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Blasted blazes. “To take me into custody, no doubt.”
“No doubt.” Smythe followed close behind them.
That meant Mercury was now hiding from the man who had tormented him as a child, a vengeful and frighteningly powerful ghost and the woman he was attached to, several bounty hunters he had held prisoner for a time, and a representative of the law.
“Tell the other ghosts to include the new arrivals in their efforts,” Mercury said, speaking as much over his shoulder as he dared while navigating a dark corridor. “Within the same limits, though. We want to nudge them to leave but not push them to retaliate.”
“I will tell them.”
Mercury adjusted the blanket tucked around Tacey’s shoulders. The Scholar had procured two cots and some bedding and brought them into his tower room for Mercury and Tacey to use. She was lying on one of them, visibly exhausted.
“It seems I am an utter weakling.” Tacey’s words were slow and heavy. “I don’t remember ever seeing you rendered this feeble by a Transferal.”
“I never have been.” He sat on the floor beside her cot. “Not even with my very first trades. Something is different about this one.”
“The incompetence of the broker,” she suggested ruefully.
“I do not believe that for a moment.” Mercury reached over and set his hand on hers, where it peeked out from under her blanket. “Did anything unexpected happen while you were shifting your attachments?”
“I heard my father’s voice,” she whispered. “It was so clear in my mind, exactly the way I remember him sounding.”
He squeezed her hand. “Transferals intensify emotions, especially those attached to loss and loneliness.”
“It felt like a memory,” she said. “But a memory I don’t actually have.”
Was she now having Phantomic memories? Was that even possible? Mercury had only ever heard them connected to ghosts. But, then, the Scholar had said everything about Aventine—everything about Mercury—was impossible.
“What did your father say in this ‘memory’?” he asked her.
She blinked slowly, her breaths slowing as well. “He said, ‘You have to be ready when Mercury leaves you.’”
“‘Leaves you’? I would never leave you.”
The smile she offered seemed to drain her stores of energy even more. “I told you that I knew it wasn’t a true memory. Besides the inaccuracy, my father never knew you. He would never have spoken to me about you.”
“But this false memory is the reason you retrieved the things in the safe?” Mercury asked.
She nodded. “You said that if I had to flee the house without you, I should take those things with me.”
“Did retrieving them quiet your father’s voice?”
She took a deep, elongated breath. “It did. Though now I am deeply curious what the items are.”
Mercury reluctantly released her hand. He pulled over to him the three things he’d hidden in the safe. The first was the heavy bag. He opened it and poured out a few of the coins inside.
“Money?” Tacey asked.
“Enough to live on for a time.” He next took up the small box and opened it. He showed her the papers inside. “This is the conveyance of title and the deed to Aventine Manor, along with all the papers you would need to assume ownership of it.”
“Of your home?”
“It would provide you a place to live or, should that be unwise for whatever reason, an asset you could sell.”
“Good heavens, Mercury.” While she didn’t sound more awake, she did sound more alarmed.
He set aside the box of papers and took hold of the heavy book. “This is my brokering ledger. I’ve recorded in here every swap I have ever made, except for the one you facilitated today.” He fussed a moment with one of the ribbons marking pages in the book. “These ribbons indicate Originary trades. I’ll need to move this last one when I record Zizzy’s trade.”
“Why were you planning to give it to me?”
