And yet you’ve completely failed to infiltrate his security systems. Why is that Mr Salazar?”

  Salazar hesitated before replying.

  “There are some things which even the Sidhe are wary of.”

  I didn’t understand what he meant straight away but then realisation dawned.

  “You’re talking about what he’s got stored in the basement, aren’t you? Is that what you’re scared of?”

  “’Scared’ is perhaps too strong but – yes – we are wary of some of the items Mr Cardoza has stored away.”

  That was useful to know.

  “Why are you so keen to get your hands on the blade now? Are you looking to gain some kind of unfair advantage?”

  “Any threat to the life of the monarch is intolerable to every Arcadian citizen. We have waited a long time to neutralise this threat but – be assured - we’re quickly running out of patience.”

  “Oh, that sounds ever so slightly like a threat, Mr Salazar. And I don’t think I respond well to threats.”

  “Then that’s a skill you’re going to have to acquire. And quickly. Will Mr Montefiore be accompanying you to this evening’s soiree?”

  I smoothed out my sleeves and re-buttoned the cuffs. “I haven’t decided whether I’m going to go or not yet. I’m running out of things to wear.”

  Salazar dismissed this with a gesture. “That’s easily remedied. Though you’d do well to be on your guard tonight. We have a great deal resting on you.”

  “I shouldn’t worry. Cardoza isn’t even a practitioner.”

  My phone pinged three times and then went silent.

  “Daniel Cardoza has not risen to the heights he has without acquiring some pretty formidable defences. Although everyone has their weaknesses.”

  I stepped into Salazar’s personal space and enjoyed watching his discomfort. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

  “In order to be assured of success tonight you will need to consider every opportunity, no matter how distasteful. Daniel Cardoza likes to think of himself as a family man…”

  When he failed to finish the sentence, I scrutinised Salazar’s face, looking for some clue as to what he might mean.

  “Are you talking about his son?” my grip tightened on the phone. “Are you talking about Michael?”

  “I am talking, Miss Fellows, about getting the job done. You’d do well to remember that. Remember your deadline. You’ve only a few hours left.”

  He stepped back inside the stall, produced a clean linen handkerchief and used it to grasp the door.

  Just before he closed it he looked back at me. “Oh, and be careful what you say in front of Mr O’Hagen. He’s not quite the folksy caricature he pretends to be.”

 
; With that, he closed the door.

  There was the sound of the toilet flushing. I waited a few seconds and then opened the door with my foot.

  The stall was empty.

  The outer door opened then and two women barged in, lost in conversation.

  *

  I returned to the table but I couldn’t settle. I was too distracted by what had just happened. Distracted and not a little scared. Everything had changed. Everything might look the same but there was a discernible difference. My world had tipped from being one of security to one of insecurity.

  Salazar was right. I had been naive to believe O’Hagen when he had said that there were going to be talks and that there would be peace. Everything was gearing towards war. If that wasn’t the case then why was everyone in such a rush to form a War Council? Despite the friendly face O’Hagen presented, suggesting that he was an unwilling member of the Inner Council, who didn’t take politics that seriously, he was, in fact, a very practised political operator.

  “He’s not quite the folksy caricature he pretends to be.”

  O’Hagen wasn’t telling me everything, of that I was absolutely certain. And to think that I’d almost confided in him.

  I had a lot to learn about politics.

  I slowly became aware that O’Hagen was waving his napkin like a flag.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I was miles away.”

  “I was just wondering if you’d like to order some dessert.”

  I stood up and quickly started gathering my things.

  “Look, I’m really going to have to go. I got a call in the bathroom. I thought at first that it was going to be alright but now I think I’m going to have to do something about it.”

  He raised a big hand to signal that he understood.

  “You do whatever it is that you have to do, little lady. Hopefully we’ll bump into one another before all this is over.”

  He managed to make me feel like I was abandoning him and when I offered him my hand he shook with surprising gentleness.

  Could I have misjudged him? Was I letting Salazar’s comment skew my thinking? I didn’t think so. And yet …

  As I left the bistro I turned left, away from The Globe, and just kept walking. It was very warm day, not as sunny as the previous afternoon, a little over-cast but there were a lot of people milling around. I tried to find someplace quiet that I could sit down and look at my messages in peace. But, after five minutes of walking, I admitted defeat. Every single bench was taken.

  I lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. I’d been forced to cut down on my smoking while I’d been in Scotland. There were fewer opportunities to actually buy cigarettes and - as Carlotta was fond of pointing out - I was setting a bad example for the younger girls. I went and stood against the railings over-looking the river and took out my phone. I had eight new messages.

  Instead of clicking onto them automatically, I hesitated.

  It took a moment for the first image to load.

  I recognised most of the girls in the photo. They were the novices from the estate. They were looking straight at the camera as if in disbelief.

  The next was a picture of Carlotta herself. She was trying to turn away but whoever was taking the picture had hold of her by the jaw.

  The next was of the outside of the squash court.

  I felt my dinner threatening to return. I knew what was coming next and took a second to compose myself.

  Silas.

  Wolf-Silas being led out of the back of the squash court. The men who surrounded him were using poles in order to stay out of range. But Silas’ head was down and he appeared to be offering no resistance. He looked bigger while at the same time appearing more diminished. He was the size of a small horse but pitifully thin, his coat matted from where he’d been lying on the floor for so long.

  I flicked through the other images.

  They’d brought a truck and there were pictures of him being loaded aboard.

  Then one picture which was very dark. It was difficult to work out at first what I was looking at. Then I understood. The person taking the photograph must have climbed up the side of the truck and was now looking down because I was looking at Silas from above, his head turned so that he was looking back up at me.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I was in a bit of a daze after that and needed somewhere to go where I could think clearly. I headed back in the direction of The Globe but, when I got there, everyone appeared to be coming out.

  Moving on auto-pilot, I made my way through the crowd and went back upstairs to sit in my earlier seat. I tried ringing Carlotta’s phone several times but just kept getting transferred to Voice-Mail. I briefly considered ringing the house phone to try and find out what was going on but eventually decided against it. Even if I did get through I knew that Salazar’s men would be closely monitoring all in-coming calls. They’d only be allowing me to the girls if they thought that they could manipulate the situation to their advantage and I just wasn’t feeling robust enough to deal with those kind of mind-games right now.

  Salazar, or the queen, or whoever had no interest in Silas. They simply wanted to use him as a way of getting to me. And the more they felt that I was responding to that kind of provocation, the more likely they would be to utilise it.

  No, Carlotta would be furious if she thought that I might buckle under this kind of pressure. She’d want me to do my best to resolve the situation as swiftly as possible. Yes. But she wouldn’t want me to just to give in. The Laings were fighters, that’s how they’d come to dominate the pack. And they’d expect me to show some resilience now, not to capitulate at the first hint of pressure.

  The girls would be fine. Carlotta would be fine. They would support one another.

  My biggest concern lay with Silas, and not simply because of the fact that he had been taken. One kind of captivity was very much like any other. No, what had shocked me most was how fragile he’d looked in those pictures. I hadn’t seen him in daylight for several weeks and it had brought home to me how his coat had masked the simple truth of his weight loss. He hadn’t been eating properly for some time but now the terrible truth about the situation was abundantly clear: he had simply wasted away in front of me. And there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it.

  Salazar’s promise of finding a solution to Silas’ predicament I had initially dismissed as fanciful nonsense. But now I wasn’t so sure. Perhaps I was losing my grasp on reality, but the more I learned about The Unseelie Court the more I thought that there might just be a way of harnessing its power for my own ends.

  It was a ridiculous idea, I acknowledged that much even as I was thinking it, and yet I found the thought of it strangely comforting. Perhaps there was a way that I could turn this situation to my advantage.

  Oddly, while I would never have admitted as much to Millie, I did feel that Silas’ sister, Carlotta, might just understand.

  If only I could speak to her.

  At the same time, it was well known that the Sidhe took a perverse pleasure in denying aid to those who tried to manipulate them.

  But then, what if I could get my hands on the Seelie Blade? Then I could appeal to the Winter Queen directly. Though that would necessitate a trip to Arcadia where I would be powerless to defend either myself, or Silas.

  No. That was ridiculous. I was getting ahead of myself. I had to concentrate on doing one thing at a time.

  How did I propose to steal the blade right from under Cardoza’s nose? There was no point relying upon Macrory as far as problem-solving was concerned. If anything, he’d prove more of a hindrance than a help.

  I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I hardly noticed the auditorium starting to fill up again. It was only as the council members returned to the stage that I began to lift myself out of my fugue. A couple were standing over me. They asked if the seats either side of me were available. It took me a second to realise that they wanted me to switch seats so that they could sit together. I complied but I d
idn’t do so happily.

  Were there no other seats for them to sit?

  Except, when I looked around the auditorium, every seat was occupied. And, when I looked behind me, I saw that people were still coming in. There were probably forty people at the back looking for a seat.

  I was so distracted by this that, when I switched my attention to the stage, I didn’t immediately recognise the figure standing behind O’Hagen.

  O’Hagen was holding up a programme to shield his eyes from the sunlight coming in through the open roof.

  “If you weren’t here for this morning’s session, I’d like to take this opportunity of welcoming you to this Extraordinary Gathering of the War Council. I know that many of you have travelled a long way just to be here. So, welcome.”

  This was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause and, while he waited for it to die down, O’Hagen adjusted the microphone stand for the next speaker.

  Meanwhile, I was struggling to breathe.

  “Just a few house-keeping notices. Voting papers will be available in the foyer after six o’clock tonight. Don’t forget your I.D.. Voting will begin at midnight and will end at 6am sharp. I don’t need to remind you how important your vote is. There will be queues at the ballot so please be patient. Other than that, there’s nothing else to say. So, without further ado, I‘d like to introduce you to our first proposer: Valeria McTeague.”

  I was so shocked to see her onstage that I couldn’t process much of what she said. Here was a woman who had betrayed the Bear Garden and plotted to have her own boss killed. Now, he was in prison while she was here at the heart of the Inner Council proposing someone who could well be our new leader. If it wasn’t all quite so preposterous, I would have wept.

  She looked so smug with her perfectly coiffured hair that I felt like throwing something. The only thing that stopped me was the realisation that she would somehow turn even that to her advantage. I turned to the woman who’d just sat next to me. She had a huge smile on her face, completely taken in by everything Valeria was saying.

  Suddenly everyone was applauding and my view of the stage was blocked with people rising to their feet. I couldn’t work out what was happening. I hadn’t been listening when Valeria had announced the name of the person she’d been introducing and I refused to give a standing ovation to anyone before they’d said a word.