Orphan of Mythcorp (39 page)

Izzy hands my father yet another Twinkie from
the box Faustus had procured. My father gobbles it down, this his
fourth or fifth cake. He looks back at Kana, and then sighs.

The old officer walks up to them and clears
his throat. He is still wearing his chem-shades. I suspect,
considering what he’s been through, that he might never take them
off. He clears his throat again, this time loud enough to make me
look around in fear that he might have just accidentally tipped off
our enemies to our location.

My father turns around. Besides Izzy, he has
his old cane for support. It’s his, after all; I was only borrowing
it. His mouth cracks into a giant grin as he takes in the sight of
the old officer.

“
Detective Graham?” he laughs, a rough
sandpapery sound. “Holy crap. You’re an old fart. What happened?”
He knows that he’s been ice for the last fifteen years, but perhaps
the ramifications of this knowledge haven’t yet sunk in. This I
believe, because he has yet to acknowledge me as his
son.

“
Well,” Officer Graham says, “unlike
some slackers I know, I haven’t been lying down on the job for the
last decade and a half.”

They start blathering on about old times. A
few minutes pass. I’m getting nauseous again, so I head to the
small pine-paneled room set off to the right of this office, where
Faustus is keeping our prisoner company. I’m hoping the sight of a
bound and helpless Ash will buoy my spirits.

I place my hand on the brass doorknob and
turn it. A chill runs through me. The door swings open, and I see
Faustus sitting at the secretary’s desk, his back to me.

“
What are you doing?” I ask him.
Looking around the small office, I do not see Ash.

The gingersnap swivels in his chair and holds
up the paper he’s been working on. It is a drawing of a boy seated
in an oval office.

“
Do you think it captures his air of
authority?”

It took a few minutes to calm everyone down,
but Sanson managed to convince us that Ash’s escape was of little
consequence in the grand scheme of things. He decided to close with
revealing what Ash told him about Nimrod’s plan.

Knox seems unmoved, but now he’s shooting to
his feet and throwing off the blanket. Dressed only in my blue
flannel shirt and boxers, Knox punches a hole in the drywall with
his frozen augmetic left hand. “Dammit!”

We’re silent for a few ticks while he sorts
through his rage. Then, facing us, Knox says in his raspy voice,
“That explains it. That’s why Nimrod ran—he knew that even if we
killed his prince, he could come back here one day and re-forge him
with that M2 drive.” He laughs hysterically. “Frigging Alexander.
Always five steps ahead.”

Sanson speaks up: “That’s not what’s
important right now.”

“
And what is important, zombie boy?”
Knox snarls.

“
Well,” Sanson continues, “Ash said
there’s more going on here than I know. We can assume that means
with or without him, this place is going to be reopened. And since
we can’t destroy the tower, how do we stop it from being
reopened?”

Everyone goes quiet, even Faustus, which is a
huge relief.

Knox breaks the silence. “We don’t stop
him. We beat him to it.” He turns to me for the first time, but
still does not look me in the eye. “You said there were more Morai
at your school. Think any of them would be willing to use their
gifts to convince certain people to support
our
opening of Mythcorp?”

This
is his
answer?

“
Galahad would,” I manage. “He’d do
anything for me; Ava and Pells too. But how do we contact them?
They don’t have FAD’s or anything.”

“
FAD’s?” Knox asks.

“
Frequently Altered Devices,” I
explain, using the nickname for Apple’s
Frequencies Actuating Devices
.

Knox shrugs.

“
Basically they’re cells with
constantly upgrading apps and access.”

Knox snorts. “I remember when they were
called telephones.” He taps the cane against the floor. “If we
can’t contact them electronically, I guess it’ll have to be
supernaturally—Mina, or maybe a spook or demon.”

Apparently this is some kind of inside joke,
as Kana and Faustus and Officer Graham all groan in unison.

“
Fine,” Kana says, speaking to him for
the first time. “Make the deal, but we have to be careful. Sooner
or later the King will hear about what we’re trying to do. And
he’ll want to be a part of it, one way or another.”

We all look at her, waiting for a better
explanation.

Kana sighs. “There’s only one man in
Philicity with the reach and the power to get us out of here
safely.” She looks over at Faustus, who drops his head. “Arthur
King.”

As the others begin arguing, I finger the
B-drop Izzy had returned to me. I glance at my father, pondering
our future. Finally I toss the lozenge into a wastebasket.

“
I want to know everything about this
King of Philicity prick,” Knox says, raising his hoarse voice over
the rabble of the others. “But first things first. We don’t leave
this place without making sure Nimrod can never have Alexander
forged again. We didn’t risk everything—” here he stops to look
longingly at Kana “—recycling that manfac just to have his number
one fan bring him back.” Sporting a crooked grin, Knox adds, “So,
who’s ready to go Nimrod hunting?”

Before anyone has a chance to argue, Marie
zips into the room. She looks mortified.

“
What is it, Marie?” Knox says. It’s
weird, having someone else see my spooks.

‘
It’s Nimrod,” Marie answers, fading in
and out of sight. ‘He’s unfrozen him.’

“
He’s woken the sorcerer already, you
mean?” Knox asks.

Marie slowly shakes her head. ‘Not Crowley.
Someone else. Someone much worse.’ She nearly vanishes with this
startling declaration.

“
Worse?” Knox hisses. “Who? Marie! Who
did Nimrod wake?”

‘
It’s all my fault,’ the spook says.
‘I’m so sorry.’ And then she vanishes.

After Knox swiftly repeats Marie’s words to
everyone, we all stand shaken and confused and gawking at each
other, until Faustus claps and bellows, “That is one hell of a
cliffhanger!”