Oblivion Heart (Darkling Mage 4)

“A cuffed pant,” the second one added. “Yes. Perhaps some accessories. Bring out the blue in his eyes.”

“Um,” I stammered. “I’m not – wait, what was that about my inseam again?”

“Or,” the third Sister said. “Or do you simply need information, dear Dustin? Yes. Your threads have been so frayed, your weft tangled. You need to be strung in the right direction. A book. He seeks a book.”

“The Tome of Annihilation,” I breathed, turning in place to follow the Sisters as they fawned and fussed over me, growing dizzy with the pace of their speech and sartorial meddling. “I need to know where it is.”

“Lucky he brought that lace, eh, Sisters? This one’s asking a lot.”

A second Sister broke in. “The book is in Valero. In the very city you call home, shadow mage.”

I groaned, and yeah, okay, I stamped my foot, too. “I know that already. That’s what – ” I cut myself off, figuring that any mention of Scrimshaw probably wouldn’t help my case, whatever it was he had done to them. “That’s what someone told me.”

“Oh, very well.” The third Sister reached into her belt of wonders, pulling out a small, slender card. She slipped it in my breast pocket, patting it for safety. “You’ll find it there.”

“That’s it?” I blinked at her, feeling at my chest to make sure the card was still in my pocket. This was too easy. “Really, that’s all there is to it?”

“Really,” the three Sisters said in unison.

“But take caution,” said one. “Something hideously dangerous awaits you.”

“Oh,” I said. “Of course. You mean besides the book?”

“You must already know that you aren’t the only party interested in the Tome of Annihilation, dear Dustin,” said the second.

“Be on your guard.” The third Sister tugged gently at my hair, as if attempting to style and reshape it to her satisfaction. “And remember that you’re a winter palette.”

“Wha – what the hell does that even mean?”

“Pick up a fashion magazine some time,” one Sister said icily.

I rubbed the back of my neck. This was all a blur of disjointed information, but if a Norn – or a Fate, whoever these women were – told me to wise up and harden my defenses, then I wasn’t going to argue. I had to focus on the Tome of Annihilation. Focus on getting it back – and getting out of this mess alive.

“Is there anything else I should know?” I said, a little weary, yet somehow a little hopeful.

“Oh, no. You’re dismissed.” All three Sisters turned to me as one. “That’s all.”

The world spun, and I found myself spat onto the ground outside the narrow passage in Silk Road. It was darker out. The two stores concealing the tether to the Sisters’ domicile had closed shop, dim except for the faint interior lights they used to keep their window displays pretty by night.

That also meant that there was no one around to see me eat pavement. Good enough, I figured. I spat out bits of grit that had somehow made it past my lips, then reached into my jacket pocket. Perfect. The card was still there.

“Seek the tower of mouths,” I read. “The city’s unblinking eye.”

Oh. A riddle. Great. Just great. As if the entities in general could be any more obtuse. Though maybe I spoke too soon. I stared at the card, frowning. Maybe this was easier than I thought.

An unblinking eye. Surely it couldn’t be that obvious. That was Comstock Media’s logo, printed in its daily newspaper, or aired as a graphic in each one of its broadcasts. The last time I’d seen it was in a paper at dad’s house, and before that, during a report on the warehouse fire. The tower of mouths. Broadcasting, communications? It seemed to hang together.

I pulled out my phone, more than ready to hire a car to head straight to the Comstock Building. A stupendously foolish and impulsive move to go alone, sure, which was why I was grateful that my phone had about fifteen missed calls to stop me dead in my tracks.

But I wasn’t so enthusiastic to see that they were all from Gil. Things had been weird en

ough with him back at the Boneyard, but now I had to wonder if I’d somehow accidentally done even more to antagonize the Lorica, or possibly his relationship.

Fifteen missed calls, though? Yikes. I had to call him back. Something major had to be up.

Gil picked up in two rings. I had just blurted out a quick, questioning “Hello?” before he started talking over me.

“You’ve got to head over here, Dust. Texting you the address. Some serious shit is going down and – well, I thought you’d want to know.”