by L. EE
“Fucking finally,” said Gail, the exhausted words burnished by triumph. “Let’s get out of here. We could all use a rest.”
“And coffee,” Nia added dreamily before she could stop herself.
Gail laughed. “Yeah, okay, and coffee.”
“That’s all well and good,” Arthur interjected, “but what about –” He nodded his head at Connery’s legs, which lay crossing each other on the floor.
That was a very good question. They weren’t prepared to transport the legs of a grown man. Even wrapping them in their coats wouldn’t hide them completely. And Nia did not feel up to explaining herself to every startled passerby. She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to think of a solution, but all she kept coming back to was how unfair it was that, after all they had been through, they still weren’t done. It seemed to her that there should be a limit.
She looked up at the name painted on the wall, MALIKA’S CROSS. She couldn’t remember that from her maps and had no way of knowing how close or far they were from the hotel. “I suppose we could leave them and come back, but I worry…”
“Nuh uh.” Gail shook her head. “If they get lost again, this will have all been a waste of time.”
“Then what do we do?” asked Arthur, giving on of the legs a light tap with his shoe before immediately stepping back with a regretful grimace.
For a while, it seemed like they were going to stand there pondering for the rest of their lives, then Gail said, “You know what? Just grab one.”
Arthur and Nia both stared at her. It was Arthur who finally managed, “What?”
“If anyone asks, we’ll say it’s a prop for a play. They look pretty plastic with all the magic in them anyway.”
“A prop for a play?” said Arthur in disbelief.
“A very gruesome play.” Gail grabbed up one of the legs and wrapped her coat around a thigh, hiding the exposed and all-too realistic muscle and bone. “Anyway, even if they don’t buy it, Nia can just play the Illuminator card. They’ll probably give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Arthur still looked uncertain, but he bent down and picked up the other leg, wrapping the base carefully in his jacket as Gail had.
“I can take that, Arthur.” Nia held out her hands, but Arthur shook his head.
“You’ve done enough, Ni. Let’s just get out of here before anything else happens.” Nia noticed that Arthur still held his free hand to his chest as they climbed the stairs. She hoped his binding was holding. She hoped all he needed was rest. She rubbed her aching eyes. She hoped that was all they all needed.
No gates barred their way and a minute later, they stepped out into the fading light.
They had only just missed the rain. The pavement shone in the twilight and they had to walk carefully to avoid stepping in wide dark puddles. They also had to walk carefully to avoid crashing into anyone because they had inadvertently stepped out on to one of the widest, broadest, and busiest boulevards in New Crossbridge.
“Well,” said Gail after they spent a moment standing by the station entrance, watching people and cars and trolleys bustle by, “at least we’re not far from the hotel. We’ll call a cab later to go for the car.” With that she turned and led the way down the sidewalk. “Hurry up you two!” she called over her shoulder at Nia and Arthur, who were still standing motionless with Connery’s right leg hovering awkwardly between them. “We don’t want to get rained on.”
They didn’t get rained on. And no one stopped them, though they did get a few strange looks despite Gail talking loudly about how well the play was coming along and how she planned to invite her aunt, but not her grandmother because her grandmother couldn’t stand murder mysteries. Nia tried to help, though she wasn’t nearly as good at the playacting, especially not when she was so foggy-headed.
As was usual for their level of luck, they made it back to the hotel right at the early dinner rush. By now, however, Gail was fully committed to her role as director of this bloody theatrical event and chattered brightly to Nia as they passed through the doors. “Have you learned your lines? Good. Remember that scene where you find the body is probably the most important in the whole thing.”
Overall, the ruse was much more successful Nia could have imagined, but she was still almost relieved enough to cry when they finally had a locked hotel door between them and the rest of the world.
Gail dropped her leg on to the floor after freeing it from her coat. “That went well, I thought.”
Arthur, who had cast off his burden almost before the door had closed, rolled his eyes. “Yeah, this was way more fun than dinner last night.”
“I’m telling Xavier you said that.” She folded her coat over her arm and moved toward the door. “Why don’t we take a few minutes to get cleaned up and then meet back here to debrief? We look like we’ve been through a slaughterhouse.”
Nia looked down at her blood-and-chalk stained dress. She had nearly forgotten. She supposed everyone on the street had just taken their gore-streaked attire for costumes. “That sounds like a good idea.”
She went through the familiar process of showering and dressing almost in a daze. Her torn stockings were a complete loss and her dress was going to take several careful applications of cleansing magic before it would be wearable again. For now, she balled it up and tossed it into the same magically sealed bag holding her poor mutilated dressing gown.
While waiting for Gail and Arthur to finish with their ablutions, Nia ran a finger lightly over the faded bite marks on her arm. They still stung a little. Lifting her eyes, she saw Connery’s legs still lying akimbo on the floor. Rather sick of looking at them, she rolled them under the bed to join the head and arms. She couldn’t help feeling a small flush of success as she looked at the collection of limbs. No doubt the Directors expected to be receiving her resignation soon. Well, they would be disappointed.
With sudden energy, she dug the Academy’s message out of her bag. Turning it over, she quickly wrote a few brief lines informing them that she had completed her objective and would be in touch when she had made more progress. She then sent the message away, happy to be rid of it.
That finished, she turned around and realized that both Gail and Arthur were regarding her curiously. She flushed under their gaze, remembering with sudden but absolute clarity how they had both risked their lives to save her from her own recklessness. If something had gone wrong – it didn’t bear thinking about.
Or perhaps it did. Perhaps she needed to think of it a great deal. “I –” she began haltingly. “I wanted to say thank you. To both of you. What I did today was extremely foolish and I would have understood if you had simply left me to suffer the consequences.”
Arthur snorted and rolled his eyes, but Gail just continued watching her thoughtfully.
“I mean, I can’t imagine either of you doing that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you could have,” Nia continued fervently, needing to get the words out before they stuck in her throat again. “And you both ended up in danger because of me.” Her eyes flickered up to Gail’s face then back to the carpet. “Especially you, detective. If I had been any slower –”
Gail held up her hand. “Look, apologize all you want for the sneaking off and acting stupid. You won’t ever hear me argue with you.”
Nia was surprised to feel herself starting to smile. “Thank you for the permission, detective.”
“But,” Gail continued pointedly, “you don’t have to apologize for – whatever was going on in my head.”
“But I was the one –”
“Because you wanted to save me. I can’t get angry at you for that. Anyway, it’s fixed now, so we can both forget about it.”
“Very well,” said Nia, though she couldn’t feel completely at ease with Gail’s reasoning. Yes, perhaps the healing had been necessary, but it had been at Nia’s insistence that they entered the house in the first place. But if that has been a mistake, that meant the entire investigation had been a mistake and she c
ouldn’t believe that. Not yet.
“Anyway,” said Gail, “all I want to do right now is get some rest. Today felt like it went on forever and I can’t even remember half of it.” She paused in the doorway to give Nia a smile that sent a jolt of warmth from her belly to her face and back again. “If you need me for anything, you know where to find me.”
The door clicked closed behind her. Nia and Arthur stood in silence for a few moments then Arthur broke the silence with a simple, “Honestly, Ni.”
Nia started. “What?”
“Don’t you know an invitation when you hear one?”
Face burning, Nia turned away and folded her arms. “Arthur, I don’t believe I need you to –”
“Oh, yes, you do.” Arthur put his hands on Nia’s shoulders, making her squeak, and gently but inexorably guided her toward the door, opened it, and pushed her out into the hall.
She twisted away from him and turned around. “Arthur, she said she wanted to rest.”
Arthur just raised an eyebrow and moved to close the door.
“Arthur!” Nia realized she had squeaked again and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Wait, could I – could I at least change my clothes first?”
Arthur seemed to consider for a moment. Then, “Nope. You’ll probably just lose your nerve if I let you back in. Good luck.”
“But I should check your binding, to make sure that everything is –”
“My binding is fine. I’ll come get you if anything changes.” Then he smiled at her, more gently this time. “She likes you, Ni, and you obviously like her. Don’t waste your chance.”
Before she could reply, he closed the door and left her stranded in the hallway.
After taking a moment to glare at the door, hoping he could feel the force of her stare through the wood, Nia took a breath and turned to face Gail’s door. She may be working, No, she said she was going to rest. Maybe she’s already asleep. I probably shouldn’t disturb her. But she did say that I could stop by if I needed her for anything… Of course, she probably meant anything relating to the case.
Yes, which is why she almost let you kiss her in the subway this afternoon.
She wasn’t exactly feeling her best then.
So, go see how she feels now.
Gathering her courage, Nia stepped forward and knocked.
47
Gail Lin
Gail was washing her face when she heard the knock. Grabbing a towel she dried her cheeks with a few hard scrubs. The blood had been mostly gone since before they had left the subway, but she couldn’t help peering closely at her eyes before leaving the bathroom.
When she answered the door, Nia was standing awkwardly in the center of the hallway. It looked like she had tried to take a polite step back, but had overdone it. When the door opened, she looked up, startled, as if she had forgotten how doors worked. “Oh, hello, detective.”
“Hey,” said Gail, still braiding her hair over one shoulder. “Do you want to come in?”
“Thank you.” Gail held the door open for Nia then closed it behind her. The Illuminator was wearing a long pale blue dress and her thick hair was loose around her shoulders. She was also twisting her hands together like she had put them on the wrong wrists and couldn’t get them off again.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Gail asked her.
“No, thank you, I’m quite all right.” Then, to Gail’s confusion, Nia huffed out a breath, put her fists on her hips, and said, “Honestly.” Before she could ask what that meant, Nia reached out and took her by the hand. “Come here, detective, I want to be sure that you’re still recovering properly from the magic extraction.”
“I feel fine.” But Gail obediently sat down on the edge of the bed. “Was it hard to do?”
“No, it’s not difficult, just complicated.” Nia put her hands gently under Gail’s jaw and tilted her head from side to side. Her brow furrowed endearingly as she thought. “It requires multiple magicians to perform.” She smiled. “That’s always troublesome. We magicians are solitary by nature.”
“Yeah? Then how do you stand being cooped up in the Academy?”
“It’s a daily struggle, I assure you.” Nia pressed the back of her hand to Gail’s forehead. “Does your head still hurt?”
“Not really.” There was still a faint ache around her temples, but compared to the earlier crushing pain, it was less than nothing.
“You might feel a little pain for the next couple of days, but it will pass.” Nia smiled again, but there was something dark lurking behind her eyes.
“What’s the matter, princess?”
“Nothing.” Nia moved to turn away, but Gail caught her hand.
“Nope, no more lying, remember? What’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem. I’m only – I’m slightly concerned about Arthur.”
“Why?” Sure, doc had looked a little tired, but Gail had figured that was just because of the whole evil train thing.”
Nia looked down at her clasped hands. “He had to help with the magical extraction. It weakened his binding.” She must have read the confusion on Gail’s face because she continued. “The process of binding a magician’s magic is very unpleasant. If the influx of magic had broken the binding, he would have had to go through it again and I – I wouldn’t have wanted that.”
“Oh.” Gail tugged on her braided hair. “Hell, I guess I better thank him.” She laughed and shook her head, still a little stunned. “It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to risk that for me.”
Nia answered quietly, “No, it’s not.”
Gail turned just in time to accept the kiss Nia pressed to her lips. After a moment or seven, she tried to pull back to make some stupid comment about whether she’d be getting a stern note from the Academy about this, but apparently Nia was no longer interested in chit-chat. By the time, she managed to break away long enough to speak she was flat on her back with Nia on top of her.
Not that she was complaining.
Something occurred to Gail as Nia industrially set about unbraiding her hair for her. “Sorry about your scarf.”
Nia blinked at her. “What?”
“Your scarf. I’m pretty sure I dropped it somewhere.”
Nia only laughed, leaning down to kiss her again.
48
Nia Graves
When Nia woke the next morning, the sky was still nearly night-dark. She could hear rain lashing against the window, the dry spell having broken with a vengeance during the night. She lay still for a moment, listening to the wind howling around the hotel walls.
Gail made a soft sound in her sleep, turning her head toward Nia on the pillow.
Smiling, Nia propped herself up on her elbow and brushed a lock of hair off of Gail’s forehead. She would have to remember to thank Arthur for pushing her last night. He would probably be unbearably smug about it, but she supposed he had earned that right.
Glancing at the clock, Nia saw that it was nearly nine o’clock. She supposed she would wake Gail soon. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast the day before and it wouldn’t do to go much longer without food, but for the moment, she was content to let her sleep.
She was snuggling back down under the blankets when something crackled underneath her shoulder. Sitting up, she found a folded piece of paper lying on the pillow beside her. As she looked at it, Gail shifted beside her and opened her eyes.
“What time is it?” she mumbled, pushing herself up on her elbows. Then she rubbed her eyes, flipping from half-asleep to wide awake in less than a second. She smiled sheepishly as she added, “Sorry. That probably wasn’t the most romantic line I could’ve opened with.”
“Well, I wouldn’t expect to see it in the poetry books any time soon,” Nia replied, but she couldn’t keep from smiling when Gail leaned into kiss her. A few minutes later, Gail pulled back and looked down at the folded paper in Nia’s hands.
“Talk about spoiling the mood. They didn’t waste any time, did they?”
&
nbsp; “No, they like to keep on top of things.” Nia broke the Academy seal and unfolded the message. It was even shorter than the one she had sent the night before, just a few lines informing her, grudgingly she thought, that they were pleased to hear she had overcome her difficulties and that they hoped to hear from her again very soon. It ended by saying that if she did require assistance, she shouldn’t hesitate to ask.
Gail snorted lightly, reading the message herself as she leaned her head against Nia’s arm. “Are they always so accommodating?”
Nia folded the message and set it on the bedside table without answering. It seemed the Directors were momentarily pacified, but she had no idea how long their patience would last.
They don’t just expect me to fail. It seems they want me to fail.
What had she done to deserve that?
Noticing the darkening of her mood, Gail sat up all the way so she could put her arms around Nia and pull her back against her chest. “Can I give you some advice, princess?”
“I suppose I could use some.”
“Don’t let them fuck with you. Just do your work as best you can and let that speak for itself.” She grinned against Nia’s neck. “Then you can be the one sending the passive-aggressive notes.”
Nia chuckled, turning until her forehead was pressed against Gail’s. “You’ve hit upon my greatest career goal: be successful enough that I can be passively aggressive to whomever I choose.”
“You’re well on your way.”
Leaning back a little, Nia studied Gail through narrowed eyes. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Gail widened her eyes, clearly trying for innocent, but innocence had never worn a grin that wicked. “What’s what supposed to mean?”
“You know very well to which what I am referring.”
“Well, now I’m just confused. Could you go through that again for – hey! Now, this is just plain aggressive. What would your bosses say if –” The rest of Gail’s recriminations were lost in laughter as Nia pushed her back down on the bed.