Midnight Beauties (Grim Lovelies 2)

“Yes. And it gets worse.” Petra went to the window, leaning on the sill. Sleet pounded against the glass. “Duke Karolinge sent Saint into London this afternoon on a reconnaissance mission.”

“I didn’t think birds could get through the border spell.”

“The spell prevents anything enchanted from crossing into London. That includes Rennar’s crows and the Castle’s messenger doves. But Saint isn’t enchanted. He’s a regular falcon. The Duke used Pretty falconry methods to train him, not magic. Saint made it across the border and brought back a message from a contact there that the plagues in London are getting worse. There are reports of time slips. Pockets of the city getting trapped in thirty-second loops. Men and women walk into a time slip and repeat the same gestures again and again until their bones wear out and they die of exhaustion. The Pretties are starting to realize this is more than just ‘atmospheric irregularities’ caused by ‘pollution excess.’?”

Luc suddenly sat upright, eyes wide at the book in his lap. “Look at this. Here. It mentions something called the Dark Chaos, but I think that’s a mistranslation. I think they mean Noirceur. Anyway, it says it originated with the formation of the Earth. It came about from natural elements. Fire and water.”

“Fire and water don’t go together,” Viggo said.

“Yes, they do,” Luc said, eyes dancing. “In a sense. They make smoke.”

Anouk raised an eyebrow.

“That still doesn’t help us with Jak’s riddle,” Beau said. One of the first things Anouk had told them about, once they were human again, was her talk with Jak.

Luc sank back in the leather chair, took off his wire-rimmed glasses, and massaged the bridge of his nose. “If we want to solve his riddle, we have to first figure out what the symbol means. There are books here on pictographs and iconography, but there’s nothing that looks like what he drew.”

Anouk joined Petra at the window. The sleet painted the city in messy gray strokes. If only it would snow—?then maybe Jak would come and give her another clue.

“You never said what it was,” Anouk said quietly.

Petra raised a questioning eyebrow. “What what was?”

“You said you decided what your moniker will be, but you didn’t say what it was.”

A coy smile flickered over Petra’s face. “Didn’t I?”

A gray shadow rippled through the rain and landed on the bust of Rennar in the front yard.

“There’s Saint,” Cricket commented, “back from London again. Maybe he’s brought better news.”

Petra gave a gasp and sat up straight. Her eyes were wide. “That’s it! The falcon!”

Anouk stared blankly. “What about him?”

“You asked how he got into London and I told you about the border spell. How he’s just a regular bird.”

“And . . .” Beau said.

“And that means the Coven’s border spell doesn’t block animals. Regular, unenchanted animals.” Petra’s eyes gleamed darkly. “Don’t you get it? Really? No one? I can get you in! Well, not you. But you. You know.”

“No,” Luc said flatly. “I don’t.”

“Animals,” Petra continued with shining eyes. “The five of you are enchanted when you’re in your human form, not in your animal form. The cat and dog and such were just plain animals that Mada Vittora found around the city. If I turn you back into your original selves, you’d be just as unmagical as you were then. You could get through the border and into Britain. I can do it—?the contra-beastie spell isn’t as difficult as the beastie spell.” She tapped a jagged fingernail over her lips. “Let’s see. A boat won’t take wolves or owls, and neither will an airplane. Ah! There’s a service tunnel that runs alongside the Chunnel, the tunnel that runs beneath the English Channel. It’s only ever used in emergencies. You can travel through it into Britain and hop a commuter train the rest of the way to London.”

The room was quiet, but Petra was so electrified that she didn’t seem to notice.

“One problem,” Viggo pointed out. “Cats and wolves and owls are predators. If they aren’t in cages, what’s to stop Cricket from eating Luc?”

Petra’s face fell momentarily, but then a grin spread across her face. “You’ll stop her, Viggo. You’re just a plain, boring Pretty, which means you can cross into Britain too. You’ll lead the animals through the Chunnel and make sure no one eats anyone else.”

Viggo glowered. “I wouldn’t say boring.”

Anouk turned away from the gleam in Petra’s eyes. Petra was so proud of herself for the plan—?and it was a decent one—?but Petra thought changing from human to animal was like changing into a new set of clothes. She’d never experienced the Cold Place. The Dark Thing. Petra had always been human and so she’d taken for granted her ability to reason, to laugh, to feel, to cry.

The other beasties were silent too. Then Luc shifted and said patiently, “You don’t know what you’re asking, Petra.”

Petra’s face scrunched up. “This will work.”