Page 390 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘Geomantic anomaly is actually the bubble.’

‘So it would seem, yes,’ Lee says.

‘Right, so then if he can’t come inside the city,’ Kade goes on, determined to get back on track, ‘and we can’t leave, doesn’t that feel like a protective measure?’

‘Vasily thinks so.’

‘What do you think?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Mimi wasn’t human,’ Kade says as gently as he can. ‘I read everything you wrote. You didn’t know it at the time, but it seemed to me like so many of the things you thought were Julian…’ Ouch, fuck. His insides pinch unexpectedly, pain slicing through him. Riley winces in silence, both feeling it. ‘That you thought were caused by him were maybe her. She was your daughter. You were the one who made her feel safe.’

‘OK, so?’

‘You wrote her as this fierce little protector. Everyone she loved who’s still alive is trapped here, one way or another.’

‘She didn’t know Harker.’

‘She did,’ Riley says, facing down, arms crossed. ‘We saw each other in dreams. She knew my name.’

‘Right.’ Lachlan frowns. ‘She was drawing you.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Then… wait, are you saying this is her?’

‘That is what I think, yes,’ Lee says, staring thoughtfully at him. ‘I believe her fear exploded into power when the Tower came under siege, and she just wanted to protect everyone she loved.’

‘Before she died, she made me promise to…’ Pain vibrates between them both, substantial enough that Riley can’t finish.

But Kade remembers what he said nights ago.

What was the promise you made to her?

Hide.

‘Hide,’ Kade whispers. ‘You promised to hide me.’

The walls tremble in warning.

The screens flicker.

When the pain fades, Kade goes to Lachlan. ‘She hid me from him. Everyone she loved. She protected us from him. That’s what it is. The bubble, the curse… she’s hiding me.’

‘Mimi is dead,’ Lachlan utters, jaw tight, eyes wet.

‘But we’re not, and you’re the one who made her feel safe, right?’ Lachlan says nothing. Kade steps closer. ‘If you make it safe, if you make it all eight bells… maybe she can let go.’

‘I don’t know how.’

‘You do know. When were things the safest in the Estate?’

‘When Penhalyx was gone.’

‘And what was the one thing she asked you to do that you knew you couldn’t? Daddy Bang Bang.’

Lachlan’s expression tightens. ‘Kill him.’