Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 9

Valerie woke up the next morning with the sense that there was somewhere she needed to be, somewhere important, but she couldn't remember where it was. The air hummed with magic in a way that seemed out of sync with the universe.

She found her brother in the kitchen, and his nervous energy flowed from his mind to hers.

"Do you have any idea what's wrong?" she asked.

Henry shook his head. "I checked in with Chisisi, and nothing has happened on Earth that he knows of."

As leader of the Fist, Valerie ought to have done that already, instead of sleeping.

"I'm lucky I have you here to keep us on track. I could never win this war without you," she said.

Henry turned, but not before she saw the anguish on his face.

"I wish you'd tell me whatever it is you're afraid that I'll find out," she said softly.

"I can't. Not yet," he said.

Valerie took a step closer to him. "You can see inside my head. So why don't you see how deep my loyalty to you goes? Trust me."

Henry's hands trembled. "That's just it. I can see inside your head. I can see how some days your grief is a weight that you're struggling to hold up so it doesn't crush you. Can't you understand that I feel the same way? If the weight I'm carrying gets any heavier, I'm going to fall apart."

It took all her self-control not to push him further, but at last, she nodded. "I'll wait," she said, and Henry released a breath of relief. "Let's go to The Horseshoe and see if we can sniff out what's wrong."

Their walk was quiet, so they heard the shouting long before they reached their destination. A crowd had gathered around the fountain in the center of The Horseshoe. Valerie saw Gideon and pulled him aside.

"What is it?" she asked.

Gideon was pale, which frightened Valerie. Her mentor wasn't easily shaken. He gestured to the fountain, and Valerie squinted. It had been dry for weeks because of the drought, but now it ran with a thick black liquid that looked like oil. It was spilling over the sides, running in dark rivulets along the ground. It left a dark, inky stain on everything it touched.

"I do not know how they managed this," Gideon said, finding his voice. "The Fractus were observed at every moment while they were in Plymouth, and I saw nothing other than platforms transporting large boxes."

"It must have been a distraction. The whole time, they were doing something below," Valerie murmured, but she wasn't surprised. She knew that there would be a price to pay for their ten days of peace, and now they'd begun paying it.

"I had Knights I trusted on the ground, hiding, but they saw nothing amiss," Gideon said.

"Until we know what this stuff is, let's get people out of here," Henry said.

Gideon nodded, and he, Valerie, and Henry gently urged people to go home. People were reluctant to leave the spectacle, but eventually, they returned to their daily tasks, giving the black liquid a wide berth. Henry was kneeling by a puddle, staring at it intently.

"I don't know what this is," he said as he reached out to touch it.

Valerie snatched his hand back. "It could work like the Fractus's black weapons. Or be related to that new power we saw in the Fractus from Elsinore."

"I don't think so," Henry said, but he backed away.

"The flow is being stemmed," Gideon said, and Valerie saw that the fountain's output was now just a trickle.