Cain glanced at Joss. “How are you doing with that scan?”
“There’s a lot of brickwork with reinforced metal,” Joss said with a shake of his head.
Clelia looked imploringly at Ivan. “We need someone who knows the building.”
“Johnny,” Ivan offered.
Maya walked back to them, her phone in her hand. “The building is locked down. I got Quentin to approve the command, but I had to say Ivan was at risk. Quentin will be here in a few minutes, and he’ll want an explanation. We don’t have much time.”
“Call Johnny,” Cain said to Maya. “Tell him we need him here as soon as possible. Say it’s a security issue and use Ivan as an excuse. Josselin, keep on working the infrared.”
Maya moved to the edge of the stage, the phone already pressed against her ear, again.
As Cain made to turn, Ivan said, “Wait. There’s more.” He swallowed. “Boris’s payment for his part in getting me to cooperate is Alice.”
Joss pulled a hand through his hair. “Fuck.”
“No matter which way we play it,” Ivan said, “she’s going to end up dead if we don’t find her. In the meantime, Godfrey has to believe I’m going along with his demands. He won’t dare to kill her until my job is done, or I’ll know, and he knows it.”
“Will her spirit warn you?” Clelia asked.
“It depends on how she dies.” Ivan shuddered at the words. “Some spirits take longer to cross over than others, but I will definitely know if she’s not alive. I’d be able to feel it.”
Maya, who’d returned, said, “At least we know she’s alive, somewhere in the building.”
“It’s a big building,” Clelia pointed out.
Maya nodded at Cain. “Johnny is on his way.”
“Godfrey needs to have a medium lined up somewhere to act as an interpreter between him and Boris,” Ivan said. “As he can’t communicate with Boris himself, he’ll rely on someone who can. He’s waiting for word from Boris that I played my part. Alice is safe as long as they don’t hear from Boris, but Boris isn’t going to be patient for long. We need to silence him.” Ivan regarded Cain, a silent message in his eyes. “For good.”
“I thought the portal was open,” Cain said.
“I think there’s a way of closing it that will make Boris disappear.”
Cain gave a slight nod. “How?”
“You have to kill me.”
Everyone except Cain stared at him with startled expressions.
“You’re out of your mind,” Maya exclaimed.
“It’s either that or risk Alice’s life, and her life is not something I’m willing to risk,” he said.
“How certain are you it’ll work?” Joss asked.
“It’s got to work. I can’t close a portal another medium has opened in the living dimension, but if I’m dead I will have access to it. Like the spirits filtering through, I’ll be able to find it.”
“How do you close it?” Clelia asked.
“It’s a mind thing,” Ivan said, not sure how to explain. “I just have to concentrate on it.”
“But you don’t know for certain it’ll work,” Cain said.
“It’s Alice’s only chance. If nothing else, getting rid of Boris will win you time to find her.”
Cain’s gaze slipped to the knife. “This is your ingenious plan?”
“Do you have a better one?”
“What about the body?” Joss asked Cain, his face a mask of worry.
“We have to make it look like suicide,” Ivan replied.
Joss frowned. “Are you going to cut your own throat with that knife?”
Ivan chuckled. “I’m not sure I have the guts for it.” He gripped the tip of the knife and held the shaft out to Cain. “I was hoping you’d do me the honor.”
Three pairs of eyes stared at Ivan with a mixed array of emotions ranging from disbelief to sympathy before they turned on Cain. The stage was deadly quiet as they waited for their commander to act.
After a moment, Cain reached for the weapon.
“Shit.” Maya rested her hands on her hips, her expression grim. “He’s going to do it.”
“The knife has my fingerprints all over it,” Ivan said. “You can claim to have found my body here. With my history of craziness, it shouldn’t be hard to believe that I finally lost it and took my own life.”
Clelia covered her mouth with a hand. “Oh, Ivan, there must be another way.”
“There isn’t. If we do this, we’ve got to do it now before security and Johnny get here.”
“Say you close the portal,” Maya said, “what’ll prevent anyone from finding a medium to open another portal in the future? Even behind bars, Godfrey won’t stop trying until he succeeds. Your life will be wasted.”
“I can block them all,” Ivan said with growing urgency. “With me on that side, it means all mediums will lose the ability to communicate with spirits, but it will prevent the risk of Godfrey finding himself another necromancist to manipulate.”
“He’s right,” Cain said solemnly. “He’s our only chance.”