My legs tremble as Marcus guides down the stairs. Each step feels like a monuntal effort, and I'm acutely aware of the sweat beading on my upper lip and hairline. The living room cos into view, and I'm taken aback by the sight of Magister Orion pacing in silence, his usual booming presence subdued.
Vanessa's concerned gaze ets mine as we enter and she cos over to help Marcus lead into a nearby chair.
I sink into it gratefully, my body feeling like it's made of lead.
"Thanks," I manage, offering Vanessa a weak smile. The room seems to spin slightly, and I have to focus to keep my vision steady. "What's going on?"
Magister Orion halts his pacing, his eyes locking onto mine. The gravity in his expression sends a chill down my spine before he even speaks.
"Florice has been murdered."
The words hang in the air, and for a mont, I can't process them. Then reality crashes in, and I feel the blood drain from my face.
"What?" I exclaim, my voice cracking. "How? When?"
More suspicious timing. More odd events. And we're still in the dark, with no idea who is behind any of this.
It's not a coincidence.
Florice was coming to us with information; whatever she found ant sothing. But the knowledge is now lost to us.
Magister Orion's complexion is ashen, worry etched into every line of his face. He opens his mouth to respond, but Vanessa cuts in.
"It's not safe here," she says, her voice tight with strain. "We need to consider our options. Whoever didn't want Florice spilling their secrets might know she was coming to you, Magister."
Marcus clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "There's more," he says grimly. "Ava received a phone call earlier. Soone pretending to be from Westwood, begging her to co back before everyone's slaughtered."
Magister Orion's frown deepens. Suddenly, he bellows, "Tinker!"
I jump at the sudden volu, my nerves already frayed. To my surprise, Tinker appears almost instantly, her chanical wings whirring softly. I realize I haven't seen her since we first arrived, and her presence is oddly comforting.
"Yes, Magister?" Tinker asks, her lilac eyes darting between all of us.
Magister Orion gestures to Marcus. "Explain it, the telephonic connection Ava received."
Any other ti, I might have found amusent in Magister Orion's formal way of describing a phone call. But right now I can barely focus on the conversation.
Marcus recounts the details of the call, and Tinker listens intently, her expression growing more perplexed with each word.
"Did it sound like when Magister Orion speaks?" Tinker asks, turning to .
I shake my head. "No, not at all. When he called, it was robotic and ominous. This person was a woman, whispering. It sounded like she was afraid."
Tinker's eyes widen. "That's surprising. No one in the Fae Ward uses a normal telephone like you do. The magical wards interfere with the signals, causing them to break down over ti."
I stare at her blankly, my exhausted brain struggling to process this new information. "Wait, what? When were you going to ntion that could happen?"
Tinker has the grace to look sheepish. "I apologize. We assud you knew. It's common knowledge here in the Fae Ward."
I lean back in my chair, feeling overwheld. "Is it possible for them to call us without sounding like Magister Orion did?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I created the technology, but it isn't impossible for soone to doctor it."
"Or for soone to get a cell phone and bring it into the city for this purpose," Vanessa says.
Both are viable scenarios. "It could be a vampire living among humans," Marcus points out.
Exasperated, I say what we're all thinking. "There's no way to know who it is, then. It could be almost anyone."
"But it's unlikely to be soone from our pack." Vanessa squeezes my shoulder. "At least we've ruled that out."
Okay, so anyone in the world except a Westwood wolf.
Magister Orion strokes his beard, his eyes distant. "We're dealing with forces beyond our usual understanding. Florice is murdered, and soone tries to get you away from and the safety you have here. There's a clear connection, but we don't know their motive."
I want to ask what we do next, but a glance at Marcus and Vanessa tell how stressed they are. They're on edge, Marcus standing on the balls of his feet as though ready to jump into action. Vanessa's so tense her fingers dig into my shoulder despite her attempt at soothing my anxiety.
This isn't the ti for to be dependent on them. I need to think things through, be a leader.
"We know that I'm in danger, and that Florice learned sothing important. They didn't want that information getting to Magister Orion." I et my teacher's eyes. "That ans you're an obstacle to whoever's orchestrating this madness. Sohow, you would get in their way. Why? How?
Who are your enemies?"
He frowns. "A loaded question. I have been a thorn in the side of many, as I've always advocated on behalf of humans. I'm sure you've noticed that there are few of them in the city."
"I haven't seen the city, only so of the Fae Ward. Sister Miriam took us directly here from one of her… buildings." A vague idea stirs in the back of my brain, but it's little more than a feeling.
"Ah. Yes, well, the Dakota Sanctuary is not kind to humans or any wolf with a pack. Rogue wolves are welco, to an extent. Most of them are in the Third Ward, which is little more than a slum. Most humans in the city are here on business, and are found in the Second Ward, where most businesses are located. Many people dislike allowing humans entry at all." He grimaces.
"The few with access rights are usually wiped on exit."
"Wiped?" My eyes widen. "Murdered?"
"What?" Magister Orion shakes his head. "No, of course not. mory wipes. Most people believe that if humans know too much about our city, they'll press us to assimilate under your laws, forcing us all to register and be governed by your leaders."
"Oh." My shoulders relax. Wiping mories sounds drastic, but a lot less terrible than murdering any human who enters the city. "Is that why nobody knows anything about you guys?"
"Most assuredly. We keep to ourselves, asking only to be left alone by your governnt and people. It wasn't always that way, of course, but once supernatural existence beca regulated, things changed. Not all of us reacted well to the overreach of human governnt."
"I heard about vampires growing up, but I thought they were little more than stories," I admit. "A bogeyman the others would use to scare kids."
"Yes, that happens when you segregate your society as we have." Magister Orion smiles. "While so vampires and other-shifters have co to embrace life among your lot in their Supernatural Communities, accepting the overreach of your overlord, most do not."
"We call him our president," Vanessa corrects, leaning forward as she listens. "We were taught that the Unregistered cities ca about because vampires refused to accept the Human Survival Rights, not wanting to give up their victims."
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