“Two hundred years ago again.” Jax scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What was goingonback then?”
“A lot, I’m sure,” I said. “Think about it. There was no technology, and science was just becoming a profession. Long-distance communication was sending a letter with stagecoaches, trains, or ships. None of the sanctuaries or councils were as organized as they are today. It was very easy for anyone—human, Diabolical, or Divine—to keep secrets and act under the radar.”
“Why do you ask about Khaydari?” Hinge wanted to know. “He’s dead.”
“Just gathering information and hoping it might lead us somewhere,” I told him.
“Well, if I were you, I’d be more interested in what the Alchemists are doing with the souls of all the nephs they kill. I heard they work with a prince of Hell. If that’s true, and they’ve been feeding him souls for twenty years now… ”
Hinge trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish. Our imaginations did it for us.
“What makes you think the Alchemists did anything with the souls?” Gigi tilted her head as she looked at the little skeleton.
“They’d be idiotsnotto,” Hinge retorted. “It’s common sense, right? At the very least, I’d expect them to store them for later use as sacrifices, in experiments, or what have you.”
Lilas’ show ended and she came over to Hinge’s side.
“Is everything okay, Bertie?” she asked in her soft little girl voice.
“Of course, darling.”
Lilas’ cheeks turned pink, and the girlsawwedat her.
“Thanks, Hinge. I don’t think any of us had thought of that.” Gigi smiled at him.
He clicked his heels together and bowed at the waist.
“My pleasure.”
I rolled my eyes.
Smarmy little snot. Showing off for his lady.
“Kerry, can I see your waking dream?” Lilas asked. “I think it has something to do with this person you’re talking about.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. That.”
When the others asked, Kerry explained that he kept waking up with the same memory in the forefront of his mind. It was what Lilas meant by a waking dream. She said she’d caught a glimpse of it a couple of mornings ago while dreamweaving.
“I remember Samuel Castle saying something,” Kerry explained, “but it was the first time I was hearing the demon inside me. Infernal is not a pleasant language to hear ever, but definitely not when it’s inside your own skull. The words ain’t real clear, but give it a shot, shortcake.”
Lilas touched her fingers to his hand and closed her eyes. After a second, she came back to us, and Hinge took her hands in his bone fingers.
“All right?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“The black-eyed man said, ‘I need to go now. Khaydari has an idea to free that stone whore if we can find her.’ What’s a whore?”
“Never mind, darling.” Hinge gave Kerry a neon glare, then turned back to her. “Come. Let’s look through the library.”
After the two kids left, Gigi bounced up and down on her toes.
“Bet you they were talking about Amanda Greenaway!” she squeaked. “That’s what the Alchemists hired Khaydari for. They wanted him to find a way to free her from the petrification spell. He was probably still working on it when he had Zoe Becerra steal that book from the Vault. Pepper Crane said it was about reversing petrification.”
I nodded. It was a logical conclusion for the information we had.
“Good thing they didn’t know where Clem hid her,” Jax said.
