“Well, we’ll probably just have to cut that arm off,” she said with a smile that told me sarcasm was her favorite language. I liked her immediately.
“Be gentle,” Theo said, and she helped him out of the vehicle and into a waiting wheelchair.
“You’re friends are just inside,” the woman said, then wheeled Theo in.
I moved the SUV out of the loading zone and jogged back inside. By the time I made it back in, Theo had already been wheeled into some secret part of the building. But in the small waitingroom at the edge of the lobby, I found Roger Yuen and Petra Jassim, our other associate Ombud.
Like Connor, Roger liked running even when no one was chasing him. Unlike Connor, he was human. He was tall with a runner’s lean build and had medium brown skin, short dark hair, and dark eyes. He dressed casually unless there was a meeting with the mayor or her consultants on the agenda, and wore jeans and a polo-style shirt today in a somber black.
Petra was an aeromancer and tech genius. Her long dark hair was up in a tail today, showcasing her dark eyes and rounded cheekbones. Her skin was light brown, and she’d paired dark leggings with high-top sneakers and a long-sleeved shirt withgeekacross the front.
“Theo?” I asked.
“Already taken back,” Roger said. “And is being treated by one of Petra’s cousins, apparently.”
“It’s not her, is it?” I asked Petra quietly. “The one with the eighteen bridesmaids?” The one whose wedding Petra had apparently cut short with a bit of her aeromancy and some strategic lightning. “The one you pissed off?” I asked, my voice a little firmer now.
“Yes,” she said grimly. “Yes, it is. But she won’t hold it against you or Theo. Just me. Do you want to pretend we’re dating? She’s very marriage-focused, and she’ll report to my parents.”
“Is lying to her really the best course of action here?”
“Probably not,” she said.
“Have you heard from Rose?” I asked Roger.
He shook his head. “There’s a BOLO for the purple car, but they haven’t located it yet.”
Not entirely surprising, I thought. “It’s probably secure in a garage right now, waiting for new plates.”
Roger moved a bit closer, lowered his voice. “Gwen said you were attacked by ghosts? Is that who took Rose?”
“I’m not sure. After we lost the pursuers, everything was fine until we got to South Gate. The vehicle died, the temperature dropped, and we were suddenly the only cars on the road. Then ghosts emerged from the gate—or so it seemed—and attacked us. Ghosts with enough power to vocalize, physically stop our vehicle, fight both of us, and tear chunks of stone out of the gate. Theo got out of the car to help me. Then he got hurt, and when I got him back to the SUV, it was empty.”
“They vocalized?” Petra asked.
I nodded. “They kept saying ‘no,’ and at one point said to ‘go back.’ ”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
“They didn’t want Rose leaving them,” Roger guessed.
“That was my thought.”
“No sign of other vehicles?” he asked.
“None. There was a magical fog, so I couldn’t see anything. But I didn’t hear any fighting, and she seems like the type who would have fought back.”
“I agree.”
“Did she work with necromancers?”
“Not that I’m aware of. And if she had friends—or enemies—with the kind of power you’re describing, she didn’t tell me about it.”
“I’m sorry, Roger,” I said, and the guilt flooded again. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get her to the safe house.”
“Nonsense,” he said quickly, and gestured to the waiting room. “You risked your lives to do your job. I don’t know if I underestimated how powerful her enemies were or if she wasn’t candid enough.”
“I think the ghosts would have killed us if they could have,” I said. “They were intent on—I don’t know—stopping her? Taking her back?”