“And if I had sent Timber to attack instead of investigate?” He said carefully enough to make me wonder how close he’d been to deciding differently.
“Then Silas would have torn him apart, and we’d both have bigger problems.” I gave the horned beast one final scratch before stepping back. “But I had a feeling you’d be curious about what I was doing. Now, if you don’t mind, we should probably find better cover.”
Wickett studied me for a long moment. Then, impossibly, he relented, dismissing the cinderhowl with a gesture. Timber stalked off without protest, and we moved in the opposite direction, falling into darker shadows outside the main building.
“This is the worst idea you’ve had yet, Syneca Black.”
“If you’re going to be negative, bring the puppy back. An emotional support beast trumps a moody hunter.”
“That puppy was pulled from theAsh,” Wickett replied, moving closer. “He’s a monster, not a loyal pet.”
“Maybe not everything lurking in the Ash is actually a monster.” I met his eyes. “Maybe some of them just need someone to see past the teeth.”
His jaw tightened. I wondered if he knew I wasn’t talking about the hound anymore.
“Breaking into my father’s office is a terrible idea,” he said quietly, circling back to a safer topic. “One I can’t officially sanction.”
“But?”
“But even I have to admit we have no other leads, and he seems to know more than he’s sharing. If he didn’t want us doing everything at our disposal, he shouldn’t have arranged for our lives to be tied to progress on stopping the Phoenix.” He paused. “Those three letters. DEC. What if he wasn’t finished? What if it’s the beginning of a name? Or another word entirely? We need more to go on.”
“Exactly. We can’t do anything with three letters. I think they are initials because that’s what he was told to try. But even then, there are probably hundreds of people in this city alone with those three. Definitely more throughout Vestra, and Furies help us if we have to consider all of Fuerlis. I need something else.”
“And you think you’ll find it in his office?”
“I think if I don’t look, I’ll spend the next twenty-five days wondering what I missed.”
Wickett’s expression shifted, softened. “The main records room is easier to access. Less chance of getting caught.”
“You’rehelpingme?” I had only hoped he wouldn’t stop me.
“I’m keeping you from getting killed while doing something foolish.” But his mouth curved slightly. “There’s a difference.”
Getting into the building with Wickett Veyne was far too easy. I left Silas outside to keep guard, and we simply walked through a side door after he used his magic to activate a rune made from lulurastone. The records room was exactly as oppressive as I remembered.
And... well, massive didn’t begin to cover it. The space stretched upward into a looming darkness easily five stories tall, with rows upon rows of filing cabinets that seemed like they had to contain every record since the last Burning over five hundred years ago.
Floating platforms drifted at various heights, allowing access to the upper levels. And, covering every available surface from the walls to the ceilings to the cabinet faces, were runes.
Thousands of them. Tens of thousands.
The blood, sweat, and tears of my own kind woven into stone. The sight of it made my stomach turn.
Tiberius had taken over this city with promises of safety and order. But the sheer volume of records here, the amount of money moving through these transactions, the payments and transfers that filled cabinet after cabinet made a lot more sense when one suspected corruption. He wasn’t feeding the poor or strengthening defenses. He certainly wasn’t championing peace.
He was building an empire. And I’d helped him make it indestructible.
“What are we looking for?” Wickett asked, positioning himself by the door to keep watch.
“Everything.” I moved toward the central podium, where a massive book sat open. The Index. “Anything on DEC.”
The system was brilliant in its simplicity. You touched the rune corresponding to what you wanted information about, spoke your query aloud, and the files would then summon themselves. Any clerk could do it. Any scorched with a drop of magic could activate the sequence.
I pressed my finger to the financial records rune, feeling it warm under my touch. “DEC. All references.”
The rune flared blue. Throughout the massive room, filing cabinets began to glow in response. Drawers slid open on invisible tracks. Files lifted themselves into the air like birds taking flight.
They spiraled toward me in a coordinated dance, hundreds of folders arranging themselves on the podium in perfect order.
