Rose was wrong. Riven never found Viriya back where they had separated. He got there, keeping himself protected against the Septstorm using his Essence and stared around. The fact that he was still seething didn’t help matters. In fact, it might have been a big part of why he didn’t spot Viriya until she was right in front of his face.

“Curse the Chasm,” Riven muttered, stopping his legs from jumping backwards all on their own. “You could have warned me.”

Viriya had a metal umbrella that she’d probably filched from a guard over her head. “What are you doing just standing there?” she hissed. “We need to get going.”

She dashed away and Riven followed. They didn’t talk, didn’t ask each other what had happened, didn’t even look around anywhere to check if anyone else was close by. No, Viriya arrowed straight to wherever she was holding Franry, and Riven’s mind was still stuck on the battle with Tam, still focusing on every little sting peppering his whole body.

Damn Tam. Damn Tam straight to the Chasm, where his body would rot and his moustache would grow long enough to choke him. Next time Riven saw the bastard, he’d end their little business. Stupid arsehole didn’t even deserve a warning. No, Riven would just end matters once and for all. All the wounds the arsehole had inflicted screamed for Tam’s death.

Viriya stopped at a tiny shed. Its roof was slate, so it stayed well-protected from any damage, though many of the tiles had cracked, and the wall was pockmarked with glowing Sept. The door was the worst. Its flimsy wood was torn in several places, and Sept had rammed inside, though it was still too dark to see within.

She knocked thrice on the door. Two loud, quick ones, followed by a lengthy pause, then a short rap.

“Come in,” came a muffled reply.

Riven’s breath was sharp. Franry.

Viriya twisted the handle, and they entered quickly before she closed the door behind them. Even then, it was too slow. The Septstorm had thundered in, shattering the floor in a dozen different places with cracks and pits.

But Riven didn’t notice them much. His eyes were on their prize—Franry, the new demon and a Spectre’s son.

He was just as Riven had seen him near the lake beside the orphanage. His scales were like Viriya’s eyes, a dark green that looked nearly black in the low light, and all his exposed skin had been replaced by them. Tatters of his faded grey shirt and trousers remained where the horns and spikes hadn’t torn through them. But it was his eyes that held Riven the most. Luminous, brilliant blue. Like the sky but glowing, a source of mystical light that caught him like a moth.

“Are you all right?” Riven asked, venturing forward a step.

Franry snapped at him. Literally. He jerked forward, his jaws opened and then shutting down fast with an audible snap. Riven jumped back, staring at Viriya with wide eyes.

She only shrugged. “He’s not an easy child.”

“I can see that,” Riven said. “Thank you very much.”

There was that tiny smirk at the corner of her face, and she seemed to relax now that they were together, safe from the guards and Tam. She knelt down, meeting Franry at his eye level, but didn’t get any closer. “Do you remember what I said about behaving?”

There was a coldness to her tone that took Riven aback. It shouldn’t have, given who he was talking to, but it still did. How was she capable of it against a mere child? Especially one who was so unfortunate? Who didn’t deserve any of this?

Franry growled low in his throat, but that didn’t get any response from Viriya. Neither did more snapping. She only continued to stare at him, her eyes darker than the gloom around them.

“I remember,” Franry finally said.

“I don’t think you do. Repeat them to me.”

Franry growled again, blue eyes flashing. Why hadn’t he jumped at them and attacked yet? Considering those violence written on his face and his general jumpiness, it was a miracle he hadn’t broken out of the shed and ran off somewhere after Viriya had left. In fact, the very audacity to leave him alone—

Riven froze, then peered closer at Franry. Specifically at his hands, which were still behind his back no matter how much the rest of him struggled. There was a glow there. A muted green glow that Riven had initially missed for it was the same shade as the demon boy’s scales.

Of course. Viriya had used her Essence of Locking to keep the boy shacked to the shed.

“I won’t bite, or scratch, or attack any one in any way,” Franry managed to say. It seemed to take quite some effort from him, and the boy heaved in a deep breath before continuing. “I will listen to everything you say and obey unquestioningly. Only then can I see Ma.”

Viriya nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Franry’s. “For such a feisty little boy, you sure have a good brain in there. You need to try and use it more before you start snapping and clawing at people.”

“Where is Ma?”

The distress in his voice was all too real, and Riven’s heart quavered. His own mother was lying in a hospital bed over a thousand leagues away, and what had he really done so far to help her? Nothing. Riven was utterly useless, and it wouldn’t be long before it became apparent to everyone else too.

He grimaced. Self-pity? Now, of all times? Chasm, he needed to free Arrilme soon, not moan about himself. Though the throbbing little cuts and bruises made it hard.

“We’ll find her and free her soon,” Viriya promised. “As I said, you need to trust us.”

Franry subsided into ore growls, drawing in on himself and shuffling away from them. A part of Riven wanted to reach out to the boy and reassure him that things would be fine, for he would make sure of it. But the rest of him decide it was best not to risk losing a hand at this time.

“What happened back there?” Viriya asked.

“Ah, where to begin.” Riven paused, trying to think. So much had happened, but really the only significant thing had been at the end. Taking a deep breath, he dove in and told her about Tam, how he had found out from the orphanage and had known from the beginning, how he had attacked and Riven had fended him off, and how Rose had finally arrived and put a stop to it. “Orbray is apparently here, and we all needed to get to Father’s office soon. And you?”

“Must be the Deathless business,” Viriya muttered.

“You didn’t know he’d be coming?”

“I don’t think anyone knew. I certainly would have if your father had been informed.” She saw the look on his face and ameliorated. “It’d be a general notice to all Essentiers, not just me.”

“And you?” Riven repeated.

She looked down at Franry who was staring at the door, a hungry expression on his face. “I found him exactly where Arrilme said he’d be. Near their house, under the large Coral tree to one side.” At the mention of his mother’s name, Franry looked at them with a vacant gaze. Then he turned back to the door. “It… was somewhat of a struggle to bring him here. He was uncooperative and I had to use my Essence, but here we are. All’s well that ends well.”

“You know, that always suspiciously sounds like the ends justify the means. And they really, really don’t.”

Viriya shrugged, though there was a troubled cast about her. Something in the darkness of her eyes or the way her brows tried to furrow before she smoothed them. “He’s here now. Safe. All we need to do now is get him to his mother.”

“Any ideas?”

“All I can tell for certain is that those guards who took her away aren’t moving far tonight. The Septstorm looks like it’s going to get a little worse before it gets better.”

Riven glanced at Viriya sharply. “So they must be hiding with her somewhere nearby?”

Viriya nodded, and Riven’s heart thudded faster. Nearby. Arrilme was nearby. All they had to do was free her and she and her son would be reunited. This wasn’t going to be another tragedy like Welmark. Like Bartle and Darley.

“Do you know where exactly?” Riven asked, noticing how breathless his questions came out as. Didn’t matter. Arrilme was close, and he was closer to proving… what? That he wasn’t a failure? That he could save people? A little proof that he hadn’t given up on Mother? Scions, so selfish of him.

“I don’t. But I don’t need to. We can get to a vantage point outside and wait for them to come out.”

“Did they teach military tactics or something in Essentier class?”

“If there were Essentier classes, why in the Chasm would I have been bothering training you?”

“Oh about that! I have news.” Riven told her about the ways he’d used his Essence, especially the part on how it had formed an armour close to his body. “Much of it was actually thanks to you. So, thanks.”

Viriya looked she wanted to say something but thought better of it. Instead she only nodded. Riven frowned at her, holding her gaze, and Viriya being Viriya, she wasn’t about to surrender and look away on her own. So she sighed.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “I’ll be happy to help you figure it out later.”

Riven smiled. “Soon. If we’re not buried in…”

He looked at Franry and decided against ending his sentence. It’d be too uncharitable to the boy’s plight.

“I think I want to see what Orbray is up to here,” Riven said.

“Are you insane? We’ve clearly stirred some shit here, and we both need to lie low, especially you.”

“Me? I’m the Invigilator’s son. I’m safe.”

Viriya did look away this time. Sept was seeping into through the cracks in the door, glittering dust that failed to light up the little room. For a shed, there were no tools at all. Just the smell of dust, repressed by the scent of the storm—wild and earthy and hiding a great power as though inhaling deep wouldn’t be wise. “You’re not as privileged as you make yourself out to be, you know. Your father is a very strict man. Case in point, do you really think your sister should be up and about in her condition?”

“Should you?”

“In truth, no. But we can’t rest on our laurels no matter how wounded we might seem. You can’t do that, not if you want to remain a relevant Essentier in Providence Demesne. Not under Rosbel Morell’s leadership.”

Riven followed her gaze to look out through the cracks too. All he saw was Sept shooting through every pocket of air that could be spared, the Septstorm raging with an unquenchable fury. “What is it with you and Father?”

She looked at him sharply, brows drawing down in a severe frown. “What do you mean?”

Crap. Riven had phrased it poorly. “I only meant that he clearly values you a lot as an Essentier. Just wondering how that came about, is all.”

“Long story.” She pursed her lips as she stared outside again, though Riven caught her watching him through the corner of her eyes. “Some other time, perhaps.”

Riven nodded. Good enough for now. “I still intend to go to the meeting with Orbray. There will be a meeting, right?”

A loud knock on the door interrupted Viriya before she could answer. Riven and Franry jumped, while Viriya brought out her gun, holding one hand up for silence. She motioned her head at one of the larger cracks, and through it, Riven saw black hair and a dark-red jacket.

Then another knock came in. A lengthy pause followed, then a light rap. No different from Viriya’s little sequence.

She nodded at Riven, then opened the door with her gun raised to reveal Rose. His sister scurried in with Sept swirling around her. Riven felt a hint of the same tug he’d been pulled with back when he’d been fighting Tam, and was showered with a flurry of Sept, some of which ended up hitting his wounds. He winced and stumbled backwards.

Franry growled, and jabbed him hard in the leg. He yelped. Scions, the boy’s spikes were sharp as ice picks. When Riven jumped forward this time, he collided with Rose.

She steadied with a hard grip on both his shoulders. “Damn it, it’s so cramped in here.”

Riven freed himself, though carefully this time so he didn’t hit someone else. “Doesn’t help that you barged in like that!”

Rose gave a slight apologetic smile before turning to Viriya. “Have you told him everything?”

“Hmm.” Viriya paused to consider, eyes roving over Riven and Franry. “I don’t think I’ve told you everything.”

“What do you mean? Tell me what?”

Riven swallowed. He wasn’t sure if this was the right time to be opening up to Rose about what they had planned, but if not now, when? They needed her help if the plan was to succeed.

Viriya looked at Riven, who nodded at her. Now or never. Who knew what would happen in the meeting with Orbray. “We need your help in getting Franry and his mother to safety.”

Rose looked between the two of them. “I imagine you have something more specific in mind?”

“We do. With your connections to the Lintellant research facility, we thought you could help us secure a home for the two of them over there, under the guise of research purposes of course.”

Rose was smart. She didn’t ask for clarification but her eyes went unfocused, drawing the pieces of what Viriya meant together on her own. Riven himself tried to remember. With both Franry and Arrilme provided shelter in the research facility, they would be alive and together. Plus, cooperating with the researchers to help them discover more about the Deathless had to be an immense boon. What was one lone Custodian’s injured leg against the possibility of learning something momentous about the Deathless?

“That’s a tall order,” Rose said. “Especially at a time like this with Orbray here.”

“He doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Riven said.

“Everything about the Deathless is under his purview, and as High Invigilator, he outranks Father even in Providence Demesne. He can countermand any order Father makes.”

Riven smiled, breaths coming in easier all of a sudden. “Well, that means we can appeal to him, right? If Father wants them—” He stopped himself before he said something that would upset Franry. “If Father wants to not free them, then maybe Orbray will be better inclined.”

“You’d be surprised, little brother. You don’t know Orbray and you think Father is bad, but Orbray is… not exactly good himself.”

“Regardless, we can still try. I’m starting to get the feeling no one who makes it that high up is ever good.”

Rose laughed a little. “Again, you’d be surprised.”

“Come on, Rose, please! You know it’s the right thing to do. We can’t just let them… down like that.”

Rose took a step back and rubbed her temples. She leaned against the wall, and her fatigue finally made itself known. Riven swallowed. Chasm, he was so selfish, always thinking of what he thought needed to be done and giving no heed to how it might affect others. Rose, and Viriya too for that matter, shouldn’t even be a part of this whole mess.

Though that made his heart stutter. If he hadn’t botched it up in the orphanage, would they have let Franry be captured and potentially killed because he’d hurt that odious Custodian? It didn’t bear thinking about. He needed to have more faith in their conscience.

“Please, Rose,” Riven said, taking a step forward, though that was partly influenced by Franry growling too close to his ankles. “I know you have to give up a lot if things go awry. I know it’s easy for me to act like this because I have nowhere near the same amount to lose as you. You and Viriya both would take enormous hits to your reputation if people realized you were protecting Deathless.” Riven took a deep breath and sighed. “But you know what’s right here. Things aren’t so black and white as people against Deathless.”

Rose stared back at him, her hair and her eyes both camouflaged in the gloom. He couldn’t pick anything out, couldn’t read anything from her face.

“Municipier, I think it’s only a matter of taking a stand here,” Viriya said. “Once we’re at the research facility, things will quiet down, and when results start arriving, our reputation will bounce right back. Might even inflate our egos beyond what it used to be given the possible significance of our potential discoveries.”

Rose laughed at that. “I see your point.” She turned back to Riven, smile sobering into a grim line. “I can do this, Riven, but you need to promise that you’ll let me handle this. I will be the one in charge and you’ll have to do as I say.”

Riven nodded gratefully. “I understand.”

“Good.” Rose heaved out a sigh. Maybe the decision to help him had taken a greater toll than she was willing to show. “We’ll have to leave soon. As I already said, Orbray is here and will have a meeting with Father first thing in the morning. We need to get back to the office and get ready for it.” Her eyes fell on Franry, another little frown at the sight of him. “What could we do with him though?”

“Don’t leave me,” Franry said, looking up at them.

The plea made Riven’s heart shudder. He found himself facing those glowing blue eyes, still swirling with anger but it was flecked with desperation too. A deep sadness that only now made itself known. How much of their conversation had he understood? Did Franry at least know he would be helped now, reunited with his mother if everything went well?

“I’m sorry, but you’ll need to stay here for a while longer,” Rose said. “We can’t bring you with us to our homes in case someone comes looking pre-emptively and takes you away. We can’t risk losing you. Once you’re out of our direct reach, everything will become infinitely harder.”

“But doesn’t that mean you need to stay with me?”

“No. it means we can’t let anyone else find you.”

“Please.” Franry’s eyes were so large. Riven opened his mouth but no sound came out. Were those tears, sparkling at the corners? Could demons even cry? “I was alone all the time in the orphanage. I don’t want to be alone anymore. I want to find Ma.”

“Rose,” Riven said. Damn it, his words shouldn’t be quavering like Franry’s. He needed strength and logic, not a sea of empathetic feelings. “Maybe we can hide him. I’m sure there’s someplace in my apartment we can keep him out of sight.”

“Riven. Remember what I said? We do as I say, otherwise the whole thing falls apart.”

Riven turned his head to stare out into the storm. To stare out at the chaos. Such a perfect encapsulation of this ridiculous night. He ought to be in bed now, sleeping the day’s weariness away, yet here he was, struggling to keep a demon and his mother safe. He couldn’t look at Rose, for that would just make him angry, but he couldn’t look at Franry either, not when he was letting the boy down.

But arguing against Rose would serve nothing. They had to keep their eyes on the final prize. One night’s pain, one moment’s guilt, all of it would be worth it once Franry and Arrilme were reunited and safe together.

“I’ll stay,” Viriya announced.

“You?” Rose and Riven asked at the same time. This time, Riven did glare at his sister.

Viriya nodded, face grave. “I can keep Franry company, and more importantly, I can wait for when they bring out Arrilme too.” She glanced at the boy. “And we can talk about the orphanage too.”

“Ah, a little scouting and spying.” Rose smiled at her. “We need to promote you to Secondmarked as soon as possible once this is over.”

“Is that a yes, Municipier?”

“It is.”

Riven frowned as Viriya nodded back at Rose, though she didn’t return his sister’s smile. Then again, she hardly ever smiled anyway. Asking Franry about the orphanage didn’t seem like the best of idea. The boy had to be traumatized from his experiences there, and opening that wound couldn’t have been good, especially if Viriya would ask about Lham the Custodian.

“Riven,” Rose called, readying to open the door and let the storm come back in. “Let’s go.”

Riven stared down at Franry first. He trusted Viriya not to make things worse. He’d have to. “Be good, all right? Everything will be fine so long as you listen to Viriya. We’re going to get your mother back and get you both to safety soon, I promise.”

If Franry heard, he gave no sign of it. He was staring at Viriya with those glowing eyes of his, a little harshness filling them to the brim. Apparently, he wasn’t happy Viriya would be babysitting him, though there was something else there too. A glimmer of gratitude hidden behind the front of resentment. Riven had been worried for a second, but that little glimmer reassured him. The boy wasn’t all bad.  But where had he learned to keep his true feeling hidden that way?

“Take care,” Riven told Viriya. He hesitated for a moment, then clapped her on the shoulder with one hand. And held back his grimace. First thing he’d do when he got back home was dig a grave. The awkwardness was a slow poison, but it was very effective.

“I’ll be fine,” Viriya said. “You should be the one who neds to watch out.”

“I will, never fear.”

“I don’t do fear.”

“No, you definitely don’t.” Riven laughed. Then he headed for door, where Rose was still waiting. “Let’s go.”

“Finally,” Rose muttered, then closed her eyes to focus.

There was that familiar tugging sensation again, where Riven was drawn forward as though he was a rod of iron standing in a strong magnetic field. It helped him stick close to Rose, which was good considering everything close to her was trying to swirl around but ended up hitting the walls of the shed instead.

“Let’s go,” Rose said.

She twisted the door handle open as Viriya pressed herself to the back wall, which wasn’t that far behind all things considered. Rose and Riven rushed out to not let too much of the Sept inside, Viriya slamming the door shut behind Riven.

The Septstorm raged around them, swirling all around in a cyclone as they forged ahead.