“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some feeling left.” Cassie’s voice was regretful.
“Especially now,” Griffin agreed.
She did a double-take. “What do you mean?”
The scrivener’s mood seemed to darken. “I don’t wish to seem callous, but I believe a certain glamor attaches to a demise as tragic as Erik’s. I doubt any fellow of flesh and blood could strive for your affections against a slain hero’s ghost and hope to win.”
“Are you moonlighting as a matchmaker or something?” Cassie asked suspiciously. “Don’t be in such a hurry to hook me up with anybody new. I haven’t even processed what just happened. It’ll be a long, long time before I get emotionally involved again.”
She paused to consider another idea. “Maybe I can’t cry because I feel guilty.”
“About what?” Griffin asked absently, apparently lost in thoughts of his own.
“About the fact that the last memory I have of Erik is an argument.”
The scrivener chuckled grimly. “I have more reason to feel guilty on that score than you do. I once punched our paladin in the jaw.”
Cassie sat bolt upright and peered at the scrivener. “When did this happen?”
He seemed baffled by the question. “I’m sure I told you.”
Mimicking his accent, the pythia retorted, “I’m quite sure if you had, it’s the sort of thing I would have remembered.”
“Sorry.” He winced sheepishly. “It was the night Erik left us high and dry in India. I had a row with him in the parking lot afterwards. Certain accusations were flung and, suffice it to say, I lost my temper.”
“I can’t see Erik letting you clock him,” she countered.
“I caught him off-guard. He did say that if I ever repeated that action, and I quote, they’d be scraping me off the sidewalk for days.”
“That sure sounds like Erik.” Cassie chuckled. “But why would you pick a fight with him in the first place?”
The scrivener faltered, casting an apprehensive glance toward the pythia. “I thought he didn’t know how to value you properly. I’m sure any decent man would have counted himself the luckiest chap alive to be romantically involved with you. Yet Erik treated that immense gift as if it were commonplace. I thought someone should teach him a lesson, that’s all.”
The pythia studied him with wry amusement. “Look at you, resorting to fisticuffs to defend a lady’s honor. You really are an old-fashioned kind of guy; you know that?”
“I’m feeling positively ancient at the moment,” Griffin murmured under his breath.
Cassie’s face took on an earnest expression. “Given everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks, promise me you won’t get yourself killed or fall into a coma or let the Nephilim kidnap you. I’m not ready to lose somebody as special as you.”
“I’ll always be near, Cassie.” The scrivener squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave a bleak smile. “Even though I might occasionally wish that my heart had a stronger sense of self-preservation.”
Cassie knit her brows and was on the point of asking what he meant when Zach came bursting through the schoolhouse doors.
“There you are!” the tyro exclaimed. “I’ve been looking all over for you two. Something’s up.”
They both rose and turned to him in puzzlement.
He continued. “I went to Maddie’s office to see if she was ready to talk about Hannah again. When I got to the door, I overheard her on the phone. She’s calling for a blackout. I don’t exactly know what that means, but I’m guessing it’s a bad thing.”
“A very bad thing indeed!” Griffin blanched.
“So, I’m also guessing you’re gonna want to stop her,” the tyro added. “She’s arranging a meeting of the Circle for tonight.”
Cassie and Griffin traded stricken looks and ran up the stairs.
Trailing after them, Zach asked, “But what does it mean?”
“The end, that’s what!” Cassie exclaimed.
Chapter 49—Going Dark
Cassie and Griffin warily entered the main hall of the old schoolhouse. In the hours since Zach had made his alarming announcement, they’d been unable to discover anything specific about Maddie’s plan or how to counter it. Now they’d run out of time. The sun had set, and the Circle was beginning to assemble. For once, the overhead lights weren’t blazing. A single pendant lamp had been lowered above the center of the table. It cast immense shadows against the walls, obliterating the stained-glass birds and flowers which decorated the windows. Faye’s throne rested forlornly in a corner. There would be no need to carry it forward. The memory guardian would not be in attendance. Thirty-four chairs had been arranged around the vast circular table. Many were already occupied by representatives from the troves of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas. No one had worn a mash-up of their national costume tonight. The topic under discussion was much too serious to allow for any fashion frivolities.
As the pythia searched for empty seats, she noticed an unoccupied chair draped in black bunting. With a start, she realized it was meant to be a memorial to Erik. Feeling a lump forming in her throat, Cassie hastily looked away. “C’mon,” she urged Griffin. “Over this way.”
They found two seats together on the opposite side of the table.
Once they’d settled themselves, a familiar voice piped up. “It’s nice to see you both again.”
“Jun!” Cassie exclaimed. In the dim light, she hadn’t noticed that they’d taken seats beside the Hongshan trove keeper. “What are you doing here?”
The old man shrugged. “I thought this meeting was important enough for me to fly to Chicago.”
“How is your foot?” Griffin asked.
“It still hurts, but I’ve graduated from a crutch to a cane.” Jun smiled ruefully. He pointed to the walking stick hooked to the back of his chair. “My granddaughter sends her regards.”
“Rou was a big help to us,” Cassie assured him. “I don’t think we would have been able to pull off the relic switch if not for her quick thinking.”
“Ever since her return, she’s become very...” The old man paused to
