“Hey,” Isaac said. “You look tired. Miss me?”

  “No,” I said, walking over and hugging him. “We managed just fine without. Honestly, I think you’d have just made it all worse.”

  Isaac laughed, coughed, and took a drink of water. “You told my wife you could take me into your embers and you could heal me, give me time with my family.”

  “I did,” I said.

  “You left out a few bits of that story,” he said.

  “I did,” I admitted.

  “We both know if I come into the embers with you, you’re going to be useless for a while. This is more important.”

  “I know,” I said. “But . . . damn it, Isaac, you’re my friend, and I can help.”

  “Dan stabbed me with a tempered-blade,” Isaac said. “You take me into your embers, you take on what was done.”

  I nodded.

  “You can remove the poison,” Isaac said. “And then what? What is the safest option? For you, I mean.”

  “I open a tear into the rift, and you walk through,” I said. “It’s still exhausting, and I will have to spend a few days in the embers to heal, but it’s more likely that both of us would be okay. Going in, taking your poison and bringing you back here . . . it’s dangerous. For both of us.

  “That’s what we’ll do, then,” Isaac said. “I’m not going to die today. I can spend time with my wife, see my children.”

  “But I can try,” I said.

  “No, Lucas,” Isaac said, sounding more like his old self. “I don’t want you to. Ruby wouldn’t want you to. Damn it, man, you don’t have to save everyone. It’s not your job.”

  I sat there with my mouth open, unable to formulate the words I wanted to say.

  “If I’m still here in a few days when this is done, we’ll talk about taking me into the rift,” Isaac said. “In the meantime, I’m going to go with my wife and see my children.”

  “You’re okay to travel?” I asked.

  “Booker has a van we can fit all of this in,” Isaac said. “We’re going to Ruby’s sisters; I can see my family, Isaac. It’s what I want. That rift-tempered blade didn’t kill me; Dan knew what he was doing. He wanted me to suffer.”

  “He’s really dead, if that helps,” I told him.

  “It really does,” Isaac said with a smile.

  “I’ll come find you in a few days, then,” I said.

  “If I go to the rift, will I remember my family?” Isaac asked.

  I nodded.

  “I love her, Lucas. So goddamned much,” Isaac said with tears in his eyes. “The kids, too. How the hell am I going to tell my kids what happened?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But most people don’t get a few days to spend with them. They’ll remember that more than anything else you do.”

  “That’s what’s important,” Isaac said with a nod. “Can I ask you something I’ve always wanted to know?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “The Guilds,” he said. “Why the birds?”

  “That’s it?” I asked with a laugh. “Your big question is why the Guilds are named after birds?”

  “Yeah,” he said, elbowing me in the ribs, as I wouldn’t stop laughing. “Don’t be a dick.”

  “Sorry, but it’s not an interesting story,” I told him. “You sure you want to know?”

  Isaac nodded.

  “Okay, thousands of years ago,” I began, “Neb was one of the first rulers of Inaxia, who became Ancients over time.”

  “The woman who trained you to be a Talon,” Isaac said. “See, I remember stuff.”

  “That’s her, yes,” I said. “Anyway, they couldn’t agree on what to call the Guilds. They knew they needed something; they needed a group who would keep the balance of power from ever going in one Ancient’s favour or one species’ favour. They tried naming them after weapons, and that didn’t go down well, because according to Neb, no one wanted to be a shield when someone else was a sword. Anyway, they tried all of this stuff and it just wasn’t getting anyone anywhere. It lasted weeks, and no one budged. In the end, Neb said, Right, my Guild is going to be the Ravens. No one disagreed. Then everyone started to pick the names of birds of prey. Falcon, Owl, Eagle, et cetera, each Ancient thinking his bird was the ultimate predator. No one thinking about the Ravens. No one giving the idea of having a smart bird a second thought.”

  “Are you serious?” Isaac asked, disbelieving.

  I nodded. “I am. And it really is as stupid as that. Sometimes, when you get a bunch of powerful people and try to get them to agree to something, you need to give them a gentle push in the right direction. So Neb said, anyway. I guess she would know.”

  “That was a lot less exciting than I’d expected it to be,” he said. “I thought it was going to be some huge secret laid bare.”

  “Sorry,” I said with a shrug.

  “Do you like being a Raven?” He asked me.

  “I do,” I said immediately. “Or I did. I guess it’s up to me to re-create the Guild now, being the last and all. I need the medallions first, though. Or at least I need to make new ones. Although I’m not even sure how to do that. I’m sorry I wasn’t part of your life while you got married. I will always regret that. I wish I’d been there for you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t.”

  “You don’t need to be,” Isaac said. “I’m just glad that you’re okay—mentally and physically. I’m glad that you’ve buried your demons, at least for the time being. Heaven knows, we all get them sooner or later.”

  “I’ve fought battles almost my entire life,” I said, “but most of the time as a mercenary, fighting for a cause but not its people, or fighting for coin and nothing else. I never knew just how hard it was to lose so much when you care about the people you’re fighting alongside. I mean really care. Even when I was fighting for Carthage and I was killed and came back, everyone was dead. It had been so long since the war that I mourned them as one group. Being alongside the Guild, and surviving after so long of not facing defeat like that, it shook me up more than I’d ever wanted to admit.”

  “I’m glad you came through the other side,” Isaac said.

  “Me too,” I told him, feeling somewhat relaxed now that I was able to talk about it with him.

  “Okay, go end this,” Isaac said. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

  “In a few days,” I told him. “Don’t do anything stupid until then.”

  “Same to you, Lucas,” Isaac said with a smile. “Same to you.”

  I left my friend alone, to find Ruby waiting outside. “You didn’t tell me the toll it would take on you,” she said tearfully.

  “I know,” I said. “I wasn’t sure how to. I needed to help.”

  “We have a few days together,” she said. “A few days as a family.”

  “I’m glad,” I told her. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

  “You too,” she told me.

  I left them alone and returned to the casino floor, where I answered a million questions all at once about Isaac and his condition.

  When I was done and several of the group had gone to see Isaac and say their goodbyes before he left with Ruby, I found myself sat alone in the corner of the casino.

  Nadia walked over to me. “I’m coming with you,” she said.

  “I never said I was going anywhere,” I told her.

  “I know,” Nadia said. “But when you do, I’m coming with you. My chains are linked to you now. Where you go, I go.”

  She sat down beside me and picked up a bag from the floor, removed a ball of crochet from inside it, and set about continuing something that looked like the world’s longest scarf. Chained revenants are full of surprises.

  A few hours later, I stood outside of the casino as Isaac’s bed was wheeled into an ambulance, with Ruby sat alongside him. They both waved to the group who saw them off, but as the ambulance pulled away, I stayed outside and watched it disappear over the distance. It felt like I’d been kicked in the gut. My friend was going away to die; nothing I could do about that. But he was going to give his family hopefully some peace before he did. That meant a lot. I just had to hope that he could hold out for a few more days before I could peacefully see him off to the rift. He deserved that.

  “Ruby and his kids will want for nothing,” Gabriel said. “I’ll make sure of that.”

  “You’re a good man, Gabriel,” I said. “A better man than someone like me deserves as a friend.”

  “Nonsense,” Gabriel snapped.

  “Gabriel, I’ve spent a long time balancing those scales back to my favour,” I said. “Making sure I did good things to counteract the bad. I had finally got it to a place where I felt balanced when the Ravens were killed. And then I spent a long time just tipping those scales in one direction.”

  “You did a lot of good today,” Gabriel said.

  “I know,” I said. “But what comes next is going to tip the scales so badly, I’m not sure there’s a way back.”

  “Meaning what?” Gabriel asked.

  “I’m going to kill every single fucker in that northern outpost. I’m going to end this, Gabriel.”

  “You know, some people are put on this Earth to help by caring for people, by showing kindness,” Gabriel said. “And some are put on this earth to eradicate evil.”

  “That’s not a very cleric thing to say,” I said.

  “Yes, well, it’s true,” Gabriel said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You were brought here to be a warrior. To remove the evil and infected parts of this world. Neb trained you to do it, trained you to be a force for good, even if it means doing bad. I think the scales have been in your favour for a long time. I just think they measure differently to others.”

  “You think me killing people tips them in my favour?” I asked with a laugh.

  “No,” Gabriel said, serious. “I think you removing those who would prey on the weak and innocent, who would hurt people, that is what tips them in your favour. Sometimes, that means you have to have blood on your hands. Sometimes a lot of blood. You are one of my oldest friends, Lucas, and I have never seen you act in a way that betrays who you are. Even when you were lost and didn’t know who you were, there was that spark of good inside of you. It’s always there, Lucas. I’ve seen killers, I’ve seen murderers; they don’t have it. You’re not like them.”

  I stared at Gabriel for several seconds. “Thank you.”

  “As a cleric, I will tell you that whatever you need to make the world a better place, it’s yours,” he said. “But as an ex-warrior, I’ll tell you to eradicate them. They are a stain on this world and the rift.”

  “Let’s go get ready,” I said. “I have a feeling that I won’t be going as alone on this trip as I’d originally planned. Nadia already told me she’s accompanying me.”

  “She’s already told everyone,” he said. “She also told everyone they weren’t allowed to go.”

  “She’s right,” I said as we walked back into the casino.

  “People won’t like that,” Gabriel said, opening the shelter.

  “I know,” I replied. “But this isn’t like the Mason tower. This isn’t to save people or gather intel. This is an extermination. That’s something I know how to do.”

  “And then what?” Gabriel asked after he’d shut the shelter entrance with a clang.

  “And then?” I asked with a shrug. “I’ll figure that out when I’m done.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  When Gabriel and I reached the casino floor again, everyone had reconvened.

  “I managed to crack the data that I took from Mason’s tower,” Hannah said. “Emails between several of Dr Mitchell’s associates. They thought they’d deleted them. They were wrong.”

  “Gloat later,” Emily said. “Where are they?”

  “North-east Baffin Island, just like I thought,” Hannah said, with no indication that Emily’s words had irritated her. “A place that used to be called Sam Ford Fjord. There’s snow, mountains, the ocean, and a village with its own runway. There’s a lot more in there, so I’m still going through it all.”

  “How are we meant to get to the middle of nowhere?” Emily asked from the corner of the room.

  “How are you meant to land a plane in an area crawling with enemies?” Bill asked, sporting a rather unflattering bandage across the top of his forehead.

  “With difficulty,” George said, as he sat beside his husband, drinking something warm, judging from the steam coming up from it.

  “I assume there’s no direct flights,” Gabriel said.

  “There’s nothing there,” Hannah said. “You’d need a helicopter to fly there.”

  “Hannah, you’re grinning,” I said. “Do we have a helicopter?”

  “The RCU does, yes,” Hannah said. “And an airplane.”

  “And hands up if you know how to fly either one,” I said.

  Gabriel and Bill put their hands up.

  “Seriously?” I asked both.

  “Learned a few years ago,” Gabriel said.

  “Learned in Vietnam,” Bill said, and everyone turned to look at Bill.

  “You were turned into a revenant in the Vietnam War?” Gabriel asked him.

  “1972,” Bill said. “I flew a Huey, we crashed, I died, I came back. I sort of kept up with the changes in flying over the years. I prefer helicopters, but I can fly both.”

  “Okay, so, we have a pilot,” I said. “If you’re willing.”

  “I am,” Bill said.

  “Okay, but isn’t the RCU under Dan’s order?” I asked. “I know he’s dead, but I assume the people he was working with won’t let us take an airplane.”

  “Good job they’re mostly dead too,” Hannah said. “I’ve already arranged for the jet to be ready. We’re good to go.”

  “I’ll come along to help,” Gabriel said. “I know you said you were going alone on this one, but you’re not.”

  George looked up at his husband and reached out to hold his hand, squeezing it slightly. “Where you go, I go,” he said.

  “Not this time,” Bill said, kissing George on the lips. “You’ll have to wait for me.”

  “I am not incapable of taking care of myself,” George said, but the smile on his face was one that said Just try and argue with me.

  When everyone started to look between themselves, I figured there was more going on. “Okay, what?” I asked.

  “You know I said I’ve cracked the intel we got from the tower?” Hannah said. “Well, I found something.”

  “Something bad?” I asked, knowing that it couldn’t possibly be anything else.

  “I know why they’re on that island,” Hannah said. “I spoke to Ji-Hyun and Emily, and we all agreed that it’s something you need to know, but it’s a concern to me about how you might take the news.”

  I took a seat opposite Hannah and crossed my arms. “What is it?”

  “The Ravens weren’t all killed,” Hannah said almost tentatively, as if I might fly into a rage and start throwing things around.

  “What?”

  “Four survived,” Hannah said. “They were taken to a facility that was called Netley Asylum.”

  Everyone stared at me. “Dr Mitchell experimented on my friends in that place?”

  Hannah nodded. “There’s more.” Hannah turned her laptop around to show me an open file. It was well over a hundred pages long and called Caladrius.

  “They named it after a bird that cures the sick?” I asked. “Any chance someone has read all of this, so I don’t have to?”

  “They’ve been experimenting with a serum for a number of decades,” Emily said, taking a seat next to Hannah. “Trying to find a way to give the powers of the riftborn and revenant to humans without dying. They were unsuccessful. They took plasma, marrow, and DNA of riftborn and revenants, and spliced it into humans. There’s a lot of data in that file that tells us about 250 people they got from prisons and the homeless. All of them died. Either the body wholly gave up immediately, or parts of the body were . . . ejected into what they assume is the rift, but it could well be an embers.”

  “Neither way sounds all that nice,” I said.

  “No, it really doesn’t,” Emily said. “They couldn’t figure out why their methods weren’t working. They tried splicing the formula with animals, and nothing, and then they tried using fiend DNA and splicing that with the riftborn and revenant serum.”

  “Success,” Hannah said with a wave of her hands. “Although now it somehow gets worse.”

  “What did the serum actually do?” I asked.

  “According to the notes, it was meant to give humans the powers of a revenant or riftborn,” Emily said. “It didn’t at first because it killed everyone, and then when they spliced in the fiend DNA, it turned them into inhuman monsters and then killed them.”

  “Enter Belarus,” Hannah said. “1996.”

  “What happened? I was in Russia in ’96,” I said. “There was a revenant who thought it was fun to murder people. I was out in the field for almost the whole year, and I didn’t hear anything about Belarus.”

  “Well, in ’96 there was a fiend in Belarus,” Emily said. “It was an elder.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked, finding the world elder in the file and going straight there.

  “It was hushed up at the insistence of one of the Ancients,” Hannah said. “Doesn’t say which, but the body was handed over to Mitchell’s predecessor.” Hannah took the laptop back, clicked a few things and then passed it back to me. “Who looks identical to Callie Mitchell.”

  I stared at the photo of Dr Callie Mitchell. She wore a Russian uniform, and the photo was apparently taken in 1941, the name on the photo said Valentina Ermilova.

  “She’s been doing this a long time,” I said.

  “Centuries,” Meredith said. “By my reckoning. She’s a riftborn, I think.”

  “Okay, so, what happened after ’96?” I asked.

  “The fiend went to Mitchell, and she used the genetic template to create a new serum,” Meredith said. “One that worked. At least for a while. It turns humans into those human/fiend hybrids we’ve seen. Originally, it turned them into super powerful elder-fiend hybrids, but Mitchell was almost killed by one, so she knew she had to tone down the power. That’s what she’s been working on.”

 

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