A door opened upstairs.
The locks had been fastened, but that didn’t stop whoever had arrived.Wayne scrambled to his feet, hands going to his dueling canes as a single set of footsteps crossed the wooden floor up above.
Wax slid a gun from its holster and positioned himself to watch the steps. A figure descended onto the stairs. A woman with dark hair and a rugged build that seemed in conflict with her small nose and prim lips. She wore a suit: slacks, buttoned white shirt, jacket and cravat.
Telsin. Wax’s sister, leader of the Set. She wasn’t armed, at least not in a way that Marasi could make out. And she didn’t seem to mind that Wax had a gun pointed at her head while Wayne backed away, muttering.
“An address,” Telsin said. “The number on the back of the envelope was a rustingaddress? Do you know how many hours we wasted tearing into lockers at train stations?”
34
Marasi immediately reached for an Allomantic grenade, charging one silently in her pocket. Wax edged forward, gun on his sister. Wayne had scrambled back from the steps and was muttering to himself, hopping from one foot to the other. He looked around as if he expected enemies to come bursting in through the walls.
Last time they’dseen Telsin, she had betrayed them to the Set. She’dnearly gotten Wax killed, and in return Wayne had fired a shotgun blast at her chest. The first time he’dfired a gun in… well, Marasi didn’t know how long.
Telsin had healed, however, vanishing from the bloodied snows where Wayne had left her. She was a Hemalurgist, with at least the power of a Bloodmaker—like Wayne. She had shown hints of two other powers, but it was possible the members of the Set switched out their spikes to gain different Metallic Arts. Regardless, she apparently had enough abilities now that she didn’t seem the least bit concerned about facing them alone. Rusts.
“This is marvelous,” Telsin said, glancing around the basement. “Remarkable how many of our secrets he managed to sneak out, considering. Who would have thought our greatest danger wasn’t armies, constables, or evenyou,Waxillium? It was a miserable, bald old chemist.”
“Tobal was a good man!” Maraga said, and ducked behind Wax as Telsin looked toward her.
“Oh, you can lower the gun, Waxillium,” Telsin said, settling down on the steps. “The idiot over there will tell you how effective shooting me was.”
“Felt good,” Wayne said. “Does it need to do more than that? Here, Wax. Hand me a gun. I’ll have at it a few more times.”
Wax didn’t move, and Telsin rolled her eyes. They all stood there, Marasi’s grenade vibrating softly in her fingers as it absorbed her power. What now? They were being played, obviously. But how? Would the Set’s leader come to see them as a simple distraction?
“Tell us what the Set is planning,” Marasi said.
“No,” Telsin replied.
“Oh,” Wayne said, perking up. “Does this mean I can make her talk? On a scale of one to broken, how much do you fancy your kneecaps, Telsin?”
“I’ll heal in seconds, Wayne,” Telsin said.
“Not if we yank out the spikes,” Wayne snapped.
“Which would kill me,” Telsin said. “I’m sure that will give yousomuch information.”
“Well,” Wayne said, “breaking some pieces off you will stillhurt,Telsin. I know a thing or two about that part.”
“Actually,” she said, “itwon’thurt. Did you know that a Feruchemist can store their pain in a metalmind? Oh, and you won’t be able to remove mine from me. We’ve learned better how to hide those. So torture me if you want, Wayne. I’ll find it boring, but nothing more.”
She met his gaze with confidence. Wayne glanced toward Marasi, concerned, shying away. Like a puppy whose chew toy had bitten it back.
Marasi was more worried about Wax. He’dfrozen in place, gun out and pointed at Telsin, arm straight. Expression… grim. Telsin was his last close living relative, and she’dplayed him for a fool. Six years ago, he’ddedicated a great deal of emotional and physical effort to rescuing her from the evil forces he’dthoughthad taken her. Only to find she’dbeen working with them all along.
Now, she’dthrown her lot in with a god planning to destroy the world.
“Why are you here, Telsin?” Wax asked.
“To warn you, Waxillium,” Telsin said from across the room. “Your next actions will be of the utmost importance. You have two days to solve this problem. Only two precious days.”
Wax cursed softly, leaning down beside Marasi and Wayne. “Speed bubble,” he hissed.
Wayne threw one up and slowed the world around them. It would also prevent Telsin from hearing, or at least understanding, what they were saying.
“What’s she playin’ at, Wax?” Wayne said. “She should look more threatened. I shot her. Me. First time in years. And she don’t even look like shecared.”