A Sea of Purple Ink (19 page)

27

Grant saluted from his position halfway down the stairs. “Niela told me to come check on you.”

Reese hurried forward. “I’m fine.”
Just a little shaken up.
She reached the lowest step. “You have some food for him?” she asked, holding out the tablets. “He’s got a splitting headache, so he won’t need one of these for awhile.”

The big man grunted in affirmation and took the tin.

Reese stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Grant, if he starts doing anything strange, get out of the room and find me. Understand?”

Grant’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded.

Good.
Reese tried to steady herself. “Once you’re done, come back upstairs. We need to get tomorrow’s plan in place.”

Upstairs, the kitchen reeked of fried eggs and meat. Tyrone had opened the wall between it and the dining room, and now sat at one corner of the big wooden table, toying with a stack of playing cards and telling Lacewing the latest noble gossip.

As Reese approached, Niela looked up from the cooking fire.

“Everything all right?” she muttered.

Reese nodded. “Is there any food left?”

The shifter lifted a plate from a shelf and turned to a large pan sitting beside the fire. “Some.” She scooped two glistening eggs and a strip of dark meat onto the plate. “How’s Joplin?”

Reese noted the sullen tone in her friend’s voice. “Is that a veiled apology?” She took the plate from Niela’s hand. “You’re making it to the wrong person.” She waited a moment, but Niela didn’t look her in the eye. Warmth from the plate radiated onto Reese’s hands.
Very well.
“We’ll be planning here in a few minutes,” she said. “Once Grant gets back.”

Niela nodded.

Reese turned away and walked to the table.

Lacewing sat there, leaning an elbow on the table and watching as Tyrone demonstrated a card trick.

“You doing all right?” Reese asked as she sat down beside the vanisher. “I haven’t had a chance to apologize for your time in Sea Level.”

The petite woman gave her a fleeting smile. “That’s okay.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Half the time they couldn’t find me when they came to… well…” Her smile faded for a moment. Then she roused herself. “It could have happened to anyone.”

Reese set her plate on the table and picked up the slab of slippery meat. “And how are you feeling now? Would you be up for some vanishing?”

Lacewing laughed. “Of course.” She fluidly unwrapped one arm from her legs and touched the table. In an instant, she and the tabletop disappeared.

“Hey!” Tyrone looked up from his hand of cards. “Put those back. I can’t see what I just played.”

The vanisher and table reappeared. “Sorry,” Lacewing said. “There you go.”

Tyrone peered closer at the cards lying in a heap. “They’d better be the same cards as before.”

Reese took a large bite of her food. The savory taste nearly took her breath away.
I forgot how hungry I was.
She chewed slowly, letting the noise of the conversation fade out of her mind and the beginnings of the plan fall into place.

The merchant handed a few cards to Lacewing and began coaching her on a one-handed shuffle.

Niela banged the frying pan onto a shelf. “Here comes Grant.”

The big man entered the room and thumped down into a chair.

We’re all here now.
Reese nibbled on the egg in her hand, mind still ticking through the options.
I think we can do this.

Tyrone laid his cards on the table.

Niela stood within arm’s reach of Reese, her gaze on the merchant.

“Tyrone, would you take a look out the back door and see if anyone is out there?” Reese asked. She swallowed the last few bites as he pushed back his chair and strode into the other room.

The garden door opened, boots shuffled, then the door closed and Tyrone reentered. “No one that I can see,” he replied. “The mists are out.”

Good.
Reese pushed her plate away and settled into her chair.
This will be interesting.
She looked around the table. “Tomorrow will be a long day,” she said. She swallowed. “But by the end of it, I hope to have overturned the ban on abilities.”

Grant’s mouth fell open.

Across the table, Tyrone gave Reese a smug grin.

Reese kept her face blank.
Don’t give it away, Tyrone.
She took another breath. “It’s a bold move, but I think it will be worth it. We’ll be hitting them hard in two locations and have the element of total surprise.”

Niela stepped forward. “Hold it there, Reese.” She stabbed the finger down onto the tabletop. “You’re planning an attack that will affect the ban?” Realization spread across her face. “You’re going to attack the king and force his hand.”

Dead silence fell in the dining room.

Reese looked around at the shocked and frightened faces.
I thought that might be their reaction.
She cleared her throat.
This means keeping an element of secrecy.
“For your own safety,” she said, “I will not tell you particulars about the part of the night that Tyrone, Joplin, and I will be focusing on. We will discuss your part of the plan and call it enough.”

Niela’s face darkened. She gave Reese a pointed stare, but said nothing.

“I will say that we will be in the vicinity of the palace tomorrow night,” Reese added. “So Lacewing, I’ll need you to wait somewhere close to the southern gate, just in case we have to retreat in a hurry.”

“Ah… all right,” Lacewing replied. Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

Tyrone slid the deck of cards off the table and began shuffling them.

“Niela,” Reese continued, “I need you to lead an attack on police headquarters.”

The strong man seated beside Reese grunted in surprise.

Niela leaned her elbows on the table. “What’s the goal?”

“To keep them from coming to the palace,” Reese said. “Cut the communications lines. I don’t need a direct assault. Just keep an eye on them, and if anything comes up, keep them inside and away from the palace. You’ll have Grant with you, too. Think you can manage it?”

The shifter bristled. “Of course I can manage it.” She flexed her neck, her eyes narrowed to slits. “We’ll keep their heads down all right.”

A flutter of apprehension ran through Reese’s precise calculations.
She’s angry. And knowing her, she’s going to take it out on the police.
She ran her hand across the edge of the table, feeling the rough wood. “It has to be low profile,” she said. “If they catch a whiff of what’s going on, the plan—and I—will be in danger.”

Niela’s scowl deepened, but a hint of the tension seemed to leak out of her. “I understand,” she said. “Will you come look the area over with me beforehand?”

She wants to talk.
“Maybe,” Reese said. “It might be dangerous.”

“What about Arrow?” Lacewing asked.

Reese looked up. “Pardon?”

The vanisher shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Niela said he wanted help getting out of the police force. I thought maybe… since he helped us…”

Reese hesitated.
I suppose there is a chance he’ll be at headquarters in the city, if he hasn’t already been caught.
She looked at Niela. “I’ll leave that up to you. If he shows up, it’s your choice whether to offer him any assistance. And on that note…” She could feel herself tensing up at the thought. “Once this is all over, which for you would be either when the police break out of the trap, or when you hear anything about my half of the plan, scatter and hide. Don’t hide in the usual places. Somehow they know we use the tunnels.” She looked from one to the other. “Hide in places where only I would think to look for you.”

She let the words soak in for a moment, then turned to the big man beside her. “Grant, what do we have for ammunition with us?”

Grant furrowed his brow. “Not much. Just what we carried when we left the tunnels.”

I figured.
Reese nodded. “All right. We’ll see about getting some more tomorrow.” She sighed. Her head was beginning to ache. “In the meantime, it’s been a long day, and it will be longer tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

Her three followers stood and exited, leaving a heavy silence and a bemused Tyrone.

“What about our part?” he asked, still flicking the rectangular cards back and forth.

Reese shook her head.
Too many factors.
“I’ll have to think it over tonight,” she said, pushing her chair back. “There are a few questions that need answers.”

Down cellar, curled up beneath one of the leaning wooden structures, Reese felt her mind shift into high gear. Whatever the outcome, she would have the full picture in the morning. She always did.
The question is,
she thought, pulling her scavenged blanket up past her ears,
will it be a plan I can follow?

28

“We’ll need ammunition and dark clothes,” Niela said, ticking the items off on her fingers, “and some odds and ends of food would be good.” She paused, her focus on Grant, as he pulled himself up on the empty barrel racks. “I could really use a long-range gun, too.”

Reese nodded thoughtfully.
Where would we be able to get all of those? I’ve got a few guns left in the cellar at Darrencote, but that would take a separate mission. We don’t have enough people to spread out all over the city.
“Where did we buy the last round?” she asked.

Wood splintered and Grant thudded back down to the ground, arm muscles bulging.

“Be careful!” Niela shouted. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Reese flinched.
She’s still angry at something.
She looked at her friend’s hard profile.
Probably me.

The shifter finally pulled her gaze from the strong man and looked Reese in the eye. “Last batch came from Dennin down in the Outer Circle.”

“Does he keep a big enough inventory to fill us up again?” Reese asked.
And if he does, who am I going to send? I can’t go myself. Someone might see me. Niela’s the only other one they know by sight.

Niela shrugged and folded her arms. “He’s probably running low,” she said, rocking back and forth. “My bet would be on Forworth down by the old docks. He’s been stashing things away for several months now.”

The docks… down by the fight rings.
A sick feeling ran through Reese’s heart.
Not the fights, Niela.
“Does he still sell to abilities?”

“Probably.” Niela glanced toward Reese but didn’t make eye contact. “If he doesn’t we can try other places.”

She’s toying with the idea.
Reese looked away.
I can’t ask her directly without causing too much damage.
Reese marshaled her thoughts. “All right. Let’s go see if Tyrone has any money.” She circled behind her friend and started up the cellar stairs.
Maybe it would be for the best if she got some of that out before the stealth mission tonight.
A cold sensation gripped her stomach. She could hear Niela’s footsteps behind her.
But what if she gets injured? Caught? She hasn’t been in that world for a long time.
She reached the top of the stairs and stepped into the hallway, nearly crashing into Tyrone.

“There you are,” the merchant said, drawing back in a swirl of short cape. “I have to go meet some inspectors at my warehouse.” He pulled a pair of fine leather gloves from his pocket and began putting them on. “So I’ll need you all to lay low for awhile.”

Niela snorted. “Don’t worry. We’re going to run some errands too.”

“Do you have some money we can use?” Reese asked. “Borrow,” she corrected herself. Mental images of Niela at the fights kept running through her mind in spine-tingling clarity.

Tyrone raised an eyebrow. “Borrow? Have you recovered the family fortune without telling me?” He waved a hand toward the sitting room. “I have some in there I managed to grab before leaving the warehouse.” His smiling countenance remained as suave as ever, but his voice dropped as he added, “Don’t take all of it. If this doesn’t work I’ll need all I can get, and there are a couple deliveries coming this afternoon.” He flashed Reese a brilliant smile, then turned with another swish of his cape and headed down the hallway.

Reese watched him go, puzzled.
What was that about? Something about the deliveries?

Niela’s voice pulled her back to the present. “I still don’t know why we’re working with him,” the shifter said. “Last I heard, you weren’t even talking to him.”

“Things have changed,” Reese said. She studied her friend for a moment, thoughts swirling around in a miniature hurricane. Necessity. Friendship.
How am I supposed to explain that to anyone?
“You do what you have to do,” she said at last. She stepped away from the wall and crossed into the sitting room.

A deep gold couch stood pushed close to the dying fire, rumpled blankets scattered across it and the floor. Tyrone’s steamer trunk sat behind it, a blue doublet scrunched in its clasps, and beside it, half-concealed beneath the couch, was a small wooden chest.

That’ll be it.
Reese stepped to the couch and crouched beside the little chest. “Make sure you only buy what we need,” she said, flipping back the lid. “We…”

Glittering rhydium rings filled the box, along with handfuls of gold and silver.

Niela gasped. “Where did he get all that? There’s a king’s ransom of money in there.”

Reese gripped the edges of the box to keep her hands from trembling.
That’s almost the literal truth.
She swallowed. “I’m not sure where he got it. He’s been smuggling for years.” She reached into the box and retrieved seven rhydium rings. “Here. Take these, and these.” She added a handful of gold and silver to Niela’s pile. “Make sure no one catches you with this much money.”

“Got it,” Niela said. She pulled a small pouch from inside her shirt and stuffed the rings inside.

Reese felt the words coming before she could stop them. “I want you to take Grant with you,” she said.

Niela looked up, eyes suspicious.

“To carry the ammunition,” Reese said.
Please understand me.
“And, Niela, it’s vitally important for you and he to be back here before the evening meal.” She stood up and rested a hand on the back of the couch, feeling its soft fabric. “You two are key parts of the plan tonight,” she added. “If anything happens to you, the plan won’t work.”

The shifter’s gaze seemed to pull back, back into her innermost thoughts. “I understand,” she said. She gave Reese a casual salute, then left the room.

Reese stood there, running her hand up and down the sofa edge, hoping she had made the right choice.
Six people. And tonight we try to end it.
She folded her arms, letting her shoulders relax for one brief moment.
I am the leader of six people about to attempt what could turn out to be impossible.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Niela, please be wise.

Grant’s heavy footsteps reached the top of the cellar stairs.

Reese stepped forward. “Grant?” She walked to the entrance of the sitting room and found the big man standing in the hall. “How’s Joplin?”

Grant moved aside to let Niela out of the doorway behind him. “Pretty quiet.” He handed the tin of Cillian tablets to Reese.

Niela glanced up and met Reese’s gaze briefly, then looked back down as she pulled on a pair of fingerless leather gloves.

“Good. Do you need a weapon?”

With a grin, Grant shook his head. The big man’s fingers groped at the side of his boot and, with no discernible effort, drew back a short blade. He held it for a moment, rubbing his thumb across the crooked hilt, then flipped it around and sheathed it again. “Don’t worry about me.”

Reese wished she felt more relieved. “Good. Make sure you’re both back before the sun gets below roof level.”

“Got it,” Niela replied. She finished tightening the straps on her gloves and clapped one hand against the other. “See you later.”

Grant and the shifter vanished down the hallway, heading for the front door.

Reese waited until she heard the latch click shut behind them, then started down into the quiet cellar.
Now I wait.

A trio of oil lamps flickered in the middle of the floor, sending a thin line of smoke and shimmering heat toward the stone ceiling.

Reese wandered over to the empty wine racks, her thoughts a jumble of memories and data. Hiding here when Tyrone’s father had guests. The row of notches she had made for each successful trip into the heart of the criminal underworld. Her mother marrying Tyrone’s father.

Reese frowned. She stopped in the small circle of heat from the oil lamps, trying to push the anger away.
Only a few months after Father died.
Reese’s hands clenched.
What was I supposed to do? Just disappear? I had to hide from my own mother.
In a moment, her anger dissipated.
There are other things to think about now.

Like mastermind Stryker.
Reese could feel the anger seeping back.
If he’s guessed what we’re planning…
She dropped into a deep stretch, mind working away, trying to guess what factors he might use.
Last he saw, I was threatening the king. I doubt a stunt this insane would cross his mind.

Reese crouched and began limbering up her lower back, a new line of thoughts splitting off.
Why was Stryker so anxious to catch me?
The police, particularly the reader division, were focused antagonists, but the events of the last few days were incredible.
He tracked me, played the Grahm trick, caught my crew, set a trap in Sea Level. All to talk to me. And he asked me where Nile was, then tried to kill him.

She twisted right, then left. Straightening, she eased into a defensive position, Niela’s training forms playing through her subconscious.
He wanted Nile back, and then tried to kill him.
Right punch, left grab. Reese found herself in front of a wooden beam about the size and shape of a man.
Or perhaps he just wanted to know where Nile was so he could kill him.

She took a half step back, then jumped.
Kick right, adjust to land in a roll.
Her boot thudded into the wood and she dropped. The world spun for a moment as she rolled, then she swept the imaginary assailant’s feet out from beneath him. Wood dust burst into the light of the lamps.

Well, he won’t be killing anyone without going through me. Not if it means the ban stays in place.

The king’s voice cut in on her thought process. “You think we’ll run into some trouble?” he asked.

Reese quick-spun to her hands and knees, then forced herself back into a standing position. “It’s always best to be prepared,” she replied. The motion had felt good, but not as good as the thought of victory. “We have no way of knowing how your men will respond.”

Joplin’s gaze drifted to the floor, eyes narrowed in thought. The light from the lamps played along the edge of the secret room, casting its inmate partly in shadow. He stood there, just inside the door, one hand against the wall.

He doesn’t look very confident.
Reese rolled her sore shoulder, keeping an eye on the king. “Did you remember more?” she asked. The muscles in her arm creaked and popped with the stretching.

Joplin shook his head. “Nothing.” The light caught his eyes as he looked up at her. “Are you sure this will work? What if you’re wrong about it only being a portion of the police against me?” He drew himself up and, for a moment, looked the part of king. “I mean, for all I know, you’re just trying to make me think I’m the king.”

Reese hesitated.
Well, he has a point.
She folded her arms. “You are definitely the king.”
Written, yes, but still the king.
“And I promise that if anything goes wrong tonight, I’ll do whatever I can to get you out alive.” She could feel her heart rate increasing as she prepared to speak again. “As long as you promise to remove the ban as soon as you’re on the throne again.”

Joplin studied her for a long moment, face blank. “If I find I am truly supposed to be on the throne,” he said at last, “I will remove the ban.”

As diplomatic as ever.
Reese found herself smirking. He doesn’t want to get counted among a rebellion. “You realize you would have to be the king to come up with a contingency like that?” she said.

A trace of a smile crossed the king’s face.

Reese had a sudden mental image of having left the upper door open.
If he takes off, I can’t stop him.
She risked a glance at the stairs.

“If I really am the king,” Joplin said, “why didn’t you kill me in Sea Level?”

Reese drew herself up. “I don’t do that sort of thing,” she retorted.
Not if I can help it.
“None of us do.”

The king’s smile faded. “And your friend who killed the chief of police?”

A flash of anger burned into Reese’s mind. “That wasn’t Niela,” she said. “I’ll vouch for that.” She gave the king a long look. “I don’t know who that was. But when I find out, I’ll…”
What will I do?
The thought trail had long since been lost under the rebellion. “It wasn’t Niela,” she repeated. Without waiting for the king’s reply, she started toward the stairs. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”