And what? His lip curled in a snarl. You’ve been chasing the Tomb for years, Gyre, and this is as close as you’ve ever gotten. More to the point, now that he knew the city was full of living ghouls and not just their wreckage, he didn’t just need to find it to get the power he wanted. I need them to help me.

I just have to explain that we’re not finished yet. He was already working on a plan to get the Core Analytica out of the Spike. It just needs a few tweaks. Maybe more than a few. But we’ll get there.

He knocked. No one answered, but the door swung inward, just a fraction. The latch hung limp and broken. Gyre pushed through slowly and closed it behind him before parting the heavy curtains that blocked any hint of light from the outside.

“Hello?” he said. “Elariel?”

Even in total darkness, he could tell something was wrong. Fumbling in his pocket, he produced a glowstone, then hesitated.

“If you’re here, say something,” he said. “Otherwise I’m lighting this.”

Only echoes answered. Gyre gave the stone a sharp rap against his leg, and it started to glow with a soft blue light. The cavernous interior space of the hollowed-out building drank it in, wreathed in long shadows, but it was enough to see that nothing remained of the huge arcana Elariel had been tending. The complicated network of crystal and wire, the plantlike armature, everything was gone. Gyre raised the stone above his head and turned in a circle, then swore, as loud and violent as he knew how.

*

By the time he returned to Lynnia’s, it was late afternoon. A tray with a bowl of soup and some soft bread sat untouched outside the closed door of the guest room. Gyre stepped over it, rapped sharply, and went in without waiting for an answer.

Kit, still in a borrowed shift, was sitting cross-legged on the bed, unwinding a bandage from her arm. She looked up as he came in, and for a moment he expected a sarcastic quip, but she didn’t seem to be able to muster the energy.

“They were gone,” she said.

“I don’t understand,” Gyre said. “How could they move all of that in one night?”

“Most of it moves itself, I think.” Kit finished peeling off the bandage with a wince.

“You knew they’d just vanish like this?”

“Mmmhmm.” She poked the bruise and winced again. “It’s what they do. When one pawn fails, throw it away and bring out the next.”

“So that’s it?” Gyre said.

“That’s it.” Kit looked up at him. “I told you to leave, didn’t I? I’m useless to you now, I promise. I won’t even—” She stopped abruptly.

“You won’t what?”

“It’s not important,” Kit said. “You should go.”

“Kit. Tell me.”