The Blake that had fought Conquest would have broken the window.
But that wasn’t a long-term solution. I’d have their attention. But what would I do after that? I couldn’t fight. I could maybe break glass, maybe reach through like Rose had. I had limited means of attack, and I was more vulnerable than they were, to boot.
Worse, I knew that doing what she’d done had taken a lot out of Rose. She’d recovered. I didn’t recover so much as I changed. Those changes led down a road. If I lost something, there was no guarantee I could replenish it.
I was tense as I watched Sandra and Jeremy go their separate ways. It wasn’t worth it.
The problem wasn’t limited to my general inability to fight or defend myself if I go their attention here. If I went to one place or another, what could I do to help?
Communicate. Warn.
I moved past Sandra, skipping across patches of light, barely paying her any mind. Had people been able to see, they might have been able to make me out in the mirrors. Stepping into view, glancing around the surroundings, then disappearing, moving on.
I saw people, a few gathered Others, ghosts, and then Johannes, in the company of Faysal Anwar.
Sandra and Johannes, converging on the same spot.
An impromptu meeting at the church.
I knew where Mags had been, and if she was invited to the meeting, then I knew the route she’d take. If she wasn’t invited, then she needed to know so she could mount a defense.
Mags was near Hillsglade, and Hillsglade was one stop.
I reached the front of the house.
Nobody in the living room, nobody visible outside.
Damn it.
I drew the Hyena.
I struck the window with the pommel of the weapon, all of my strength behind it.
It didn’t bounce off so much as it slid. If the spikes weren’t already embedded in the near-permanent holes in my fingers and palm, I might have lost my grip entirely.
The barrier against my interference apparently included stopping me from breaking in, literally speaking.
Screw Rose. Damn her. If my friends got hurt because of this, I’d…
I wasn’t sure what I’d do. I couldn’t think straight.
I heard a laugh, from some place beyond my ability to see. They weren’t here, but they were getting close.
No time.
Would I be made to watch, unable to act or change the outcome?
I estimated the distance. I had time for a quick conversation, and that had to be better than standing here being useless.
Mags.
I pushed myself away, breaking into a run. I headed in the direction I’d last seen Mags walking: directly south of Hillsglade House, toward the lake. The idea had been that they’d have some space to chat, and heading that way meant they were downplaying the risk of running into locals. I’d headed west from that point, to the other end of the narrow beach, where the skating rink had been put together.
There were a lot of crummy little shops and businesses here, punctuated by clusters of nicer looking businesses, where people had moved in and just gotten things off the ground. Amid convenience stores and dry cleaners that looked like they’d been around since the thirties, there was a fancy upscale place selling women’s yoga clothes or something, and a place selling mountaineering, kayaking and canoeing equipment that looked like it didn’t have anything that cost less than a hundred bucks.
Odd places, for the economically depressed town. Were the business owners banking on the city’s expansion, or were these businesses some kind of abstract indication of Johannes’ influence creeping into the city proper?
Past the shops. Dinky, dingy houses.
Past the houses, the park. One little patch of light in what should have been a vast tract of green, punctuated by little gardens and statues, riddled with concrete paths.
I found Mags in Molly’s company, at the lakeside. Mags still had the mirror, tucked into the back of her jeans. They hadn’t killed each other, and didn’t look prepared to.
Molly had settled in form. The flickers persisted at the edges, but her body remained stable, with only tearing at the edges. Her features had distorted, not leaving her unrecognizable, but still a little hollowed out, twisted.
Mags looked like she’d been affected too, but in a different way. I couldn’t see her face from this angle, but her posture was bent, as if she had a weight on her shoulders.
A pity. I might have hoped she’d recover a bit, facing down her demons.
Had I? Facing down Carl?
Still, Mags’ hands were in her pockets. Not something someone did if they thought they’d have to defend themselves.
Molly noticed me before I could clear my throat to announce my presence. Mags noticed Molly noticing, half-turned, then pulled the mirror out so I didn’t have to scramble to stay within the reflection.
“What’s up?” Mags asked me.
“Sandra,” I said. “She knows about Molly.”
“Balls.”
“She’s convening a truncated council meeting or something, at the church,” I said.
Mags didn’t respond. Her head was bent.
“What?” I asked.
“She was a… She wasn’t an enemy,” Mags said.
“She is now,” I said. “I’m pretty sure she’s going after Molly, and you’re included in that, if you finished the ritual.”
Mags nodded. “I sort of saw that coming.”
“I’d help if I could, but I don’t know what I can do,” I said. “You should get over there, so you can speak in your own defense. Or run, or whichever.”
She ran her hand over her hair, then patted a bit down at the back where it was sticking up.
“Or… something,” I said. “Fuck. This is a joint attack, they don’t want Rose helping you, so they’re attacking Hillsglade.”
“Go,” Mags said. “Help your friends.”
“I can’t,” I said. “I’m locked out.”
“You can’t do anything here either,” she said. “You’re doing less than nothing. You’re feeding Molly. She calmed down after you left.”
I looked at Molly. Though she hung her head, as though she were facing the ground, her eyes were on me. Her shoulders were too slouched. Her hands a bit too long, her clothes tattered and dark at the edges.
My influence was a part of that?
I twitched, ready to run. “You’re positive?”
She nodded, a tight gesture.
“You’re going to handle this?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” she said. “Go. Handle that first. If I’m due some payback for what I did, I’ll face it and I’ll fight every frigging step of the way.”
I started to go, then stopped. I looked at Molly. “I remember telling you that if you needed help, you should call me. I know that didn’t happen for real, but…”
I stopped speaking a full second before we felt it, as though some sort of premonition had hit, or I was like the animals that freaked out before a natural disaster.
It rippled through the city, and it set the windows and mirrors to shuddering. It rolled through me, a shockwave without any physical force at all. It didn’t push me or knock me off my feet, and it didn’t stir my hair, but I still felt as though I might have been collapsing or bleeding from every orifice if I’d happened to be flesh and blood.