He was talking about the time when I relinquished my hold on the Dark Room forever, in that fight against the Overthroat. And just in case it wasn’t clear to everyone present exactly what had happened, I made sure to very loudly explain how I no longer had a link to the Dark Room. I wanted that very crucial information to spread throughout the Lorica’s ranks, in some hope that they’d just please leave me the fuck alone. Herald was very helpful in that respect. I knew that he only had a small handful of friends at work, but he turned on the charm, spending more time around the water cooler or magical fountain or whatever fancy new doodad they’d installed in the break room after I left.
Donovan’s eyes traveled carefully between me and Bastion before he finally spoke. “There are those who believe that he still has one foot in the Dark Room. He’s just hiding that fact. And if we don’t take measures to keep an eye on him, then he might just use it, let it out again. Put us all in danger.”
Delilah’s words echoed in my mind, her voice whispering that something was asleep, not dead and gone. But what did that have to do with this? I scoffed, the panic bubbling in the pit of my stomach. “That’s ridiculous, and you all know it. I don’t know who’s feeding you that garbage, but it’s not true.”
Shut up, I told myself. Stop talking before someone sniffs you out. I bit my tongue, my glance flitting between Bastion and the Fuck-Tons. If any of them detected that I was lying, they didn’t show it.
Bastion gestured with his hand, turning his fingers upward. Donovan grunted, lifted telekinetically to his feet by Bastion’s power. Standing up like that, it was hard to imagine that this was the same invisible force that had both me and Sterling by the balls. He was lanky, the shortest in the bunch, and in many ways looked no different than I did in my first days at the Lorica.
“Nice hair,” Sterling said. Donovan’s black hair fell just past his shoulders, somehow tumbling in sleek waves despite the fact that the Fuck-Tons had practically wrestled him into the dirt.
“It used to be longer,” Donovan said, spitting a mix of blood and saliva onto the ground. “Before your little boyfriend here burned it off of me.”
Bastion pushed his fingers into his temples, shaking his head. “Slint. Jesus, but if there’s one thing you should keep in mind, it’s to know when you’ve been beaten. And soundly, at that. The more you run your mouth, the more trouble you’re getting into.”
“Also, I’m not his boyfriend,” Sterling added casually. “That would be Herald Igarashi. Works in the Gallery, you might have heard of him. Probably where you stole the devil dust and the bottled sunlight from.”
I elbowed Sterling. “Was any of that necessary information? You’re just putting Herald in danger.”
Sterling and Bastion locked eyes, then laughed. “Dust,” Bastion said, running one finger under his eye. “Igarashi, of all people, is more than capable of taking care of himself.” He clapped me on the back. “You should be more worried about yourself, if we’re being honest.”
I stuck my hands in my pockets and toed at the dirt. I didn’t like admitting it, but Bastion wasn’t wrong, considering the many, many times I’d unintentionally taken Herald by surprise and had very nearly been murdered by his superior reflexes and incredibly dangerous grasp of ice magic.
Bastion snapped his fingers, and two members of the entourage who’d come ahead of him came to retrieve a still-defiant, still-struggling Donovan Slint. You could tell Bastion was trying to hide how pleased he was with his power and authority. He looked even taller, somehow, and impossibly cockier.
Donovan exuded a similarly defiant energy as he was led away. He twisted around just long enough to lock eyes with me again, as if to say that this wasn’t over. There was a fire in his glare, a misdirected anger. I recognized the look in his eyes. Vengeance. Ambition. I lifted my nose at him and nodded. Bring it, I thought.
I held Donovan’s gaze long enough to watch him leave the alleyway – I don’t know, I guess to assert my dominance.
“So,” I said. “What happens to him now?”
Bastion shrugged, then folded his arms. “That’s up to the Heart to decide. But knowing how the Lorica works? They’ll probably assign him a senior partner, someone who can keep him on the straight and narrow, whip him into shape.”
“Are you serious? He attacked us. You really expect me to believe that the Lorica doesn’t have more serious consequences than that for its own employees?”
The Fuck-Tons tutted in unison. “Oh honey,” one of them said.
Bastion’s lips tightened. “I’ll level with you, Dust. The kid’s young, and dumb. Barely nineteen. But he can turn invisible at will, with enough talent that even your vampire friend here couldn’t sniff or sense him out. That makes him a remarkable asset for the Lorica.”
I stuck my chin out, staring hard. “I’m not convinced. That’s like a slap on the hand.”
Bastion tilted his he
ad. “Maybe you’re forgetting how lenient the Lorica has been with you, oh, only the entire time that I’ve known you. Infiltrating the Prism? Damaging the Heart’s crystal focus? Not to mention carting around a magical sword and backpack that were technically stolen from the Gallery. Should I keep going?”
My chin lowered a little bit. “I got it,” I grumbled.
“All I’m saying is that you should be the last person to talk about the Lorica making concessions,” Bastion said, not unkindly. “If it’s any consolation, yes, there’s a good chance we’re going to throw him in wizard jail for a while.”
My eyes widened. “The Prism? Are you serious?” I mean, Donovan pissed me off, but I wasn’t quite sure he deserved that, exactly.
“You’re forgetting that the Prism has seven levels,” Bastion said. One for every color in the visible spectrum, red being where they kept the most dangerous. “They’ll probably throw him in indigo, or green, at worst. Little bit of rehabilitation.”
“Is that where they’re keeping Delilah Ramsey, too?”
Bastion looked around furtively, then bent in closer. “I should have mentioned, but – Delilah slipped into a coma. It was her injuries. It’s a special case, but Mother and I are keeping her in a ward at home for now.”
I frowned. “That seems highly irregular.”