The Last Spell 39.2

“If Pia’s here, then Sparrow must already be here too,” Kasumi said, as she cleared a path ahead of Leilan by purposely hurrying through the crowd. “None of us caught him sneaking in, then.”

Leilan pressed his lips together. “The odds of that were always rather low,” he said. “I had a feeling he would find his way in undetected.”

“He’s not unstoppable,” Kasumi muttered, although it sounded more like she was speaking to herself than him. “There’s still time.”

Leilan nearly agreed aloud, but he came short of finding the words. The process of searching for something to take relief in was getting draining.

Even if they could claim victory in the end… what cost would it come at? What could they do about the damage that had already been done? They already had to say goodbye to Cyrin—something that pained him terribly, even though Leilan had only just met him. He didn’t know if he could handle losing another friend to this fight.

Everyone was looking to him, and his optimism was failing them now.

“Where does this staircase lead, anyway?” Kasumi asked.

“Shane would know,” Leilan said, glancing around. “Maybe we could find…”

After a visual sweep of the ballroom, he trailed off, realizing Shane was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Kaja. He knew they’d discussed this as a team, but he couldn’t help the spike of panic that drove its way into his chest.

What was Shane doing? Why had Marius seen him sneaking around?

“He’s not here,” Kasumi said uncertainly.

“If he didn’t notice him going anywhere, Kaja certainly did,” Leilan said, forcing his tone to remain calm. “Arguably, he’s in the least danger of any of us. He should be alright.”

Kasumi didn’t respond. When Leilan sped up slightly to walk hurriedly at her side instead of behind her, he read a frown on her face.

“What is it?” he asked gently.

“He’s not alright,” Kasumi said. “He hasn’t been for a long time.”

Leilan nearly said something about how that was evident, but he kept his mouth shut. Maybe he didn’t have the right to say that. He’d failed to see how it deep it ran, and apparently, the rest of them had too.

“He shouldn’t be Heir,” Kasumi said.

Leilan stared at her, bristling with offense and shock. A wave of fury he couldn’t contain shot through his veins.

“If you think Shane’s unfit to serve on this team, Kasumi, I think you’ve got him wrong—” he started to snap.

“Saints, no!” Kasumi exclaimed, eyes wide with realization. “That’s not— that’s not what I meant at all.”

“Then what?” Leilan asked pointedly.

“He shouldn’t be Heir because he should’ve been left to heal this whole time,” Kasumi said, with a bit of panic in her voice. “I wasn’t saying that he wasn’t alright in the head, or that he’s somehow a weak link because of what he’s been through. I don’t think that. It’s just… he is a valuable team member and a very capable person. But he’d be so much healthier and better off if he could put his recovery first instead of having to let this job destroy him.” She paused, before guiltily adding, “And it’s only half Flint’s fault. He put him here. We made it unbearable.”

Leilan felt his shoulders— and his heart— sink with regret. She was right. He’d gotten her wrong.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t know that’s what you meant.”

“I don’t blame you,” Kasumi said, her voice faint. “I’ve… only been making the burden on him heavier, through the things I’ve said and done. I’m partly responsible.”

Leilan swallowed, heart clenching. “We all are.”

They both remained quiet until they’d made their way through the crowd and into the corridor leading to the staircase that Marius had described.

“I think there’s another one of these on the opposite side,” Kasumi finally said. “I don’t know if they lead to the same place, though.”

“We should probably keep our voices down,” Leilan suggested. “We don’t know where they’ll be.”

“Right,” Kasumi agreed, barely above a whisper.

Leilan took the lead, treading up the spiral staircase with soft footsteps. Kasumi was even quieter behind him, even in her heels. Seemed like she really could do anything in them.

When he was able to see around the bend, he craned his head upwards. The staircase went on for at least another floor, while the second floor ahead branched off into a fork of hallways that he couldn’t see down just yet.

“Search this floor first, and then the one above?” he whispered to Kasumi as he paused at the top.

“Sounds good,” Kasumi whispered back, passing him and stopping just before the hallways branched off. “Left, or—”

Her sentence ended in surprised silence when the lights around them went dark.

The silence broke moments later when the sounds of commotion floated from the ballroom downstairs. Shouting, stomping, the sound of a glass breaking— it seemed as if all hell had broken loose among the guests.

“What is this? Was that Mireya?” Kasumi shouted, invisible in the darkness ahead of him, voice echoing off the stone walls.

“I don’t know!” Leilan shouted back, the need to whisper completely forgotten as he ran in her direction. “This wasn’t part of the plan!”

Kasumi’s hand grabbed his shoulder, and this time, he didn’t care that her nails dug through his suit. He could feel her trembling.

“What do we do?” she breathed.

Leilan would’ve had nothing to tell her, if he hadn’t heard something over the chaos of the ballroom. Soft, frantic footsteps were echoing through the hallway to their right— and were getting closer.

“Someone’s up here,” he said.

He knew she heard it too, from the way she fell quiet. Leilan felt her turn, drawing in a deep breath.

“Who’s there?” she shouted.

A scared, high-pitched yelp came from their right, and the footsteps reversed direction.

“I think that’s the kid,” Leilan whispered.

“Well, we've got to help her!” Kasumi said urgently, letting go of him and bolting into the hallway.

Leilan hesitated for a moment to consider the wisdom of this course of action. Just a moment. He didn’t know anything about this girl, but it seemed very unlikely that she would be a threat, or even allied with Sparrow. Something told him she was a victim.

Breathing in deep, he ran after Kasumi.

He heard her footsteps skid and turn to the left, and when he followed, the corridor he entered must have been on the outside of the palace, because it had windows that provided a dim amount of light from the city’s glow. He noticed two things. One, the corridor ended at a shut door. Two, a young girl— sure enough, in a hospital gown— stood at the dead end, pressed into the corner. Even at this distance, he could read the terror on her face.

Leilan halted next to Kasumi, keeping a distance from the girl. The two of them exchanged a confused glance in the low light.

If they were to learn anything, they had to make her feel safe.

Leilan slowly raised his hands.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” he called softly. “We thought you might be in danger. Are you hiding from someone?”

Just barely, the girl nodded her head, shrinking back further.

Great. Had Sparrow kidnapped a patient straight out of a children’s hospital? What in the name of the Saints did he need to do that for?

“Can we come closer?” he asked gently.

The girl hesitated. He saw fear and distrust flicker in her eyes before she nodded slightly again.

With slow steps, Leilan moved forward, Kasumi with him. It was difficult in the dim light, but he was able to start making out her features now. She looked like she might be from the West, or maybe Central— her skin was a warm brown, and her dark hair was in puffy curls. She seemed unusually frail, and he didn’t see any injuries on her. Maybe she was a chronically ill patient, or had some kind of cancer. The thought saddened him. She couldn’t have been older than twelve.

“I’m Leilan,” he said, gesturing to himself, then to Kasumi. “This is Kasumi. What’s your name?”

Cautiously, the girl unpeeled herself from the wall.

“Autumn,” she squeaked.

“Autumn,” Kasumi repeated. “That’s a very pretty name.”

Self-consciously, Autumn dropped her gaze to the floor. “Thanks,” she whispered.

“What’s going on, Autumn?” Leilan asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Autumn said helplessly. “I was in Crystal City yesterday. But then this woman showed up to my room, and— she did something to— my friend is supposed to—”

Autumn trailed off with a sniffle and a panicked gasp for air, and Leilan’s heart ached. She clearly had been dragged into something that was far larger than she understood.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kasumi soothed. “We’ll keep you safe from her.”

“My friend’s supposed to protect me,” Autumn whispered. “But he isn’t here.”

“Who’s your friend?” Leilan asked.

“You wouldn’t know him,” Autumn said. “No one knows him anymore.”

“I know a lot of people,” Leilan offered. It was true, but he fully expected to not know who it was.

Sniffling again, Autumn looked up, meeting his gaze with dark, scared eyes.

“Their name’s Cyrin,” she said quietly.

Leilan heard the sharp intake of breath from Kasumi as he felt the air leave his lungs. Saints. He’d seen the shield tattoo on Cyrin’s back, he’d known they were Oathbound— but he hadn’t thought he’d meet the person they had sworn a vow of protection to. This had to be another sick plan of Sparrow’s to get back at Cyrin by going after someone he was close to.

If only he knew that was pointless now.

“We know Cyrin,” Kasumi said quietly. He could hear the grief she was trying to bury. “They’re on our side.”

Autumn straightened, hope shining in her eyes. “You know them? Are they here with you?”

It felt like Leilan had gotten punched in the chest. He couldn’t lie to this kid. But he couldn’t tell her the truth either. Her protector was either dying or already dead, and this was no place to break the terrible news.

He was saved from having to answer her question— and forced to worry about their survival again— when he heard the sound of fire catching behind him. He spun around to see the woman from the vault standing there, a Flare spell activated in one hand and a wicked grin on her face.

“I hate to interrupt,” Pia cooed. “But Sparrow needs his bloodshed, and he’s getting impatient.”