Page 26 of Unbroken
“Very well.” Sebastian sat back. “Now it’s your turn. Did you talk to the rest of the WHS?”
“Just one,” Mortimer said, and launched into their tale, with Ves adding his impression as needed.
When they were done, Irene said, “I agree, they must be using sorcery on their plants. My cousin Ursula has quite the garden on our estate and is in the process of planning a greenhouse. She might have some ideas as to what it is they’re doing.”
“It still doesn’t tell us who would want to kill them,” Mortimer pointed out.
“No, unless they’ve called on something they shouldn’t have. But I suppose such a being wouldn’t need the Book of Blood to put an end to them. You said Rulkowski had a plaster on his neck?”
Ves nodded. “He claimed it was a bug bite.”
“Not impossible,” Irene allowed. “Though I must say, even if we’re calling it a leech, that proboscis looked a lot more like a mosquito’s.”
“Rulkowski definitely knows what’s happening.” Sebastian looked around the table. “If he won’t tell us of his own accord, I’m going to have to compel him.”
Ves didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right. We can try to call on him again. I’ll keep Berry from interfering, while you force him to tell us.”
“It’s to save his own life,” Sebastian pointed out. “I don’t want to do it, but he’s left us no choice.”
A clock chimed softly from another room, signaling the end of the Saturday half-day of work. Mortimer rose to his feet and stretched like a cat. “I’m going to leave that to the rest of you,” he said. “Try not to have too much fun without me.”
They decided to go to Rulkowski’s house in the evening, when he’d be more likely to be in, so Irene drove them all to Bonnie’s house before making for the estate.
The new neighbor, Mrs. Adams, was visiting when they arrived home, so Noct once again entered the house through the attic to stay out of sight. She and nine-year-old Helen sat close together on the couch, heads bent over a skein of yarn and pair of knitting needles. Clara slept in her cradle, while Bonnie rocked beside her, repairing the torn sleeve of one of Tommy’s shirts.
“Mr. Rath, Mr. Rune, so good to see you again,” Mrs. Adams beamed.
“Mrs. Adams is teaching me to knit!” Helen exclaimed, her dark eyes bright with excitement.
“And a very good pupil you are.”
Jossie and Willie were on the floor, the newspaper spread in front of them. “Free ice-cream will be handed out to children,” Willie read aloud.
“Ice-cream!” Jossie shouted at her mother.
Helen paused her knitting to also yell, “Ice-cream! Mama, can we get some?”
“What’s this about ice-cream?” Sebastian asked.
“For the Fourth of July,” Willie explained, pointing at the paper. “There’s going to be ice-cream, and a parade, and fireworks.”
Fewer fireworks than there might have been, considering the School of Night had blown up a warehouse full of them. With Ves inside.
“There’s going to be a bonfire,” Willie went on. “It’s going to be so big, ships way out to sea will be able to spot it! And a bunch of brass bands, and Mama said we can go to the pier, and…”
Ves’s attention wandered. He’d never been to a Fourth of July parade or partaken of any sort of public celebration. He and Noct spent their years in Boston hiding in various apartments and boarding houses, their lives circumscribed by fear of discovery.
Everything was different now. They had a place to belong, friends, work…
He would never be comfortable in crowds, and Noct would never be able to walk the streets without causing a panic. But nothing in life was perfect, so far as he’d ever seen, and gods knew this was so much better than what had come before.
A loud pounding shook the front door, startling him out of his reverie.
“Sebastian! Ves! Get out here!” Irene shouted, her voice muffled by the thick wood.
Exchanging worried looks, they hurried to the front door, only to find Noct had beaten them there. “Darling? What’s the matter?”
“I was just heading out of town, going back to the estate, when I spotted Cousin Ambrose going into a bar. The Silver Key, in fact.” She seemed flustered, her driving hat askew. “I know for certain he was meant to be helping Basil with—it doesn’t matter, there isn’t time. The point is, we still haven’t found the traitor who’s talking to Lenore Rune, and now Ambrose is sneaking around.”
