Cerulea casts some sort of spell that immobilizes her arm.

I want to go back into Beckeldorff's, I want to interrogate the man who was talking about Pixie, but I can't beat everyone in there without her help, her full, two-armed help

Cerulea stares at me, waiting for me to tell her what I heard.

“Let's go back to C&C,” I say. “We'll talk there, where it's safe.”

Sure, Cerulea and I will talk, but it'll also allow me to have a word with Kiora.

* * *

When we open the door to Coffee and Content, I frown. Kiora isn't behind the counter.

Fuck. All this for nothing?

We step in and Cerulea grabs a table.

She raises her eyebrow at me and says, “I need to call Lebec.” She holds up her twisted arm. “I need to go to Epione.”

I nod. There's not a whole lot else I can do.

Slowly I make my way to the counter, trying to figure out where Kiora is.

Did I spook her? Did she go home for the day? Did she quit?

A barista (not Kiora) meets me at the counter and asks, “What can I get started for you?”

“Uh,” I say in a quiet voice, “is Kiora working today? She usually takes my order.”

“Yeah,” the barista says. “She's on her break right now, but I can send her over when she comes back.”

I point out the table where Cerulea is sitting. “I'll be at that table. She doesn't need to come over, just have her get my attention.”

The barista nods and I had back over to the table.

As I sit down, two people enter C&C.

Two witches.

They see me, glance at my horns, and quickly glance away as if my horns are invisible.

The two witches walk arm in arm, making sure not to make eye contact. They speak to the barista at the counter and take a seat.

Did they ask for Kiora to?

They make very sure not to so much as glance in my general direction.

Their horns are interesting. They're like mine, but longer and thicker. They have the same green color to them and almost fuzzy appearance as the dead witch at Bristlebloom.

“I know,” Cerulea says into the lumadex, glaring down at the table. “Yeah, I know. I told her that.”

“This sounds bad for you,” Silvy says from my shoulder.

Cerulea signs and ends the call. “He's pissed.”

“And? Lebec's mood has no effect on me.”

“No, I mean he's extremely pissed.”

“Neat.” I shrug. “I don't work for the Austerium. None of this means anything to me.”

Cerulea lanes in. “Oh, but it does. You see, I now know that you have intimate knowledge of the Red Market.”

“So,” I say, glancing to the counter. Kiora still isn't back.

“What do you mean, so? Don't you get it. You're a witness. The Austerium wants to bring you in for questioning.”

I think about the nameless witch hanging lifeless in her dorm room. I think about Pixie.

If the Austerium wants to bring me in for questioning, they won't be quick about releasing me. They'll take their time.

“That's not gonna happen,” I say in a low voice.

“You don't have a choice. Lebec is on his way here right now.”

I swallow.

This is not going the way I want it to. I want to talk to Kiora. I want to see what she knows about the witch at Bristlebloom.

I don't want to be taken to the Austerium. I know what my odds are there. They're the ones who exiled me for some vague number of years so what chance do I have with them?

I bite on my lip and ask, “What about your arm? Am I going with you to Epione?”

“No.” Cerulea rolls her eyes. “Lebec's coming here to escort you to the Austerium. He's taking you in himself. I'm going to be replaced.”

I nod slowly. “Right. Okay.”

What can I do? How am I gonna get away?

It's at that moment that I see Kiora walk back behind the counter, talk to the barista who I'd spoken to earlier, and turn her attention to me.

“I'll be right back,” I say to Cerulea. “The barista I was looking for is here.”

Cerulea's eyes narrow and she frowns at me, but she doesn't stop me.

I get up and head to the counter.

Kiora gives me a large, fake smile and says, “What can I get for you today?”

“A drink that will warm me up,” I say.

Kiora nods. “Coming right up.”

Why is she acting so fake with me?

When I walked up, I saw her eyes widen. She knows exactly who I am. We both could see each other's horns.

As Kiora works, she keeps glancing up at me.

When she gives me my drink, she mutters something under her breath that I only barely catch.

“Bathroom. Go there as soon as you finish your drink,” she says, and then raises her voice. “That'll be $3.73.”

I drag my fingers across the witchstone embedded in the counter and take a sip of the drink, feeling its warmth flow through my veins and warm my skin. For the first time in two years I'm warm again.

I breathe out a sigh of relief, finish the rest of the drink in a single swig, and put the empty cup on the counter.

I glance back at Cerulea, point at the bathroom, and head in that direction under her annoyed glare.

Once in the women's bathroom I check to see if it's empty.

It is.

When the door opens again, Kiora enters.

“What are you doing here?” she asks. “You brought an adept.”

“She doesn't know who you are. She doesn't know what you are.”

“Fine. Still, why are you here?”

“There was a death at Bristlebloom.”

Kiora choose on her lip for half a second before her eyes fill with tears.

“Oh shit,” I say. “You knew her.”

Kiora nods.

“What was her name?”

“Arbor,” she says.

“Arbor,” I repeat. “Okay. Do you know what happened to her?”

Kiora shakes her head.

I say, “The Austerium thinks another witch killed her. That's what they're going with.”

“Doesn't make any sense,” Kiora says, wiping at her tears.

“That's just what they’re going with. There was some blood magick luma around her ankles though.”

“Blood magick? You’re sure?”

I nod. “I saw it. I'm not sure if that's how they killed her, but there was definitely red luma at the scene.”

“I know that she was going to Nightsbridge,” Kiora says. “She was dating a boy there.”

“Do you know what his name was?”

“Dan? Dom?”

“Okay.”

“I'll help you anyway that I can.”

I nod. “Do you know of way out of here? I kind of took that adept I brought with me to the Red Market and now the Austerium wants to bring me in for questioning it. I have too much on my plate to deal with them right now.”

“No. I don't have a way out.”

Silvy will probably have to get me out of here. And that means a trip through the Shadow Vaile in order to get back to Nightsbridge.

I don't want to think about the Shadow Vaile.

“Who are the two witches out there?”

Kiora raises her eyebrow. “There are two witches out there?”

“Yeah. They walked in, spoke to the barista at the front, and took a seat.”

“They didn't order anything?”

“Not that I could tell. They were sitting off to the side, near the wall.”

“What color were their horns?” Kiora seems almost scared.

“Green,” I say. “Fuzzy.”

Kiora blanches. “No,” she says. “I thought I had more time.”

“More time?” I ask.

She chews on her lip for a second and shakes her head. “It’s nothing. It doesn't concern you.”

“Okay.”

Kiora stares off into the distance.

“Is there anything I can help with?” I ask.

“What? No.”

“Okay. Well, thank you. I'd like to come back and see you. Assuming they let me back into Anara.”

Kiora fixes me with a look. “I don't think I’m going to be back here anytime soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm just not. Like I said, don't worry about it.”

I open my mouth to ask a question, but the door to the bathroom opens and Cerulea enters. She waits for the door to close and then leans against it, staring at the two of us.

“So, ladies,” she says. “What's going on in here?”

Before Kiora has a chance to speak, I start talking. “I know Kiora from when I was at Bristlebloom. She's one of the few students I made friends with. I was asking if she knew Arbor. She says she didn't.”

“Arbor,” Cerulea raises an eyebrow. “Is that her name? The witch's name? Arbor?”

“Shit,” Kiora says from behind me. Cerulea's hand slips into her pocket and I lunge forward without thinking. I elbow her chin as hard as I can. Cerulea, looking surprised, and still indignant, stumbles to the side.

“Silvy,” I bark. “Portal. Now.”

I grab Kiora's hand and pull her close to me as a portal opens below us.

We fall through.

Into the Shadow Vaile.