Wraith(46)

‘In a few hours.’ He was still looking at me. Damn him. ‘It’s not like fixing some broken fingers. She’s sustained considerable abuse over a period of time and there was internal damage to sort out.’ Fury lit his words as if he were only just finding out that the goblins didn’t tuck us up in bed at night or hand out sweets and chocolate and free hugs to make us feel safe.

Marrock spat on the floor. ‘Ach,’ he said, ‘I’ve seen far worse.’

So had I. I was under the impression that the Filits had been afraid to go too far with their torture of Ange in case they accidentally killed her. Whatever she knew about this Stone thing was clearly important to them. From the way de Florinville had reacted when I mentioned it, he thought the same. Not that I cared what he thought.

‘Boss.’ Another of Marrock’s minions sidled out of the darkness. It would drive me crazy having people do that all the time – and I was a damned wraith who lived for dark shadows. ‘Word is there are Gneiss goblins in town.’

Marrock’s lip curled. ‘No shit. I knew that half an hour ago. Where are they now?’

The minion smirked. ‘Mercat Cross.’

Marrock clapped his hands together and rubbed his palms. ‘As I’d hoped. Excellent.’ He smiled, first at de Florinville then at me. ‘You’re going to enjoy this.’

Somehow I doubted it.

***

Marrock took us up a narrow fire escape that led out of the bowling alley onto its flat roof. The worst of the smoke from the Gneiss’ shelling had dissipated but the sky remained grey and lifeless.

‘I don’t do this very often,’ Marrock called over his shoulder.

‘Take people up to the roof of your building and throw them off?’ I muttered while de Florinville shot me a look filled with equal measures of surprise and amusement.

‘Saiya,’ Marrock chided. ‘So cynical.’ He grinned at de Florinville as if sharing a joke. To the Dark Elf’s credit, he looked away.

Although I could have easily sent my shadow up here, I’d never actually been on the roof of the bowling alley. I’d never had any cause to be here; Marrock’s machinations held little interest to me. I sold him the secrets he wanted and didn’t think too hard about what he did with the information he paid for. Maybe the day I became a saint, I’d be in a position to judge him but that wasn’t today. All the same, when I saw what was sitting on top of Marrock’s roof, my jaw dropped open.

The wee man obviously took pleasure in my surprise. He puffed out his chest and strutted over to the gigantic, angled mirror. ‘You’re not the only one with secrets to tell, Saiya,’ he called. ‘I have more methods of seeking out the truth and keeping an ear to the ground than you might imagine.’ He licked his lips in self-satisfaction. ‘You get the best view if you stand here.’

Warily, I edged over with de Florinville on my heels. When I got to the point where Marrock was standing, I realised what he meant. We were over a mile away from Mercat Cross but the reflection in the mirror was of those streets. I could see a large group of Filit goblins facing off against a smaller group of Gneiss goblins. Each faction glared at the other, with the only the odd twitch proving that the image was live rather than static.

I stared harder. ‘This is happening now?’

‘There’s about half a second delay. But essentially, yes. Normally I use it when there’s a hanging taking place – not to be voyeuristic, you understand. It helps to know who is being targeted by the Filits. With the gallows currently out of action, I assumed the system would be defunct.’ His smile grew. ‘I couldn’t be more wrong.’

De Florinville hissed under his breath. ‘The auction block. It’s used for hanging?’

‘When we don’t have Dark Elf dignitaries in town,’ Marrock responded.

I was barely listening; my attention was wholly on the mirrored device. ‘Is it magic?’

‘Physics.’ Marrock took me by the arm, ignoring the way de Florinville suddenly stiffened, and drew me to the side of the roof. ‘There,’ he said pointing. ‘It’s angled into the block of flats there. The entrance has caved in and I make sure no one is curious enough to venture inside with some well-placed warnings and traps. The mirror here reflects the mirror on the top floor of the flats. That in turn reflects a smaller version set into the old clock tower, which is angled down into Mercat Cross. It took considerable time and effort to get it all right. It’s rather nifty engineering though, isn’t it? We’re trying to establish a similar version to look into the castle but the angles are more complicated and, alas, we can’t see through stone.’

I turned back to the mirror behind us. One of the Gneiss goblins had stepped forward and his lips were moving. None of the other goblins appeared particularly happy. ‘It’s … very impressive,’ I conceded.

Marrock preened. ‘It takes a lot to get a compliment from you, Saiya. You don’t impress easily. Thank you.’

From several feet away, de Florinville sniffed. ‘It could be better.’

A muscle in Marrock’s cheek twitched but his smile remained in place. ‘We welcome any suggestions.’

The Dark Elf raised his right hand in the air. ‘Saiya asked about magic,’ he said quietly. ‘This is magic.’ He clicked his fingers once. Initially, it seemed as if nothing happened then the air crackled and I realised what he’d achieved.