“Where’s Tomin?” I asked, the resentment in my voice echoed back to me as it rose into the ceilings of the hangar.
“Him? Well, he’s rushing down to London,” she replied, sweeping braids over her shoulder. “As you can imagine, your little act of deceit earlier has caused a bit of a headache for your dad. Although I have to give it to him, he is vigorous when it comes to his plans. Tomin doesn’t trust you, and for good reason as we see.”
“That’s a long-winded way of admitting he had a backup plan.”
“A backup plan to his backup plan… so on and so on. Yes. Meticulous.”
And yet she didn’t look impressed when she said it.
“Now.” The woman leaned in close, hands on the arms of the chair, not an ounce of fear in her expression. “Do you care to tell me all about your sins regarding the Briar boy? Any information you share may just save him some pain down the line.”
So, they knew about Hector. I had hoped I’d sent him back into the shadows before the guards saw him, but now I wasn’t entirely sure. Considering they knew he’d been in my room, which likely suggested they knew I’d told Hector about the planned attack.
I leaned in closer too until my nose brushed hers. “I wouldn’t threaten him if I was you.”
“Ah,” she replied. “I thought you’d say something along those lines. You don’t fancy an open and frank conversation then?”
For good measure I sunk my teeth into the insides of my cheeks, acting as anchors for silence, pinching so hard until my tongue was lathered with blood.
“Okay then.” She withdrew. “Silence it is. Then I will tell you what I know. Your room has been bugged for weeks now. Cameras, microphones… the works. We know all about the thistlebane you’ve been taking, although it took some insight from our friends in the White Tower to explain the effect it would be having on you. Then there were the nights you’d slip out in shadow, only to return hours later. Those were the strangest of your acts, considering you had the chance to escape but never took it. I urged your father not to punish you, but instead to pretend like he didn’t know what you were doing. And thankGodhe did, otherwise you may never have communed with Hector Briar… may never have led us to him. Patience is not a trait your father has, but for me you see, I have enough of it for the both of us. And he listens to me.”
My blood turned to ice as the woman spoke. A torrent of emotion flooded every limb, muscle and bone in my body, until I was a puppet for it. A useless puppet with no means to act out.But what made matters worse was I’d dragged Hector into this—I’d put him under threat once again, all because I was desperate to see him. I could tell myself it was to warn him against my father’s plans, but I knew the truth deep down.
“Was your speech an attempt to set me at unease?” I asked.
Because it worked, but I wouldn’t let her think that for a second.
“How you react to information makes no difference to me,” she said. “All I care about is information. All that concerns me is making sure Tomin gets the answers he seeks. Starting with Hector, and if you think he believed what you told him?”
I shrugged, as much as the bindings allowed. “You said the room was bugged. I’m sure you saw just what Hector thinks of me.”
She smiled, a sickly yet sweet grin. “Oh, I saw.”
Her confirmation set a rock to fall in my gut.
“So, Tomin has rushed to London to fix his plans that I’ve fucked up?” I asked, allowing the ounce of pride to seep into my tone. “I hope it causes him a bastard of a headache.”
She cocked her head to the side, one hand on her hip, a look of almost pity creased across her face. “Did you not hear me a moment ago? I said your father has plans on plans. Your betrayal, although a slight thorn in the works, has not caused many problems considering we’ve expected it from day one. If anything, you’ve done us a very big favour.”
Mouth parched, a rush of blood flooded down through my skull. “And you are here to rub that in my face.”
“Exactly!” she said with a chipper smile. “In fact, I thought we could have a little watch of something before we continue this chat. Bonding time.” She moved with agile grace, nails drumming her palms as she reached towards the old television. The screen lit in a static fuzz once she pressed a large black button. She took her time fiddling with the remote control untilthe static screen was replaced with a soundless moving images. “It isn’t every day you can see the repercussions of one’s actions, and how it affects people that you don’t even know.”
I leaned forwards as much as the chair allowed, not caring for the burning rub of my wrists and the metal bindings. “What is this?”
“Apologies about the lack of sound,” she added, thinking that was where my confusion came from. “It’s an old TV, you will just need to watch it and make some sense of what’s happening. Although I’m sure it will be rather self-explanatory…”
The scene before me kept changing. Sometimes it was videos filmed on phone cameras, the video shaking as if someone was running. Then it would change to a bird’s eye view of London—the Tower of London to be exact. It was engulfed in smoke and fire, an entire portion of the building completely destroyed. People ran from the ruin like ants scuttling to safety, weaving around a carpet of bodies strewn across the ground, pools of blood so vibrant in colour that the camera could pick it up from afar.
I was watching some sort of news channel, the symbol up in the top left corner. At the bottom of the screen, bold words moved across a red banner, offering those who watched updates. It was hard to catch up with the words, considering my focus was on the images flashing over the screen. But the woman who stood beside my chair began reciting them, as if she could read my mind.
“Unnatural attacks began outside the Tower of London. Multiple deceased confirmed. Prime minister has called for military backup. London under lockdown. What dark secrets have been hiding in plain sight?…Witches terrorise London.” She paused, sucking in a dramatic breath. “Witches, Arwyn. Can you believe it?” Her question was followed by the sickest laugh, the sound grating through my nerves. “Of course you can. Weknow all about the demons, and now every human across the world will. Look… do you see there…”
Her red nail pointed towards something unfurling on the screen. Amidst the smoke and destruction, a single man stood. Winds danced around him, brushing the hair off his ash-smothered face. A face I knew all too well.
“Hector,” I breathed, heart beating a canter in my chest.
Blood coated the side of his head, so dark his blonde hair was matted black. He was wounded and badly. But he was alive, and that counted for something.
