“After he went for Green Eyes, then?” Paige suggested. “I know you weren’t watching him then, because the light was going out and you were helping the vestiges hold the line.”
“Uh,” Evan said. “Not then.”
“I saw him,” Green Eyes said.
“You’re suspect too,” Paige said.
Mags was already shaking her head. “I was watching. They’re clear.”
For all the suspicion she’d just displayed, Paige looked genuinely relieved.
“He did get cut,” Peter said. “But nothing came of it.”
More eyes turned my way. This time, it was less about looking at my expression, more about taking me in as a whole.
“Is Rose going to want that body back when you’re done with it?” Mags commented.
I shook my head a little. “I don’t know.”
“Just saying. I’d be more than little bit offended if someone borrowed my body and left it like that,” Mags said.
“She’s not protesting,” I said. “She was there, she saw the judgment calls, she didn’t say no.”
“One of those calls was getting hurt to save my life,” Peter said. “Thanks again, by the by.”
That statement was followed by a silence. Us breathing, momentarily relieved.
Paige, apparently, had a different interpretation. “Why the hell did you go and do something stupid like that?”
A joke. Not enough to elicit laughter, but a few people smiled.
“Screw you,” Peter said, and there was no anger in it. “I’d do it a hundred times over.”
I turned my eyes away from the group, assessing the situation.
The tower’s lobby was ornate, but things had broken and fallen, throughout. Architecture had crumbled, but it wasn’t the sort of crumbling that came with age. There was a pattern to it. More as though the Barber had altered the surroundings, and in the process, hadn’t gone out of its way to keep things intact. Twist the building, stretch it a little taller, and the hooks that held pictures to the walls simply dropped free. Minor supports and screws had fallen loose, but Johannes’ power over his territory seemed to be keeping things intact, and that was all the Barber needed. Stone stairs led up and around, past walls, leading to higher floors, but even those stairs were a little worse for wear.
Ruin was part and parcel of the demon, it seemed, even as it tried to hold things together.
But, above all else, what I noted was that the building was empty. There were no wretches, no others, and no blades.
Almost eerie.
“We learned something,” Lola said.
“Demons suck,” Evan chimed in. “Demons with a dem-whatsit suck more. I’m too tired to pronounce stuff.”
“We learned several things,” Lola clarified. “You were right to bring Peter, Rose.”
“I’m Blake,” I said.
“And I’m assuming Rose is still there and she’s listening,” Lola said, very patiently. “There’s a lot we can learn from what someone doesn’t say. What they don’t do. This is Duchamp manipulation one-oh-one here. He attacked us last.”
“What does it mean?” Paige asked.
“The way the blades appeared, targeting us last, it’s very basic rules for exercising force. It’s how you do enchantments on stuff that’s resisting you. Establish a perimeter, establish a precedent for influence, then exercise it. He couldn’t use the blades to attack us until he’d used them elsewhere. Peter was one of the last ones he attacked.”
“He’s weaker than he appears?” I asked.
“No,” Lola said. Then she amended her answer, “Not quite. Johannes is probably in there, resisting. Enforcing one’s will on others is another thing common to enchantment. Even the strongest individuals don’t tend to hold out long. It won’t be long before the Barber has absolute control.”
“Oh, this is my chance to be sarcastic, right, since you guys can’t?” Peter asked. “That’s encouraging.”
Lola winced, touching her head. “Thanks.”
“Never a problem.”
“I’m pretty fricking surprised there aren’t more threats inside,” Mags said, looking around. “No blades, no Others. I was expecting a bigger confrontation right here. Why? What does this mean?”
Lola shook her head. “Don’t know.”
“I have suspicions,” I said. “I can share them on the way up. We can’t waste time. Mags, Green Eyes, Peter and Paige, with me.”
There were some nods.
“Evan and the vestiges need to stay,” I said. I met Evan’s eyes, and forestalled his protest. “Really. Stay.”
“Getting left out,” he pouted.
“You’re getting an important job,” I told him.
“Yeah, that’s what they always say in the movies and junk. They give the kid a kitsch role to shove him into the background. Sorry, nope, I don’t buy it. You’re telling the truth, because you have to, but you’re also fibbing.”
“Evan-”
“Nope! At least have the decency to tell me straight to my face. I’m done. Played my role.”
I turned to the others.
“Ainsley, Lola,” I said. “Since you’re not very mobile, I’m asking you to stay with them and help.”
“What are we doing?” Ainsley asked.
“If we don’t make it. If the connections break and you’re certain we’re not here anymore, hit the building. Tear it down, burn it down, I don’t know. But topple the damn tower.”
“The building?” one of the vestiges asked.
“Tall order,” Lola said. She paused. “That’s not supposed to be a joke. It’s an object in his demesne, and we’re not exactly equipped for knocking over buildings.”
“It’s his seat of power. Just like Conquest’s was, in Toronto. He’s using it to do something involving those portals that Faysal is opening. Maybe we can meet ruin with ruin. It might delay him, at the very least. We’re leaving you behind. Cover our backs and figure out a way to do it. The vestiges know the way things are put together, and they’re fast. Evan is…”
“Awesome,” Evan said, a little sullenly.
“And he’s a container for whatever spirit you can give him,” I said.
“Okay,” Lola said. “Not sure how much we can do. I’m having trouble seeing straight.”
“Evan and the kids here are your eyes and hands,” I said.
She set her lips into a firm line, then nodded.
“We got this,” Ainsley said, and the lack of strength in her voice didn’t do anything to inspire confidence.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Probably not, but nothing to do with how I feel now,” she said. She winced. “Ribs, nothing more. Kind of screws up my ability to do anything and everything that matters.”
“And your candle?”
“I can put it back together. I spent everything I’d stored for my own use, there, but I’m not useless.”
“Okay,” I said.
Okay.
It took me a bit of courage to convince myself to say it. “Thanks for helping us get this far. We’ll be counting on you guys.”
Evan gave me a one-wing salute, wing to forehead.
I did the same with the Hyena.