by G. K. Lund
“They likely think we’re going home to Trenton Place.”
“Not how they operate,” was the cryptic answer I got. I soon came to see why, though. We kept to more side streets and shadows in the already darkened city, something that slowed us down. But slowing down at least prohibited us from running straight into a group of waiting constables. And that group seemed to grow. We saw more and more of them, patrolling the streets on foot and in carriages.
“Look up,” Loki told me at one point. A carrier pigeon flew above us.
“What?”
“The constables use them to relay messages on pressing matters.”
“Like fleeing criminals?” That last word almost stuck in my throat.
“Yes.”
“I thought I read somewhere that they had started using radios to communicate.” I’d been busy with the Kin then and cared little for these things, but it had been big enough news to reach even me. Earthside technology was sought after, yet heavily regulated in Atlantis, so the walkie talkies had become big news.
“They did. A few years ago. Then they realized other people can listen in on those frequencies. So, they kept the pigeons in addition.”
“I see. So that pigeon…?”
“Could be about some inspector’s lunch, or it could be we were spotted somewhere.”
“Right. We should move then.”
We did, circling the constables and finding it difficult to bypass them and reach the Pyramid. The same went for Trenton Place. They’d closed down a large perimeter to stop us, but they couldn’t be everywhere. We were sneaking through the back garden of a small hotel when the real problem showed up. It was Loki who detected it. He stopped so abruptly I had to check behind us to make sure the hotel guests were indeed still inside eating in the restaurant. I could see plenty of guests there. Two people walking in the garden would alarm no one. The guests couldn’t possibly all know each other, but two people just standing there would catch someone’s attention soon enough.
“We should move,” I told him.
He shook his head and remained stock still, head cocked to the side like he was listening for something.
“What?” I urged. I couldn’t see anything out of place. There wasn’t a single constable in sight back here.
“There’s… magic afoot.”
“Where?” I couldn’t see anything to indicate this, but reminded myself I couldn’t sense it like those who wielded it.
Loki remained silent a few moments more and then took a step back. “Right here. The constables have reinstated their mages, I believe.”
“Oh…” was all I had to say to that. Those mages had not only been fired when the Red Kin ruled the city—they’d been imprisoned too. It made sense that they’d returned to the constabulary after the Kin’s fall. It sucked for us now, of course…
“There’s a wall here that’s causing an issue.” Loki seemed to stare up at nothing.
“Is it a barrier?”
“No. I don’t believe so. We can likely pass through it, but the moment we do, the mage or mages responsible for this, will know exactly where we crossed.”
“Which would narrow down their search area.”
“Precisely.”
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted little more than a shower and to curl up in bed by this point. My body was battered and tired from the events of the last couple of days. “What choice do we have? If my uncle catches us with a crown jewel, after finding a dead body in our wake, he probably won’t even give us the chance to explain.”
“I agree. It seems we must breach—”
“Wait,” I interrupted him. “What about my daggers?”
“What about them?”
“They’ve stopped a lot of magic these last few days.” I arched my eyebrows and was met with a frown.
“I doubt they can crumble this barrier. The sheer size of it…”
“But we don’t need to destroy it. What if the daggers simply messes with the portion of the barrier we tinker with?”
Loki eyed me a moment, probably wondering where all this magical thinking was coming from. Piano music broke through behind us, followed by laughter. Some hotel guests must have opened the door to the patio to continue their celebration out there.
Loki indicated the invisible barrier with a we-have-nothing-to-lose gesture and I stepped forward, drawing my daggers.
“Where?” I whispered, not wanting to draw the hotel guests’ attention. Loki guided me nearer until the wall was within my reach. “Ready?” I asked him and got a nod in return. I drew a breath and made a tentative slash forward. The garden in front of me glowed a brilliant yellow for a second. “Right.” I shifted my feet and then, knowing where the barrier was, used both daggers and cut hard and deep in a crossing motion. The barrier flared yellow again and then shattered where my daggers had cut it, creating an opening.
“Now, while we see it,” Loki insisted and pushed me through, ignoring the startled shouts from the patio. The blaze died down behind us.
“Do you think that worked?”
“No idea. But we need to run regardless.”
The Pyramid loomed in the distance, towering over any other building in the city. At least it was easy to find and navigate after. We stopped using side streets after seeing a few constables, but kept to a polite jog through crowded areas, appearing to be in a hurry, not running from the constabulary.
“Titan Heights,” I said when the big and sturdy stone houses that surrounded the Pyramid emerged in front of us. We were nearly there. Of course, that was the moment a bark of a shout sounded behind us. I stopped to look and saw several constables in pursuit, pushing their way through a crowd further back. My daggers had helped then, but they’d only delayed the mages in finding the breach.
“Come on!” Loki shouted and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.
“How could they know where we were going?” I shouted back. He let go when I ran with him. We didn’t care about any polite speed now. We simply legged it between the large houses, shouting for people to get out of the way, and even shoving at a few. Curses mixed with the shouts from our pursuers.
“Someone, and I won’t mention names, told Helios Dekel we worked for the authorities, remember?”
“Oh crap!”
“Seems your uncle is not an idiot when questioning people.”
I glanced back over my shoulder again and saw, to my disappointment, my uncle among the constables. He might not be in his twenties, no, but judging by his speed he was in his prime, keeping up with everyone else. Just great.
“There!” I shouted when I saw the nearest gate leading into the Pyramid premises. That’s when my heart sank. I’d forgotten about the soldiers guarding it. It was a sturdy and barred steel fence that circumvented the entire Pyramid, infused with magical defenses as well as the soldiers who were now drawing their swords at this unexpected and highly suspicious approach.
“Those guards will be a problem,” Loki said before we were close enough to hear. We didn’t have time to explain everything to them.
“Halt!” one of them shouted. We had little choice but to obey unless we wanted to be greeted by six swords belonging to six rested soldiers.
“We need to see Agaton Groth,” I blurted before even stopping. I skidded to a halt though when the man swung his sword to prevent me from coming closer.
“What’s your purpose here?” another asked. He had an added chevron on his green uniform—a corporal.
“Agaton Groth!” I shouted, desperate and angered they hadn’t heard me the first time. The soldiers shared confused looks and then focused on the approaching constables shouting at us to surrender.
“Miss, what’s going on?” the corporal tried, but the constables would run us down any second now.
“Better to be caught in there, than out here,” Loki said.
I barely had time to register his comment before he conjured his magic and sent the green fire flying around us, hitting
the ground in front of the soldiers. They all reacted like any sane person would do, throwing themselves to the side or backing up fast. Loki sprinted forward, and I followed without thinking. We got about four meters inside the gate before the soldiers got hold of themselves and chased after us, overpowering us. Magic did not scare these guys long term.
I saw Loki get pummeled to the ground by some of them and then saw the sky as pain raged through my shoulders. A couple of soldiers had grabbed my arms, pulling me back, and I groaned in agony as nothing but my heels connected to the ground.
Between the pain and the shouting, I was vaguely aware of an angered discussion breaking out behind us. The soldiers who had a hold of me got me upright and then pushed me to my knees. One of them kept a strong, merciless hold on my arms, pushing down and effectively stopping me from moving.
“They were running from us!” a familiar voice yelled.
“We saw that, Inspector, but then they entered the premises illegally and—”
“To avoid arrest!” Uncle Alyn sounded crazed. “For murder!” he added, apparently thinking that would sway the soldiers to his side. Thankfully, the soldiers did nothing outside the book.
“That may be so,” the corporal’s voice came a lot more reasonable than my uncle’s.
The corporal was talking while being vigilant because he stopped next to Loki and drew the ex-god’s sword before he came over and relieved me of my daggers.
“Just get Agaton Groth, please,” I told him, trying for politeness now that we were inside the Pyramid gate. The stone behemoth loomed over us, so close and out of our reach nonetheless.
“Who is this person you keep referring to?” the corporal asked.
“Corporal?” Uncle shouted somewhere behind me. I tried looking, but my arms and neck hurt at the attempt, though I thought I saw the constables just outside the fence. They would not overstep that boundary unless invited to do so. Loki had done the right thing, forcing his way in here. At least he’d bought us a little time. If only the soldiers would listen.
“Agaton Groth,” Loki chimed in while casting an angered glare back at his captors. “Maybe you should write it down?”
With all the people working in the Pyramid I knew the guards couldn’t know the names of everyone. “Just check it out, corporal,” I told him, trying to keep my voice friendlier than Loki. “We work for him. The Office of Domestic Affairs.”
“Corporal, don’t listen to her. She’s a member of the Red Kin!” Uncle Alyn shouted. “And so is likely he,” he added, obviously meaning Loki. “Don’t believe her lies.”
I grimaced at the revelation of my past, seeing the young soldier’s face harden, while the one holding me tightened his already painful hold. “If I’m lying, you’ll soon find out. But if I’m not, then you’d be doing your city a disfavor.”
The corporal stared at me for what seemed like too long. Then he broke eye contact and gazed at the Pyramid. “Wait here,” he ordered the other soldiers.
“Corporal, she’s lying!”
“You are free to wait while I investigate, Inspector, but as it is, these two entered the grounds without identifying themselves first.”
Wasn’t that the story of Loki and me? We’d made the same mistake when entering Atlantis in the first place. I hoped it wouldn’t be one now. Agaton had made it clear we were on our own if trouble would arise, but I couldn’t see how he wouldn’t want the Glory of Avalon returned.
The wait seemed to go on forever, and the pain in my arms didn’t help. I could hear the agitated chatter coming from the constables nearby. They’d lowered their voices, but I knew they wouldn’t give in because of dialing back their temper. I caught Loki’s eye, but there was nothing to say until they found Agaton. I could see people go in and out of the Pyramid through its various entrances on the ground level, but also on the higher levels, not that I was able to bend my neck back enough to see all that high. I could sense my daggers though, somewhere inside the pyramid on the lower level, so I knew the corporal was trying to locate Agaton.
When footfalls finally came nearer, it felt like a painful and too tense eternity had passed.
“Miss Morgan? Mr. Loft?” came Agaton’s calm voice. “Care to explain?”
I looked up to find Agaton coming closer, the corporal at his side. Agaton wore light brown and beige clothes, bland and unremarkable, just like himself.
“Yes,” I told him. “We did what you sent us to do.”
Agaton arched an eyebrow and his gaze flicked between Loki and me. “Did you now?”
“Yes.”
“And the constables at our gate?”
“I can explain.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, Ms. Morgan.” Agaton paused and then gave a small upward sign with his hand. The soldier holding me let go. I couldn’t help a grimace as blood returned to my arms.
“I don’t know who you are,” Uncle shouted, “but I am Inspector Ciaran of the Atlantis Constabulary and she is under arrest for murder.”
Agaton seemed to take this news with composed consideration.
“That’s my uncle, by the way,” I volunteered.
“Indeed?”
I could only shrug.
“Let the man inside.” He waved for one soldier to allow Uncle through. Free to move a little, I saw him then, and the look he sent me was fuming with fury.
“Inspector. My name is Agaton Groth, Senior Security Officer in the Office of Domestic Affairs. What is your claim in these happenings?”
“These two are under arrest for the murder of an as of yet unidentified female in the house of the Order of the Learned and the Reflective over in Solon Vale. Not to mention they ran from the constabulary.”
“We did no such thing,” Loki interjected. Agaton gave the same gesture to the soldiers holding him that he’d done for me, allowing him to stand up and come closer.
“He’s right,” I said. “We had no idea the constables were after us. We were merely busy with coming here to report to you at once.”
“That’s a lie,” Uncle said. He was right. But he couldn’t prove that. There was no rule against running to finish a job for your… what was Agaton to us? Not a boss. A handler?
“No, it’s not. We had business to attend to for him.”
“And this business was in the order house, where a woman was then killed,” Uncle persisted.
“Yes,” I told him. “But we didn’t do it.”
“You’re a liar, girl, just like—”
“Excuse me, Inspector,” Agaton broke in. “How did this woman die? Did someone see these two do something untoward?”
“She was killed by an animal. Her throat was ripped out.”
“Well, do you see an animal here?” I blurted. I didn’t know what was happening to me. Even Loki had a microscopic look of… disbelief on his face. Where did this lying come from?
“Well, neither Ms. Morgan nor Mr. Loft are known shifters of any kind. Believe me, their files are extensive and thorough.”
Not thorough enough, considering Loki was exactly that.
“I’m sure you can have a look at them, Inspector. Now, could you two please enlighten the Inspector as to your presence in a house that is now apparently a murder scene?”
“Not much to say.” I shrugged and looked Uncle Alyn straight in the eyes. “We were there to do a job—”
“What job?” Uncle interrupted.
“To retrieve something for the city.” I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to reveal that, and because Agaton did not add any illuminating information, I assumed I was not to. “We saw many unconscious order members on the floor and decided to return our item and then call for help. When we saw a horde of constables on our tail, I naturally thought it an attack on a reformed Kin member.”
“Reformed?” Uncle shook his head in disbelief. “The order house looked like a war zone.”
“It was serene and… learned when we were there, Inspector,” Loki said with a smile that did nothing to lower Uncle Al
yn’s already elevated blood pressure. “Must have happened after we left.”
I nodded at this. Helios and the others could likely shed light on a few things. According to Damyan, they had seen through the eyes of their fetches, but none of them had been present when Melleta had died.
“As I see it, Inspector, these two are not equipped with the murder weapon, considering their teeth are human. If you bring me further evidence, I will naturally consider it. Until then, I have matters to discuss with Ms. Morgan and Mr. Loft.”
Uncle Alyn was so angry I could see his entire body was rigid in trying to control himself at this slight to his authority. I couldn’t blame him. But I was not getting arrested because of his hatred for me, especially since the murder as he saw it had been self-defense. Still, seeing him turn on his heel and walk out of the Pyramid premises made me feel both bad and worried. The fruit stand incident had been one thing. He wouldn’t forget this.
“You may return their weapons, Corporal,” Agaton told the man, and we sheathed them while following him, the soldiers returning to their once again quiet duty.
“This was not low-key, was it?” Agaton began when we’d walked a little. We were still outside, but the large open space allowed for talking without being overheard.
“Apologies, we encountered more trouble than expected in a philosophical think-tank.” At Agaton’s urging, we quickly relayed the events that had occurred in that place, including the almost true story of Melleta’s death. Loki seemed surprised at this but kept quiet at my sort-of explanation. “It was her own magic knocked back on her that killed her. Not an animal, though I’ll agree it might look like it.”
“And the Glory of Avalon?” Agaton asked. “You said you had achieved what I sent you to do?”
I nodded and retrieved the gem from my pocket. The stark blue octagon glinted in the light from a nearby streetlamp. I handed it over.
“I must say,” Agaton mused while peering down at the gem. I caught Loki’s eyes seeing the unspoken question there. Why had I kept his secret? It was probably one of the few he had left.