Rowan sighed. “His usual. A black leather jacket, jeans.”
Emma tried to recall what Jonah was wearing that night. “I don’t remember him wearing a jacket in the gazebo. Did you see his face?”
“He wore a ski mask.”
“So you didn’t see his face,” she said, trying to ignore the voice that said, Jonah wore a ski mask the night your father died.
Rowan rolled his eyes and ticked his arguments off on his fingers. “Use your head, Emma. It was Jonah. He was resistant to conjury, extremely strong and quick, and had leather gloves on his hands. Can you think of anyone else who fits that description?”
“He was wearing gloves?”
Rowan nodded.
“Did he say anything?”
Rowan shook his head. “I guess he did all his talking back at the gazebo. If you’ll recall, he said he was going to kill me, and so that’s what he tried to do. Simple as that. He would have succeeded, but we got interrupted. I heard somebody crashing through the brush, calling Jonah’s name.”
“Calling Jonah’s name?”
Rowan nodded. “I think it might have been Madison Moss’s little sister. Kinlock stabbed me again, through my rib cage, then took off running. I don’t remember much more. I was pretty weak from loss of blood by then, and I must have fainted. That’s the last I remember until I woke up in the hospital.” He paused, then added, as if exasperated, “Don’t you want your father’s killer brought to justice?”
“You were the one who burned up the bodies and destroyed all the evidence at the house.”
“Look, neither of us wanted to bring in the police. That’s not the way it works in our world. Why would we want to answer to Anaweir authorities? This way, justice is served, and we’re not implicated.”
“Unless Jonah is innocent.”
“I was there, remember? Remember what you said? You’re going to kill him, just like you killed my father.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Emma mumbled.
“He confessed to you, didn’t he?”
“Not exactly,” Emma said. “He doesn’t remember.”
“Oh, right. It’s an epidemic of amnesia.” Rowan gave her a pitying look. “Think about it, Emma. You’ve left a trail of death behind you. Your grandfather was murdered, your father was murdered, and now, once again, you’re on hand for another series of killings, and this time you’re covered in blood. Who has the criminal record? Who’s the most obvious suspect? Not Jonah Kinlock. You. Do you really want to—what’s the word—take the fall for him? Do you?”
Emma thought of Ross Childers, how kind he had been. And wondered how he would react once he knew her history and heard what Rowan had to say.
“I want to be left alone,” Emma said, through gritted teeth. “I want to build guitars and forget about all this. I don’t know how I ended up stuck in the middle.” But a voice inside her head whispered, Your mother was the cause of the Thorn Hill Massacre. Maybe you are right where you deserve to be.
“I wanted to be left alone, too,” Rowan said. “I never intended to go into the family business. And then someone murdered my father, and now someone’s murdered my sister, and it seems clear to me that someone is going to keep on murdering until I put a stop to it. And I intend to—with or without you. You need to decide which it’s going to be.”
“I don’t get it,” Emma said. “Do you or don’t you think I’m guilty? And if you do think I’m guilty, why would you let me off the hook?”
Rowan thought about this for longer than Emma expected, a muscle working in his jaw. Finally, he said, “Have you ever heard the saying about people in glass houses?” He turned his phone in his hands, over and over, avoiding her eyes. “Maybe it’s a little of that. Maybe I think you’ve gotten a raw deal, and I owe you one.”
“What’s going to keep the police from blaming me anyway?” Emma said. “It’s like you said: I’m the one with the criminal record. It would be my word against Jonah’s.”
“No,” Rowan said, “it would be our word against his. That’s why I need your support. Like I said, I don’t intend to take this to the Anaweir authorities. I have no interest in seeing Kinlock twist a jury around his finger. This is better handled by the Interguild Council. They know the history. They’re better able to analyze the risk and determine how the situation should be handled. That’s who I have to convince.”
Whatever happens, it’s a disaster, Emma thought. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the real police or a group of magical vigilantes. When they find out about Jonah’s “gift” he’ll get the blame for every suspicious death in the whole state.
“Well?” Rowan asked, as if he didn’t want her to think on it too long.
“I just can’t believe that Jonah Kinlock would kill a twelve-year-old girl,” Emma said. “He—he has a younger brother that he’s crazy about, just a little older than Grace was. He had a little sister who died at Thorn Hill.”
“Don’t be naive,” Rowan snapped. “What better reason for Kinlock to target the guilds? Many of the labrats still believe that wizards somehow caused the disaster. Revenge is a powerful motivation, especially for someone with nothing to lose.” He leaned forward. “This is a pivotal time. Somehow we have to have a reconciliation process if we’re to put all this history behind us and go forward. We have to stop the killing. Otherwise, there will never be peace among the Weirguilds. It’s time the Interguild Council decides how it’s going to handle disputes and criminal cases now that the Rules of Engagement no longer apply. Now that wizards are no longer settling disputes. We’ll see how they do.”
“Why talk to me?” she said finally. “Why didn’t you just go straight to the council with this?”
He took a quick breath. “If you help me, I think I can make sure that you’re not implicated.”
A ping of warning sounded in Emma’s head. “What do you mean? Help you how? What would I have to do?”
“You’ll have to testify before the council in support of my account.”
“You want me to lie.”
“No. I’m asking you to use your common sense and see justice done. Tell them what happened in the gazebo, what Kinlock said and did. Tell them what happened the night your father was killed. That’s all.” He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
“What about the part where you tried to drag me off and Jonah stopped you?”
“What is wrong with you?” Rowan growled. “I’m trying to help you. Your cooperation sends a strong signal that you were not involved in all this, and it makes it less likely you’ll change your story later. I need to make a good case in order to convince Burroughs and Hackleford to align with me. They are still scheming to hang it on Madison Moss and her friends.”
“While you’re scheming to hang it on Jonah and the other Thorn Hill survivors.”
“That’s not a problem if they’re guilty,” Rowan said.
No matter how much hand waving you do, Emma thought, you’re still asking me to lie. She thought of what he’d said at the beginning—that he wanted her to make an informed decision. What else did she need to know?
“What will they do to him? If they decide he’s guilty?”
Rowan’s tawny eyes met hers, flat and hard as agates. “I know how it would have been handled in the past,” he said.
“You’re going to kill him,” Emma said flatly. “Do you have a plan for that?”
“If the council elects to proceed against him, you’ll persuade Jonah to come to Trinity so he can be...” Here he stumbled a bit. “So he can be taken into custody.”
“You want me to lead him into a trap?”
“Kinlock has shown how dangerous he can be. Remember, he took down seven wizards at once at your father’s house. I’d like to handle this with as little bloodshed as possible.”
Good luck with that, Emma thought. “What a
bout the others? At the Anchorage, I mean?”
“That remains to be seen,” Rowan said, “depending on what the evidence shows about their involvement. As I said, it stands to reason that Mandrake is involved in some way.”
“What about after? Do I just disappear?”
“I know you’re worried about where you’ll end up when this is all over. That won’t be a problem. I have considerable resources—I can offer you protection and a place to settle. I can hire tutors, send you to a private school, or set you up in business if that’s what you want.”
“Why would you do that?” Emma blurted.
“You’ll be taking a risk,” Rowan said. “If Kinlock and the others find out what you’re doing, you’ll be a target. Anyway, I don’t have a family. Not anymore. I don’t have anyone else to spend it on.”
“What—you’re going to adopt me?” Emma rolled her eyes. “Anyone who looked at us could tell we don’t belong together.”
“You’re welcome to decline my help if you don’t want it,” he said stiffly. “I just wanted you to know what’s on the table.” He pulled out his phone, scanning the screen as if the conversation was almost over.
Rowan DeVries was smart—smart enough to figure out what Emma really wanted. More than anything, she wished none of this had ever happened. If not that, then she wished that she could forget about all this and build guitars.
What was the argument Jonah had used to persuade her to stay on at the Anchorage? Self-interest. Act in your self-interest. If she had any sense, there was no question which way to go. She could share the blame for murders she didn’t commit. Or she could leave all this behind and start a new life, doing what she was meant to do. And put all this trouble in the place where the bad dreams go.
But bad dreams have a habit of coming back to haunt you. And maybe Rowan DeVries wasn’t as smart as he thought he was.
She needed to warn Jonah. And that meant she had to persuade DeVries to let her go.
“All right,” she said, avoiding his eyes. “I’ll speak to the council. I’ll testify.”
“Good,” Rowan said, gripping her hands, sending a bit of a buzz through her. “You’re doing the right thing.” Letting go of her hands, Rowan continued, his voice brisk and businesslike. “I’ve scheduled a closed hearing in Trinity for Saturday. It’s best if you stay here until then—that’s the safest option.” It was like he was trying to rush through that part, so maybe she wouldn’t notice.
“No, thanks,” Emma said. She stood. “Can I go now?”
Rowan growled in frustration. “Not a good idea. If Kinlock gets wind of what you’re planning, you’ll be in real danger.”
“I’m not stupid,” Emma said. “I know how to take care of myself. And if you have any plans to hold me prisoner until the hearing, the deal’s off. If you keep me here against my will, there’s no telling what I’ll say when I get in front of the council.”
“Please, Emma,” Rowan said. “If you see him—if you even talk to him, it could ruin everything. This is someone who can charm the skin right off your bones.”
“Are y’all finished?” Emma said, trying to project more confidence than she was feeling. “I’ve got places to be.”
“Fine!” Rowan stood himself. “Just remember—it goes forward with or without you. And if you’re thinking of running, I suggest you think again. Like I said, you’re not very good at covering your tracks.”
Maybe, Emma thought, I just need a little more practice.
“Are you sure it’s even safe to go in there?” Alison asked, as she geared up for the planned ambush of Lilith Greaves. “From the outside, it looks like a dump. It might collapse while you’re in there.”
That’s the least of my worries, Jonah thought.
“Couldn’t you have planned this meeting for, say, a coffee shop?” Mike said. “There’s a great one down on West—”
“It has to be on neutral ground,” Jonah said. He knew they were trying to relieve the tension of the moment, but he was not at all in the mood for jokes. Especially since he had a whole different set of reasons to be tense. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want people gawking at us when the knives come out. I don’t want to have to explain to Cleveland’s finest that the person I’m murdering is already dead. Last time I saw Lilith, she was hosted, and she looked pretty much like anybody else.”
“Really? When did you two get together?” Alison asked, strapping a quiver of shivs over her chest. “When we saw her at the bridge, she wasn’t hosted.”
The question caught Jonah by surprise, as it was intended to. It took him a minute to find his footing. “It must’ve been that time the two of us met for breakfast at the Pancake Palace,” he said. “Or was it the weekend in Chicago?” He paused, and when Alison opened her mouth to press him, he hurried on. “The point is, I don’t know if she’ll come hosted or not. If she’s wearing a body, people might start asking questions when I hack her to pieces.”
Gabriel didn’t seem to notice the slip. He studied him critically. “What are you bringing in the way of weapons?” He looked over Jonah’s shoulder, at the place usually occupied by Fragarach’s massive hilt.
“I can’t very well bring a sword to a peace parley,” Jonah said. “That would send the wrong message.” Accessing multiple hidden sheaths in his coat and jeans, he displayed an array of cutting blades, hatchets, and shivs, all of them perfectly hidden when he stowed them back away. “Two of these are giveaways. They’ll find them when they search me. The others, hopefully not.”
Gabriel nodded, his eyes still searching Jonah’s face. Jonah’s mentor wore jeans and a heavy sweater, with a fleece-lined leather bomber jacket over top. He looked more haggard than usual, his eyes muddy with fatigue. Or maybe cluttered with secrets.
“I appreciate your volunteering for this, Jonah,” he said. “I know it’s difficult for you. I hope you realize now that we have no other choice.”
Jonah nodded, not meeting Gabriel’s eyes.
“I’d like this better if we could be hiding inside,” Alison said. “Too many things can go wrong with this plan, and we’ll be too far away to get there in time.”
“If you wanted to do that, you should’ve moved in three days ago,” Jonah said. “If we’re already watching the building, we can assume that they are, too.”
“You’re giving them an awful lot of credit,” Alison said.
“It’s better to overestimate your opponents than to underestimate them.”
“We’d better get moving,” Charlie said. “We’re supposed to be in place in half an hour.”
They took the familiar path down into the Flats. Thérèse waited at the foot of the hill, her cheeks pinked up with excitement and cold. Mike, Charlie, Silkie—there were a dozen of them in all, not counting Gabriel.
It was peculiar, having Gabriel along. Though Gabriel had been intimately involved in the establishment and training of Nightshade operatives, Jonah couldn’t remember that he’d ever come along on a riff.
Let’s see how you like it, Jonah thought.
When they reached their preplanned staging area, Jonah said, “Everybody know where they’re going?” They all nodded. Just to make sure, Jonah said, “Lilith’s shades will be lined up along the same perimeter to keep us honest. They’ll be watching to see who goes into the building. They’re not to be harmed—that’s the agreement. Nobody uses this as an opportunity to build their kill count. Everybody get that?”
Heads nodded all around.
“Once the others are in place, Thérèse and Charlie will search the area around the terminal, and make sure there’s no hidden ambush, it’s not wired up with explosives, etc. Once the area is cleared, you’ll keep watch to make sure it stays that way. Any activity we should know about, anybody tries to approach the building, you’ll hit the alarm.”
“What if there’s a full
-scale assault?” Thérèse asked.
“That building is built of stone, and the walls are a foot thick. I think it will hold up long enough to prevent a surprise attack.” Jonah turned to Gabriel. “When we get to the door, I’ll go inside to clear the building. Then we’ll wait inside for Lilith.”
“What about snipers?” Charlie asked. “Is there any chance of that?”
“I’ve been over this area four different times. If you all are in your places, I don’t think there’s anyplace somebody can get a clear shot without your seeing them.”
“Besides, their armament is pretty limited,” Alison said contemptuously. “You can only throw a hatchet so far.”
“Charlie has a good point, though,” Jonah said. “We’re a lot easier to kill than hosted shades. One good shot, and Gabriel or I go down. Fill a hosted shade full of holes, and the shade goes hunting for a new host.” He looked around the circle, meeting everyone’s eyes. “That’s why it’s so important that nobody gets trigger-happy and tries to claim the riff early. It’s unlikely to kill Lilith. All it will do is spook her, and this chance will be gone forever.”
“I don’t like it,” Thérèse said. “It seems like we’re taking all the risks.”
“That’s why we get paid the big bucks,” Jonah said. “Anyway, the status quo is unacceptable, at least for me. The trickiest part is after. When Gabriel and I come out of the building without Lilith, things could get ugly real fast. Give us some cover, and let’s all of us get out. Don’t hang around, hoping to put a few more notches in your belt. The numbers don’t work in our favor. We also need to anticipate the possibility of retaliatory attacks on the Anchorage. They’ve had access to inside information, since some of our alumni have crossed over. They know what our vulnerabilities are.”
Jonah could feel the pressure of Gabriel’s gaze on him.
“Any questions?” There were none, so Jonah said, “Let’s do it.”
The others scattered to go to their assigned stations, leaving Gabriel and Jonah alone.
“The adrenaline really kicks in, doesn’t it,” Gabriel said, looking around. “I don’t know why I haven’t gone out with you before.”