Page 56 of The City Of Fractured Memory

Tears prick my eyes as I desperately try to think of anything we can do to save her. My heart lurches when I notice Stryx’s crescent moon tattoo on her forehead glowing faintly.

“Your magic, you still have some?” I ask, trying not to give in to the hope rising in my chest, knowing how much it will take to even make the smallest difference. She grimaces, confirming my suspicions, but rests her hands on Vesper’s head regardless.

“It feels the same,” she murmurs. “The same magic that attacked us in the Archives.”

I freeze. “You’re sure?”

Stryx nods slowly, tears starting to flow down her pale face. “Only stronger this time. I—I don’t think I can stop this.”

I look down at Vesper, her skin streaked with red, and my throat tightens. She’s going to die.

We can’t save her.

Suddenly, Vesper lurches up and grabs me, gasping rapidly as her panicked eyes pin on mine. “Riven—he–” She chokes up blood. “He has the Codex, he—he needs to be stopped–”

My heart palpitates mercilessly at his name. “What? I don’t understand–”

But she slumps back into my arms, her body too still, her eyes wet with unshed tears staring lifelessly up at me.

“No—Vesper, please!” I shake her shoulders, but her head rocks limply back and forth, her eyes unseeing.

“She’s dead,” Stryx whispers through her tears, knotting her fingers together, her pointed ears pressing back against her head in fear. “Riven, did he do this? What did she mean?”

I shake my head slowly, shock setting in and making my mind scatter to the point I can barely harness a single thought. I grit my teeth and close my eyes, counting to ten and tapping my fingers repeatedly as I breathe deeply, trying to settle my panic. I try to forget the body in my arms is Vesper and imagine it’s just another stranger, compartmentalising my pain so I can deal with this like I would any other murder. I take another long breath in, and open my eyes, my panic subsiding enough for me to think.

“Riven was the one who saved you, Stryx. He brought us back here,” I say slowly, rationalising my thoughts into the most logical conclusion. “He was with me minutes ago, so unless he can somehow be in two places at once, I don’t think it’s possible he did this.”

Stryx nods slowly, her eyes narrowing as she tries to think clearly too. “Do you think she was talking about the Codex of Thorns? The one we read about?”

“It has to be. It’s too much of a coincidence,” I agree, sniffing as I swipe away my tears, my voice breaking. “Stryx, she has the same tattoo.”

She gasps as she grabs Vesper’s hand, her mouth hanging open as she turns to me wide-eyed. “Octavia, there’s no way Xavier didn’t know about this, surely? Unless she hid it from him?”

Fuck. Xavier. I swallow hard as my panic threatens to return tenfold, my tears flowing uncontrollably. “We need to find him. Oh Gods, he’s going to be beside himself–”

Stryx places her hand gently on my shoulder, the contact grounding me before I start to spiral any further. “I’ll send word to the Division. We need to solve this case before anyone else dies.”

We fall silent for a while and exchange a look, both knowing this likely won’t be the last body sacrificed to this twisted puzzle.

Vesper’s hand falls limply from under the linen as two wardens take her away on a cart, the creaking of the wooden wheels over the cobblestones a sharp contrast to the muted murmurings of the numerous people around us.

Starling arrived on the scene minutes ago in a storm of authority, his cloak snapping in the wind. He surveys the scene, fury and unease battling it out in his gaze before it falls to me where I sit on the front steps leading up to my apartment. Even before he speaks, his expression says it all; panic thinly disguised as control. He’s rattled.

The wardens part for him as he closes in on Stryx and me. “Detective Wren,” he snaps, eyes flicking from me to the blood pooled on the threshold. “You want to tell me why we currently appear to have more corpses than leads? And where in the Voyd is Blackwood?”

He looks around like Xavier will materialise out of thin air, and even in my current state of shock, it takes all my effort not to roll my eyes. I straighten, my exhaustion and grief weighing on me heavily, but I refuse to let him see it.

“I left Detective Blackwood with his sister earlier today,” I say, trying to control the tremble in my voice. “My assistant Stryx and I were following up on a lead in the Archives when we were attacked, and Vesper turned up on our doorstep shortly after, covered in blood. We did what we could, but it was too late to save her. I don’t know where Blackwood is, but if his sister turned up here alone, I worry for his safety. He isn’t responding to our Quill.”

Panic flashes in the Chief’s eyes, but he recovers quickly, clearing his throat as he regards me shrewdly. He rubs at the bridge of his nose, muttering a curse under his breath before jerking his chin toward two nearby wardens. “Find Blackwood. Now. I don’t care if you have to knock on every Voyding door in Velmora.”

The men hurry off and Starling looks back to us, his tone clipped. “I want a full statement from both of you, every detail and no omissions. This is getting out of hand.”

I feel Stryx’s gaze flick toward me, questioning, but she stays silent, as do I. There’s too much at stake now to give anything away, even to the Chief.

We recount what we can as he asks us question after question, but despite his demands, I decide to omit the parts involving Riven. I still can’t be certain of their relationship, and until I am, I need to keep that information to myself. When he presses for details, I deflect with carefully chosen half-truths. He studies me in silence, his eyes narrowing slightly, and I wonder if he’s starting to suspect more than he’s letting on, but finally, he lets it drop.

“The Council’s breathing down my neck,” he mutters, folding his arms as he stares at the chaos of the scene around us. “We’re knee-deep in corpses and so far, we have nothing to show for it. I need answers, Wren, and quickly, or I have no doubt it’ll be one of us in the morgue next.”