Rise of the Darklings (29 page)

Sebastian sighed. “We must find the key before they do. It is as simple as that. We will have to call all our operatives in to discuss this clue of yours.”

Emily straightened in her chair. “Does that mean Ravenhill will come here?”

“I’m afraid so. Most of us see him as something of a fanatic, but he has his supporters. You see, when Ravenhill joined, the Order was not much more than a gentleman’s club. We all thought the worst was over, that things has quieted down. But Ravenhill didn’t believe it. He started the patrols again, insisted on keeping the Order staffed. A very unpleasant man, devoted to science. But it seems that he was right.”

Emily sat back, lost in her own thoughts. Before she had entered Somerset House, Emily had wondered what to do. She’d thought about running, taking William away from the city. But after hearing Sebastian, she knew the Queen would never let her go. If she thought Emily held knowledge about the key, she would send the Dark Man after her. Emily knew there would be no escape.

Which only left her with two options: She could find the key and force the Queen to go back to Faerie. The trouble was, she had no idea how to accomplish that. Or secondly, she could find the key and destroy it. With the key gone, there would be no reason for the Queen to chase Emily. Oh, there was always the possibility she would want revenge, but that was something Emily would deal with later on.

Either way, she had to make sure she found the key first.

Sebastian was staring into the fire, lost in thought. Emily cleared her throat.

“Is it really safe here?” she asked. “The Queen said it was the one place in London where the fey couldn’t come.”

Sebastian blinked. “Hmm? Oh. Yes, it’s safe. After the fire, Christopher Wren rebuilt the Society to be a haven for those in the fight against the fey. He rebuilt much of London, actually. St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of his. The man was a genius. He held the Order together, you know. After he died was when everything sort of … fell apart.”

Sebastian stood up. “You’ll have to excuse me,” he said. “I must get word to the others. I have a feeling the fey will be abroad tonight, and we need to figure out this clue of yours before they do.”

He hurried out through the door. Emily waited a moment to make sure he wasn’t coming back, then turned to Jack and William. William was drowsing in a chair by the fire, crumbs all over his clothes. She gestured for Jack to move out of earshot.

“You’ve got that look about you,” said Jack. “You’re planning something.”

“I don’t think the Queen is going to leave us alone,” said Emily.

“No. Not if everything Sebastian said is true.”

“That means I need to find the key before she does. I need to destroy it, or use it to force her back to Faerie.”

“We.
We
need to find this key. You’re not alone here, Snow.”

“It’s going to be dangerous.”

Jack shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me, I’m—”

“Spring-Heeled Jack, I know, I know.”

“What about Will?”

Emily shook her head. “I can’t take him with us. It’s too risky.”

“He’s not going to like that.”

“I’ll deal with him. Wait outside for me. And don’t steal anything!”

Jack grinned and slipped through the door. Emily crossed the room, pausing by Sebastian’s desk and picking up a small letter opener. She could use it as a weapon if she needed to. She tucked it away in her coat pocket, then knelt down before her brother. “William?”

William reluctantly opened his eyes. “Mmm …?”

“William, I have to go—”

William’s eyes snapped open in alarm.

“Don’t panic. I’ll be back. I’m just going to get our stuff from our rooms,” she lied. “You’ll be safe here. The fey can’t enter the building. Too much iron.”

William struggled to sit upright. “I’ll come with you.”

“No. You stay here. I’ll be fine.”

Emily saw the look of doubt on her brother’s face. She knew what he was thinking. He wanted to make sure she was safe. It almost made her smile, but she knew that would
only annoy him. “Jack’s with me, remember? He’ll make sure nothing happens.”

William stifled a yawn. “I should help.”

Emily firmly shook her head. “You can barely keep your eyes open. I need you alert if you want to help. Have a nap. I’ll wake you when we get back. Please,” she said when she saw he was about to argue. “We won’t be long. Do this for me, William.”

William stared at her, then sighed. “Promise you’ll come back?”

“Of course I’ll come back. I rescued you from the Faerie Queen, didn’t I? How many little brothers can say that?”

William smiled. Emily leaned forward and ruffled his hair. “See you soon.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-TWO

E
mily and Jack left Somerset House by the front door this time. Emily did take one detour, however. Just before they stepped outside, she slipped into one of the rooms that opened off from the large entrance hall. The room was stuffy, filled with chairs and small tables covered in newspapers. Probably some kind of smoking room, thought Emily.

She undid the latch on one of the windows and pushed it up so that it was slightly ajar. Now when she came back to fetch William, she wouldn’t have to mess about around the back of the building. She could simply slip in through the front window.

Proud of this show of foresight, Emily rejoined Jack in the entrance hall, and they stepped out into the cold night.

The fog was even thicker now. It enfolded Emily in a claustrophobic embrace, tendrils of dampness brushing against her face like the chill fingers of the dead. Her world was reduced to an eerie, muffled circle of pale yellow-gray. Her brief, tiny burst of confidence slipped away, leeched out of her by the horrid weather.

She turned to look for Jack, but there was no sign of him. “Jack?” she whispered.

“I’m here.” His muffled voice came from a step or so behind her. She waited until she could see his shadowy form, then reached out and grabbed hold of his sleeve.

They crossed the large square in front of Somerset House. The fog was so thick Emily was unable to see the gas lamps until she was right on top of them, and even then they were just hazy, yellow shapes materializing out of the air, like floating balls of dim light.

It had been strange listening to Sebastian tell the true history of the Invisible Order. Ever since meeting Corrigan, Emily had thought of the Order as some evil, ghastly group of men trying to hunt down and kill the poor, innocent fey. Now she found out that it was actually the fey who were bad, and the Order was actually trying to save people.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She was sure there were some fey who were perfectly nice, just as there were some members of the Order who were perfectly horrible. If she’d
learned one thing from all of this, it was to make up her own mind when judging people and not simply listen to what others had to say.

Someone shouted in the distance, the sound muffled by the fog. The sharp
clip-clop
of a horse’s hooves echoed around her, accompanied by the creaking trundle of wooden wheels. The sounds grew louder, then faded away again as the horse and cart passed invisibly in front of her.

Emily wasn’t sure where they should go. If she was to find the key, she had to figure out what the riddle meant. And she needed to be somewhere safe to do that. The offices of the Order might have been ideal, if it weren’t for the fact that Ravenhill would be there. She’d never be able to concentrate with him close by.

Where would she be safe? She couldn’t go home. Mrs. Hobbs would have cleaned up the room by now, which meant it would be filled with people snoring and making noises.

She gazed around, at a loss. The fog before her swirled oddly, forming spirals and tendrils that turned in upon themselves, almost as though a gust of wind had cut through the thick vapor. But she hadn’t felt any wind.

That was when she realized she was no longer holding on to Jack’s sleeve. She must have let go while she was thinking about what to do.

“Jack?” she whispered. No answer.

And then she smelled it. The murky, brackish smell of stagnant water.

“Well, well,” said an invisible voice. “Look who we have ‘ere, Jenny Greenteeth. I do believe it’s our troublesome friend, Miss Snow. Out on her lonesome.”

“Not a clever move, Black Annis,” said another voice.

“No, Jenny. Not a clever move at all. In fact, I’d say it was a very silly move.”

The ghastly face of the old, wrinkled woman lunged at Emily out of the fog. Black water dribbled from her mouth. “Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Snow?”

Emily screamed, then turned and ran. She heard the loud cackle of the one called Black Annis behind her.

“Ooh, she’s runnin’ away, Jenny. I do like it when they run. Gives the old bones a bit of exercise.”

“Jack!” she screamed. “Jack, where are you?”

Black Annis suddenly appeared right in front of Emily. “Boo,” she said.

Emily veered to the side and ran again. She couldn’t see where she was going, but she kept moving anyway. Where was Jack? Did they already have him? She needed to get back across the square to Somerset House. If she could just get inside, she would be safe.

Something clammy touched Emily’s arm. She looked
down and saw a strand of seaweed hanging over her wrist. Laughter echoed from close by.

They’re toying with me
, she realized. There was no way she would make it to safety. They would have her before she could even get close to Somerset House.

Emily stopped and tried to get her bearings. She was somewhere in the large square outside the building, but the swirling fog cut off all sense of direction. She took a deep breath, then shouted at the top of her voice.

“Jack!” She let out a frightened yelp when a voice seemed to answer, right by her ear.

“We’ve got your little Jack, poppet. There’s no one to help you now.” Emily whirled around, searching frantically through the fog. The voice hissed in her other ear. “Jenny Greenteeth’s going to eat your face.”

Emily darted around. Again, she saw nothing. She sobbed with frustration, then turned and ran blindly from the voices.

By sheer luck she ran in the right direction. The steps leading up to the door of Somerset House materialized out of the fog, and she ran straight toward them.

Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth slid into view at the bottom of the stairs. Emily skidded to a stop. Jenny held Jack by the back of the neck. He struggled in her grasp, but Jenny only tightened her fingers, her dirty claws digging into his skin. He stopped moving.

“Well, this has been a lark, and no mistake. Ain’t that right, Jenny?”

Jenny just stared at Emily, hunger plain in her dark eyes.

Emily reached into her pocket and took out the letter opener she had picked up from Sebastian’s desk. She held it out before her, hoping her hand wouldn’t tremble.