Page 43 of The Simurgh

And as one, they struck.

The reverberations were bone-grinding. Lalassu screamed in triumph.

The crack was tremendous. A broken melody of destruction Silas relished.

The gate flew off its remaining hinges.

There was no time for Jane to halt her hurricane.

Two huge panels of wood flew out into the York streets. They skimmed across the thankfully empty expanse, shattering the windows of a purveyor of tea and spices.

Silas’s chest tightened, his breath catching as he slid off Lalassu’s back.

A beautiful black berliner, pulled by two black horses with gleaming coats, drew to a halt outside the ruined gate. The coach had two lit lanterns on the front corners, and an ornate trim that had always reminded Silas of a tiara. There was no hint of where the bones had been inlaid into its doors. He and Phillipa had done well with painting over the remnants of those.

The Lady Howard’s haunted coach had arrived in York.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE DRIVERof the coach touched his finger to the wide brim of his dark hat, only his eyes and midnight skin visible between layers of equally night-shaded material.

‘Isaac,’ Silas said, to no one in particular.

The carriage door opened.

His throat was thick as he watched a woman glide from the confines. And glide she certainly did, light as air upon her feet.

‘Silas!’

Jane ran at him. Her shorted skirt accentuated the pale red bloomers she wore beneath, and the folds of the material lifted as though still teased by the wind. Silas met her halfway. She flung herself at him. He lifted Jane off her feet, and she wrapped her legs about him, her trouser-clad legs tight at his hips and her boots, a pair any miner would have been proud of, nudging at his backside.

‘Bloody hell it is good to see you.’

‘Gods, Silas.’ She buried her face in the curve of his neck. ‘I’m so sorry for what has happened. You must be beside yourself. Are you all right?’ She pulled back to regard him, and Silas set her down gently. Her usually immaculate, luxurious hair was a tangled mess, the kohl beneath her eyes smudged from tears she wiped at hurriedly. ‘Forgive my pointless question. Of course you are not all right.’ Christ he had missed her. ‘And you will tell me everything, once we are beyond York’s walls. We need to move on as fast as we can, this was not a subtle escape.’ She eyed the ruined shopfront. ‘Isaac set a few little fires along the way. A rather large one at an abandoned warehouse. Hopefully we haven’t just burned down York, but we needed the town’s focus elsewhere.’

He nodded. All of York was an Order protectorate. Ahari would have eyes and ears everywhere. But Silas would not be stopped again.

‘Thank you. Take Sybilla and Tyvain in the carriage. I’ll follow on Lalassu.’

‘Oi, enough with the ’ugging. Some ’elp ’ere would be mighty nice,’ Tyvain called. She was trying to help Sybilla to her feet. The Valkyrie was on her knees. Silas was there in three strides.

‘Are you all right?’ Silas scooped her up, ignoring the irritated click of her tongue.

‘I’m fine, fine. Get me to the carriage. We must go.’

Her eyes were dull in a way that was worrisome, but he said nothing of it, carrying the angel to the carriage, setting her down at the door as Jane pulled it open. ‘Give me a moment.’ She leaned inside. ‘Move over, all of you. You’ll need to gather in tight. The Valkyrie needs all the room she can.’

She stood back and Silas caught a glimpse of whom she spoke to. Four sirin, the curious half-bird, half-human creatures, perched on the seats, shuffling at once to make way.

‘Just tell ’em to get out,’ Tyvain grumbled, offering a hand to Sybilla to negotiate the pedestal step. An offer the Valkyrie refused.

‘And have everyone in York looking skyward, at the herd of sirin over our carriage?’ Sybilla grunted, her knuckles pale as she gripped the doorframe and hauled herself inside. She collapsed into the seat, making one of the sirin squawk. ‘Jane, take us as far from York and its seals and magick as the horses can handle in one ride. I’ve got but a shadow of my magick, but perhaps I can get my bearings, and find us a way to go.’

‘You don’t know?’ Jane’s already-large brown eyes grew larger still. ‘We don’t know where Tobias is?’

‘Say it one more time, just to dig that knife in a little deeper, why don’t ya?’ Tyvain stomped into the carriage. ‘Move out of me way, ya stinkin’ oversized chickens.’

Odd sounds came from the carriage, very unchickenlike hissings, as the soothsayer found a place amongst the sirin.