“Murr-” Ms. Lewis started.
Rose’s rifle swung around. She slapped it against her left hand. At the butt end, her right thumb ran along the inscribed rune. The tip of the gun jerked, the aim correcting. Centered on Ms. Lewis’s heart. Rose’s eye looked down the sights.
With Conquest’s confidence surging through her, her hand didn’t waver. Her breathing came easily, as she exhaled slowly, simultaneously pulling the trigger.
“Answer-” Ms. Lewis continued.
Rose fired.
Ms. Lewis dropped.
“You still had bullets?” Alister exclaimed.
“Always save one bullet,” Rose said, and her voice sounded disconnected, even to her. “Rule of thumbs for diabolists. Goblin queens and scourges too.”
“Chronomancers would do well to hold to that rule as well,” Ainsley murmured, not taking her eye off Ms. Lewis. “There are horror stories, people caught in endless loops, or cornering themselves. Immortality is scary when you might outlive the sun.”
“Let’s say it’s a good rule for most,” Alister said. “Speaking of, was it- is she dead?”
Rose slowly shook her head.
Ms. Lewis arched her back a little, made a pained sound.
“What do we do?” Tiff asked.
Rose’s heartbeat was steady, not even agitated. A part of her might have stirred at seeing someone in abject pain, but that part of her was pushed down, far and away.
Her thoughts moved easily, without panic or fear. She pulled off the rifle and tossed it to Nick. “Nothing. There isn’t a lot we can do. When and if she gets up, shoot her again. In the meantime, just let me think.”
Ty spoke, “We can-”
“We can’t,” Rose cut him off. “I can guess what you’re going to say. Don’t say it. Trust me here.”
Her mind was turning over the situation, coldly, calmly, methodically.
They could gag Ms. Lewis, but another one of the lawyers would appear to resolve the situation, the moment it looked like Ms. Lewis no longer had it in hand. There was no guarantee they’d regain control of the situation if and when that happened.
If someone suggested the gag, and the lawyers realized she was stalling, putting off that option, they might simply cut to the chase.
The ‘chase’ being a measure of overwhelming force, brought to bear. Making an example of the diabolist bloodline that reneged on the deal, so all the others might know not to make the same mistake.
This wasn’t a new problem. She’d known for a long time that it might come to this. Blake had been focused on the problems now, the fighting, the wars. Rose had been looking to the future. Researching, hoping to find the answers needed, the key to making it through this.
What if she sacrificed Ty? Or Alexis? What if she gave up the house? What if she accepted the deal? Her thoughts moving all of the various permutations, like so many different sequences of chess moves.
Every new piece of information, every new person or person removed was a new factor to be considered.
Even just in the past hour, within the Library, her thoughts had been turning over the possibilities. What if a given opponent could be made an ally? Could she use their strengths?
So much of what she had done had been to buy time. Keep Blake at bay, because he was so very dangerous, and the time he cost her was just one of the dangers. She’d used the Barber to stall future attacks.
All to put off this moment, or one like it.
They had only a few moments. Minutes if they were lucky, seconds if they weren’t. Until the end of Ms. Lewis’ next sentence.
Rose had to find an answer before it was all over.
Conquest gave her a measure of control over the others. It kept things in their places.
Conquest gave her the ability to face this moment head on, to remain steady and unflinching, akin to how a mild tranquilizer might allow a sniper to keep themselves still.
“Where’s the witch hunter we left with you?” Rose asked.
“Didn’t want to get closer,” Peter said.
“Ellie, go get her,” Rose gave the order. “Leave Christoff. If you run into anyone, anything… if it’s hostile, whatever it is, tell them the diabolists are here. It’s open season.”
Best way to get them here. If things get that far, and if things get ugly, I can maybe point them at Lewis.
Ellie was staring. She finally managed to get the words out, a protest. “Why me?”
“You’re still here? Go!” Rose shouted, and she pushed some Conquest into her voice.
Ellie ran, heading over toward the city.
Ellie was a scrapper, she was fast, and above anyone else here, she could probably squirm her way out of a bad situation. Peter might have been better if that situation involved words, but Rose put better odds on Ellie surviving something like the manticore Rose’s contingent had run into earlier, or a gang of goblins. Ellie could beg. Ellie was most likely to listen.
Ellie was expendable.
Rose’s eye fell on the lawyer. Rose was certain she’d landed a bullet where the heart should have been, but the lawyer wasn’t dying. Hurt, but not dying.
The trick here was to balance things. If she tried for a solution, it had to be a good one, because it was very possible that the lawyers or a collection of underlings might simply appear. Better to set out the contingencies. To open the door for a little bit of hope.
If anyone or anything was waiting in the wings, watching, that someone or something would be happy to allow her that hope, then extinguish it.
This was only about buying time.
“Alister,” Rose said. “You got actual training in dealing with demons.”
“Which choirs do you want me to ward against?”
“All of them,” Rose said. “Tiff, Ty, Behaims, Jeremy, help him. Knights, watch Lewis.”
“What do I do?” Evan asked.
“You and Green Eyes be ready. When or if things get ugly, they’re going to get very ugly,” Rose said.
Alister started speaking, outlining what they needed to do, in terms of drawing diagrams.
“Given how fragile this area is, we protect against Ruin first,” Alister said. “Chaos second, madness third… Fractal grid, outward pointing. That covers the first and last. We need a crest for the center, for fending off chaos.”
“What sort of crest?” the High Priest asked.
“Against madness? I’d say the seal of solomon would work, but… that rules out too many other things,” Alister said. “We need to cover more bases, if there’s a possibility of other Choirs.”
He drew his deck out of his pocket, one-handed. He divided it into two halves, then merged the two halves, still with one hand, tapping it against his chest to get everything flush once again.
“Well?” Rose asked.
“We need a Lord,” Alister said. “Natural order. Animals serve man, man serves his king, and the king serve the gods. A good king, or a good lord, well, they serve order, they provide structure, and they serve man.”
“And a bad king?” Rose asked.
“Is worse than no king at all,” Alister said. “Thing is, it’s not even worth discussing. There is no Lord, and there’s no way we can officially declare one before the shit hits the fan.”
Ms. Lewis spoke, and every single pair of eyes and ears present turned her way. “Someone taught you.”
“Yeah,” Alister said.