Chapter 30

As everyone had recommended, I spent the next day at home, off the street. When we'd fled the safe house, I'd grabbed the copy of Shadows of Futures Past so that I could read it for myself. I wasn't worried about Remy missing it because he would have the whole thing memorized and not need to consult it again. He hadn't exaggerated about the journal, and it was filled with warnings of catastrophic consequences if the Eye fell into the wrong hands.

Remy's vision of a future without protection from high fae tyranny was horrific. If giving the Eye to the Fae Council meant someone would manipulate the past to defeat the non-fae collation and ensure the Great Pact was never signed, we had to keep the Eye away from them at all costs. Remy and I could emphatically agree on that.

However, I wasn't convinced that giving it to the Guild of Thieves and Spies was wrong. Remy hadn't been prepared to receive his vision, so maybe it had nothing to do with the guild. Or maybe the deciding factor had been who gave them the Eye. If Remy did, there would be an environmental disaster. If I did, I would achieve my goal of becoming a director. And Halder wanted the Eye for his own purposes, so he could have made up a story about a director's involvement. It seemed a little too convenient.

But what about the part of my vision where Remy was playing with children who definitely were not ours? I massaged my temples as a headache threatened. I could no longer deny I had fallen in love and wanted a future with him. Which brought me back to the fact that Remy did not want a future with me. Or anyone, according to him.

Did I throw away my ambitions on the unlikely chance he would change his mind? Alone in my tiny bedsit with only my thoughts for company, I was spiraling deeper into depression and confusion. With a sigh, I realized I was going to have to grab the bull by the horns and force Remy into a tough conversation that neither of us was going to like.

I was trying to decide if it was safe enough to take my few coppers to the market for food when there was a quiet rap on the door. My eyes snapped to the door, and I bit my lip. Almost no one knew where I lived, and I couldn't imagine any who did coming to visit.

Holding the knife Remy had given me behind my back, I cracked the door open and peeked out. I blinked in surprise before fully opening the door. It was Lorget, as casually elegant as always, in a charcoal waistcoat and green cravat.

"Good afternoon, Ziola," he said. The wrinkles at the corners of his stormy gray eyes crinkled as he gave me a gentle smile.

"Please, come in." I stepped back and put down the knife.

"We were worried about you."

"Oh. I'm fine." I had nothing to offer him to eat or drink, so I sat in one of the two spindly wooden chairs at my small table and gestured to the other.

He sat and placed his clasped hands on the table. "We heard about the gargoyle tearing up the neighborhood around Scepter Seraphim and the theft a few days later, but neither you nor Remy reported to us."

My stomach tightened and my face grew hot. "Remy was in charge of the operation. I assumed he kept you in the loop." Which was a fib. I knew perfectly well his bartender friend was better informed than anyone at the guild.

Lorget studied me for several long moments. Finally, he said, "Remy does tend to play his cards close to his vest. That was one reason we wanted him to work with another member."

I swallowed and squirmed in my chair. Had they been expecting me to report on Remy's activities?

"He's very skilled and a good teacher," I said with a helpless shrug.

Lorget raised one brow. "A good teacher?"

I couldn't help myself, and a giggle bubbled up. "Once he realized I was going to stick to him like treacle."

"Remy is too much of a loner, but that's our worry, not yours," he said with a paternal smile. "You're not responsible for his actions."

I had no response for that and just gave him a weak smile in return.

"Tell me about your activities."

I summarized our first encounter with the gargoyles and the theft itself, leaving out anything personal. Even I didn't understand my relationship with Remy. It was no one in the guild's business. I also left out Remy's contact with Halder. That wouldn't improve Lorget's opinion of him. When I got to our departure from the safe house, I asked, "Did Emil tell you someone in the guild must be working with the City Enforcers?"

Lorget sat back in his chair with a pained expression. "Yes. The raid where Emil got caught could have been just bad luck, but a second compromised safe house is definitely suspicious. We're looking into it."

I hoped they were looking pretty darn hard because I wasn't keen on taking risks for the guild if the information might go directly to the Enforcers.

"So, you succeeded in getting the Eye of Oris?"

I knew we had come to the real reason for Lorget's visit. My welfare and Remy's independent nature were side issues at best.

"Yes. We did."

Lorget leaned forward, watching me intently. "Where is it now?"

"Remy has it. You'll have to ask him."

"I haven't seen him, and he hasn't been to the guild to pick up any messages."

"You don't know where he lives?"

Lorget frowned. "No. Has he told you?"

I shook my head. "He just meets me at the guild."

"When you see him, please tell him to come to me. He must give me the Eye."

I looked away from Lorget and picked at the sleeve of my tunic, debating how much to tell him. There was a leak inside the guild, and I didn't want this information going directly to the Enforcers. I rubbed clammy palms on my leggings.

"He's concerned about that."

"Why?"

"He touched the Eye, and it gave him a vision of the future." I cleared my throat. "It wasn't good."

Lorget's brows rose. "Did the Eye specifically tell him it didn't want the guild to take possession?"

"Oh, nothing like that. It doesn't talk to you. It just shows possible futures. But they're kind of cryptic. He saw a future where the oceans and everything that lives there were destroyed by mining."

"What could that possibly have to do with the guild?"

"That's just it. We don't know."

"Did you touch it?" When I nodded, he continued, "Was your vision equally dire?"

I ducked my head and let my hair fall forward, hoping he wouldn't see how deeply I was blushing. "Um, no."

"And?"

I was afraid this next bit reflected more on my ambition than any actual future. What if Lorget used it to manipulate me into doing what he wanted? "It showed me as one of the guild directors," I finally mumbled.

"Well, that certainly wouldn't be out of the question. Members who excel move up the ranks, and successfully stealing the Eye of Oris from Scepter Seraphim and bringing it to the guild would be quite an accomplishment."

I glanced up at him.

"Not right away, of course. But your reputation would be made, and you'd be on the fast track for promotion. No more boring assignments casing buildings for others or being relegated to the least important jobs."

I couldn't hide how much I wanted that, and Lorget patted my arm.

"There is no shame in ambition and goals, my dear," he said. "But that does mean either convincing Remy to let you give me the Eye or finding where he's hidden it yourself."

I slumped and blew out a long breath. Sweet talking Remy into something he didn't want to do seemed highly unlikely, but finding one of his many caches around the city would be impossible. It was pure luck I had followed him to the one by the docks and there were better odds of finding a unicorn in the marketplace than me tailing him undetected for very long.

"I'll work on it," I said.

"Tell him I can guarantee no one in the guild will use it to attack the oceans. Why would we?" Lorget stood and moved toward the door. "Don't forget, you'll be doing Remy a favor as well as yourself. This would give him master status for sure."

My mouth was dry, and I licked my lips. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I hunched forward. Had I done the right thing by giving him so much information? Lorget had been so supportive, but I couldn't discount Remy's concerns. I didn't know what to do.