The two men could just be parked, listening to the radio, or waiting for a friend in one of the other houses, but the way they glanced towards the house periodically and talked without looking at each other made me suspicious. Katherine was my ex-wife and one of the people I'd had recent contact with. If the authorities really were trying to find me then this is one of the places I might turn up.
Using glamour, I could walk right past the car and they would not recognise me, but Garvin had told me they were prepared and that they learned from past encounters. They'd already had the better of me twice, once at the hospital and once at the cottage. That made me cautious.
I moved back along the pavement and walked away. I wanted to get a closer look at them, but walking straight up to the car was not the way. I had the advantage. I knew where they were and as far as I could tell they didn't know I was here. I also knew the ground. I had lived here for a number of years and I was betting I knew things they didn't.
Along the road was a concrete drive that went behind the row of houses opposite Katherine's house, leading to a block of garages. I knew this because we'd had problems with vandals breaking into the garages and setting fire to them. The neighbours had called the police and fire service out on more than one occasion.
I strode between the houses and through into the parking area. A couple of kids were passing a ball between them, kicking it against the side wall of the end garage. They looked a bit young to be out in the late dusk but I ignored them and they did not see me. At the end of the row of garages was a path that crossed between the streets, allowing pedestrians from either side to access the garages. It was used as a cut-through for bikes and an escape route for vandals until the gates had been padlocked and only the garage owners given keys. The gate was almost opposite Katherine's house.
I peered around the end of the last garage, noting that the gate was shut, and then walked quickly between the houses. There were hedges either side but the gate itself was metal with a chain-link mesh and so I would be able to see through to where the car was parked only yards away.
I wanted to see them without being seen myself, so I intensified the misdirection around me. The air chilled and, as it did, a persistent beeping started. The car doors opened and the beeping got louder. I pressed myself closer to the hedge.
A low voice spoke. "See anything?"
"Nope."
"Could be a false alarm?" The voice sounded hopeful, but also excited.
There was a pause.
"Could it?"
"Watch the house. Tell me if there's any movement. Have any lights come on?" The other voice was calm, low and level.
"No."
There was another long pause.
"It's a false alarm, right?"
"The alarm went off," said the calm voice.
"Yeah, but that could just be natural, right?"
"Didn't you feel it get colder?"
"Sure, but the sun's just gone down."
"It suddenly gets colder in a car with all the doors and windows shut."
"Right." There was another pause. "Hear anything?"
"Only you."
"Right."
We all kept silent, not ten yards apart. I waited to see what they would do.
"Shall I call for backup?"
"No. It'll be over by the time they get here."
"We should report it."
"We will. See anything?"
"No, it's getting dark."
"Yeah, that's how it goes."
Keeping a reassuring grip on my umbrella, I moved quietly back down the alley to the garages. I had been right to be cautious. While I had seen no sign of weapons, I had the distinct impression that these people were armed, or at least one of them was. What were they going to do, shoot me? For what? What about human rights? Then I realised that human rights probably didn't apply to people who weren't entirely human.
I had disappeared off the radar as far as the authorities were concerned. I no longer paid tax, owned a flat, had a job that could be called a job or even had a bank account. My life had been cleaned up and cleared away. It made me feel suddenly vulnerable. They could kill me and no one would ever know. The way fey magic worked, if I was killed, my own power would be released and it would consume my remains, leaving only dust. There wouldn't even be a body to explain.
I was used to a world with rights and obligations. As long as I lived peacefully and paid my taxes I expected to be left alone. But I no longer paid taxes, the umbrella I carried was really a sword and my loyalty was not to any human authority.
I walked through the garages and cut back to the street, turning away from the house and feeling isolated and exposed. Wrapping the dark around me like a shadow, turning away glances and avoiding notice. Part of me wanted to go back. Part of me wanted to return to the car and show them what being fey really meant. I knew if I used my training and my power, two men with guns would be no match for me. I could kill them both before they even saw me.
The anger boiled up in me, making me squeeze my fists together. They took my daughter and now they were denying me access to my ex-wife. Even though Katherine and I were no longer married, even though she had Barry to care for her, I still felt protective about her. How dare they camp outside her house, waiting to see if I would appear. What did they think they were doing, protecting her?
It was that thought that killed the anger for me. What were they protecting her from? Where was the monster?
That would be me.
I stopped. I was walking around the streets blindly, just as likely to walk into trouble as away from it. I needed to get my head together and start behaving like a Warder. What had Garvin said? I needed to find out about them while they were looking for me. Well, I had learned something – several things.
I knew they were watching places I was known to frequent. I knew they had a way of detecting fey magic, probably using some sort of heat sensor. They had mentioned the fall in temperature and that would make sense. Any strong use of power triggered a cooling in the general area, indicating that fey magic might be close by. I had the strong impression they were armed and that they were prepared to use their weapons.
I wondered how much of this Katherine knew. Did she even realise she was being watched? She had no reason to be suspicious and if she wasn't looking for it, she probably wouldn't notice.
I'd been making my way through the estate until I reached a particular cul-de-sac. Recent experience made me cautious. I stepped into the shade of an overhanging tree and merged with the shadows there. Glamour used very little power and would not cool the air around me. I shifted appearance and became an old man out for an evening stroll, my umbrella now a walking stick. I stepped out from under the tree, moving slowly and gently, as an old man might.
The kerbs here were crowded with cars and vans. Most of the houses had been extended at some point, leaving no room for a garage. With two or three cars to each family, parking was at a premium. I did a full circuit of the cul-de-sac, stopping to look at an interesting shrub outside one house. There were lights on and in the upstairs room at the front the window was ajar and I could hear a radio playing. I knew this house. I had dropped Alex off here many times for sleepovers and homework sessions. It was Kayleigh's upstairs window that faced the front and it sounded as if she was in her room.
I continued my walk, finding all the cars unoccupied.
"You all right, Grandad?"
Two large lads walked towards me, just as I reached the road.
"What's that?" I growled, preparing myself for an assault.
"I said, are you OK, Grandad? You were looking a bit lost. A bit deaf, are ya?"
"I'm quite well. thank you, young man, and I can hear perfectly well."
"All right, keep yer 'air on and mind your step. It's getting dark."
They walked past, and I watched them cross the end of the road and walk on into the evening. They were just lads out for a walk, or on their way to the pub, maybe. They still made me jittery. Being ultra-careful, I walked back around the cul-de-sac the other way. Every few yards I stopped, as if for a rest, and used a little power to create a concealment around me, cooling the surroundings. Each time I listened carefully for an alarm, seeing no one and nothing.
A lady came out of one of the houses with a dog and bid me a good evening. The dog growled at me in an uncertain way until the owner yanked the lead and told it to stop being silly. Even so, it watched me as it was led away out of the Close. I followed it slowly until I reached the end of the Close again. Opposite was a small park with a few swings, a seesaw and a roundabout. There were some seats where parents could sit and watch the children play in the daytime, only now one seat was occupied by a pair of teenage lovers who were focused entirely on each other. On the swings nearby a small group of lads were trying to impress two teenage girls by engaging in the sort of antics that consistently failed to impress while simultaneously providing an opportunity to lose several teeth. One was standing on the swing with one leg while hanging from the chain by one arm, jerkily swinging back and forth.
I walked slowly across to the park and sat on one of the vacant benches as the twilight slipped into nighttime. Carefully and slowly I drew a stronger and stronger concealment around me. Gradually the temperature in the park fell. The lovers cuddled together while the teenage girls zipped up fleeces and said they were cold. The gang coalesced, leaving the swings oscillating wildly, and called to the couple to follow. They lingered a moment more, pressed to each other, and then moved off, the girl wrapped in under the boy's arm, soft murmurings between them.
I needed to talk to Kayleigh. She was the only living witness to Alex's accident, and I needed to know what happened. I could call at the door, but then it would be Kayleigh and her parents. Although I knew her parents, we were acquaintances rather than friends. They had probably been told to look out for me.
This was a conversation I needed to have with Kayleigh alone. I was making some wild guesses and I needed to know whether they were correct.
I let the night gather around me and watched the dog lady return down the road. The dog kept looking nervously towards the park, though to my relief it did not howl. When it was fully dark I walked back across the park to where a van was parked against the kerb. It said 'No Tools Left Overnight' on the back and the windows were silvered to prevent anyone from seeing inside. The mirrored glass was what I needed.
Focusing, I placed my hand upon the glass. This would be more complicated than I had attempted before. To make it easier, I tried to break it into stages. The concealment was first, then came the glamour.
I knew my daughter well. I had held her as a babe and carried her on my shoulders. I had comforted her while she cried and hugged her when she laughed. I had never looked like her before, though, and it felt very strange. The difference in size was difficult. It took more power to change size as well as shape, but for this it would be necessary. I needed to be convincing.
I felt my body shifting around me, more than an image, less than a shape. I held the image of my girl in my head until her hair tickled about my neck and my frame felt lithe and light. I opened my eyes and stared at the reflection of my lost daughter.
I reached out with my fingertips to touch the reflection. It blurred and when I blinked my eyes clear I was looking at my own face again. Damn, this was difficult. It ought to be easy. There was no one in the world I knew better. I knew every curl, every inch of her, yet every time I tried to build her image it slipped from me. I could hold it for a second, but then it would unravel. It was as if I could not accept so profound a change.
All I really needed was her voice. Perhaps that would be easier.
"Hello?" It sounded odd, hearing it from inside myself when I had only ever heard it from her.
I tried again.
"Can you hear me?" This time it sounded like her, though not like her. Voices sound different when it's you that's speaking.
I looked into my face reflected in the glass and heard my words echoed in her voice. "My poor lost girl. I will find you. Trust me."
I looked around, checking again that there was no one nearby. I put my hand on the mirrored van window and whispered into the glass.
"Kayleigh?"
The glass clouded under my hand and cooled. The sound of a radio emerged, with the gentle scraping and shuffling of writing. I listened for a few moments, and could hear no other presence.
"Kayleigh, can you hear me?"
There was a sudden sharp breath, the sound of a glass being knocked over, liquid spilling out, a chair scraped back.
"Who is it? Who's there?"
I waited a moment. It wouldn't help me to scare her witless.
"Kayleigh, it's me. Are you alone?"
"Alex…? Is that you? Alex, you're dead."
"I'm not dead. I need you to do something for me. Are you alone?"
"Who is this? This isn't funny."
I had to take a gamble. I had to convince her. The last thing I wanted was her tearing down the stairs, shouting that her room was haunted. I had a hunch that Kayleigh knew more than she had told anyone. Alex had shared everything with Kayleigh. If anyone knew the truth it would be her. It was just a matter of teasing it out of her.
"You have to trust me. You know my special secret – it's about that. You remember, don't you?" It was like dangling a line, waiting for a bite.
There was a pause. "I promised. You made me promise I wouldn't say anything. I haven't told anyone."
So there was a secret. I was right.
"I know. I trust you. But I need you to do something."
A voice came from downstairs. "Kayleigh? Who are you talking to? Is that the phone?"
There was a scuffling sound.
"It's OK. It's the radio."
"It sounded like you were talking to someone." There was concern in the tone.
"It's OK. I'm fine, really."
"Are you coming down?"
"In a bit. I'll come down in a while."
"OK. Have you finished your homework?"
"Not yet. I'm nearly done. I won't be long."
"Don't work too late, honey."
"I won't."
I heard the door slide gently closed.
"Alex?"
"I'm here."
"Where are you? Everyone says you're dead."
"I know. It's hard to explain. I need you to trust me. My dad's waiting down in the park at the end of your road. I need you to explain what happened at school to him."
"Why can't you tell him?"
"I don't have much time. He's trying to help me. Can you do it?"
"You made me promise."
"I know, but he needs your help so he can help me. I don't have much time," I repeated.
"I'm not allowed out this late."
"I don't know how long he can stay."
"OK, OK. I'll try. Tell him to wait."
"Kayleigh?"
"Yes?"
"I know it's been hard. You did the right thing not telling anyone. I have to go."
"Alex, where are you?"
"I have to go. Bye."
I took my hand from the glass. I felt like a complete bastard for deceiving her, but she was the only one who knew what had really happened and she had resisted all attempts to get her to tell the real story. Neither the school nor the police had been able to make her break her promise. She and Alex had been buddies since primary school and the bonds were far stronger than mere authority.
I walked back across to the park and sat on the bench, allowing my voice to fall back to how it sounded naturally, then letting my glamour fall away completely, becoming Niall Petersen, Alex's dad. Having not worn that shape for months it felt strange. Blackbird was right, using glamour did become a habit.
I let the concealment around me fade and waited for Kayleigh, watching cars drive by and occasional pedestrians pass. I was beginning to think she had either been caught by her parents or chickened out, when I saw her small figure cross the road.
She hurried across the park, wrapping her cardigan tight around her.
"Mr Petersen?"
"It's me. Is that you, Kayleigh?"
She hurried across to where the bench seat was, but then stopped short.
"I'm supposed to tell the police if I see you," she told me.
"You must do what you think best, Kayleigh."
"Are you really a terrorist?"
"Me? No, of course not. Whatever made you think that?"
"They said you got involved with some bad people last year. They said you might be being forced to co-operate with them. They wanted to know if I saw you, so they could help you."
"Do I look like I need help?"
"You went missing, after the memorial service. Is Alex alive?" The change in subject was abrupt.
"Yes. I think she is."
"She… she spoke to me. A moment ago in my bedroom. She was in my mirror."
"That wasn't her, Kayleigh. That was me."
"You? But…"
"I know. It's difficult to explain and I can't tell you too much without dragging you into it. You know how serious this all is, don't you? If you tell them, they may want to know what else you know. They will want to know why you didn't tell them before. You're a bright girl, Kayleigh. I've always thought that. You work it out."
I waited in the dark, deliberately staying seated so that I didn't spook her. I could see the tension in the set of her shoulders, the way she kept wrapping her cardigan around her more tightly. She wanted badly to run for home, but she stayed.
She looked back to the house and then at me.
"You're the same as her, aren't you? That's why they're looking for you."
"Actually, she's like me, but yes."
"That's how you… got into my mirror. That's how you made it sound like her. You tricked me."
"I did deceive you, but only so we could speak alone. You wouldn't have come out here just for me."
"I gotta go." She turned away towards the Close.
"It went badly wrong that day, didn't it?"
She stopped.
"But you knew about Alex before then, before the accident."
"I can't talk about that. She made me swear."
"I'm her father, Kayleigh. And what I said to you about her not being dead was true. She is in trouble. She needs my help. And I need yours."
She spurred herself back into motion, crossing the road and vanishing between the hedges and the row of cars parked at the pavement.
The urge to chase her and try to pull her back was strong, but that would only make her run and clam up even more. Instead I tried to look as calm and patient as possible. I stayed on the seat, doing my best to look as if I would still be there in the morning when she went to school. I couldn't see whether she was watching me, so I concentrated on waiting. If she had gone inside, I had lost her, at least for now. If not…
It was a full five minutes before she reappeared. She crossed the road again, walked across the grass and plonked herself down beside me, folding her arms.
"It's colder here."
"Would you like my coat? It'll keep your shoulders warm."
"No. I'll be OK."
I waited for her to speak, but she didn't. If it was a contest, I broke first. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I promised I wouldn't tell."
"Kayleigh, it's dangerous to know any more. If you let something slip they will assume you know much more than you do. They may think you're involved."
"I am involved. I was there!"
"I need to know what happened so I can help her."
"I thought she was dead. We had a service at school. You were there. Everyone was."
I sighed. "I didn't know she was still alive then. I only found out later, by accident. Even I'm not supposed to know. I swear that's the truth."
"How do you know she's alive?"
I debated how much to say. I didn't like telling Kayleigh any more than I had to, but she had already proved that she could keep a secret. If I wanted her to trust me then I had to trust her.
"I need you to swear the same to me as you did to Alex. You tell no one about this conversation, OK?"
"Who will I tell? My best friend is, like, dead."
"I need your promise, Kayleigh. This is serious."
"OK, I promise. Hope to die."
"Is that what you promised her?"
"Mostly. Sort of."
I put my hands in my lap. It was cold here, but I wanted to keep people away.
"When I spoke to you through your mirror, a little while ago, that was how I found Alex. I could hear her, but I didn't know where she was. I think she was taken, somewhere safe but away, because of the accident. That's why I need to know what happened. I need to know what she did."
"She didn't do it on purpose! She wasn't like that."
"I know that. I'm her dad. I know what she's like, but I need to know what happened."
"They were there. Tracy Welham and her lot. They were in the changing room."
"Before that. You knew about it before that, didn't you?"
"She made me promise."
"Kayleigh?"
There was a long pause. This time I won.
"She came into school one day, really excited. She wouldn't tell me what it was about. We tell each other, like, everything. Everything about everything. Boys, even." She stopped.
"Go on," I prodded gently.
"She was really cagey. I kept asking her whether it was a boy, but she kept… evading me."
"OK."
"It wasn't like her to be so cagey, but when school finished we went back to mine. We shut the bedroom door and put the stereo on, and I made her tell me. She swore me to secrecy, but I made her."
"What, Kayleigh? What did she say?"
"She didn't say anything. She got my water glass and emptied it on to my table. I was like, hey, pack that in, but she just carried on. The water stayed on the table, though. It shoulda run on to the floor, but it didn't. It all gathered in the middle, in a circle, like mercury, waiting for her."
"Waiting?"
"She goes, watch this. She puts a finger out and draws a K for Kayleigh, and the water does it too. It made a K, right there, I swear. Then she drew an A and it made an A, just like that. It was spooky."
"Did she say how she did it?"
"And then, like, she draws her finger in a circle and wobbles it towards the edge and all the water rolls to the edge, off the side and back into the glass, just like that. I swear."
"How did she explain it?"
"She said she had cramps in the night, you know, like… girl cramps?"
"I know what periods are, Kayleigh."
"Yeah, well. When she woke up, she was different. She said the water obeyed her. It wanted to do what she wanted. She said she thought she was a witch."
"A witch?" The irony of that remark wasn't lost on me.
"Yeah, we thought she might be able to do spells and stuff, but it was just water. She could do some cool things, though. Dry her hair by making all the water drop out, stir her tea without a spoon. It was pretty neat."
"And she could control it?"
"Yeah, mostly. It was getting stronger, though. She said… it was like it was calling to her and she didn't know what it wanted."
"But she had it under control."
"She wouldn't go near the river, and the swimming pool was right out. She said it was too strong. There was too much of it. She was frightened about what it would do."
"Was that when she had the accident?"
Kayleigh went quiet. She sat, pulling her cardie around her.
"I need to know, Kayleigh. I can't help her until I know."
The silence persisted. Then there was a snuffle.
"You could just tell me. I'm her dad. I'll understand."
"Yeah, but…" she snuffled.
"Yes, but what?"
"The accident." She sniffed.
"What about it? What happened?"
"It wasn't an accident, was it? She did it. She killed them." The tears overflowed and I found myself holding her as she wailed into my shoulder. I drew concealment closer around us, so as not to attract attention. Kayleigh shook, convulsing with great heaving sobs as it all spilled out. Between heaving gulps of air she told me.
"She didn't mean it. She never meant it. It was too strong. It got loose. They were trying to hurt her. Trying to dunk her – in the toilets. They hurt her – they were shoving her – into the water. They put her – in the water – don't you see? They put her in it!"
I hugged her to me. "It's OK. I think I do see."
She gulped and hiccoughed in my armpit and I held her until the sobbing subsided. I passed her my hanky and she dabbed her eyes and then blew her nose. The mascara around her eyes had run and stained it. She offered me back the hanky.
"No, keep it."
She stuffed it into the sleeve of her cardie.
"She wouldn't have done it on purpose, would she?" she asked.
"No. If they were putting her into water and hurting her then they probably brought it on themselves. I don't think she meant it to happen." The truth of that statement rankled with me. I wasn't a hundred per cent sure it was true, but speculation was not what Kayleigh needed to hear.
"I tried to get them to stop. They wouldn't listen. She knew it was bad." She sniffed. "We were supposed to meet. She wasn't there. I knew something was wrong."
"How did you find her?"
"You can't get out the front. There are the offices and they watch the gates like hawks. I went out the back, where the playing fields are. I thought she might be there. I heard her. She was in the toilets in the changing block. I think she was hiding. Welham and her mates went in there, smoking."
"So you followed her."
"I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't believe me. They were gonna get me too. I ran out into the corridor and closed the door so they couldn't get me. It was me. I trapped them in there with her." She took out that hanky again and mopped at her nose.
"No, you didn't."
"I did. If I had been with her she might not have lost it. They wouldn't have done much. I've had worse. They're all mouth, that lot. They were. They're all dead now. All of them." She started crying again and I hugged her close.
"It was an accident, Kayleigh. You didn't know what would happen. You did the best you could. You ran for help, didn't you?"
She calmed a little and snuffled into the hanky. "It was too late. The water was filthy. It went everywhere. It was streaming out the windows. Where? Where did it all come from?"
"She called it, I think. She panicked when they tried to drown her. She lost control. Someone once told me that magic responds to need. They must have been hurting her pretty badly."
"Not that badly. Not to deserve to drown. Not in that. There was stuff in it, ugh, it was horrible. The smell was awful. It's taken them weeks just to clean it up."
"Who cleaned it up?"
"Workmen. They all came in suits with plastic masks on. The smell was atrocious. You weren't there."
"Was there a big truck? Really new, like an American one. All white and shiny?"
"No. I don't remember a truck. Why?"
"Just something I saw somewhere. I thought it might be a clue."
"No. They had a van, but it was a beaten-up old thing."
"Did they say anything?"
"To me? We weren't allowed anywhere near it. The whole area has been off limits for weeks. It still is. You can understand why."
"Is there anything else, Kayleigh? Anything you remember? Anything that might help me find her?"
"No, I don't remember. It all happened so fast. I wake up nights. Mum says I'm dreaming. I can hear them in there, screaming, clawing at the door to get out." She shuddered.
"OK. Thank you. I think you've been very brave. I'm sorry I had to trick you to get you out here."
"It's OK. I feel better. I couldn't, like, tell anyone. Not even Mum. I daren't."
"You'd better get back before you're missed."
"I left my radio on. They think I'm doing my homework."
"Best go and do some, then."
She handed me the hanky back. "You better have that, otherwise I'll have to say where I got it."
I took it from her.
She turned and walked three paces and then stopped and turned around.
"Remembered something?"
"No," she said. "No, but I need to know. What is it? What is it with you and her? How is it possible? I mean, I've seen it and I don't believe it. I'm sure it was a trick." She watched me. "Is it? Is it a trick?"
"No. It isn't a trick. You mustn't tell, though. They will be watching you."
"Who's they? Who is it that's watching?"
"That's the question I'm trying to answer. I'm just a man looking for answers. You should go."
She sighed and nodded, acknowledging that it was true and walked back towards the road. I watched her check for cars before crossing and then I stood and walked across the park to the swings, so that when she turned back the bench was bare and she could not see me in the gloom. She scanned the area from the far side of the road, then shook her head, wrapped her cardie tighter and headed for home. I followed discreetly until she went inside, and then waited until she appeared at her bedroom window. She looked out on the empty street and I think she knew I was there somewhere, even though she couldn't pick me out. She drew her curtains closed against the dark, but couldn't resist a last peek through the crack.
I found myself hoping that she would sleep better from now on, now that she had been able to share her burden.
I left the cul-de-sac and turned away from Katherine's house, heading for the Tube station. I set a strong pace, knowing that the walk would take me half an hour and that if I lingered I would miss the last tube and end up waiting for a night bus.
The walk gave me chance to think. If Kayleigh was right and Alex had drowned the other girls, then it would make sense that the authorities had acted to take her out of circulation. She was a danger to others, but where would be safe? Blackbird had once told me that there were places for people like Alex, who couldn't control their gifts. She'd never said where any of them were, though. I made a mental note to ask her later.
The reality was that my daughter had killed three girls, however unintentionally. Garvin had said that was likely and Kayleigh's story confirmed it. They had tried to hurt her and she had drowned them in sewage. I thought I should feel bad about that, but my honest reaction was that they deserved it. They had been intent on hurting her when they should have left her alone. It was harsh, and sad that they had been caught up in it, but they weren't my daughters.
I was beginning to understand why they had taken her, though. If she couldn't control her gifts then she was dangerous. They would act to protect other people and to prevent her harming herself. That didn't mean that I would leave her there, though. I was her father and I had got her into this mess. If anyone could look after her, it was me.
I found the Tube station in time to get a ride into central London. The long ride lulled me, but I had too much still to do to allow myself to sleep. I used the Tube to get into the West End and then used one of the Warders' houses as a gateway to the Way. Using Raffmir's slingshot technique I was back in Yorkshire within two hours of meeting Kayleigh. When I stumbled out of the Way-node, it had mercifully stopped raining. The ground was sodden, and the grass squelched as I tramped down the bank into town.
The lights were on in the church as I passed, but I ignored that and went straight down to the guest house. I still had my key, so I let myself in.
"You're very late again, Mr Dobson." Martha was in the kitchen with the door open, sewing.
"And it's late to be still sewing. It's bad for your eyes, you know."
"I'm just doing some buttons, then I'll be retiring. You look like you should do the same, Mr Dobson."
"I won't be up long, I assure you."
"I'll wish you good night then."
"Good night."
I took the stairs up to my room and locked the door behind me, stowed my gear and sword and hung up my jacket. Then I sat on the end of the bed and collapsed backwards. What with the cumulative effect of the Ways, lack of sleep and a long, long day, I fought to keep my eyes open. I sat up. I needed a shower before bed anyway, so it was pointless getting comfortable.
I stood in front of the chest and rested my hand on the face of the mirror.
"Garvin?"
The mirror misted gently and there was a muted thumping sound.
"Niall, you're late. I was about to send out a search party." There was humour in his tone. He was obviously in a better mood than last time.
"How are things at Court?"
"They are progressing. Fellstamp is recovering from that scratch you gave him and between us we have been able to keep track of Altair. He hasn't brought any more over, so we are coping. Have you seen anything of Raffmir?"
It was pointless lying to him as he would hear it immediately. "He came to the cafe. We talked. He said that you'd sent me here to keep me away from the negotiations."
"He's right. I did."
"He said it was because the High Court were negotiating for the fate of the half-breeds. He said you were keeping me away from it so I wouldn't prejudice the negotiations."
"He's right about that too. If you cause an incident, the High Court might be less able to defend their position on the half-breeds. It would look as if you were undermining them."
"I don't think that's what he meant."
"I know exactly what he meant. He means to sow discord among us. You need to stay tight and not let him get under your skin."
"He's already under my skin. I just want to tell him to get lost."
"As long as he's with you, he's not somewhere else, Niall. Speaking of which, we've lost Blackbird again."
"What do you mean lost?"
"As in: we don't know where she is. She's hard to protect if we can't find her."
"She's hard to hurt if Deefnir can't find her."
"As long as they don't know where she is either, that's true. If they've followed her, then that could be trouble."
"I don't know where she went either, if that's what you're asking."
"Would you tell me if you found out?"
"That would depend on her. I think I'd let her make that choice. It's her life."
"That's a dangerous game, Niall."
"They're all dangerous games until the Untainted take themselves back home and leave us in peace."
"True. Talk to her, please. Try and persuade her to come back in."
"I'll pass on your request, Garvin. She'll make her own mind up, you know that."
"So I do. Very well."
"Anything else to report?"
This was the moment. I should tell Garvin about Raffmir's secret conversations. I should explain about the ability to make small jumps using magic. I should tell him Raffmir knew where my daughter was. But if I did, Raffmir said she would die. He had been straight about that, at least.
"No, there's nothing else I want to tell you."
"How are the missing girls?"
"Some of them, fine. The others are still missing though, as in missing from the records. They don't appear as missing women anywhere in the archives, as far as I can tell. There's no local knowledge of lost women. I have thirty or forty skulls and no owners. I'll have to go to the Records Office at Northallerton to confirm it, but that's the story here. If there were a string of murders, even over a timescale of hundreds of years, there would be something. Instead, it's a blank wall."
"So what's your conclusion?"
"I don't have a conclusion yet. I'm following the evidence."
"Good. Let me know when you get somewhere."
"I will."
"And get some sleep. You sound like death warmed up."
"I'm just tired. Long day."
"Report tomorrow evening, earlier than this, if you can?"
"Will do."
"Sleep well, Niall."
"I'll try." That came out ringing with untruth, but Garvin said nothing and I took my hand from the mirror.
The night wasn't over yet.