A loose strand of her blonde hair brushed against her cheek, freed from its confines behind her ear by a slight breeze. Cassandra brushed it back into place. She stood and watched the black Mercedes park. An older man stepped out from behind the driver’s door and walked towards her. She was surprised that the man drove himself. Most people in his position had a chauffeur.
He was in his early fifties or so she guessed, with a slim build and an expensive suit with a blue tie and vest. Perfect white teeth, framed by a trimmed goatee, shone at her from his affable smile as he approached with his hand outstretched.
“Arthur Brenner, Scion of the Winter Court.”
“Cassandra Lochlan.” She shook his hand. He had soft hands and long elegant fingers.
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
She did not recognize him at all.
His eyes twinkled. “It was several years ago.”
Cassandra did not know exactly how to respond so she just smiled instead. “My father is honored by your visit.”
“Of course. It will be good to see him again.”
“Elevator or stairs?” Cassandra asked.
“Stairs I think.”
Cassandra led the man up the spiral staircase all the way to the third floor. His pace was consistent and his breathing was even. At the end of the hall Cassandra knocked gently on the door.
“Come in.” The voice belonged to Lucas.
Her father was sitting up in bed with blankets up to his waist. The nurse had taken off his hospital gown and he wore a black sweater. The looseness of the sweater only served to highlight how much her father had changed over the last year, going from fit and active to sallow, with sunken eyes and tight skin. She hated seeing him like this.
“Arthur.” Roman said with a slight smile.
“Roman,” Arthur said with a bigger smile. He approached quickly and shook Roman’s hand gently. “It’s good to see you.”
“Except I look terrible.” Roman said.
“Yes, that’s not so good to see.” Arthur said.
“Have a seat.”
Lucas had pulled three chairs to Roman’s bedside, he occupied the closest one to Roman, Cassandra took the one beside him. Arthur unbuttoned his blazer and took the third chair facing Roman.
“I heard they let your son into the Academy.” Arthur said.
“Yes, thank you for helping with that.”
“My pleasure.”
“Does that mean you did it with no strings attached?”
Arthur smiled. “What an absurd question.”
Cassandra saw her father’s lip twitch towards a smile. “So what do you want?”
The representative from the Winter Court looked at Cassandra and Lucas.
“You can say anything in front of them. Lucas, you know, is trustworthy and Cassandra is to be my successor.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I think she will do well.” Arthur said.
Cassandra nodded at the unexpected compliment.
“What do you know about Zara?”
The three exiles stared at the scion in confusion.
“Nothing I take it.” He said. “A few years ago we heard whispers of a secret coalition within the Courts run by someone called Zara. Everyone dismissed it at first, but several crimes committed by people using sigils changed our minds. As of yet we have made very little progress, which has led a few of us, myself included, to think we have some traitors in the Courts who are protecting this individual. So, given this proposition, we decided that perhaps it might be best for someone outside the Courts, and who has been out of it for years, to investigate.”
Roman analyzed the man. “Interesting.” Arthur waited for him to continue. “How am I expected to do this without access to the Courts?”
“Come on old friend. I know you have maintained many of your old contacts and developed new ones. You were always very good at that. I want you to use them to see what you can find out.”
“You’re asking a lot. I am grateful for what you did for Dalton, but you’re asking more than you’re giving.”
“I knew you would say that.” His lips curled into a smile. “So I just thought I would tell you that I’ve managed to assign myself to oversee the Lochhan Household’s reintegration to the Winter Court, and that I will be a very accommodating judge and may even be inclined to overlook some of your more,” he paused, “creative financial arrangements made over the last decade.”
To her surprise, her father grinned. “You have a deal.”
“I thought I might.”
“Any idea where we should start looking?” Roman said.
Arthur slipped a folded piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his blazer and held it out to Lucas. “These are a list of the crimes committed by this group, it will give you a place to start with your more unsavory contacts.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes, there is one other thing.” His expression shifted from amiable to cold. “There seems to be some connection to Day Street.”
Several seconds of strained silence followed his comment.
Roman scoffed. “So this is why you chose me, not because I’m an exile.”
“Both reasons were relevant. We did need someone outside the Courts, and who knows more about the massacre than you do? It’s a nice piece of symmetry don’t you think?”
Cassandra wondered at the icy tension between the two men that had come seemingly from nowhere. She knew a little about what had happened on Day Street but was not sure why it was a source of contention between the two men.
“That should be enough to get you started.” Arthur said. “If you find anything useful at all, call me.” He handed Cassandra a card with a number on it. “Anytime you call, I’ll answer. I’ll find my own way out. You three will have much to discuss.”
Arthur stood up and shook each of their hands before he left.
“Good luck Roman.”
The three of them sat in silence for a minute after the scion left. Cassandra looked at her father expectantly.
“He’s a clever man.” Roman mused. “It would be very good if we had him on our side.”
“This sounds risky.” Lucas said. “If the Courts find us poking around in its business they could extend the exile.”
“You don’t think Arthur has the Courts’ support?” Cassandra said.
Her father looked at her. “I’m sure he has the support of some of them, but I’m also sure that if we make a mess Arthur will deny making the deal and it will be our word, the word of a bunch of exiles, against a respected Scion of the Winter Court.”
“I don’t like it.” Lucas said. “I’m sorry Roman but you will not be here for much longer so the consequences of this choice are going to fall on Cassandra and me. You know reintegration will be difficult even if we don’t screw this up.”
“Yes I know. But I also know that I have many enemies in the Court who think our exile should be extended indefinitely or that our entire household should be dissolved. Attempting to navigate the process of reintegration without a friend like Arthur overseeing it will be extremely difficult, maybe even impossible.”
“So you think it’s something we must do?” Cassandra said.
“Yes. Unfortunately. We will have to be very careful.”
Lucas looked unhappy. “What do you want to do first?”
“We need to speak with Detective Yuen and Declan McKnight, see if they can find anything out about the crimes, and maybe how they’re connected.”
Cassandra and Lucas nodded, even though Cassandra had never heard either of those names before.
“Maybe we should use Jake. He still owes me two favors.” Roman said.
Lucas stopped nodding and started shaking his head. “No. We don’t need him.”
“We might. He is very good at this sort of thing.”
Lucas gritted his teeth. “It would be messy.”
“Maybe.”
“I swore I would kill him if he ever set foot in this house again.”
“That was very dramatic of you Lucas.” Roman said dryly. “But in this world you never make promises. Your old enemy could become your best friend when circumstances change.”
“Who’s Jake?” Cassandra said.
Both of the men glanced at her but ignored her question.
“We don’t need him.” Lucas said again.
“Perhaps you’re right. It would be better not to overcomplicate things for now, but we will keep the option in mind.”
Cassandra did not bother asking again. Her father had many secrets, and now that he was dying more and more of them were being revealed to her, yet there always seemed to be a few more.
She thought about Arthur’s offer and Lucas’ reluctance. To some extent she saw his point about the consequences belonging to her but she knew that her father would make the right choice. She trusted his judgment and she hoped more than she could ever say that he would live long enough to see the Lochlan Household reintegrated into the Winter Court. If hunting down Zara was what it took to accomplish that, she was willing to risk it.
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