Page 35

I cleared my throat. “Sir, I promise I didn’t?—”

“Quiet, please.” Godwin settled into the seat across from me, the leather sighing beneath him.

For the first time, he looked…tired. Beyond the arched windows of his office, rain lashed against the glass in frenzied bursts, wind shrieking through the night. A storm raged beyond the walls, but another coiled in my gut, knotted tight with the anticipation of whatever was about to come next.

Books towered in precarious stacks, bound in leather and crumbling vellum, some so ancient their spines had cracked into illegibility.

They crowded every available surface, piled high on chairs, crammed onto overfilled shelves, and scattered across the mahogany desk.

I carefully lifted a fragile first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from the chair before sinking into it.

“Forgive the secrecy.” Godwin picked up his pipe, drawing a long inhale before waving away the smoke. He waved his index finger in a quick semi-circle. “Eyes and ears, and all.” The pipe ember glowed softly. “The High Council of Elsewhere is already on their way. Bloody Archdaemons. ”

My heart dropped. “And the Rift? ”

“Verrine has requested approval to move the Rift to this Sunday.”

“Sunday?” I had less than a week. We had less than a week. “So it’s over?” I forced the words past my tightening throat. “That’s it?”

Godwin studied me carefully. Then, exhaling a slow stream of smoke, he murmured, “Not yet, Miss Davenant. Not if I can help it.”

“So you know.” My shoulders sagged. “You know Verrine’s been tampering with the ether scores. That she’s taking advantage of the fact the Archangels are missing.”

“I know.” Godwin nodded. “I witnessed the override. That was my final straw.” He looked toward the window. “Evermore stood for equality, once. I’m not sure when Verrine decided to part from that.”

“What do we do? Everyone thinks this is my fault.” I sighed, leaning back into the plush of the armchair. I shut my eyes for a moment, the exhaustion of it all a crushing weight. I opened them to the click of a lighter, and Godwin’s pipe bubbling.

“This is not your fault.” He shook his head as he inhaled. There was a long, contemplative silence before he spoke again. “You remind me so much of your mother. She had the same fire behind her eyes. She could have been powerful if she’d stayed.”

“…An Archangel?”

“Or an Archdaemon.” He was calm, but the words crackled like a live wire through the room. I felt them. He set the pipe down, watching me carefully. “Evangeline was powerful, yes. But she carried such lightness within that I believe Elsewhere would not have suited her well.”

I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. “She gave it all up. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Godwin chuckled, but there was no humor in it.

“If anyone could have done it, it was Evangeline. Stubborn as they came. Something changed in her one night here at Evermore.” He tapped his fingers against the desk.

“But who’s to say what? I wish to stop this,” he admitted, rubbing a hand over his tired face. “All of it.”

My pulse jumped. “You can. You’re a High Angel. You can call upon the Archangels, right? Wherever they are.”

“Yes.” He nodded gravely. “And I have tried. The Archangels are nowhere prayer can reach.”

“Do you have any leads?” I asked.

There was a pregnant pause between us. “A few.” He leaned forward slightly, his pipe bubbling as he inhaled deeply. The smoke plumed from his mouth as he spoke. “But more importantly now, we need to get the Arcana back. You say Dante encouraged you to steal the cards?”

A prickle of unease crawled up my spine. “Yes. He has them now. He needed them for something.”

Godwin let out a long exhale, and I felt the acrid bite of smoke curling toward me, stinging my eyes. “Trust is an excellent quality in an Angel, less so in a Daemon.” He turned, his gaze fixed on the arched window rattling against the rain, his features set. “You want out of here, don’t you?”

“Always did.” I folded my arms across my chest, running the pendant of my necklace back and forth. It warmed to my touch. “Surely you know that, Godwin. I never wanted to be tangled up in any of this.”

“Yes,” His pipe puffed again as he spoke, voice strained. “I can help you leave.”

My heart thumped loudly. “What?”

“Leave Evermore, girl. I can give you your freedom before you’re marked,” his voice was gritty with smoke, but the words were the sweetest I had ever heard. “Bring me the deck and I will get you out.”

“Oh.” I slumped back into my seat. “The problem is, Dante’s taken them to the Court of Midnights. I have no way of getting back into Elsewhere.”

“The Court of Midnights, you say?” Godwin shook his head, resting his pipe on the side table. “Why, that doesn’t make any sense. What remains of the court is nothing more than ashes.”

“I don’t think that’s true, Sir. There are rumours the High King of Elsewhere has returned.”

Godwin went very still. For a moment, the air felt thinner, like the room had sucked in a smoky breath. Then, with a puff of smoke and a soft cluck of his tongue, he leaned back in his chair.

“Rumours,” he said lightly, but his voice had lost its usual bounce.

“Well. We’d best hope they stay rumours, then, hadn’t we?

You understand I cannot let you go without retribution.

You must return the cards to me. The full deck.

You must undo the damage you’ve caused. Once they are in my hands, I will let you through the gates and make sure no one comes after you. ”

“I can’t. Dante is in Elsewhere, and I can’t go back there without dying.” I felt a pressure in my chest. “Verrine must have told you. I was already resurrected once.”

“I don’t think you need to go back.” Godwin leaned forward, so close I could see my reflection in his moon-rimmed glasses. “Dante has one weakness…” He tilted his head, studying me, his smile sharpening. “ You .”

“Me?” A shiver raked down my spine.

Godwin motioned toward me. “Your slate, please, Miss Davenant.”

I hesitated, but handed it over. He fired off a quick message, then slid it back to me.

“You think this will work?” I asked. “A message? He wouldn’t give them to me before.”

Godwin shrugged. “I have no idea. But if we don’t get those cards back, the power will remain in the hands of the Archdaemons.” A haze of smoke bloomed between us. “And you will never be free.”

Dread flooded my veins. My fingers moved without thought, brushing against the pendant at my collar. Smooth. No, scalding , like something alive and trying to burn its way in. But why now? Why help me now, when he could have before? Was this a punishment, or something else?

“Why do you want the deck, other than my retribution?” I asked.

Pipe smoke twisted into strange, curling shapes in the candlelight. Godwin looked at me, a cold glint in his eye. “Get the cards first. Maybe then I’ll tell you.”