Page 106 of Never a Hero

‘Really?’ Tom said, eyebrows going up. ‘That was a quick turnaround.’

‘It’s as she said.’ Aaron was back to haughty, a hand in his pocket. ‘She convinced me.’ In that magical way of his, he’d smoothed his hair and clothes to perfection. ‘She knew things about me that … Well, I believe her.’

Tom looked deeply suspicious, and Ruth more so. Even Jamie looked doubtful. Joan’s heart sank a little. But she couldn’t have had that conversation with Aaron in front of anyone else. It wouldn’t have been fair to him to make public the private things he’d only shared with her.

Nick was leaning against the wall by the open mouth of the door. His posture was apparently casual, but Joan had the feeling that he’d positioned himself strategically. He could have pushed into the room if needed. She swallowed. Had he been protecting her? His eyes were on Aaron, his expression unreadable.

George Griffith had vanished; Joan had insulted the man’s family power, she supposed. Apparently, he hadn’t stuck around to be insulted more.

Now, Ruth stepped closer to get a better look at Aaron’s face. ‘She convinced you?’ Her tone was heavy with scepticism. ‘Convinced you of what exactly?’

Aaron lifted his chin. ‘That I knew her once. That she knew me.’

‘That we were close,’ Joan said to Ruth. ‘That we once trusted each other.’ Ruth looked even more sceptical at that. ‘We all worked together last time,’ Joan said, looking around at them: Ruth, Tom, Jamie. She hesitated when she reached Nick, still standing against the wall.

Nick’s dark eyes met hers, and his mouth lifted wryly. They’d all worked together against him, and he knew that now. Joan swallowed. How long would it be before they truly were on opposite sides again?

Joan looked over his shoulder. There were more people around now: Hathaways and Lius dressed as Victorian sailors. They strolled in and out of the building—through the front door, and through a second one that had opened nearby, on the western side. It led directly onto the canal. Beyond the open door, a horse clip-clopped along the bank, tugging a laden barge. It was led by a man in a soft hat and suit that read to Joan as smart enough for a wedding but were probably considered workers’ clothes in this period.

Nick addressed Aaron. ‘I take it you have information?’

Aaron straightened, as if at Nick’s serious tone. Or maybe because Nick had cut to the point. It wasn’t only Aaron, though. Joan suppressed a shiver as she saw how they’d all unconsciously canted toward Nick as soon as he’d spoken. Joan was reminded again of a king of old.

And what was going to happen after they all stopped Eleanor? What would Nick do when their paths diverged, as he’d put it? Last time, he’d had followers; maybe this time, he’d raise an army against monsters.

Joan shook off the thought. They had to actually stop Eleanor first.

She turned to Aaron too. ‘You said you knew something that could help,’ she prompted.

Aaron dipped his head in acknowledgement. ‘Eleanor never spoke of her plans,’ he said. ‘But the senior guards and courtiers talked. I overheard things.’

‘What kinds of things?’

‘There were guards searching for you two,’ Aaron said, nodding at Joan and Nick. ‘But there were rumours of another tranche. Guards with different orders.’

The way he said it gave Joan a chill. ‘Different orders?’ And at the same time, she wondered again: Why? Why had Eleanor wanted Joan and Nick? Why had she made Nick into the hero? And Eleanor had held Nick for the last three weeks at Holland House. What had she done to him in that time?

Did I ruin your plans by unmaking him? Joan had asked Eleanor.

You inconvenienced me, but I’m resourceful, Eleanor had replied.

What had she meant by that?

Joan flicked a look at Nick now. His gaze was on the wider room—he was watching the Hathaways and the Lius, almost sizing them up. Joan would have bet anything he’d counted the number of people here and clocked all the doors and windows.

‘What orders did the other guards have?’ Jamie asked. He looked troubled.

‘I don’t know,’ Aaron said. ‘All of this was just rumour.’

‘Who is Eleanor?’ Joan murmured, half to herself. ‘I mean, I know she’s a member of the Curia Monstrorum, but who actually is she? She looked like she was in her early twenties. How did she get so much power so young?’ And how had she known Joan in the original timeline?

‘I don’t think anyone knows,’ Aaron said. ‘Members of the Curia Monstrorum have to revoke all ties to their family when they join the Court.’ He hesitated. ‘She seemed like a Nightingale, though.’ This was directed at Joan, and she understood what he meant—he’d been close enough to see Eleanor’s eyes. To see that she’d had the Nightingale power.

‘I suppose that makes sense,’ Jamie said. ‘We know that Conrad was once a Nightingale, and people say that he and Eleanor are siblings.’

‘I can’t help but notice,’ Ruth interrupted, ‘that nothing Aaron’s said has been useful. Lots of rumours and I don’t knows.’

‘Ruth,’ Joan said.

---