“I don't remember any Jason.”
How about Jasper? Jason thought. Remember him?
Leesha looked down at the ankle-deep water. “You have to let us in, Aunt Milli. It looks like there's a flood.”
“It's the middle of the night,” Millisandra quavered.
“No, it's early yet,” Leesha said. She paused, then said, “There's a dance at the pavilion by the lake, and I thought you might like to come.”
There was a pause, then, “Really? It's not too cold?”
“It's a lovely night,” Leesha coaxed. “The moon's out, shining on the water, and I bet you can hear the band all the way to Canada.”
“Oh, my, well, it's been a long time. Perhaps I could come for a little while.”
Jason heard fumbling at the lock, and then the door eased open, revealing a shyly smiling Millisandra.
Leesha brought up her hand and fluffed a powder puffin her aunt's face. Gemyn bana. Mind-Slayer. Aunt Milli collapsed, and Jason caught her smoothly before she hit the tiles. He lifted her in his arms. She weighed nothing.
They joined the streams of humanity flowing along the lakefront toward the mines.
“Thanks for fetching Aunt Milli,” Leesha said, touching his arm. “I don't think I could've carried her.”
Jason said nothing.
They took a half dozen more steps, then Leesha said, “Jason, look. I'm sorry. About Barber.”
“Seph and Jack told me about the collar.” Jason looked straight ahead.
Leesha seemed determined to say her piece, as if she thought she wouldn't have another chance. “Barber beat me up. He told me he'd out me to all of you if I didn't help him. You'd throw me out of the sanctuary, and then he'd kill me.”
Jason remembered the tea with Aunt Milli, the night before he left for Coalton County. Leesha's face had been bruised and swollen.
“So you had no choice,” he said. “Understandable.”
“After I put the lodestone in your pack, I knew I'd made a mistake. I tried to call you, to warn you, but you didn't answer.”
Jason remembered the missed calls on his cell. “Guess it's my fault, then.” Every time he opened his mouth, cold, hard words kept coming out.
“Jason.” She put her hand on his arm again, and he shook it off. “I… I didn't mean that, I just wanted you to know that … I didn't want to.”
He was afraid to look at her, afraid he'd give in. “Okay,” Jason said, kicking fallen branches out of the way. They were coming up on the police checkpoint at the entrance to the mines. “I believe that you're sorry you gave me to Barber.”
“I guess … he hurt you?” She shook ice from her curls, blinked it from her eyelashes.
Not as much as you did, Jason thought. It was his own fault. It wasn't like he'd walked into it blind. “I'm okay.”
Two EMS corpsmen brought up a stretcher, and he carefully laid Aunt Millisandra on it. “Better stick with her, make sure she stays out,” he said to Leesha, imagining what kind of chaos she'd create in the mines. “I'll go do another sweep.”
But Leesha wasn't going to let it go. She sidestepped into his path. “If you believe I had no choice, what is it, then?” When he didn't say anything, she persisted. “What?”
“I thought you actually liked me. I didn't realize it was all a setup.” Pathetic.
She grabbed his hand, gripped it tight in both of hers, like she never meant to let go. “I do like you. Jason, please, you've got to believe me. I …”
“I don't have to do anything. And I don't believe you. Not anymore.” Gently, he extricated his hand from hers.
And walked away.
Chapter Thirty Agreeing to Disagree
Jessamine Longbranch was tired of the privations of war.
She missed her palace on the banks of the Thames: the gardens layered in white roses, the servants who waited on her hand and foot, the more civilized intrigue that went on under the guise of wizard politics.
Shivering, she pulled her jacket close around her shoulders and pushed away her plate of shrimp. She was alone in her pavilion at three in the morning.
The problem with laying siege to a fortress was that the besiegers were as trapped as the besieged. It might be amusing to play army for a day or two, but this was excessive.
She couldn't shake the nagging sense that they'd been cheated. Where were the Anaweir citizens of Trinity? Why weren't they bursting through the Weirwall to be snatched up by the waiting wizards? Where was the panic in the streets? Just what this siege needed to end the impasse. Though it was Wylie's idea, she'd thought it would work.
Leaning forward in her chair, she poured herself another glass of wine. Then nearly spilled it when someone said, “Hey.”
She whipped around, knowing it was already too late to defend herself.
“Relax,” Jason Haley said, raising his hands to show that he was as unarmed as a wizard can be. “If I'd come to kill you, you'd already be dead.”
“Then why are you here?” Jess demanded, still rattled. “And how did you get in?”
He ignored her question and dropped into the chair opposite her. “I need safe passage out of the sanctuary.”
Jess blinked at him in surprise. “What? Why?”
“McCauley's insane,” Haley said bluntly. “He's going to get us all killed.”
“Ah.” Jess settled more deeply into her chair. Intrigue and dissension. Perhaps she wouldn't call the guards just yet. “So this weapon he's talking about isn't so powerful after all?”
Haley shook his head impatiently. “Wrong. It's incredibly powerful. That's the problem.”
“What do you mean?” Jess asked, growing impatient with the trickling pace of the story. The boy seemed jittery. He flinched at every sound and drummed his fingers on his thigh, tapping out an erratic rhythm.
“They're all dead,” he said finally, looking up at her, then away. “The Anaweir.”
“What?” Jess stared at him, thinking she must have misunderstood. From the look on his face, she hadn't. “How did that happen?”
“It was an accident.” Haley stared off into space, a muscle in his jaw working. “He was experimenting with the Dragonheart.”
“You're saying McCauley killed off the entire Anaweir population of the town?”
Haley nodded, taking a deep breath. “There are a few in the hands of the healers, but even if they survive, I don't think … anyway. It was a disaster.” He scrubbed a hand through his ragged hair.
Jessamine scanned his face. Either the boy was a damned good liar, or he was telling the truth. “Becka Swift? Those boys who came to Raven's Ghyll?”
He nodded, looking down at the ground.
Jess couldn't help admiring the strategy, even while it made her task more difficult. “How convenient. Now McCauley doesn't have to deal with them.”
From Haley's lack of response, Jess assumed he'd been thinking the same thing, even if he wouldn't say it.
“Well,” she said. “Poor Jackson must feel a bit betrayed.”
“I don't know what he thinks. People are afraid to say much. Now McCauley sorta kinda knows how to use it, but that's not good enough when it could destroy all of northern Ohio and Indiana. But he doesn't care. Ever since—well— what happened, he's determined to make it work. You know, to make the sacrifice worth it.”
McCauley had seemed arrogant and self-important last time she'd seen him.
“And you don't want to be a martyr?” Of course he didn't. Whatever she thought about Jason Haley, he wasn't a fool.
“I don't want to throw my life away for nothing. I'm going to try and end this.”
Jess raised an eyebrow. “You're going up against McCauley? Isn't that a bit of a … mismatch?”
Haley's head snapped up and Jess smiled into her wine. The boy was jealous, naturally. McCauley was getting all the attention. He was the star of the rebel show.
“We'll see,” Haley said. “I don't dare touch the Dragonheart. It's that unstable. But I'm going to bring back somebody who can handle it without getting killed.” Longbranch rubbed her chin. “Someone more powerful than McCauley?”
“In a way.”
“Who?”
“Madison Moss.”
Longbranch leaned in close. “The girl from Second Sister? Is she really gifted, then?”
“Not exactly. She can't use the stone like a wizard would. But she won't set it off.”
She studied him. “You know this for sure?”
Haley nodded.
“Where is she?” Longbranch asked.
Haley snorted. “Right. Like I'm an idiot.”
Jess sighed. “What are you proposing?”
“I'm thinking we could—you know—make a trade. If I bring you the Dragonheart, McCauley will surrender. He won't have a choice.”
“Why would you do that?” Jess asked. “Why would you hand us the one weapon you have?” She wanted to believe it.
Haley jerked his head toward the town. “There are people in there I'd like to save. Plus, you give me D'Orsay. Like you promised.”
Hmmm. She wouldn't mind losing D'Orsay now that his usefulness was over. They had the sefas from the hoard, disappointing as they'd turned out to be.
“How do we know you're not going to fetch Hastings?”
“You control the outer wall,” Haley pointed out. “How would he get in without your knowing? I'm betting you'd love to catch him on his own out there.”
Ah. Yes. Indeed. “Why would Madeline…Madison Moss help you?” she asked delicately. “Isn't she going out with McCauley?”
“Was,” Haley said. “They broke up. Let's just say she's open to new…possibilities.” He looked at her dead on, delightfully shameless.