Midnight Beauties (Grim Lovelies 2)

Visions? Anouk’s eyebrows shot up.

Cricket mistook the reason for her surprise and quickly rolled her eyes. “I know you’re probably thinking that I drank too much of Viggo’s absinthe. But it’s true. It was more than a dream.”

“No, I believe you.” Anouk’s mind filled with hazy pieces of her own strange vision of the Coven and the eyeless owl. She could almost kick herself. Why hadn’t she guessed that the other beasties might have had visions too?

“I dreamed of the selkas,” Cricket whispered. “That they hadn’t all been killed off. I had a vision of the ocean and cliffs and women who could shift into seals. It felt so real, Anouk. And then in Castle Ides, I found maps of coastlines with pictures of mermaids—?it was the selkas. That’s what I was stealing.”

“And in the British Museum?”

“In the Greek Wing, I found a hammered-tin bowl with pictures of women turning to seals. Don’t you see? They’re all clues that point to the existence of more of us. If I can figure out the maps and artifacts, I might be able to find the others.” Her eyes danced. “We might not be alone, Anouk. There might be more beasties that escaped the Royals’ purge. Ones that can shift on their own. Haven’t you ever wondered what our place in the world is? What it could be?”

Anouk’s lips parted. So that had been Cricket’s secret. Not revenge on their creators. (Though, to be honest, the Royals deserved it.) Anouk could see the desire sparkling in Cricket’s eyes. To not be the only ones. To know that there were more of them out there, unbound by the rules and requirements of the Haute. It was a lonely existence, being a beastie. Why shouldn’t they try to find others?

“I was going to tell you,” Cricket added, “and the others once I was sure. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Besides, we have more pressing matters.” She turned to the window with a tight look on her face. “All those Pretties down there. I feel sorry for them. They don’t know their fates are in the hands of a couple of misfits and dreamers.”

“And Viggo.”

Cricket snorted. “Oh God.”

Throughout the shoe department, the last of the Royals and Goblins finished drinking from the goblets of elixir. Rennar came over to the window with the final goblet and extended it to Cricket, who took her three sips with a grimace, and then to Anouk, who drained the dregs.

Rennar motioned to the various factions. “Aleksi, Violante, December, and I divided the city by neighborhood. The Lunar Court is going to take Covent Garden and Soho. The Barren Court is taking Islington. The Court of the Woods will cover Camden and Hampstead. The Crimson and the Minaret Courts are taking Wandsworth and Lambeth. I’ll handle Westminster on my own. December’s leading the Goblins to take the East End. Petra’s insisted on taking both Chelsea and Kensington, since you’ll be otherwise occupied, Anouk.”

“And I’m going to procure the Heart of Alexandrite,” Cricket said, cracking her knuckles. She threw Anouk a quick look and cleared her throat. “It’ll make the perfect vessel. Very rare. Extremely protected. The Noirceur will be safe there. I’ll get it and be back here before Viggo says another stupid thing.”

Anouk gave her a knowing nod.

The three of them turned to the window and looked out over the clock and the rising smoke. Snow steadily drifted down. Anouk pressed her fingertips against the frosted glass. She wondered how Duke Karolinge was faring out in the cold, whispering a spell powerful enough to span an entire city. If his spell failed, even for a moment, they’d be thrust into chaos once more.

Anouk went to the armchair and rested a hand on Beau’s shoulder. He’d taken one of the Goblin’s handkerchiefs and tied it around his eyes as a blindfold.

“It’s time for me to go, Beau.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “This is our world, Anouk,” he said. “Fight for it.”

Chapter 41

The entire company of the Haute left Pickwick and Rue’s. London remained as still as some terrible painting. Except for the rivers of smoke moving through the streets, not a single blade of grass or lock of hair wavered. The Snow Children’s frost encased the world, and as she gathered with the others in the park as they prepared to split up into the different neighborhoods, Anouk got the topsy-turvy impression that the entire city was nothing more than displays at the British Museum—?or perhaps a haunted house. Two teenage Pretties cowered behind a phone booth. A dog paused mid-snarl at a man with blood soaked into his shirt. The glass of a bookstore’s broken windows hung suspended in time. And the magic handlers were like the museum’s midnight custodians, there to sweep up the mess and put things back in order before dawn.

One by one, the teams broke off from the group and departed, all heading in opposite directions—?the Goblins to the east, Petra to the south, the Royal factions to the north and west—?until only Anouk, Hunter Black, and Viggo remained in the square, standing by a fountain frozen in time.

“Hunter Black, you’re up.” Anouk’s stomach did flip-flops as she scanned the full height of Big Ben. Smoke steadily poured out of its windows and plummeted to the streets. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? It’s a long way to the top.”

“I’ve scaled the Eiffel Tower blindfolded,” he said. “This is nothing.”

She’d never get used to hearing such staggering arrogance from such a sullen boy. She decided that he’d make an excellent Royal. “Well, try not to breathe in too much smoke.” She gave him a sly grin and recited the same words he’d said to her: “All things considered, your survival would be preferable to your death.”

He turned to her with a surprisingly touched look. “Thank you, Anouk.” He gave her an oddly formal nod and t

hen crossed the park. She’d seen him scale walls before; there was the time Viggo had stayed out past curfew and Hunter Black had had to throw him over his shoulder, climb the townhouse exterior, and come in through Anouk’s turret window. He’d moved like a shadow, even carrying Viggo’s bulk. Now he was twice as stealthy. Without his coat—?Luc had returned to the museum to check on Duke Karolinge and he had it with him—?Hunter Black looked shockingly lithe. Anouk and Viggo watched him ascend the limestone blocks at the tower’s base as easily as if he were walking up a set of stairs.

Anouk watched until he was almost at the top, then turned and shaded her eyes to peer into the dome window on the fifth floor of Pickwick and Rue’s. She could just make out the shape of Beau, sightlessly looking out over them. “Viggo, you’ll keep an eye on Beau, won’t you?”

“After a houseful of Goblins, he’ll be a piece of cake.”

Deep rumblings came from the east, followed by matched sounds from the west. The smoke wavered slightly as something within the city shifted. Anouk climbed to the top of the park’s fountain and stood on tiptoe. To the east, Covent Garden glowed with a faint blue light. To the west, Soho crackled with orange.

“It’s the different factions. Their spells are working. Look.” Anouk clapped a hand on Viggo’s shoulder and pointed to the base of Big Ben. Orange and blue sparks crackled amid the smoke. A grandfather clock suddenly appeared by the bushes at the base of the tower. With a colorful blue flash, a television set with a built-in clock appeared. The colored lights they were seeing in the distance were the teams performing the transference spells, sending the clocks here, to Big Ben. A small alarm clock with silver bells. A wristwatch. A giant clock that looked like it belonged to a church, and lots of identical round clocks that must have been from a school.