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Harmiston, who was about to walk past her, stopped and stared at her. “Nadia? What’s wrong?”
“Not wrong, exactly … but that’s Neelofar’s shop.” Nadia stared at the place and felt her grief flare up. She’d stayed away from that place to avoid the pain. Losing focus wasn’t something she could afford, considering everything the Ghosts and their allies were up to these days.
Harmiston gently put his hand on her shoulder, peering down at her face. “Are you going to be all right?” he asked equally gently, his voice soft and steady.
She met his gaze then and nodded. “Of course.” She forced a sad smile. “She would have admonished me if not.”
“Are you coming?” Jurnek asked. He was walking backward across the street, watching them, though not hearing their soft-spoken words.
“Yes,” Nadia said and nodded hard. “We’re coming.”
They followed the Bolt the last few meters, nearing the shop which’d had its windows and door replaced since the explosion that had blasted everything to destruction. Someone had taken good care of the place in Neelofar’s absence.
Nadia noticed a darkened figure move ever so slightly up on the roof, but went ahead anyway. She knew they had to keep watch. The Wraiths were not welcome in the city. No more than the Ghosts were.
The shop had been cleaned and tidied. There were a few weapons left on some shelves up on the walls, but the display cases were empty and placed against the walls. That left an open space Nadia wasn’t used to in there. The sight of five Bolts by the door leading to the back room, and the sounds of more from within that room, was more important. She and Harmiston walked over to them and were greeted with silence and a few curt nods. They were expected, either by the guards outside warning them or because they’d expected or hoped for such an outcome since Jurnek stole the bag of bland asphodel.
“Bolts,” Nadia said in greeting. “I’m glad to see you alive and well. I’m not sure about safe, but that’s to be expected these days.”
The steely faces softened somewhat, though smiles were not present. That was to be expected, and Nadia felt at ease around them. This was something she was used to.
“Who’s your immediate supervisor?” she asked. “Is there a Shield here?”
“No,” Jurnek said, turning back at the door. “There are no Shields, Shadows, or even Specters here. Only us.”
“How is that?” Nadia stepped past the first Bolts and into the backroom. “I saw the Wraiths fallen on the floors of the Cube. No one escaped that. How did you?”
“By not being there. We were on a training session in the Elphyne Realm. When we came back, our Shields went through the Veil first to secure our route.” Nadia nodded at Jurnek’s words. This was standard. The Bolts were highly capable at this age, but they were provided with the protection of the older and fully trained Wraiths until they were Bolts no more. The Shields would have gone through first, because despite going home, home meant through the Shade, a place of strange and unexpected terrors.
“When the first of us passed through, they lay slain on the ground. One looked to have been killed by three vampires, the other by several werewolves.”
“Oh …” Harmiston uttered at the implication of what the Bolts had witnessed.
“We didn’t know it at the time, but they had met the hybrids who had the task of clearing the Shade of Wraiths.”
“The Wraiths who were not in the Cube to be poisoned,” Nadia finished for him. “We heard later that the same happened to a few in the city as well.”
“Yes. We found out about that too. We’ve been trying to survive ever since.”
“It was wise to stay together. How many of you?”
Jurnek looked around and then indicated the door behind him. “I’ll show you. We usually don’t talk too openly so near the street. The hybrids’ hearing is too good. Follow me.”
He led them up the stairs and to Neelofar’s old apartment. It looked much the same, and Nadia felt a pang of sadness at the sight of her old furniture and things still there. In between everything were sleeping mats and blankets. Several Bolts lived there now.
“How is it you found this place?” she asked. “It seems like too much of a coincidence.”
“It isn’t.” A familiar voice sounded behind her and she turned to see Peyra and Kuryk, who’d had come in through the front door. The ex-Bolts lived in the apartment next door, a home that Neelofar had procured for them to get their feet on the ground after the Wraiths kicked them out. Peyra looked healthy with her protruding belly, the reason for their departure from the Queen’s guard.
“You made this happen?” Nadia asked the dark-haired pair. Unlike the Bolts, they were no longer entirely dressed in dark clothes and the signature coat of the Wraiths. They had a definite preference for colorless clothes but didn’t stand out as Wraiths anymore.
“Yes,” Peyra said. “They found us right before Neelofar died.”
“We had to leave our previous hiding place,” Jurnek explained. “The hybrids and vamps began going through that neighborhood to call upon theirvolunteerblood donors. It was only a matter of time before they found us, no matter how quiet we were.”
“I see. So you found old friends,” Harmiston said.
“Indeed.”
