After the flash had gone off a few more times, I was blinking uncontrollably. After five or six flashes, I could see nothing but floating spots.
“…She is to be tested along with the others, utilizing the same process,” the man Ankha called Horace was now saying. “Forobviousreasons,” he emphasized. “Although it’s clear from our monitoring that the suppression is starting to fail.”
Everyone except me nodded, even Ankha.
“For that reason,” the man continued. “We couldn’t keep the press out entirely, so we have granted a permit toThe London Twilight News… as well as theWings Herald…” Again, the balding man in front addressed Ankha alone, without so much as a glance my way. “They can be trusted to be discreet. And balanced. At least until results are tabulated and posted.”
My aunt let out a low scoff, making it clear she didn’t share his opinion on any perceived trustworthiness of the people around us.
I got briefly stuck on the names of the two newspapers.
I’d never heard of either, and I’d thought I knew all the major U.K. papers. I stood by a newsstand every day by the bus stop I used for school.
I had so many questions now, it was getting hard to track them all.
I glanced around the cavernous space, and flinched when I saw faces close to the glass, staring down at me through the tinted windows. Half the people above us had got up from their desks to peer down at our little group. I could clearly see them talking to one another on the other side of the glass. A few even pointed directly at me.
Then I noticed something else, and let out a little gasp.
Small creatures stood on the outside ledges of a number of the tile window sills. They looked like little people, but their bodies seemed to be made of flames, with round, ruddy faces on top of smokeless fires. Their hair, miraculously, didn’t catch on fire, nor did their shoes, or even their beards. A few were golden-blond, others had hair that was black, red, brown, white, and even green. A number had narrow but furry tails, like a monkey’s.
They stared down at me with visible interest, just like the pale, human-looking faces that stood behind the green-tinted windows. A few curled and uncurled and swished their tails, reminding me of cats.
I was still watching them when one leapt off the windowsill.
Startled, I let out another soft gasp.
A cry rose in my throat, but right as it began to fall…
…small, leathery wings unfolded from its back.
I let out a louder gasp, a real one that time.
I stared up, mouth open, as it swooped and dove, emitting sparks, then finally spiraled back up and flew to a higher window sill. It reached another group of fire-people up there, perched among them, and refolded its wings.
It went back to staring at me, its dark eyes intent.
I noticed the silence around me then, and looked down.
Every person in the group was staring at me now, including my aunt. All of them looked baffled, apart from Ankha, who looked positively venomous.
I coughed into a hand. Although Istillmanaged to restrain myself from speaking, Ankha glared daggers at me as if I hadn’t, even after the others all looked away.
The man called Horace cleared his throat.
“Shall we?” he asked brightly.
For the first time, I looked at him directly. Long, grey and black sideburns reached onto his cheeks, covering part of his doughy face and offsetting his large, veiny, and dark red nose. His eyes, despite the unearthly violet color, reminded me of those of a predatory bird.
When he turned and began to walk briskly across the round, tiled floor of the high-ceilinged room, his entourage followed, and so did Ankha.
After a quickly inhaled breath, I followed, too.
Then something else occurred to me, and I glanced over my shoulder.
The arched opening we’d walked through had vanished. Only a wall lived there now, made of smooth, black stone like the rest of the walls and floor. A gold symbol shone in the center of it, another that reminded me of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
It looked like a hawk, or a falcon.
