He glanced at me, his eyes catching the light.
“Professional curse-breakers,” he explained. “I think the Praecuri hired these from the private sector, likely for political reasons. Given the outcry at your mother’s death, they probably didn’t want anyone accusing them of falsifying evidence, so they hired out, instead of using their own. They probably preferred that to letting G.O.R.E. take over the investigation.”
I was still struggling to keep all the names straight in my head.
G.O.R.E. was the Guild of Regulatory Enforcement, wasn’t it? That was the group that oversaw magical enforcement internationally? Or only within Europe?
“International,” he answered, not looking up from his reading. “Europe has a different one called Europa Authority of Magic Enforcement, or E.A.M.E. British Magical Enforcement is ours. That one’s just initials, usually.”
“I told you to stop doing that,” I muttered in grouchiness.
“You’re loud.” He still didn’t look up. “Think quieter, and I won’t.”
His bone dragon made a chuffing noise that sounded like laughter.
I put down the file I’d been reading, which was yet another set of interviews of the Praecuri who’d been on the scene. The names had all been stripped out, and a good chunk of their answers magically blacked out, as well. The particular praecurus I’d just read mentioned the confidential informant at least twice, but both references were too vague to be helpful.
“What’s with all the blacked-out areas?” I asked.
“No idea.” He grunted. “I don’t make it a regular practice to snoop around in official murder investigations, Shadow.”
I frowned, staring at him.
“I remember something else from that day,” I said. “Something not mentioned in any of these interviews, which strikes me as odd.”
“What’s that?” He sounded bored.
“At the end, after my parents were gone…” I hesitated, bit my lip. “…Someone attacked the people who murdered them. The robed figures were coming for me and my brother. Before they could reach us, someone… or maybe something… blew them back. It stopped them, and they left not long after, through a tall mirror in the station entrance wall.”
“Stopped the Praecuri?” Caelum scoffed. “Not likely.”
“Except itdidstop them,” I argued. “And I didn’t say they were Praecuri. I said whoever killed my parents. The murderers left after that. Or maybe they only backed off, and someone else arrived before they could finish the job. Either way, me and my brother survived, and I don’t think we were meant to.”
“What makes you think it wasn’t the Praecuri who stopped them?” he asked, still bored-sounding. “You don’t think a few highly-trained, adult Magicals might balk at killing a couple of kids? Even if they were okay with killing your parents?”
My throat tightened unexpectedly.
Maybe I’d hoped he would remember the same thing as me, and agree with my memory of how it happened. I’d at least hoped we could talk about it. But it was possible he was right, of course, and I was wrong. Maybe no one had saved us. Maybe I’d made that part up, or misunderstood the order in which it all happened.
The thought made my throat tighten more for some reason.
I swallowed it down with an effort.
“Possibly,” I said. “I don’t think itwasthe Praecuri, though. The hooded figures who got blown back seemed really surprised. I don’t remember any words being exchanged, either. Anyway, it seemed to come from somewhere else.”
Bones didn’t answer.
I stared at him for a few seconds longer, then gave up. Clearly, he didn’t find the possibility that someone elsemight’ve been there particularly compelling. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be telling him every single thing I remembered from that day.
In either case, gods, what was wrong with me? I could usually think about my parents’ death rationally when I needed to. Hell, I’d been keeping it together for Archie for as long as I could remember. Why was all thisfeelingcoming up now?
And why here? Why in front of him?
My monocerus walked over and sank gracefully down by my leg. It rubbed its horn on my thigh where it leaned. Of course, it was made of light, so like with the cushions it had been ramming, the horn only passed through, but I found it strangely comforting, anyway.
Clearing my throat, I motioned around at the dark space, still lit only by the gold and green flames inside his conjured lanterns, which clustered around us so we could read.
“How is it you get this entire space all to yourself?” I asked. “Do you just call someone up, mention your last name, and they give you a key?”
