I shrugged. “What comes after.”
“Ah.” He thought about it a moment, then said, “You know, I’ve seen filthy, abandoned subway platforms turned into beautiful, ornate goblin temples. I’ve seen creatures that live at the bottom of the Central Park Reservoir that would make you scream in terror if you caught even a glimpse of them, only they’re the most peaceful beings I’ve ever met. They spend all day preparing elaborate meals of algae and phytoplankton, and then at night they put on puppet shows for their young. The universe never stops surprising us, Trent. Nothing is ever what it seems. The way I figure it, death is no different. It’s just another kind of existence, another plane of reality.”
It sounded nice, and I hoped he was right. I didn’t tell him that my own experiences with death were very different. I never saw another plane of existence. I never saw anything at all.
“It’s not what comes next that scares me, Trent,” Thornton continued. “What scares me is leaving Gabrielle. I can’t even imagine not having her by my side. It’s funny, all the little things in a relationship that can bug you, like your girlfriend’s mad that you left hair in the shower drain, or you’re mad that she turned off the cable box when you wanted to DVR your favorite show, and then suddenly…” He paused a moment, staring at the soggy cigarette floating in his Guinness. “Suddenly there’s an expiration date, and you realize how much time you wasted on stuff that doesn’t matter. You realize love is a lot bigger and a lot more important than you ever thought it was.”
I was going to have to take his word on that, though I often wondered if there was someone I’d loved, or who’d loved me, before my past was stripped away. My guess was no. If someone loved me, wouldn’t they try to find me?
“Thornton!” Bethany shouted over the music. She held the phone out for him. Thornton leapt out of the booth and took it from her. He put the phone to his ear and leaned against the wall with his back to the bar. I couldn’t see his expression, but I could guess what it was.
The bartender, Porkpie Hat, and the rest of the men at the bar watched Thornton at the public phone. They glared at him and muttered to each other. They looked nervous, on edge.
Bethany came to the booth and sat in Thornton’s seat. She scowled at the pint glass with the cigarette in it and pushed it away. “Ugh, what have you two been doing?”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“Just like I said, it’s not safe to meet up with Isaac yet, not with the gargoyles still out there. We can’t risk leading them right to him. But he told me about a safe house that’s just a few blocks from here. We’re supposed to meet a woman there named Ingrid Bannion. Isaac is calling her now to let her know we’re coming. We’ll stay at the safe house until the sun’s up. The gargoyles won’t risk being out in the daylight, it hurts them too much.”
“But you said it doesn’t kill them?”
“Not much does.” She leaned closer, her hair falling over her eyes in a way that made her look a lot younger than she was. “I told Isaac about what happened with the Anubis Hand, and what you did to the Black Knight. He’s very interested in meeting you.”
“Who is Isaac?” I asked. “You’ve been talking about him all night but I have no idea who he is.”
“He’s the man we work for.”
I nodded. I’d thought as much. “The one who sends you out to secure magical artifacts before any of the Infected get them.”
She arched an eyebrow at me in surprise, the corners of her lips curling up in a half-smile. “I see you and Thornton have been talking. Good. I bet Isaac could use someone like you.”
I liked the fact that I’d impressed her. I liked even more that I’d made her smile.
I pushed the thought away. It was dangerous to get attached. I knew that. What was I, some goddamn amateur?
“Right now Isaac, Gabrielle, and Philip are back at Citadel, tracking the gargoyles’ movements,” she said. “They can keep the gargoyles occupied with some spells to misdirect them, but until the sun is up he wants us to wait it out somewhere safe. That’s the best he can do for us.”
Citadel. She’d mentioned that name before, back in the Explorer. Isaac’s base of operations. I still didn’t know where it was. Citadel was another word for castle or fortress, but where was there any such thing in New York City? It had to be close enough that Thornton had considered going right back there from the warehouse. I also made a mental note that there were five people involved in Isaac’s operation, including Bethany and Thornton. That complicated things. Two people I could steal from without breaking a sweat. Five was a lot harder.
And then there was the second part of Underwood’s orders, the part about not leaving any survivors. My stomach felt sour thinking about it. I pushed it aside. It was a bridge I’d cross later. First things first. I didn’t have the box yet. I didn’t even know where it was, other than that someone named Gregor was holding onto it for them.
“Something on your mind?” she asked. “You’ve got that look in your eye again.”
“I have a look?” I asked.
“You’ve got a lot of looks, actually, but I call this one the I’m about to punch someone look.”
She smiled again. I forced myself to look away before it sucked me in. I said, “I don’t get it. Isaac is here in the city, right?” She nodded. “Then why doesn’t he come help you? Why hasn’t he picked you up yet? You’ve been on the run since last night.”
“It’s policy,” she explained. “Once we’re out in the field, we’re on our own.”
That sounded uncomfortably familiar. “So he just hangs you out to dry?”
“It’s not like that. Isaac knows what he’s doing. But if we’re going to do any good, none of this can be traced back to him.”
That, too, sounded familiar. I found myself growing unexpectedly angry. “Why? What makes him so special that he needs protecting?”
“It’s not who he is, it’s what he’s got.”
Before I could ask anything else, the scuff of somebody’s shoe against the floor made me turn. The people at the bar were off their stools and on their feet, milling about restlessly. They were focused like a laser on Thornton, who was too busy talking to Gabrielle on the phone to notice them. They looked like animals that had been backed into a corner, shifting their weight nervously back and forth, from foot to foot. They didn’t approach Thornton, but it was only a matter of time. I could feel the violence brewing. It thickened the air.
Thornton hung up the phone and came back to the booth, grinning from ear to ear. His smile made the scar on his cheek look even worse. The torn flap of skin wobbled like it was going to come loose again.
“See? I told you I’d make sure you got to talk to her,” Bethany said.
Thornton nodded, still beaming. “She’s sure there’s something that can help me. She told me she’s going to read every spell book she can get her hands on to find a way to circumvent the amulet’s time limit. She thinks she might be able to make its effects permanent.”
“That’s good news,” I said.
“If anyone can do it, Gabrielle can. I know she can,” he said.
Bethany looked down, avoiding his eyes. It looked like she had something to say but had chosen to keep her mouth shut instead.
“Hey!” someone called. Thornton didn’t turn to see who it was, but I did. It was one of the guys at the bar, a man in his thirties with the sloppy, red-splotched features of someone who’d been drinking since he was old enough to lift a glass. He and the others had clustered together in a tight pack, giving themselves over to a primal herd instinct. Behind them, the bartender had his hand on whatever was under the bar. I was curious about what it was, but not enough to want him to pull it out.