From the looks of things, Ryan had zero intention of coming with me, and I was more than happy to leave the pair of them to hang out with Neddie the zombie horse instead.
I dropped by the break room to grab a snack bar for lunch and then left the castle, walking past the jail and the node which was designated for the Death King’s private use. The node in question was impossible for anyone to use who wasn’t a spirit mage—at least not without the aid of a transporter spell—but if I managed to shove Adair through the node without him making a quick getaway, he’d immediately find himself surrounded by liches as soon as he landed next to the jail.
As for me, travelling via transporter spell was not my favourite activity, so I walked out of the gates and towards the node on the other side of the fence, surrounded by swampland. From there, I transported myself to the centre of Elysium and retraced my steps to the House of Fire’s headquarters.
Like before, Harris answered the door. “Back already?”
“Yeah, on the boss’s orders,” I said. “Which you probably know about.”
“I expected you to give us a little time to get the prisoner ready,” he said. “He’s being uncooperative.”
“It’s his defining trait.” I didn’t want to deal with Adair’s bullshit, but despite their arrogance, the guards weren’t equipped to handle him in the slightest. “Most sedatives don’t work on him for long. Tying him up is best, but don’t use rope or anything he can break easily.”
“Did I ask for your advice?” he said.
“Just trying to be helpful,” I said, giving up on any attempts at civility. “At least you know I was telling the truth about being the Death King’s Fire Element, right?”
He scowled. “It won’t last. People like you always end up back in the same place.”
“Doesn’t look like you’ve moved very far to me,” I commented. “Can I come in?”
“No.” He planted himself in front of the door, arms folded, refusing to let me even get past the threshold. “I don’t trust you, and if I had my way, you wouldn’t be involved in this operation.”
“Look, I’m not going to let the prisoner walk free,” I said. “He tried to murder me the last time we set eyes on one another. Also, I’m the one who got him jailed. Twice, I might add.”
“People like you have inconsistent loyalties,” he said. “I hope the Death King knows that.”
That stung. The Family might be known for cutting ties and switching alliances, but I’d always been loyal to those I cared about. It wasn’t my fault people around me had an annoying tendency to turn out to be anything but loyal to me. Tay and Shawn were proof of that. I just hoped that Miles wouldn’t end up the same way.
“Do all the Houses use the same cantrip supplier?” I asked him, deciding to change the subject before I ended up losing patience and socking him in the jaw. I already knew the answer, but he might inadvertently give me a clue which would help me figure out how that cantrip had got in here.
“What’s it to you?” Harris said.
“A cantrip killed your jailor,” I said. “And there’s only one supplier here in Elysium. Haven’t you looked into it?”
“The killer might have got the cantrip outside of the city,” he said. “Your friend hasn’t shared any more information with us.”
That figures. What Tay was playing at, I have no idea. “Look, I’m trying to figure out where that cantrip came from. A cantrip bearing the mark of the Family shouldn’t have ended up in the city to begin with.”
There was no point in arguing with him at this stage, though. Since he’d stepped out of the door frame, I took the opportunity to slip underneath his arm and into the hallway, where I heard voices coming from downstairs.
“Hey!” he said. “Fine, you can come in, but don’t touch anything.”
Like he had anything worth stealing. I had no need for pickpocketing now I had a regular salary coming in, besides, so I sauntered past him and towards the stairs down to the lower level.
Harris tailed me. “I haven’t given you permission to go down there.”
“I thought it was implied.” I descended the stairs, ignoring his grumbling behind me. If he didn’t want me here, he shouldn’t have accepted the King of the Dead’s offer.
I reached the lower level, realising entirely too late that I’d have to walk past Tay’s cell on the way to find my brother. I stepped out into the corridor to find her staring at me through the cage bars.
“What on earth are you doing?” she said.
“Moving our friend to a higher-security prison,” I responded.
“You’re getting him out of his cell?” Her face paled. “That’s a ridiculous idea. He’ll be waiting for exactly this.”
“He’s sedated,” said Harris, from behind me. “And you will be, too, if you don’t shut your trap.”
“Tay,” I said warningly as she began to speak. “Don’t start anything right now. Unless you want to confirm that Adair had a role in the jailor’s murder and save us the bother of interrogating him?”
She said nothing, so I walked the rest of the way down the corridor, following the murmur of voices. Harris and I halted behind a group of guards who’d gathered around a single cell with bars made of magic-proofed material.
Inside the cell was my brother, lying unconscious on the floor. Adair looked unnervingly like me for someone who wasn’t a relation, tall and lean with his hair shaved to stubble where mine was long. His pointed ears were on full display and his face looked unexpectedly young in sleep, while the prison uniform contrasted the expensive clothes he’d worn the last time he’d seen him. I never did find out where he’d got them from. Probably from where the rest of the Family was hiding, wherever that was.
I pushed a
