The Key to Starveldt (21 page)

‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.

A thundercloud crossed Harper’s face. ‘Don’t, I said!’

‘What?’

‘Blame yourself. Paige, none of this is your fault. If one of us owes the other an apology, it’s me – I was the one who let it happen, I was so
stupid
–’

‘Harper –’

‘But even then,’ he went on, ‘even then, it’s not my fault. I’ll feel guilty forever. But it wasn’t my fault, and it sure as hell isn’t yours. Don’t carry it anymore.’

His voice was ragged with grief, bile, sleep. His face was ashen, his breath was foul and his clothes stank like a hobo’s fire, but in that instant, he couldn’t have been more beautiful. A cry escaped her lips. Wearily, Harper held out his arms.

‘Come here. Please. I’ve missed you so much.’

Half hanging off the edge of the bed, Paige tucked herself against him. He was so much taller, her feet came to above his ankles, leaving her head to nestle against his shoulder and throat. More tears threatened, but this time, she held them back, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her.

W
hen they returned, it was to find Electra sitting by herself in the main room, reading a paperback romance novel. At the sound of their entry, she put the book down and smiled.

‘Paige and Harper?’ Evan asked.

Electra cocked a thumb at the door. ‘In there. I heard voices a little while ago, so he’s probably regained consciousness, but there’s also been a good deal of yurking since then, too.’

‘Yurking?’ asked Jess.

Electra mimed vomiting.

‘Oh. Right.’

Paige chose that moment to poke her head into the common area. She still looked wan, but her eyes sparkled. Whatever had happened to effect the transformation, Solace wished them well of it. There’d been enough doubt and tension for one day.

‘What’s up?’ Paige asked, easing herself around the frame and pulling the door shut. ‘You guys look kind of traumatised.’

‘Glide is alive. Solace wants to do something about it,’ said Manx.

Paige’s face hardened. ‘Tell me.’

Solace hesitated. ‘Should we wait for Harper?’

Paige paused, considering. She shook her head.

‘No. He’s better than he was, but still throwing up. I’ll speak for him.’ She turned a shrewd eye on Evan and Manx. ‘That
jin’sa
is strong stuff. Electra told me you guys drank a gallon of it last night, but here you are, walking and talking. Guess you must have livers of steel.’

‘Could be,’ said Manx, with what Solace was prepared to categorise as indecent pride.

Jess snorted and sat down, the cue for everyone to find a seat.

Paige perched on the arm of Electra’s chair, looking more like a pixie than ever with her crossed ankles swinging above the floor. Belatedly, Solace realised another reason for her friend’s changing appearance: Paige’s pale hair was growing out, her pink and purple streaks fading. It made her look oddly wistful, or would’ve done, had her face not reverted to stone.

‘Now,’ she said. ‘Tell us what you saw.’

Once again, Solace related the contents of her Castalian visions, though neither Paige nor Electra seemed overly interested in the details of the group home or the dungeon. Just as before, it was Glide’s name that they clung to, and when Solace had finished, it was Glide they discussed.

‘Kill him,’ Paige said instantly. There was no levity in her tone. Solace felt the hairs on her arms stand up. ‘He killed three of our friends. Burned them alive. He’s a murderer. Kill him.’

Gently, Electra reached up and rested a palm on Paige’s wrist. ‘If we do that, then we’re no better than he is. Sanguisidera and the Bloodkin kill. We don’t.’

There was a moment of tension. Something flickered in Paige’s eyes – regret, fear – and then she sighed, staring down to where the floor met the wall.

‘Then leave him,’ she said, flatly. ‘Just let him go, like Sharpsoft did.’

‘I thought you didn’t trust Sharpsoft?’ Evan asked. His tone was unusually respectful.

Paige blinked, but didn’t look up. ‘So did I. And if he really had killed Glide, I would’ve been happy. But Solace was there when he told Sanguisidera that Glide was dead, and now she’s seen him alive. Electra’s right. Whatever we still don’t know about the Bloodkin, it’s obvious they would never have let him go.’

‘So we do nothing?’ Jess spread her hands and glanced around the room. ‘Because even if we decide not to take supernatural justice ourselves – which, don’t get me wrong, is a good and noble thing – we’d still be within our rights to tip off the police. Let the humans handle it.’ She paused, and then bit down a wry laugh. ‘Huh. Now
there’s
something I never thought I’d say.’

‘He’s an arsonist and a murderer,’ said Laine, softly. ‘Just because we’re above killing him doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be punished.’

‘Can we do that, though?’ Electra asked. ‘Without implicating ourselves, I mean.’

‘Tipster’s hotline,’ said Evan, but the summoner shook her head.

‘Think about it. Solace saw him in a vision, but that was hours ago, and maybe not even in real time. For all we know, he’s long gone. And does anyone actually know his full name? His real first name, even?’

Silence met this remark. Solace felt an absurd stab of guilt. Why had she never thought to ask? But then, up until Liluye’s abrupt naming of Jess and Paige, she hadn’t known anyone else’s proper name, either – only that Manx was really Matthew.

At their expressions, Electra shrugged. ‘See? Unless we physically go there and turn him in, all we could give them is a description, and even if they still found the right man, he’d have to confess for them to get a conviction. We all lived at the warehouse, but our names weren’t on any lease, and Glide wasn’t there the night we spoke to the police. I don’t think we even mentioned that he was missing, because we already knew he wasn’t inside when the fire started. We still thought he was innocent.’

‘That night was so bad,’ Jess said. Everyone looked at her. The seer’s eyes were distant. ‘They wanted to know who we were, if we lived there, but I could barely think, and if someone contacted our father …’ She stared straight at Evan. ‘I didn’t give them our real names, Ev. I couldn’t. I can’t remember who I said we were.’ She gave a little shudder, and then seemed to come back to herself. ‘I was already lying. I didn’t know everyone’s last name, so I made those up, too. If I hadn’t done, they would never have let us go. They thought we’d stay at the local shelter.’

‘You did the right thing,’ said Evan. He came and sat beside Jess, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him, eyes closed. ‘You did the right thing,’ he repeated. ‘Okay?’

Jess nodded. Evan gave her a squeeze. She laughed and straightened up, bumping his head affectionately with her own. ‘Thanks, little brother.’

Evan grinned. ‘Hey, don’t mention it.’

‘No police, then,’ said Laine. ‘Which means we’re back to inaction.’

‘No.’ Solace found everyone staring at her. She couldn’t figure out why, until she realised that it had been she who’d spoken. ‘I mean … I don’t know what I mean. He did terrible things. He betrayed us. But I can’t just leave it there. I have to know. I have to hear him say it.’

‘Say what?’ asked Manx.

‘That he’s guilty. That he’s sorry. He betrayed us, Manx. He betrayed
me
. We know he was working for Sanguisidera, but not why. I have to understand why he did it, why he pretended to care.’

‘Sharpsoft told you he was being manipulated –’ Jess began, but Manx cut her off with a shake of his head, glancing apologetically at Solace.

‘That doesn’t matter. He had a choice. He could’ve told us the truth, or let Tryst and Claire and Phoebe out of the warehouse. But he didn’t. He left them to die. He murdered them. He was a traitor.’

‘But he was
our
traitor,’ Solace said, softly. ‘We can’t just walk away.’

‘Says who?’ Manx’s eyes flashed. ‘He chose this, not us. Now he has to live with it.’

‘But there’s such a thing as a sadistic choice, or no choice at all,’ Evan countered. ‘Sometimes, it’s like trying to save the
Kobayashi Maru
. A no-win scenario.’

Jess stared at her brother, blue eyes flinty. ‘Please tell me you didn’t just make a
Star Trek
reference.’

Evan made a show of studying the ceiling, unable to meet his sister’s gaze.

After a moment of extreme tension, Manx snorted. ‘Besides, Captain Kirk
beat
the
Kobayashi Maru
test.’

‘Only by cheating!’ Evan bristled. ‘He changed the conditions of the test, which is totally unhelpful. Now, Captain Janeway –’

‘Guys!’ Jess banged her fist on the coffee table, making everyone jump. ‘One more reference to the works of Gene Roddenberry, and
so help me God
I will make you regret it!’

Manx had the grace to look chastened. Evan pulled a face, turning his eyes to his hands. ‘Yes’m.’

‘Good. Now. Reality.’ The seer inhaled sharply. ‘Or at least, what passes for reality around here.’ She turned to Solace. When she spoke again, her voice was gentle. ‘Glide hurt all of us. But if anyone here has the right to know why he did it, it’s you. If you want to question him –’

‘– and maybe put the boot in while you’re at it,’ Paige supplied.

‘– then I have no objections.’ Jess shot the pixie girl an imperious look, but Paige only grinned like a Cheshire cat. ‘Anyone else?’

Solace held her breath, but no one spoke. She exhaled slowly, fighting the surge of emotion threatening to block her throat. She was finding it impossible to work out how she actually felt, wracked by nameless surges of doubt and rage. Self-consciously, she ran a hand through her hair.

‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I know it’s stupid, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s still at the warehouse. In the vision, it felt like he looked up and knew I was watching, you know? Like he was waiting for me.’

‘You don’t think it’s a trap?’ asked Laine. Her blue eyes shone like pale moons, and though her face was resting in its usual impenetrable mask, something in the set of her lips and jaw made Solace again wonder whether the psychic was angry at her about something. She opened her mouth to answer, but to everyone’s surprise, Evan got there first.

‘Then I’ll come, too,’ he said. His tone was light, but his expression was serious. ‘I might even be useful.’

Feeling oddly touched, Solace nodded. ‘I can’t see why not.’

‘You should go now, then,’ said Laine, after a moment of awkward silence. Her voice was unusually soft. ‘There’s nothing else we can do until Harper recovers. Go.’

When no one proposed anything to the contrary, Solace nodded.

Reflexively, she ran her hands down her legs and encountered the rip in her skirt. Frowning at it, she tugged gently on the fabric to see how serious it was, which caused the tear to lengthen by another centimetre. Inwardly, Solace groaned.
An impromptu thigh-slit is one thing, but any higher and I’ll be lucky if I’m left with a waistband.

‘Wonderful,’ she muttered. ‘We finally make a decision, and I’m betrayed by poor craftsmanship. Did anyone bring a spare change of clothes?’

‘Oh!’ Electra almost jumped up. ‘I knew there was something I meant to tell you! Well, not that it’s vitally important,’ she amended, seeing their change in expressions, ‘but there’s new clothes in each of our rooms, in the wardrobes. Actually, I’ve got an outfit ready to change into. I was just, you know. Waiting for the right moment.’

Solace heaved a grateful sigh. ‘Electra, you’re a champion. Be right back!’ Hurrying into her room, she closed the door, leaned against it and shut her eyes. Then she advanced on the wardrobe, which contained a mixture of men’s and women’s clothes, a surprising majority of which were to her taste. After lingering over several beautiful skirts, Solace regretfully opted for pragmatism over beauty. She changed quickly into a pair of soft black moleskin pants and a sleeveless blood-red shirt, her own having acquired more than its fair share of stains since Electra had last washed it. Spying a brush on the side-table, she yanked it through her hair, checked the laces on her boots, pulled her leather jacket back on and re-entered the communal area, mentally steeling herself.

Evan stood up and tilted his head at her bedroom door. ‘Done powdering your nose, Lacey?’

‘Lacey?’ Solace asked. Then she realised he meant her, and made a face. ‘I’m not touching that one.’ Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the pages of her mother’s book and the key to Starveldt, passing the former into Jess’s custody.

‘Just in case,’ she said, in answer to the unasked question.

Jess nodded, looking from Solace to Evan. ‘Off you pop, then!’ And then, with more seriousness and a pointed glance at her brother, ‘Be careful. We want you back.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ said Solace when Evan was slow to answer. Jess continued to stare at him and he nodded solemnly, which seemed to satisfy her.

The key felt cold and heavy in Solace’s palm. Beside her, Evan reached out and took hold of her free hand. Solace raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment, watching instead as an old-fashioned keyhole appeared on her bedroom door. Memories of their escape from Lukin’s tower flashed through her mind: the shimmering air-void once they’d come through, the flash beforehand and her intervening talk with the Voice in the darkness.

‘I don’t really know how this works,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve only ever used it once, and that was on Lukin’s magic door. What if it doesn’t work?’

Squeezing her hand, Evan twined their fingers together.

‘It’ll work. Trust me.’

Gulping a little, Solace reached out and inserted the key.

Take us to the warehouse.

There was a flash of green. The room vanished, melting into blackness. As before, there were cobblestones underfoot, with only a slim halo of light illuminating her flesh. Unlike before, she wasn’t alone: Evan was there, still clutching her hand.

‘You’ve returned, I see. With company.’

It was the Voice. Evan jumped, but didn’t speak. Solace felt swamped by irritation. She’d been hoping to avoid this part.