NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74: Burning
Kess always burned now. It was a searing, uncomfortable fire that raged through her veins and seared her throat with every breath. She had expected burnout and even death after her fight with Rae in the Archives, but she hadn't expected this. Exhaustion tugged at her senses, but the snap of her Fulminancy kept her alert and awake longer than she knew she should be capable of.
She was worried. But she also didn't have time to worry about herself.
Kess strolled up to a familiar Downhill bar she'd visited before she'd even met Rowan and the others, her steps sure now. She'd once fought in the tiny ring in the corner of the bar, bloodied and battered as she learned how to survive in an environment determined to kill her. With the storm raging eternally overhead, Kess wasn't sure much had changed.
Wyatt stood at the bar, looking a strange mixture of put out and worried by her presence. He was close to his forties perhaps, but his good looks were still the talk of the Downhill. He'd never been particularly friendly with Kess, but from the look on his face, she was even less welcome now. Several heads turned as she wove her way through the tables, and whispers of Mariel met the damp air.
She took a seat directly in front of Wyatt and cocked her head at him. Behind her, Rae trailed through the bar, her steps much too slow and her appearance much too nice to assume she wasn't enjoying the whole thing. Kess rolled her eyes and turned back to Wyatt. He scowled at her. So much for the welcome home, Kess thought bitterly.
"You said you wouldn't darken my doorstep," he spat. "Do you know what kind of trouble I've had since your little incident? Witchblades at my doorstep, asking patrons for papers." He swore, gesturing vaguely. "They think I'm a clouds-cursed Fulminant hider thanks to you."
"Is that really such a bad thing, Wyatt?" Kess asked, watching the man carefully, her posture relaxed. "Times are changing. Fulminancers belong to the Downhill just as much as the Uphill."
"I don't want any part of that Mariel-cursed Forgebrand," Wyatt said, drying a glass so roughly that it remained sprinkled with water even after he was finished. Neither do I, Kess thought, though she kept her expression neutral. Part of Forgebrand still answered to her, but a much larger part—the same that had attempted to burn Kess and Rowan alive in the Archives—very much did not. "Nor do I want any dealings with Mariel herself on my record. They'll arrest me, take away my bar, maybe even—"
"Then cooperate with me and gain my protection." She knew Wyatt wanted no trouble, but unfortunately he had too many connections Uphill to ignore. His family worked for several Fulminancers tied to the Council, and Kess wanted in.
"You're just a girl," Wyatt muttered. "I've seen you fight, Kess. You're good, but—"
"You might think those rumors floating around the city are just that," she said, twirling one of the dinner knives. "But I assure you that there is a crater where the Archives used to be, and I had a very large hand in making that crater happen."
Silence followed her statement, and from the corner of her eye, she saw a few heads that weren't focused on Rae turn towards her. She lowered her voice, sliding a gold coin across the bar. "Now," she said. "Your family still works Uphill?"
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Wyatt eyed the coin uncertainly. He dried a glass for the fourth or fifth time in a row. "They do," he said. "But—"
"Who can you get near the Council?" Kess asked. "I'll make sure they never have to work again." Kess's funds from the fight were sizable, but she hoped Rowan would bolster her claim—the man seemed to not even know the value of money, he had so much.
Wyatt barked out a short laugh and finally put away the glass. "You'll need a lot more gold than you used to for that," he said. He nodded towards the small windows of the tavern. "No sense in having money if you can't go out in that cursed storm. I'd be long out of business if I wasn't connected to the underground. We'll all starve if it keeps up."
"I don't care how much it takes," Kess said. "I want eyes on them." She held his eyes, willing him to cooperate. With what she'd learned from Mariel that night, as well as her brother's potential employment with the Council, Kess needed information. Fulminancers still disappeared around the city, which gave a chilling sort of credence to Mariel's wild claim that the Council was sacrificing others to maintain their powers. Kess wasn't sure why her own persisted, but she'd taken it as a sign—she would use this power while she still could to make things right—even if it put her directly at odds with her brother. Wyatt slid the coin off the bar, watching her carefully.
"I don't know how much I can promise, but for this, I'll look into it." Kess smiled, some of the tension in her shoulders evaporating.
"Thank you, Wyatt."
"Don't thank me so fast. I have something I'd like to ask you to do, off the books. Not as Mariel, but as Kess." Kess frowned.
"I'm not sure those can really be—"
"Some of the boys have been talking," Wyatt said, jerking his head towards the crowd in his tavern. "I'm not one for ghost stories myself, but—" He glanced around nervously.
"But?" Kess prompted.
"They used to come get Fulminancers with the Witchblades, or with paid off Forgebrand members—not Draven's, but that other faction." He waved his hand dismissively, looking distracted. "Now they're sending something else—these dark…things."
"Things," Kess repeated. Wyatt nodded, eyes solemn.
"Whatever they are, they're not human. They can weather the storm out there without problems, and no one's seen their faces."
"So they're just cloaked," Kess said, though a chill ran down her neck. Wyatt shook his head.
"I wish it were that easy. One of the street lads uncloaked one and swore he saw nothing but darkness. No face. But that tale was told by another lad, because the one who did that was taken by the fiends. He was Fulminant, or so his folks suspected." He let out a breath. "I'm loath to ask you for help, seeing as I don't trust you either. But this is something us average folk aren't equipped to deal with, if you know what I'm saying."
Kess nodded slowly, her thoughts tangled. She'd seen something like shadows before, but it had always been Rae, watching her from above. "I'll see what I can find out," she said. Relief found its way onto Wyatt's face.
"Thank you," he said. "I—" Wyatt hesitated, handsome face struggling with something. "I may not sound grateful, but I appreciate what you're doing for the Downhill. It's just strange and all, seeing Mattes's lass flying about the city."
Kess smiled to herself, a little sadly. Her work for Mattes was lifetimes away now. Had she really huddled in rings, hiding her Fulminancy, fearing that one day she might slip?
"Fortunately for us both, I don't belong to him anymore," Kess said, standing to leave. Lightning shook the building, and Kess stared out the window as she waited for Rae to extract herself from a group of bewildered young men. On the building across the street, she swore she saw something dark, but as lightning flashed again, a flock of crows startled from the roof, flying haphazardly into the night.
Crows or not, a sick feeling crept into her gut, and her fingers turned to ice. She pulled her hood up and walked into the howling storm.