~ Jaxon  ~

Adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves, Aurelio takes the room's single, thread-bare chair. Nic and Yumi sit side by side on the edge of the sagging mattress, leaving me to lean against the wall beside the door.

I don't mind. Nobody's leaving until I get answers, and Aurelio's not leaving at all unless I'm satisfied with what I hear.

As if he reads my thoughts, he lifts a brow at me, the tiny quirk at the corner of his mouth saying, 'predictable,' as clearly as if he'd spoken the word aloud.

Predictably, I scowl at him.

"Get on with it, Aurelio," I snap. "I'm not fucking around here."

"Debatable," he returns. "However, I agree that time is of the essence, so I will be as brief and to the point as possible. First, though it will hardly incline me to your favor, I must confirm that your friends' suspicions are correct — at least insofar as my involvement goes. I have been acting as their handler for some time."

Yumi looks at him with cautious curiosity. "Lion?"

"Littlebird."

"What the fuck's that?" I growl, losing patience already.

"Our code names," Nic murmurs. Then he draws a sharp breath and turns to me with wide, horror-struck eyes. "But Jaxi, I swear to the sweet, bloody god of chocolate, we didn't know!"

"Of course they didn't," Aurelio confirms. "They bolted the moment they suspected they'd been compromised — most inconveniently. I could have used them these last few weeks."

"How long?" I growl. "How long have you been using my friends and manipulating me like this?"

"Like this?" He raises a brow again. "Only for the last several months. I needed to keep tabs on you without direct contact. For both our sakes, I kept my distance, letting 'littlebird,' as Honeybird and Chiba here are collectively known, be my go-between. Then I slipped up, and they went underground, but it didn't matter. I had you where I wanted you, anyway."

"At the college."

"At the college," he confirms, "where you and Sylas could fulfill several interconnected roles — one of which was bait."

"You fucking son of a bitch," I snarl. "This is all some game to you, isn't it? Some chess match, like you used to play with Father, using people as your pawns. And now you've got the gall to claim you care? You don't give a fuck about anything but your sick government conspiracies and—"

"Jaxon," he sighs, "do let me finish. Then you may judge me as you like."

With infuriating patience, he waits until he's sure he has the floor again before he goes on.

"Most of what I told you was true. Marcus was looking for the Devil's Song, and you and Sylas were uniquely suited to go undercover at the college and discover its whereabouts. However, I also let you believe that Marcus wanted it for himself, and intended to use it on his bride-to-be. This is not so. Marcus is merely a puppet, as you put it, with someone else pulling his strings. But I also knew that a threat to Lyssa would motivate Sylas, and you would go where he went."

I clench my jaw, knowing he can see my anger plain enough.

He inclines his head in acknowledgement. "It was also true that I suspected one of the three professors I sent Sylas to would know something of the matter, and would help us to discover more. What I did not make clear is that I knew which one. Linden Edwards confirmed my suspicions when he took the bait immediately, unable to resist having exactly what he wanted dangled in front of him."

"What does Edwards want with Sylas?" I ask sharply.

Aurelio shakes his head and sighs. "I'm getting to that. Another thing I told you is that the Synod wants to uncover the 'mastermind' in Marcus's shadow — the 'puppeteer,' as you call him, pulling the strings. If it is Edwards, I need incontrovertible proof. Otherwise, he's apt to vanish, or else we're all liable to end up as dead as Mother and Father, Sylas's parents, and poor old Joaquin Yorba, among many others, no doubt."

"Edwards' assistants, for example," I say, glaring death at my brother. Whatever his rationale, the result is the same: he treated Sylas like cheese in a mousetrap, and he may not be the 'puppeteer,' but he sure as hell pulled my strings.

He nods. "Likely the victims of failed experiments."

"What kind of experiments?" Yumi asks, an undeniable trace of curiosity in her voice.

"The same sort he's been having Sylas work on, no doubt — a melding of magic and machine. It's always been his goal to enhance the strength of his abilities that way, but he had no success until a few years ago, when — quite out of the blue — he managed to give George Forsythe's little girl a new heart: one powered by Craft. That was about the same time, as far as I can tell, that Mother began harvesting Relics and grafting them to her Sign. I only caught a brief glimpse of it before it was seized and destroyed, but something about it stirred my memory. It reminded me of Linden and his crazy experiments, and got me wondering. The more I looked into him, the more convinced I became of his involvement. And then rumors started circulating about Marcus and Lyssa, and the Devil's Song. It was a lure designed to draw you and Sylas out."

"So, what?" I scoff. "You gave him exactly what he wanted? How is that a brilliant plan?"

He sighs. "I needed to be sure it was him, and even then — as I explained — I needed more proof than mere suspicion."

"What about Ava? Is she in on it?"

His expression clouds.

"Knowingly or not... yes. I believe she's the piece of the puzzle I've been missing, though I only realized that tonight. I hope it is not too late."

"What do you mean 'too late?'" I ask slowly, suspecting I won't like what I'm about to hear.

"The purpose of Ava's stunt," Aurelio says. "I don't think that she meant merely to shock with her display of 'art.' It was timed and planned. I think you were meant to attack Lyssa and Marcus, and get yourself arrested, at the very least. Then Edwards steps in — the 'knight in shining armor' to fill the void. Tell me, Jaxon, if he thought he could save you or his sister, would Sylas do just about anything?"

Reluctantly, I nod.

"We need to find him. If I'm even close to being right, he could be in grave danger right now. From her reaction, I'd venture that Ava's mistake was genuine. That makes her a liability, too. Edwards could get jumpy and do something rash."

I take a breath and try to focus: to put aside my anger and let another feeling guide me. "What about your Craft? Can you track him, like you did before?"

He shakes his head. "No. When he Crafted that protection spell for you, he destroyed his disguise entirely — including my contribution to it. Unless he has my tincture with him and takes more of it, there's nothing for me to track. However, I did manage to collect this."

He pulls a plastic bag from his pocket and holds it up, displaying a lock of Sylas's dark hair: the piece my knife cut when I threw it at him.

"Leaving such a thing lying about in a college full of Crafters is foolish anyway," he remarks, handing it to Yumi. "Can you make do?"

"I can try."

Yumi rises and circles to the other side of the bed, kneeling to sort through the drawer of supplies.

"You put all this here?" she asks, glancing up at him.

"Yes. I tried to imagine what you might need. I hope you will forgive any shortcomings."

She shakes her head. "Nah. It's good, actually. Our last handler would leave us, what?" She looks at Nic. "A single fake ID, a couple of incognitas scrolls, and a packet of Ritz peanut-butter crackers, wasn't it?"

"Sounds about right," Nic agrees. "And the Ritz were usually stale."

Yumi finds what she's looking for and unrolls a strip of paper, smoothing it out as flat as she can on the mildew-scented duvet. Picking a strand of hair from the bag, she holds it pinched between her finger and thumb, and with her other hand, retrieves a lighter from her pocket. Flicking the lighter with her thumb, she ignites the hair, and then drops the burning strand above the paper.

"Locum Sylas revelare," she recites.

The little strand falls, consumed by flame, and curls into ash as it comes to rest on the paper. For a moment, nothing happens; then the ash seems to sink into the scroll, spreading like spilled ink, until the entire surface is black.

Yumi sighs. "He's obscured."

"What's that mean?" I ask.

"It means he's either shielded, or..." She trails off and bites her lower lip.

"Or what?" I press. "Or what, Yumi?"

She looks up, her dark eyes glimmering. "Or he's... somewhere else."

"Else?" My voice is strained and tight.

"She means 'dead,'" Aurelio states.

My heart momentarily stops, but he raises his hand reassuringly.

"He is not. Unless I am very much mistaken, he is on water. Finding a Crafter at sea is..."

"Almost impossible," Nic agrees. "My ancestors were all fishers and fish-boat captains, with a Gift for knowing where the best catch would be. Of course... they were mostly smugglers and pirates, too."

"So, how do we find him, then?" I ask. "There are Mundane means for finding a boat, you know. Ever heard of the Coast Guard?"

Aurelio gives me a condescending smile. "They have less chance of finding him than we do, believe me. If Edwards has taken to sea, we have only one choice."

"Which is?"

"We wait," he says, simply. "Edwards still needs the Devil's Song, and Sylas and I discovered something tonight: words on the pillars in the rotunda. I think they're the markers of Solemnity's tomb, and the words are the key. If Sylas imparted this to Edwards, he may have felt he was close enough to make his move. In which case, we may expect his demands soon. Or I can, at least, as — unless I am fatally mistaken — he still believes I am on his side."

✧ ✧ ✧

We pass a tense and fitful night, taking turns trying to rest, but none of us gets any sleep. Dawn comes, and Nic goes out for a walk and comes back, an hour later, with bags of takeout breakfast. Aurelio accepts a cup of coffee and nothing else, and I choke down an egg and sausage sandwich I barely taste. Who knows — I might need my strength.

Meanwhile, Nic and Yumi share a tray of pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and sausages, as if they've nothing else to do in the world, and I watch them in mystified admiration.

They waltz to their own tune, and they're as devoted to one another as I am to Sylas; and yet if anyone suggested that they kiss, they'd both gag on their scrambled eggs.

The morning drags on, and the hotel room begins to smell. Almost unconsciously, I pick up all the trash and get rid of it, and before I know it, I'm straightening the curtains and making sure the sheets are square — repeatedly. Anxiety always brings out my OCD.

I look up from picking a speck from the carpet, and find Aurelio watching me from his chair.

"I admire you, you know," he says softly, catching me completely off guard. "Your courage, and your dedication. You've been through hell, and yet you stick to what you believe — in a good way."

"There's a 'good' way?" I turn back to my task, tossing a half-imaginary something into the trash.

"Yes. You don't believe blindly. You examine, and self-examine, and evaluate. Believe it or not, Jaxon, I strive to do the same: to work for the 'greater good,' where what is 'good' does no harm. I do not always succeed."

I look up at the stained ceiling, glad he can't see the sudden shine in my eyes. "Yeah? Well, neither do I. Obviously."

I hear him rise and then feel his hand rest lightly on my shoulder.

"Well, then. Perhaps we are more alike than we think," he says.

✧ ✧ ✧

At ten o'clock, Aurelio's phone rings. He glances at it, then up at the rest of us. "It's Edwards," he says, and answers it, putting the call on speakerphone.

"Linden. What can I do for you?"

Edwards's voice comes through loud and clear, despite a constant rush of background noise. After a moment, I identify it as waves and wind.

"I need your help again, Rel," he shouts. "I've got a bit of a situation on my hands."

"Explain."

"The Lovecraft boy. He cracked the code. I've got him, but I need you to do the rest for me."

Aurelio glances up and meets my eyes. "Oh? And what does that entail?"

"Just listen — it's all in the dedications. In Agatha's books. Ask Ava — she'll understand."

"Ava Blackwell?"

"Don't play stupid with me. You were there at the show. You saw her cock things up."

"Yes, well... You got what you wanted, didn't you?"

There's a long pause, and everyone but Aurelio goes tense; he holds his cool, just waiting for a reply. Finally, it comes.

"Yes. I suppose I did. Your brother's still a problem though, isn't he? Can you handle him?"

"I think so," Aurelio replies, glancing at me with the slightest smile touching his lips.

For the first time in my life, I wonder if he's lonely, the way he lives.

"Good. Well, I'll text you the dedications. The pillars are the key, and Ava will know the rest."

"So you think this is the way to Solemnity's tomb, and the Devil's Song is within?" Aurelio asks, somewhat pointedly.

"I'm not entirely certain, but it seems so." Edwards answers distractedly.

Aurelio hesitates, his eyes still on mine. When he speaks, his voice is slow and measured, as if he's saying two things at once.

"You need Jaxon for the ritual, don't you?" he asks. "Will you meet us there?"

"No; once you've got it, bring him, and meet me at my place. You remember it, I'm sure."

"How could I forget," Aurelio rejoins, somewhat tonelessly, and ends the call.

"Well," he sighs, pocketing his phone. "At least we know where Sylas is."

"Where?" I grate, barely containing my anger again. Half my brain wants to understand how my brother got tangled up with Linden Edwards in the first place, but my whole heart just wants to find Sylas and get to him.

"An island," Aurelio murmurs wearily, "About twenty nautical miles up the coast. Heavily shielded. We'll only get ashore if he admits us. Which means..."

I shut my eyes and take a breath. "We need to find the Devil's Song first."