She started to turn, but the exalted reached out and grabbed her arm, his thin fingers digging in until it hurt. His face was twisted in anger and something else. Desperation? Despair?
'Don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't even know where to start.'
Taya shot him a furious look. His eyes were red behind the lenses of his spectacles. Her anger diminished as she studied his face and saw the deep grief he was hiding beneath his sharp words.
Our parents are dead, and we're all we have left
, Alister had said. And now Alister was gone, and Cristof was all alone in the world.
'Then help me,' she said, simply. 'He was your brother. You owe it to him, too.'
Cristof's jaw tightened, and then he released her, scanning the hallway a moment before focusing on her face again.
'You have to sign for your wings. I'll meet you at the Wren and Cup, eight blocks east of the greenmarket in Secundus, in half an hour. They'll be watching us.'
'I don't care.'
He stared at her a long moment.
'You know what?' he asked, his voice flat. 'Neither do I.'
Chapter Nine
Heads turned as Taya walked into the public house, folding her wings close to get through the door. She'd only snapped the keel shut when she'd retrieved it from the lictors; her harness straps were tied together and tucked out of the way.
Cristof was sitting at a table in the back. She took a moment to lock her wings upright, out of the way of other patrons, and walked over to him. The tips of her metal flight feathers brushed the cobwebs on the ceiling beams.
The exalted slouched in his chair, staring at a tall pint of ale. His pocket watch was open next to his drink, gently ticking. Taya glanced at its mother-of-pearl face. She was just on time. Filling out the paperwork to reclaim her wings had taken her longer than expected.
'Can we talk here?' she asked, turning a chair around and sitting down. She folded her arms over its back.
'In generalities.' He reached forward and picked up the watch, closing it with care and slipping it into his vest pocket.
'All right.' She gave him a level look. 'What are the lictors doing now?'
'The sun will set in twenty minutes. They're already calling in the search and repair teams and covering the supply wagons.' Cristof stopped as a serving woman walked up with a fresh pint of ale.
'First one's on the house for rescue workers,' the woman said in a brisk voice.
'I didn't do much,' Taya confessed, looking up.
'Every little bit counts.' The woman nodded and walked off. Taya stared at the ale, feeling guilty.
If she hadn't gotten herself arrested, maybe she could have done something useful.
'They'll wait out the night, then start working again as soon as there's light,' Cristof continued. 'Almost everyone was evacuated out of the Tower by wing. I understand a few lictors have volunteered to stay up there as a skeleton crew.'
Taya thought of the cold, dark mountain and of mangled body parts, and closed her eyes. Ceaseless construction had driven the wolves off Ondinium Mountain, but smaller scavengers would be out as soon as the sun set, picking at any flesh they found among the rocks.
At any pieces of Alister and Octavus that hadn't been retrieved.
Her stomach twisted and she opened her eyes, grabbing the ale. Liquid spilled out of her mouth as she drank, seeking to drive away the gruesome mental image.
She set the glass down and wiped her mouth, shuddering.
'Do you know any Torn Cards?' she demanded.
'None that haven't already been arrested.' Cristof shifted in his seat. 'Tell me what you know. What Alister knew.'
Taya recounted the morning's conversation, pausing every few sentences to swallow hard. She wrestled with her conscience over mentioning the Clockwork Heart program. She'd all but promised not to say anything about it, but if she kept it a secret now, Alister's murderers might go free. At last she sketched it out in as few words as possible, whispering to keep the other patrons from overhearing.
She didn't mention the end of that conversation at all, her voice trailing off as she grabbed the pint of ale again.
I should have kissed him
, she thought with anguish.
I should have taken the chance.
While she was drinking, Cristof pulled off his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose.
'All right. I know Alister was up early to look at a new engine. He was back in his office by the time you arrived. He left nearly three hours after you spoke to him. What was he doing in that interval, and where was he going when he left? Did he tell anyone about your suspicions? If he said something indiscreet in front of a Torn Card spy, he might have triggered a reaction that got him killed.'
'But there wouldn't have been enough time for a spy to plant a bomb in his clock,' Taya protested.
'It wouldn't take that long, if the spy knew what he was doing and Alister were out of his office.' Cristof shook his head. 'But we don't know for certain if there was a bomb in the clock. It's just supposition.' Cristof put his glasses back on. 'And we don't know for certain the explosion was meant for him, either. The lictors believe the first attack was aimed at Caster, and this one may have been, too. That's the angle they'll investigate first. If the searchers have found any parts of the bomb, it would help explain what happened, but thanks to my arrest, I don't know what they may have discovered.'
'Lady.' Taya rubbed her face, wondering how he could talk about the attack so calmly. Every time she paused to think about what had happened, about who she'd lost…
'Why were Alister and Caster together?' Cristof continued, watching her. 'Was it coincidence, or did it have something to do with what you said about me? Or was it something else? Were they talking about Council business of some kind?'
'I don't know.' Taya felt daunted by all his questions. 'How do we find out?'
'Talking to the clerks who were evacuated would help, but I don't have any access to them anymore. I'd like to search Alister's and Caster's offices in Oporphyr, but there's no way up.' He shook his head. 'We can't talk to Viera, yet.'
'Poor Viera.' Taya's heart ached. She'd only lost a hope. Viera had lost a husband. 'I should go visit her.'
'Not tonight. I haven't had a chance to see her, but the lictors told me she was in hysterics.'
'Will she be all right?' Taya asked.
Cristof leaned forward in his chair and wrapped a hand around the base of his glass.
'She loved Caster,' he said, voice low. 'He was twenty-five years older than she was and Alister and I tried to discourage her, but she married him anyway, and he made her happy. We were arrogant idiots who thought we knew what would be right for her. I'm glad she didn't listen to us.' He paused, tilting the glass back and forth. 'I don't know what she'll do without him,' he finished, and took a drink. Taya glanced down at the rings of condensation on the table, pretending she didn't see him wipe his eyes with his free hand.
