‘Everything.’
‘Now that is a broad request.’
I narrowed it down. ‘Tell me who you know is in it.’
He laughed. ‘Someone very close to you.’ He let his eyes linger on me before sliding off pointedly to look at Robbie.
‘Bullshit,’ I snorted. ‘Try to peddle some shit I’ll actually buy.’
He lifted a shoulder. ‘Worth a try. I do so love some discord.’ His smile was as sharp and unfriendly as a shark’s. ‘You’d be leaving shell-shocked and broken if I told you all I know, Wise.’
‘I can take it. Tell me.’
He stood and paced to the slot so only his face filled it.
‘Tell you, Inspector? Very well. Let me tell you about us. We, the Domini, call ourselves The Order, and we are presided over by the Arcane. There are twenty-six members of the Domini Conclave, including the Arcane, each a rich and powerful person in their own right, the best of their species. Of the sacred twenty-six, we each have people who operate under us, vast numbers stretching out like an unbeatable wave. Those who are lower and seek to grasp ever higher.’
‘It sounds chummy,’ I said drily. ‘Tell me more about the Conclave.’
I had no idea why he was feeling so chatty. Perhaps it was the pressure of his isolation getting to him, but whatever it was, I was grateful for it.
‘Conclave?’ He ground his teeth. ‘Very well. Each member of the Conclave of the Domini is allocated a letter of the alphabet, and they are known merely by that letter. Each Conclave member only knows the identity of one or two other members at any one time. The Domini operates in a cell-like structure, so if at any point we are compromised, only a few of us will be destroyed. Thusfar, I can confirm that no such destruction has faced us. The red guard’s pathetic attempts to quash us have frankly been laughable. We have survived for centuries. We existed before the Connection’s inception and will exist beyond it.’ He sneered. Then he gasped, eyes widening.
The gasp wasn’t one of shock, but one of pain. I couldn’t see anything but his face in the slot.
‘What’s happening?’ I demanded. ‘What are you doing?’
He groaned and closed his eyes. His breathing became laboured. ‘Ah, yes,’ he panted. ‘Did I fail to mention one more little detail? We are unable to speak of the Order unless the Arcane has granted us express permission; otherwise the one who speaks of us will suffer an unspeakably painful oath death.’
‘Fuck!’ I whirled around to Pritchard. ‘He’s broken an oath! Open this door!’
Looking pale and panicky, Pritchard started to run to the door.
‘Too late,’ Shaun Bolton sneered. ‘Too late. You won’t be collecting any confidential informants, Inspector. It is the Domini or death. In this instance, I choose death.’
‘Goddamn you. You did this on purpose. You could have spoken about the Domini at any point in your sentence here. Why did you wait for me?’
Hegrinned even as he coughed and bright red blood spilled from his lips. ‘To pass a message. That was my duty.’
‘What message? To whom?’
‘To you, Inspector. Your father can’t save you now.’ He coughed again, and for the first time, he fell away from the slot, allowing me to see him. Thick black shadows covered his body.
An oath death, I thought in horror. ‘Ah shit,’ I said aloud.
The pulsing black shadows crept up his neck. He had seconds. Pritchard fumbled at the door, but he’d be too late. Shaun Bolton would be dead, and his name would be forever recorded in the book of oath breakers with a note of his ultimate shame.
If I could have got into his cell, I’d have killed him myself. A mercy death so his name wouldn’t be recorded in the book of oath breakers, if only for Amber. But there was no time for that either.
Bolton cried out. The shadows were at his neck and he rolled his eyes to meet mine. ‘You’re as dead as me, Inspector,’ he gasped. ‘The Order is coming for you.’
His body stiffened and with one last gasp the black shadows surged all over him. His chest ceased to move.
The thick pulsing shadows slowly stopped and sank inwards, coating his skin with their inky essence, painting his dead skin with proof of his betrayal.
Chapter Twenty-Two
By the time we had completed an onerous amount of paperwork, reclaimed all of Ivan’s many weapons, and left Wraithmore, it was nearly 11pm. All the same, Bastion and I had agreed that I would call Amber to ask her to come to my flat. He would fly on ahead and meet us at my apartment.
