It felt like they wandered for hours.
Through deserted streets. Jumping at shadows. Margaret was open to Air and scanning, but she never once sounded an alarm. Civilization was still ages away, and with it, any chance of human contact. Aidan clutched Fire as tightly as he held on to his daggers. Kianna had Kindness in one hand and a vicious ax in the other. Even Gregory seemed serious, his eyes shadowed and his sword held tight as Earth hummed in his gut. They trekked closer to the glowing white of the Guild, scouring the land for a flat that at least had a roof.
Honestly, though—he didn’t want to stay here any longer than he had to.
He couldn’t put his finger on it. He’d been over all of Scotland, had seen more ruined or battle-stained or bloody places than he could recount. But this felt different. London didn’t just feel abandoned. It felt hollow. Hungry.
Like in Edinburgh, there was an emptiness here that tugged at his Sphere, made chills race down his spine despite the flames flickering around his body. But unlike Edinburgh, this didn’t feel like the creation of a Howl. It felt...unnatural. In a way that even the Kin never did.
“Do you feel that?” Gregory asked.
Aidan nodded.
“Feel what?” Kianna asked from ahead.
“The emptiness,” Margaret said. Her eyebrows were furrowed, pale blue light from her throat glowing against her skin. “I can’t feel anything out there.”
“The Guild is still further on,” Kianna said.
“That’s not what I mean. There’s nothing. No people. No animals. No...” She trailed off, biting her lip with worry.
“What?” Aidan asked.
She didn’t answer right away. They had all paused, rubble spread out around them in a field of despair, the only sound the click as Kianna turned off the safety on her gun.
“It feels like this place eats magic,” Margaret finally said. She shuddered and shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s not right, whatever it is. And whatever it is, it doesn’t want us here.”
“Sounds like London,” Kianna said. “Never really liked tourists, even before the Resurrection. Now you know why I don’t go home.”
She looked to Aidan, as though daring him to say the real reason.
Obviously, he didn’t.
She turned and led them away from the road, toward a row of buildings that didn’t look as derelict as the rest. At least these appeared to have roofs. And seeing as the rain had followed them, that alone was a godsend.
Aidan sat on the front stoop, Fire a low burn in his chest and his comrades sound asleep in the room behind him. It hadn’t been a flat like they’d hoped. Rather, it was a corner store that had been thoroughly raided in the previous years—no crisps or snacks on the shelves, shattered glass everywhere. The flats above had been blown clean off, and parts of the ceiling let in the drizzling sky. But it was dry. Ish. And covered. Ish. There might not have been beds, but after they’d blown the glass away and settled in with some blankets from the car, Aidan feeding a small fire in the middle of the shop, it would act as a fair base. For now.
Aidan was antsy.
He wasn’t used to being cooped up in a car all day. He wasn’t used to sitting still, to not training. Or killing. He wanted more than anything to uncurl Fire and burn through his frustration. Start a wildfire and see just how far he could make it spread. That sort of thing. The sort of thing that would make Kianna doubt his ability to keep the damned Sphere under control.
So instead, he sat, legs tight to his chest, watching London glow just as he had watched Edinburgh a few nights before. Another potential conquest. Another chance to fight. To burn. To rule. To die.
Fire whispered through his thoughts, dreaming up the sort of strength he could gain from this strange shard. Tomás said it would make even death bow to him. Not that he took the Howl at his word, but still. If it had brought Calum back, it had to be powerful. No matter what, it would help him rule. And when Tenn appeared, it would keep the boy in his place.
But it wasn’t just thoughts of magic that made his lips twitch into the occasional grin. It was the thought of how it would feel to rule from London itself. After all, if the Guild here was compromised, overrun with necromancers or something, there would be no one to stop him from claiming it for his own after the threat was eradicated.
Fire told him that of course the threat would be eradicated.
The rubble beyond shifted. Aidan jerked to awareness, a dagger in hand and Fire glowing bright, tendrils of flame curled around his fist. Light flared bright enough to see the intruder.
Aidan let out a sigh and collapsed back against the door.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he asked the fox. The beast was tiny, fur glimmering orange and red in the light of Aidan’s flame. It didn’t seem at all put off by Aidan’s glow. Instead, it took a few steps closer, its eyes calm and unwavering, ribs slatted and shadowed with hunger.
It was rare to see animals anymore, especially in cities. The Howls had fucked up the entire ecosystem with their hunger. Aidan had overheard more than one conversation about how the world would collapse even if the Howls were banished—everything was out of sync, whole ecosystems destroyed, weather patterns shifted, the world collapsing. The only creatures that survived anymore were the small scavengers. The ones that could hide. But this guy...he wasn’t hiding at all.
“Aren’t you supposed to be scared of me?”
But the fox just stepped closer. Aidan stayed still. Let the fires around him fade, until there was just a small sphere of light hanging above him. They locked eyes, and there was an intelligence there that startled him.
For some reason, those eyes made him think of his mother.
The fox blurred as tears formed in his eyes. Aidan blinked them away. He couldn’t think that about her. He couldn’t let regret overtake him. He’d done all he could. And now, he was doing what he could to avenge her. He had to tell himself that—ending the Howls was all he could do. He sniffed and pulled through Fire, let it burn through his veins, let it boil away the depression. His tears turned to puffs of steam.
Still, the fox watched him. Examining him.
Your hatred will destroy us.
Aidan jolted and looked around.
The voice was feminine, but not the oceanic hum of the Dark Lady. No, this was different, lilting. Innocent.
There was no one nearby. No one but the fox.
“Jesus,” Aidan whispered. “Get a hold of yourself.”
The fox cocked its head to the side. Licked its lips. Aidan wondered if maybe he had a snack he could give it.
Then the door opened behind him, and Margaret stepped out. The fox disappeared into the shadows like it was made of them. “Who are you talking to?” Margaret asked.
Aidan grunted and burned away the last of his weakness. “Just myself,” he said. “No one important.”
She gave him a slight smile. “Your shift is up. Go get some sleep.”
He nodded and stood. Stared out at the shadows.
The fox didn’t return. Why did he want it to return?
“Something out there?” Margaret asked.
He thought about the way it stared at him. At the intelligence in its eyes. And the voice...
He shook his head. He was just tired. Delusional. Too much time in a car.
“Nothing,” he told her, heading indoors. “Just my imagination.”