by Jamie Davis
“You sure she’s the one in your vision?”
A hard punch sent dust raining from the overhead beam. Cleaver turned just as Cricket sneezed.
“She’s the one. I wasn’t sure ’til we met, but looking at that girl leaves no doubt. She’s the one. Artos must know she’s important, too, or else he would’ve traded her when I asked. It’s not like him to risk a turf war over a runner.”
Cleaver looked up at the flatscreen mounted in the corner, watching coverage of the refugee camps out of Boston. He knew what was coming. Unless someone stopped whatever was happening to the world, it would be Europe all over again. And nothing would stop the devastation this time. The entire human race would be reduced to ribbons of survivors, scrambling for scraps in a wasteland.
Winnie Durham represented hope. Something she was going to do, or some power she possessed, would turn the tide, but she had to be allied with Cleaver. That was why he had treated her with kid gloves. He had been sure he could charm her into compliance. But it hadn’t worked, and now she was pissed at him because he’d lost his temper.
Cleaver turned to Cricket. The idiot was blowing his nose in a handkerchief, his hair chalked in white dust.
“So, Cricket, question is, have I fucked it all up after that first meeting?”
Cricket thought before he answered. Cleaver liked that about him. The diminutive man was a prized counselor, because his insights came regardless of their potential popularity.
“I don’t know, boss. Might be she needs some persuading, like she has to be shown the way, you know, for her own good, so to speak.”
Cricket paused. Cleaver waited, forcing himself not to tap his foot.
“On the other hand, she didn’t seem the sort who appreciated getting pushed around. I tracked one of the guards from when she blew up the Harvester. He was still shaken by the whole thing weeks later. I asked him what happened and he swore the girl got more pissed as the machine drained her, said she wasn’t like none of the other chanters they strapped into it.” Cricket shrugged. “I say more force is a big mistake. We need to hit this from another direction.”
Cleaver sat in his desk chair. “Where is she now?”
“She went back. We checked on the guy she was with — an occasional boyfriend. He’d been detained after the incident with the Harvester, but seems to have been released since. She met with Artos, as expected. I’m sure he’s warning her against you, and probably leaving her with a healthy respect.”
“What about his operations?” Cleaver asked. “We need to take him down so she has nowhere to turn but me.”
“It hasn’t been cheap, but we’ve bought off most of his upper level customers. I’m sure he has other places to move inventory, but he won’t have the cash flow to keep his operation running without the whales.”
“Perfect. I want to see him squirm. Artos has been a sanctimonious pain in my ass ever since I took over here.”
“I know you’ve always refused, but why not just fix the problem? Garraldi is looking for a way to move up.”
Cleaver shook his head. “No killing chanters. The Red Legs are doing enough of that and we’ll need all of us if for what’s coming. Besides, Artos knows more about what’s happening than he’s letting on. I may be able to see what will help me out in the future, but he knows the why behind it all. I’m missing something in the big picture. I bet Artos knows what it is. We take over, but keep him alive, for now.”
“Suit yourself. Either way, Winnie will have no choice but to work for you if she wants to keep her mommy in medicine.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Artos should be working to consolidate his power base. Find out exactly what that means and let me know immediately. It’s time to take the boys for another visit to Baltimore.”
CHAPTER 19
The shop felt like home and helped to settle Winnie’s nerves.
She’d been on edge ever since being accosted by Cleaver’s men. Old wounds from the Harvester incident had opened and she had a nagging itch at the back of her neck. The more she scratched, the worse it got — raging when she thought of Danny.
She had confronted him about some of his story’s more bothersome details when they’d met at the shop yesterday, but Danny insisted that he had indeed escaped. His headaches had returned with a vengeance and he begged Winnie for help. She was pissed about his lies, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to heal him, to feel the tender kiss of forbidden magic as it filled her with adrenaline and opened her eyes to a new shade of magical light.
Even now, while waiting for Tris and Cait, Winnie opened herself to draw in the magic, able to take in more than she ever could before.
Winnie was tapping into something elemental. Something impossible. Something she shouldn’t be able to touch.
The thrill was beyond anything she’d ever felt.
Her senses threatened to overwhelm her. This was euphoria. But she couldn’t succumb. Not entirely.
If Winnie surrendered that last little bit of herself to the flow, then she might as well die. She’d be a slave for the rest of her life.
Cait was first to arrive. The tall blonde came through the back entrance, pulling the surgical mask from her face and slamming the door behind her. She unwrapped a linen scarf from her head and shook the orange dust onto the floor. “Hey, Winnie, have you heard from Tris? She hasn’t answered my texts for days.”
“I heard from her earlier. She did say that something was up, but that she’d tell us about it later tonight.”
“Something’s going on. She’s never gone AWOL before. And my old sergeant wants us to form Response Units from our old squads and be ready to respond if we’re needed. She wouldn’t say what she had in mind, just that we might be needed.”
“Sounds ominous. You going to do it?”
“I feel like I have to. There’s too much going on. And it’s not like we have options if everything starts falling apart.” Cait shrugged. “We’ll see. Maybe she won’t call for us.”
“I don’t see her broadcasting a message like that if she didn’t think it was necessary. Do me a favor. If you get that call, let me know right away. It might have something to do with some of the other things that are happening.”
“Like what?”
The front door swung open to a swirling cloud of dust. Tris entered, then shoved it closed behind her. She stomped on the floor and orange dust showered the ground. When she removed her mask, Winnie practically jumped.
“Tris, you look like hell. What happened to you?”
“I look like hell because it’s all going to Hell. I’ve been working non-stop, only stopping to sleep a few hours at a time.”
“Doing what?” Cait said. “What’s happening, Tris?”
“I think I know what happened to Boston, if what I’ve seen here in the city is any indication. Techs in Baltimore have been put on round-the-clock duty. I could only get away here after I said I was going to check on a node nearby.”
“So, what did happen to Boston? What does it have to do with what’s going down here?”
Tris hung her coat and scarf before coming over to her friends. “I think Boston’s magical infrastructure suffered a catastrophic breakdown that caused all of the public works and large structures to fail at the same time. It would have caused buildings to collapse, holes to open in the earth as the magic failed…. It started to happen here at a pump station two days ago. We barely patched the flows in time.”
Tris told them all about her discovery at the pumping station, how she and her colleagues had had to wrestle the failing system until they could repair it. Winnie and Cait listened to her tale. Tris wasn’t one to exaggerate, and if things were as bad as she claimed, then everything really was going to Hell.
“We’ve notified all the other cities on the coast. So far, all have reported back with similar findings, though not as severe as what we found in Baltimore.” Tris looked at each of her friends. “I don’t think we can patch the flows indefini
tely. It’s only a matter of time before we miss something and the failures cascade across the systems.”
“So the systems will fail this week?” Cait asked.
Tris shook her head. “Not that soon. But eventually, maybe within a year, we’ll be unable to keep up with the failures. Then this will go the way of Boston, and so will all the others.”
“Then someone needs to find the cause,” Winnie said. “If the magic is failing, and all of this started with the Harvester, then Kane has something to do with it. He might know how to stop it.”
“Makes sense,” Tris agreed. “But how will we make him tell us what’s happening? We’re not exactly on his list of good little girls and boys.”
“Artos will know,” Winnie said. “I’ll talk to him after our next job and tell him what you told me.”
Cait turned to Winnie. “You said we have another job? I could use the cash.”
“We’re going to make some deliveries in Fells Point tomorrow and talk with all the club owners while we’re there. Artos wants to gather them for a central meeting and prepare them for what Cleaver Yorke will be trying to do.”
“So you met him in person,” Cait said. “What’s he like?”
“Big. Scary. Everything you’d expect from a Sable boss named Cleaver.”
“We sure we’re on the right side to win?” Tris asked. “Sounds like Artos doesn’t have Yorke’s muscle. If he wants Baltimore, he’ll take it, whether Artos lets him or not.”
Winnie nodded. “I agree for the most part. But Artos says he’s got it. And I know one thing: Cleaver Yorke won’t scare me off just because he nabs me off the street and leaves me stranded in New Amsterdam. I’m with Artos.” She looked at each of her friends. “You guys in, or what?”
Tris glanced at Cait, then to Winnie. She nodded and Cait followed suit.
“Good, because this run is a haul. Artos wants to impress the club owners with our volume. We push these charms through their club, and we prove ourselves invaluable. Then we can have whatever we want.”
Her friends nodded, then she continued.
“Tris, we could use your help. Can you get away again tomorrow afternoon?”
“Maybe. I’ve gotta check an electrical transfer node down in that area, so I might be able to slip away. Two birds, one stone. I’ll try and meet you there. Just tell me where to pick up whatever you want me to grab.”
Winnie smiled. This was what she wanted to do. She could help her mother and her friends without getting caught in the politics and drama.
Too bad it couldn’t stay like this.
They wrapped themselves in their coats, scarves, and surgical masks, then stepped out into the storm. Winnie looked up at the dark orange sky behind the setting sun, barely visible through the haze.
At least the escalating storms kept the roving bands of middling thugs indoors. A small blessing in the face of a terrible problem. They’d taken every opportunity to accost wandering chanters, blaming the storms on them, along with anything else in their miserable lives.
Heading toward the bus stop, Winnie thought about the challenges of tomorrow’s job. She was so deep in thought, in fact, that she didn’t see the two figures emerge from the shadows to follow her down the street.
CHAPTER 20
Cait met Winnie outside her apartment. Both of them wore backpacks over one shoulder; they looked like students heading to their classes, but the bags weren’t full of books.
Winnie had been up all night and most of the day using her unique ability to invert the magical weaves so they could remain undetected by the Red Legs. Though the law enforcement arm of the DMC hadn’t been as active over the last few weeks, they would surely still love to stop Winnie and Cait if they caught them on the street.
They kept their eyes out for trouble, either from Red Legs or the middling gangs plaguing the Enclave’s edges. The gangs looked for lone chanters coming or going. They often hurled curses; other times, they chased their quarry. Sometimes they beat them. Winnie figured she and Cait could hold their own in most situations, but it didn’t make sense to draw attention to themselves, especially while running charms.
They passed the bus stop, walking until they reached a nearby alley. Waiting at the bus stop drew attention and left them out in the open. After a few minutes, the bus approached. Cait wasn’t paying attention. Winnie followed her gaze to a group of men in their twenties walking down the opposite side of the street. A few carried bats. She judged the speed of the oncoming bus versus the distance she and Cait had to cover. The charm runners traded a glance, then took off running.
Winnie didn’t turn her head when she heard a shout from behind. The middlings had seen them.
The bus driver saw Winnie and Cait rushing toward the bus. It slowed then stopped. Cait bounded onboard a beat before Winnie. The bus lurched forward and left the chasing men behind, waving their bats at the curb.
“That was close,” said a woman seated across the aisle. “Those thugs are getting more brazen. I’m afraid to go to work.”
The bus driver looked at them in her mirror. “There’s been talk of limiting routes to the Enclave. A few of our buses have been boarded and the drivers assaulted. Make sure you check route updates with the transit authority before you leave home.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Winnie said. “I wish there were some way to show them that we’re not a threat, and have nothing to do with the dust storms.”
“From your lips to God’s ears, my dear,” said the woman. Mumbles of agreement rang through the bus.
The girls sat, Cait with her mouth closed and her fists clenched, irked at having run from a fight. She wanted to teach those men a lesson. Winnie, too. But she also knew it was important to finish what they had started before adopting personal vendettas. Artos was depending on them.
Winnie looked forward as the bus rolled through its route. Tris was supposed to meet them two stops down the line. It was closer to one of the substations she’d been monitoring for the city. Tris had troubled Winnie, talking about such an unfortunate and perhaps even inevitable fate. There had to be a magical solution, even though magic was part of the problem.
Tris was waiting for the bus as the driver pulled to a stop. She climbed on and startled Winnie with her corpselike fatigue, her eyes sunken and her skin the color of a melted candle.
Winnie glanced at Cait. Too late.
“Jeeze, Tris, you look like crap,” Cait said. “You need to get some rest.”
Tris shook her head and sat beside Winnie. “No time. If I wasn’t going with you, I’d be staying with the duty crew here. We’re all dragging. I couldn’t just go home and rest.”
“Nonsense,” Winnie said. “You’re going to get sick if you keep going like this. Don’t they have more people they can call on to help?”
“Everyone is scared of the middling gangs. Refusing to go out if they don’t have to.”
“That’s only going to make things worse,” Cait said. “If public utilities fail, middling troublemakers will be out in greater numbers than ever.”
“It may not matter,” Tris said with a wry laugh. “The deterioration is getting worse faster than we anticipated. The other cities aren’t seeing it, but breakdowns are coming closer together in Baltimore, and are more severe.”
“And no one can find a central cause?” Winnie asked. “There has to be a reason this all started.”
Tris leaned forward and lowered her voice so that only Winnie could hear. “It all started after the Harvester blew up. I think it broke something.”
“What do you mean, ‘broke something?’”
“I mean magic used to work a certain way. And now, at least for the larger spells that control the city’s infrastructure, that magic is failing. There has to be a connection.”
“If you could figure it out, how would you prove it?” Winnie asked.
“At some point, we need to visit the blast site. Then we could try and see if there’s something in the magical spectrum
.”
“No,” Winnie said. “I’m not going back there. Not ever.”
Cait leaned across the center aisle. “What are you two whispering about? People are starting to pay attention.”
“Just Tris suggesting that we go back to the site of a certain machine,” Winnie said.
“That’s crazy, Tris. Winnie has plenty of good reasons not to go back. I’m sure you can think of plenty.”
Winnie flinched. Instinctively, her hand found her belly.
Tris squeezed her hand. “Sorry, Winnie. I wasn’t thinking. It’s not something you have to do. I just need to follow up on any potential source of the failures before it’s too late for us all.”
“I don’t get how Boston happened if the machine is down here,” Cait whispered. “They didn’t have a magical explosion up there. It should’ve been like all the other cities.”
Tris nodded. “My boss said there was a labor dispute. A bunch of the regular techs had a sick out that day. Usually, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. If a key system broke down during a surge, there wouldn’t have been enough techs to stop the failure. We don’t know for sure because none of the working techs survived, only those on the sick-out.”
“I bet they feel like crap,” Cait said.
“They do now that we’ve started putting the pieces together. Still, there was no way to predict it. We only know that kind of thing can happen because it did.”
“I don’t know about that,” Winnie said. “Mom talks about Europe at the end. She remembers news reports from when she was younger. She’s told me stuff that doesn’t sound much different from all those horrible stories we heard from the refugees fleeing to the United Americas before … ”
It was maybe a minute before the bus pulled to a stop.
Winnie looked up. “Hey, this is our stop. Come on.”
They got off, then stood on the curb. The bus pulled away.
Winnie swung her backpack onto one shoulder. “I think we should revisit this conversation, ladies. For now, there’s work to do. You each have a list of clubs to visit along with the owners’ names. Once you have them alone, make the delivery then ask them to attend the gathering at the Fells Point Meeting Hall. Tell them it’s a chance to chat with us in a group setting so they can let us know how to improve what we’re doing.”