Valeria Nocturne's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

Valeria stood beside the iron manhole cover and counted in her head. Four side passages. Four ladders. One main mouth by the tavern drain. That was six ways out for one killer, and only two of them to guard. She looked at Xander. "He can slip past us before we close in," she said. "We need every exit sealed tonight." Xander crouched by the cover and traced a curling vine with one gloved finger. "We don't have six pairs of hands we can trust," he said. "And we can't drag the magistrates in. Not yet." Valeria pulled the lace glove from her pocket. Black stitched with pale pink, cold to the touch. She held it out. "Your sister found this for us. Maybe she can do more." Zalora came when Xander called her name. She stood in her ruffled gown at the edge of the drain, her red eyes fixed on the black stone arch. "I told you. I cannot go inside." Valeria stepped closer. "You don't need to go in. You need to stand at the mouths and hold them." Zalora's mouth twitched. "A ghost can frighten a mortal, sister," Xander said. "Long enough for us to reach him." Zalora looked at the glove in Valeria's hand. She nodded once. They worked fast. Valeria drew the map from Xander's coat and marked each ladder. Zalora could not enter the tunnel, but she could stand above each cover in turn. She would show herself at any cover that lifted. A red-eyed girl in a pink gown rising from the stone would freeze a running man for the seconds they needed. Xander and Valeria would drive him from below. They chose the tavern drain as the killing point, since it opened wide enough to corner a man. They moved before dusk. Valeria climbed down first with the lantern. Xander followed and pulled the cover most of the way shut behind them. In the low chamber they waited near the chains. An hour passed. Then boots scraped stone in the passage that ran toward the archives. A tall shape came around the bend in a torn purple cloak, a long pink beak jutting from his hood. His blue glass eyes caught the lantern. He stopped. "Oh," he said, low and tired. "You found the room. I am sorry. I have been looking for him too." He raised gloved hands as if to show them empty. Then he ran back the way he came. Valeria bolted after him. She heard Xander's boots behind her. At the first ladder the cover flew open above and slammed shut again. A scream came down, high and thin. When she climbed up, the masked man lay curled on the cobbles, shaking. Zalora stood over him with her red eyes lit. Xander cuffed his wrists in iron. Valeria pulled the beaked mask free. The face beneath was a stranger's, wet with tears. "I didn't," he whispered. "I couldn't have." Valeria looked at Xander. They had their man. She did not yet believe him a liar.