Page 113 of Blackwicket
“There’s a Narthex.”
The flutter I’d felt in Dark Hall, the gentle tug. I’d been unable to open myself to the possibility, but my suspicions had been true.
“We need to go,” I said, pulling Fiona’s arm around me to help her walk to the door.
“Where?” Ramsey followed us out, ready for any answer I gave him.
“To Blackwicket House.”
Chapter Forty-One
During the reckless drive to Blackwicket House, I learned some things from my sister, who became more and more lethargic. I’d offered my magic to her, but even the Drudge shied away, refusing to accept it, or perhaps no longer knowing how. She spoke faintly, her words trembling, and I worried she would lose consciousness. I held her against me as we bounced wildly onto the main road.
She murmured about the Narthex, how she’d started building it the night our mother left, how she’d constructed another many years later when she and Thea started looking for a way to remain undetected by William, once a doting lover, grown more fanatical following the Authorities’ procurement of Jack.
“He was so wonderful those first years.” My sister spoke deliriously as we roared up the drive. “I thought we were going to change Nightglass.”
We drove past my sister’s open grave, and the charred remains of Victor’s car, arriving at Blackwicket House, desolate as an old log, its many inhabitants evicted. I couldn’t be sure where they’d gone, but I imagined the tourists stranded in Nightglass were having a very bad time.
“Who helped him meld with a Drudge, Fiona?” I asked gently, knowing there were very few people powerful enough to anchor the Drudge and soul together, like two bodies sharing a heart.
“Roark.”
Everyone’s attention was captured.
Victor’s interest arose from the violent empathy he felt for others in the same circumstances he’d survived, but Hannah and Ramsey’s investment was odd.
“I think that’s why he ran away.” Fiona finished, aware of the unwanted scrutiny. This explained Fiona’s blame. Even if Grigori and William hadn’t orchestrated Roark’s disappearance, they were still responsible, and it was a crime a mother’s heart could never forgive.
As we climbed from the car, my sister lost her footing, and I barely caught her before she hit the cold ground. Even as I helped steady her, Victor approached and, without preamble, scooped her frail body into his arms.
“I’m not a child,” she snapped, but didn’t physically resist.
“We’ll get to Jack and Thea faster if I carry you,” he said, effectively silencing her objections.
The front door stood wide open, never having been shut when we departed for William’s final High Tide. Cold and hollow as a body emptied of its life magic, the house sagged on its foundation. The interior was no better. Within a day, Blackwicket House had become the home I’d expected to find when I’d first arrived, floor buckled from the weather, the foyer ceiling sagging under accumulated moisture, splitting the coffers. Black mildew clung to the walls where patches of plaster had crumbled, revealing lath, and the same shriveled blackberry vines that had grown so prolifically in the tower and entwined among the bones of Fiona’s victims in Dark Hall.
“You’ve been living in this?” Hannah’s tone was a blend of sympathy and repulsion.
“It’s changed,” I remarked as we made our careful way up the steps, creaking and groaning beneath our feet.
“You’d be amazed at what curses can keep together,” Fiona said.
Victor placed my sister on her feet when we reached the third floor. She stood more steadily, the proximity to Dark Hall fortifying her, its pulsing thrum recognizable now that the white-noise of curses was absent.
“The Narthex is upstairs.” I said. “You’ll sense the portal to the Vapors. It’s the only other one still active, but I don’t know where you’ll end up inside.”
“The dressing room, behind the bar.” Fiona had continued to improve, gauntness reduced.
It was the same room Thea had put the makeshift Curse Eaters in during High Tide. It made sense. The force strengthening Fiona would have amplified whatever small ability the Brom had, making them less likely to void.
Before I could continue forming the half-cocked plan, Ramsey intervened.
“I’m afraid we can’t go through the Narthex, Ms. Blackwicket,” the grizzled man explained regretfully. “Any Authority stationed in annexed provinces are monitored. We aren’t allowed to enter Dark Hall under any circumstances unless we’re leaving for good. One exit.”
“Then break the rules.” Victor’s brow furrowed in anger.
“Our Authority does have something in common with yours, Inspector.” Hannah’s reply was calm. “Annulment. It’s strictly enforced for the safety of Elsewhere.”
