Days Until Lidia Dies: 3

  What I Didn’t Know:

  ? Sebastian Vonsinfonie was back in play in Amalia

  What Zack Didn’t Know:

  ? His brother was back in play in Amalia

  What The Crew Didn’t Know:

  ? VD = SV

  Zacharias taught me how to whistle Everleigh’s tune in an overnight cram session. I still needed practise, but the nice thing about lips are that you get to take them everywhere with you. I don’t remember falling asleep at the desk, but I woke up to Zacharias steadily tapping me on the shoulder and a cracker stuck to my face. I checked my pocket watch.

  It was around noon.

  “There have been several developments,” he said.

  I turned my chair around to face him, scraping against the floor. “Is everybody all right?”

  “Emerich Bach is dead.”

  “What? How?”

  “The information I intercepted this morning suggests Helena Varis murdered him in an attempt to frame your sister. The Spark was a witness to it.”

  “Well, if there was a witness, that’s a terrible frame job.“

  “Helena Varis denies it, and with no witness to the witness, your friends are divided by a classic case of she said, she said.”

  I buried my head in my arms on the table, responding with a muffled, “What else?”

  “I spoke with Lidia. She tried apologizing, but it seems your friends are firm within their stance. They’ve arranged a time and date for a tussle.”

  I looked up from my nest. “What, like a showdown?”

  Zacharias nodded along with a shrug.

  “Is Rhian back yet?”

  “Yes, and she and her baby are healthy. I spent a considerable amount of time observing her and your future brother-in-law. That one’s my favourite.”

  “Who, Strauss?”

  “So steady and organized, and he looks so much like—but you were correct, Feargus Finlay. Your sister doesn’t believe you’re dead. Certainty, not denial.”

  “I know. Any idea what she’s secretly planning?” I already knew, but I thought I'd ask.

  “Secretly planning?”

  “There’s no way Rhian would agree to a showdown. If she seems on board, she’s lying. What’s been going on at the workshop?”

  “They’ve blacked out the windows, and there’s typically always someone inside.”

  “Could you sneak in behind someone while invisible?”

  “The house is trapped with mirrors.”

  “What?”

  “Mirrors are the only reflection from which no one can hide.”

  Well, I reckoned that explained why Adeline was gluing mirrors to the walls. “Are you saying I could have been carrying around a mirror to check for invisible Anima?”

  “Yes, and are you saying you’ve singlehandedly uncovered a number of centuries-buried secrets, and you don’t know that?”

  “Let’s be real, S.R. Pie: I got here, everything went, ‘brlrrrrrpbpbloppp,’ and I’ve just been doing whatever I can to make it work.”

  “We’ll discuss the Anima later,” Zack answered. “And please don’t make that sound again.”

  It was so tempting. So, so tempting. But I still had questions, and I was eager to get the day underway. “If mirrors can help me spot invisible Anima, why this?” I reached into my shirt and retrieved the Anima whistle from around my neck.

  “The mirrors are a tool. From what I recall, Delilah’s whistle is more akin to a weapon, designed to reveal and immobilize nearby Anima. Not for long, but in theory long enough to decide your next action. But there’s a radius, and if you are allied with any Anima, it won’t ignore them.”

  I tucked the whistle back into my shirt.

  Zacharias watched me all the while. The pause was heavy before he spoke again. “So, now that the community knows I’m awake, and now that I’ve made contact with Lidia, I can’t—well, I may not be home as often. I thought I should let you know.”

  “The Law’s got obligations. I get that.”

  Zacharias nodded slowly. “I’ll continue to file my reports for your records.”

  “And I’ll continue to pay you.”

  “I’m hoping to buy a new suit in short order.”

  “Good on you, mate. What colour are you thinking?”

  “Green.”

  “Like, leafy green? Unripe banana green?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of pine needle green.”

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  “Aye, that’ll be so good for you.”

  The pause was heavy again, so I looked over my notes until Zack spoke next.

  “There’s somewhere you may wish to have a look for your friend while you practise your whistling. I’m not ready to go there yet myself. Show me your map of Amalia?”

  I laid out the map of Amalia, and Zacharias tap, tapped his finger in the vicinity of Verena.

  “If it still stands, you’ll find an old theatre nestled at the end of a long pass. It was Sebastian’s project. Maybe your Everleigh knows about it, too.”

  “Thanks, mate. That’s not a bad lead. Maybe she just needed some alone time.”

  Zack replied with another shrug and nod.

  “I’ll miss you, S.R. Pie.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. We’re still roommates, after all. But I will miss you, too, Feargus Finlay.”

  

  Crew Placement:

  Oskari ? Michael, Varis, Strauss, Bells, Adeline, Rhian

  Estate ? Alexander

  ??? ? Rhydian

  ??? ? Everleigh

  Something wasn’t adding up about Everleigh’s disappearance, mates, and let me tell you why. The most eyebrow-raising piece of evidence was the violin case. First of all, what were the odds the same night she left it behind, was the same night she was last seen?

  Next of all, why would Everleigh Gloom hide the sheet music for her whistle lock in a secret compartment? If I could memorize nine notes, reckoned she’d have it locked down. Could have been sentimental, but the paper the song had been written on seemed relatively new, and Zacharias said that while the song had his brother’s artistic markers, the penmanship wasn’t his.

  So, had she disappeared herself, and if so, why? Was she leading me somewhere, and if so, why? She once told me she never did anything unless with flair, so, was I on a treasure hunt? I was hopeful, because that was a far cry better than investigating the disappearance of a friend. Whatever the case, I was seventy-eight per cent sure I had to keep following the clues.

  It was a decent way to Verena, and other than, ‘it’s a theatre, Everleigh might like it,’ I didn’t have any evidential reason to go there. Keeping in mind, Zack had predicted the outcome of our drug case with invisible math, so I also knew I shouldn’t rule it out.

  Before heading that way, I wanted to try my luck with the whistle locks.

  The first lock clicked a total of three times, once for each correct note I hit.

  Those had been easy though, and I wasn’t anticipating problems. The first note of the second set and the third note of the third set were the ones I’d been struggling with during practise with Zacharias. It wasn’t any different down in the storm drain. I tried a dozen more times for good measure, and every time I'd take too long to get past the second lock, the first lock reset. I ultimately made my way back up to the surface.

  At the top of the storm drain, Rhydian Sinclair stood with his arms crossed, staring.

  “The fuck are you doing?” he asked.

  Of all the shenanigans I’d had to explain away over the years, illegal whistling in a storm drain was a new one. “Really can’t beat the sound quality down there, mate.”

  Rhydian pushed past me and lifted the grate. Short of physically restraining him—and I was reasonably sure he’d kick my arse if I did—there wasn’t much I could do except watch while he squeezed down the drain. I joined him down below.

  “Explain,” he said.

  I whistled three notes and the first lock clicked once for each. I failed the second one.

  “It’s a whistle lock,” I explained. “I’m trying to find someone.”

  Rhydian nodded slowly. “Who?”

  “A lass called Everleigh.”

  Rhydian scratched at his blonde and grey beard. “Everleigh Gloom.”

  It wasn’t a question, so I asked one of my own. “And what brings you around?”

  “Hunting.”

  “Mate, you won’t find many deer in the city.”

  “I’m not hunting deer.” Rhydian spit a wad of tobacco to the side. “I’m hunting Everleigh Gloom.”

  We got a room at the Three Drinks so we could talk privately. I sat in the bay window looking out over the city, and Rhydian leaned against the wall next to me.

  “Why do you want to dust Everleigh?” I asked.

  “She’s one of them. Reason enough.”

  It was clear we’d had vastly different experiences with the Anima. I loved my Anima friends.

  “But I’m not trying to dust the little weirdo,” he continued. “I’m trying to capture her.”

  “What’d she do?”

  “She keeps fucking up my kills.”

  “Are you vetting them?”

  “Am I what?”

  “Are you hunting the bad ones?”

  “Have you got shit in your ears, lad? They’re all bad. But aye, the ones I’m after are Lidia Roska-adjacent, and if I can get Lidia herself while I’m at it, all the better.”

  I wasn't sure if he knew about Bach yet, but I had a suspicion he might have. And did Ever know Rhydian was after her? Is that why she disappeared?

  Either way, I suddenly found myself in an interesting position, mates. My options were: a) try to correct Rhydian, explain Everleigh and why I didn’t think she was a threat, or b) convince Rhydian we were on the same side. If we worked together to find her, I could protect Everleigh better. The second option introduced a complication, though, because he was still going to try to capture her.

  Let's go with option c) both a and b.

  “If Everleigh Gloom’s preventing your kills, it’s because…” if I was to convince Rhydian to help me find Everleigh peacefully, I needed to give him plausible reason why she was getting in the way, “it’s because she’s a vigilante who’s been protecting me, and she’s trying not to draw heat right now. If any more Anima go missing, and it wasn’t the crew who did it, then who? Me, her…”

  Pure speculation with a dash of truth. My favourite. I reckoned it could work.

  Rhydian scanned my face. “A vigilante?”

  “Aye, it’s a whole thing involving a costume and everything, mate. You’d be doing Amalia a disservice taking her out of the game.”

  Rhydian moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He took a sip of Hocks from his flask and passed it my way. “Fuck. How sure are you, lad?”

  “As sure as I can be about anything.”

  “And you’ve seen her do it?”

  “Multiple times. And she’s never actually hurt you, has she?”

  Rhydian shook his head.

  “How about,” I said, “let’s find her together, and at the very least, give her a chance to explain.”

  After a sip of Hocks, Rhydian shook his head more vigorously that time. “Fuck it—no. Not in the mood for this shit anymore. Reckon I’ll just go keep an eye on the others.”

  Well, not exactly what I was hoping for. Unless I could find something else for him to do, I needed to keep an eye on him, make sure he wouldn't be going after Everleigh while I wasn't looking. “The others have got it well in hand. But to be honest, mate, I could use your help. It’s been rough and a bit lonely on this side of the fence.”

  “Well in hand? Rick’s dead.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Emerich.”

  “No,” I said. Shock and sadness, shock and sadness. “What? How?”

  “Don’t know.”

  I went and sat beside Rhydian on the bed. “So sorry, mate. If it were Rhian, I’d—”

  Rhian’s father looked to me then. I didn’t finish my sentence.

  “But look,” I continued, “Rick knew what he was doing better than any of them, so if something got him, I doubt if it could have been prevented.”

  Aye, it could have been prevented—maybe. By me, by Michael

  Rhydian took a deep sip, passing the flask again. I did the same.

  “Aye, you’re right—I know you’re right.”

  “Doesn’t fix it though, does it.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Rhydian shook his head.

  Twenty, twenty two, twenty three seconds of silence.

  “All right, lad,” he said. “Let’s go find your strange fucking friend.”