“The excitement wears off after a while,” Jonah said. “Are you armed?”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask?”
“If it goes wrong, I just wondered whether you’d be able to protect yourself.”
“It won’t go wrong,” Gabriel said. “I have faith in you.” That comment had all kinds of sharp edges, or maybe it was Jonah’s imagination. It also wasn’t an answer to his question.
Jonah said nothing. Gabriel, however, seemed to feel the need to fill the silence between them. “Jonah, I’m still not convinced that this person we’re meeting is Lilith Greaves. But on the off chance that it is, there’s something you should know: something I haven’t told anyone else.”
Jonah waited.
“I have reason to believe that the woman I knew as Lilith was at least partially responsible for the Thorn Hill Massacre,” Gabriel said. “If there’s anyone who deserves to die, it’s her.”
That echoed what Lilith had said. He thinks I’m the one responsible for Thorn Hill.
“Really?” Jonah said, thinking, Shouldn’t we be keeping her alive, then? So we could maybe find a way to help the few survivors? But by now he knew that speaking it aloud would do no good. And it might give away the game.
Gabriel gripped Jonah’s shoulder. “I hope that, once this is behind us, we can go back to the way things were. We’ve always been a great team.”
“There’s Charlie,” Jonah said, seeing the slayer wave from atop the lift bridge. “He says it’s clear. Let’s go.”
The old railroad terminal squatted amid parking lots and industrial buildings next to the river. Grass and weeds had broken through the pavement in several places. The terminal was brick and stone, stained by more than a century of industrial smoke and city grit. The windows were boarded over, graffiti-covered, barred. That seemed pointless, since it was hard to imagine anyone wanting to get in there that badly. Still, it suited Jonah’s purposes.
Slayers and shades ringed the building, keeping an uneasy distance between them. All of the shades were hosted, and all of them looked relatively fresh.
Putting our best foot forward, are we? Jonah thought.
One of them stepped into their path. Mid-fifties, maybe, stubble-faced, buzzed hair, his muscled arms covered in tattoos.
Hello, Jonah, he said mind-to-mind.
“Brendan!” Jonah looked him up and down again. “What happened to your old host?”
Turned out that body had too many enemies, Brendan said, all brisk and businesslike. I was tired of getting into fights. Now. I’m going to search both of you.
Jonah turned to Gabriel, who was looking on in confusion and alarm. “This is Brendan Wu,” Jonah said. “He’s going to search us for weapons.” When Gabriel opened his mouth to protest, Jonah met his eyes and mouthed a no.
During Jonah’s pat down, Gabriel stared at Brendan as if transfixed. And a little horrified. Shifting his gaze to Jonah, he muttered, “Are you sure it’s Brendan?”
“I’m sure,” Jonah said.
Brendan surfaced Jonah’s giveaway blades, but nothing else, then turned to Gabriel, who stood, rigid, fists clenched, visibly sweating, during the search.
Finally, Brendan stepped back, satisfied. Could you tell him I don’t bite? he said to Jonah. He jabbed a thumb into his chest. I’m a shade. Not a vampire.
“This does take a little getting used to,” Jonah said with a tight smile. “All set? Are we good?”
Brendan nodded.
“Now let’s go clear the building.”
The three of them crossed the parking lot, Jonah in front, Gabriel in the middle, and Brendan coming behind. Pulling keys from his jacket pocket, Jonah unlocked the metal gate protecting the door.
“You have a key?” Gabriel whispered.
“I had it made,” Jonah said. He didn’t find it necessary to add that he’d installed the gate as well. And bars on the insides of the windows. Jonah Kinlock had created a small fortress, here on neutral ground. He’d already changed the lock on the inside door so he could open it with the same key.
“Wait here,” he said to Gabriel. “We’ll clear the inside.” They were coming up on another risk point. It was possible that Lilith had set a trap, that she was just as clever as Jonah Kinlock, just as clever and twice as desperate. Gabriel’s solution to Lilith’s army was to kill Lilith. Maybe Lilith’s solution to Nightshade was to kill its leader.
But Jonah didn’t think so. He hadn’t read her that way. He was betting a lot on that reading.
The inside was just as he’d left it—nobody lurking in ambush. He’d removed the junk and rats’ nests from one end of the building, piling it all to the right of the door. He’d even set up three chairs in a little triangle. He wondered if anyone would actually sit in them. He wondered if they would actually survive this.
Looks okay to me, Brendan said. He paused. How’d you find this place?
“I walk by here all the time,” Jonah said.
Brendan still hesitated. You’re being straight with us, right, Jonah? No double cross?
“No double cross,” Jonah said, thinking, Double cross is too honest a word to describe this plan.
I’ll go get Lilith, Brendan said.
When they emerged into the sallow light of the mercury vapor lamp. Gabriel was waiting, pressed back into the brick and stone of the building as if he could disappear into it, his upper lip beaded with sweat.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gabriel Mandrake sweat before today, Jonah thought.
Brendan walked away, back across the parking lot toward the road.
We’re good. Let’s go in. He stood aside, letting Gabriel precede him through the door.
Inside, Gabriel said, “You didn’t seem worried he’d find your weapons.”
“Their hands don’t have much sensitivity,” Jonah said. “Brendan told me once that their skin is basically numb. So I counted on that, plus my near-legendary skills of concealment.” He gestured toward the chairs. “Sit,” he said. “I’ll wait for Lilith by the door.”
“Jonah,” Gabriel said. “I don’t really need to—to talk with her. Or see her. Just...finish her, so we can go.”
Oh, no, Jonah thought. It’s important that you participate in the full slayer experience. You’re like the politicians who’re so quick to send other people’s sons and daughters to war.
What he said was, “No worries. You know how efficient I am.”
Gabriel frowned, as if reading something worrisome in Jonah’s attitude.
Jonah crossed to the door, standing a little to one side so that Lilith would step past him before she knew he was there. So that if she’d planned an ambush, he’d have the element of surprise.
He stood, a shadow among shadows, waiting, heart throbbing, his breath coming fast, senses tuned to the world outside the building.
Then he felt it—a stir of emotion, all around them. A break in the attention focused on the building. Quick footsteps on the street outside. Someone was coming. If it was Lilith, she was hosted. Jonah had expected she would be; it was safer for her that way.
Jonah glanced back at Gabriel, who showed no eagerness for this reunion.
Someone fumbled at the door, eased it open. Hesitated a moment, then came forward into Jonah’s view. He released a long breath, his first in a while. Lilith Greaves had come alone, as agreed, wearing the same cadaver as she had the last time Jonah had seen her. The same clothes, too, of course.
Jonah moved to the door and locked it behind her.
She whirled to face him, bringing both hands up in defense. She dropped them a little when she saw no weapon. You’re locking us in? she said, her gaze sweeping the dark interior.
“So we aren’t interrupted,” Jonah said. He felt much better now that the three of them were enclosed within the brick and stone of the old termina
l. He jerked his head toward the back of the room. “We’ll talk over there.”
Lilith followed him back to where Gabriel waited.
The sorcerer stared at her as she approached, his eyes wide, hands clenched. He seemed absolutely riveted, even though she couldn’t possibly look anything like the woman he remembered. His former lover, if what Lilith had said was true.
Lilith stared back. It had been ten years, and a lot had happened in the interim to age Gabriel, but he must at least somewhat resemble the man she knew. The man she’d fallen in love with.
Shifting his gaze to Jonah, Gabriel nodded, signaling him to go ahead and make the kill.
Jonah pretended not to see it.
Gabriel! Lilith said, in what sounded to Jonah like mind-to-mind shouting. I’m so glad you’ve come. It’s been a long time.
Gabriel flinched back. “I can hear you,” he said, going paler than before. “It’s faint, but—” He licked his lips, swallowed hard, looked at Jonah. “Why is it I can hear her?”
That’s the power of blood magic, Lilith said. I’ve loaded up for this meeting. With enough power on board, even the living can hear us. That’s just the beginning.
Gabriel said nothing, his eyes smoldering like scorched slate against chalk, burning into Jonah.
Instead of sitting, Jonah stood behind his chair, his hands resting on the back, knowing he might have to move quickly. “I told the other slayers to give us about an hour before they begin to worry,” he said. “That should give us plenty of time to talk.”
I did the same with my shades, Lilith said.
“Jonah.” Gabriel raised his eyebrows, tucked his chin, and lifted both hands, palms up, the universal gesture for What the hell?
Jonah turned away, toward Lilith. “How is your hearing? Do I need to repeat what Gabriel says, or are you able to make it out? He isn’t used to speaking mind-to-mind.”
My hearing isn’t great, but I should be able to make out what Gabriel says in a quiet room.
Jonah turned back toward Gabriel. “I may repeat some of what you say, if it’s unclear, but you should be able to speak directly to Lilith.”
“Jonah,” Gabriel repeated. His face was bloodless, his lips white with anger. “We made a deal.”
“We did,” Jonah said. “But I made a deal with Lilith, too. Her price for talking to me was the opportunity to talk to you.”
“And so you lied to me. After everything I’ve done for you.”
“If you’ll remember, I asked you to talk to Lilith. I begged you. Several times. And you refused.”
“And that should have been the end of it,” Gabriel said. “I know Lilith Greaves a lot better than you do—”
“So I hear,” Jonah said, tipping up his chin and looking him in the eye.
Even though Jonah was expecting it, Gabriel moved faster than he’d have thought possible. In one quick motion, he lunged forward, gripped Lilith’s hair with one hand, and cut her throat with the other.
In a split second, Jonah had Gabriel imprisoned in an iron grip. He increased the pressure on Gabriel’s wrist until he dropped the knife. Jonah kicked it away. His pounding heart was beginning to slow a little. He turned to look at Lilith.
There was no blood whatsoever, just a slice into the flesh that went halfway to the windpipe. She sat upright, supporting her head with a hand on either side. Oh, Gabriel, she said. I was comfortable in this body. I thought I’d be able to use it another month or more.
Gabriel struggled briefly, then settled again.
Jonah turned back to Lilith, who was exploring the wound with her fingers. “Are you sure you’re all right to continue with this? Do you need—?”
No problem. I’ve waited for this too long to let anything stand in my way.
“Jonah, I’m warning you,” Gabriel said. “I’ve tried to provide you with a path forward, to honor your growing independence, but—”
“But you didn’t expect me to actually think for myself. That’s what you get for turning us into grown-ups so quickly. Oh, right, all the grown-ups died, so you didn’t have anybody else to work with.” Jonah patted Gabriel down methodically, retrieving two more knives and two shivs. He was much better at it than Brendan. Pushing him down into one of the chairs, he handcuffed him to the arms. “By the way, for future reference, it takes a much heavier blade to decapitate someone. See, you use the momentum of the—”
“Jonah,” Gabriel hissed, pulling at his bonds. “What’s happened to you?”
“Those are the rules. The first one who tries to kill the other person gets shackled.”
He’s just being what he was meant to be, Gabriel, Lilith said. Brilliant, strong, beautiful, deadly. You know that. He’s a spectacular success, if you look at it that way.
“What are you talking about?” Jonah looked from Gabriel to Lilith.
Lilith settled into another of the chairs. Gabriel, it’s time you were honest with Jonah and all of the other children of Thorn Hill, she said.
Gabriel said nothing, only glared daggers at Jonah.
I know you think I’m to blame for what happened, Lilith said, but it’s not true. She paused, waited for a response, got none.
She’s here to win Gabriel over, Jonah thought, with a prickle of unease. What will happen if she does?
Gabriel seemed to be trying to ignore the fact that Lilith was in the room. He remained hyper-focused on Jonah, as if still hoping he might follow through on the riff. It was like an odd love triangle: Lilith focused on Gabriel; Gabriel fixed on Jonah; Jonah intent on Lilith now that Gabriel was fixed in place.
“Jonah. I warned you about her. I told you not to listen to her—that she would mislead you. And, apparently, she has.”
If you won’t tell the truth, I will, Lilith said. Trust me, you’re better off telling it from your point of view—you’re a lot more likely to come off as the hero. She paused, then said, Please. I want to work with you to make this right, or at least to see justice done.
Gabriel leaned forward in his chair as far as his manacles would allow, his eyes fixed on Jonah. “Listen to me. I’ve spent my entire life trying to undo what she did. What I’m saying is, this is not my fault. I trusted her. But if word gets out that—that— Kill her, please. Kill her now. Don’t let her destroy everything we’ve built together.”
Jonah tried to sort through these conflicting fragments and put them together into a picture. “Are you saying that Lilith was the one who poisoned us? Or that she was the one who betrayed us to the Wizard Guild?”
“Maybe she never meant to poison us,” Gabriel said. “Maybe it was unintentional, but the end result was the same.”
I was working for you, Lilith said. I never dosed anyone except on your orders.
“Well, you must have gotten it wrong,” Gabriel said.
Jonah looked back and forth between the two of them, a sick suspicion boiling up in him. “So,” he said slowly. “You’re saying that the two of you cooked up the poison that killed thousands of people at Thorn Hill? That is still killing us.”
No! they said in unison. But it appeared that they even disagreed on no, because they immediately began issuing discordant disclaimers.
“I didn’t poison anyone,” Gabriel said. “She did.”
I didn’t poison anyone either, Lilith said. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.
Jonah came and stood over Gabriel. “Gabriel, here’s your chance. Start at the beginning, and don’t leave anything out.”
“What does it matter now?” Gabriel said. “Don’t you see? If word gets out that—”
“Thousands of people died, and you’re worried about your reputation?” Jonah methodically removed his gloves and tossed them aside. “Perhaps you misunderstood. That wasn’t a request. It was an order. I’m not going to charm you into doing the right thing.”
Gabriel
made one last desperate effort. “Why don’t we go back to the Anchorage, so that we can discuss this in more comfortable surroundings? There’s no need to hide out in a bunker in order to—”
“I’ve waited ten years to find out what really happened at Thorn Hill, when all along the answers were within reach. If you don’t tell me the truth right now, I will kill you. You can’t really complain, because, after all, you’re the one who turned me into an assassin.” Jonah was bluffing, of course. There was no way he’d kill Gabriel until he’d pried free the secrets he’d been holding close for so long.
Maybe Gabriel believed him. Or maybe he was just worn out with lying. “All right,” he said. “I’ll start at the beginning. I’ll tell the truth as I know it.” He closed his eyes, as if to avoid Jonah’s. Plus it was easier to speak of dark things in the dark.
“For years,” Gabriel said, “wizards have claimed that Thorn Hill was a training camp for rebellious underguild operatives.”
“I believe the term they used was terrorists,” Jonah said.
“That is an inflammatory word,” Gabriel said, “but there is an element of truth in it. The commune was the site of a...an experiment in self-defense.” He looked to Jonah for a reaction, but Jonah said nothing, so Gabriel continued. “Keep in mind, this was before the last tournament at Raven’s Ghyll, the establishment of the Sanctuary at Trinity, the emergence of the Dragon—none of that had happened. The underguilds were little more than slaves to their wizard masters. There were many of us who were quite wealthy—myself included—but we were as much at risk as those with few resources. In fact, we were even more at risk of discovery, because we were visible. We sorcerers are the makers, so to speak, and so we were especially valuable. Wizards were the takers, who profited from the fruits of our labor.”
Gabriel paused, and Jonah looked at Lilith. She shrugged slightly. I was born into a so-called “servant” family—sorcerers who had worked for wizards for generations. She turned to Gabriel. Tell him about your family.
For the first time, Gabriel responded directly to something she’d said. “The wizard houses have always been ruthless in putting down guild rebellions. That’s one thing the Red Rose and the White Rose agreed on. My sister and brother were killed in the last serious sorcerers’ rebellion.”