Kingsley’s face was unreadable, and Mimi could stand it no longer. “So? What? She’s gone to a Miley Cyrus concert? She’s written a cell phone novel? What does it say?”
He quieted her with a look and showed them the letter. One line, written in the same beautiful calligraphy. Phoebus ostend praeeo.
Phoebus was the name of the sun king in the old tongue, Mimi knew, and the rest was easy enough to understand. “The sun shall show the way,” she said. “What does it mean?”
In answer, Kingsley folded up the note carefully and tucked it into his jacket pocket.
He has no idea, does he, Mimi thought. “Why would the Watcher take the trouble to send us a note but then have the note be nonsense?” she asked, annoyed. “And how did she know I was coming? And bringing a stuffed toy?”
“You forget. The Watcher can see into the future. If she was being held by Silver Bloods—as she surely was— she must have felt threatened enough to allow only the most cryptic of communications.”
“It’s a riddle. A clue,” Ted said suddenly. “A clue to her whereabouts. ‘The sun shall show the way.’” It was the longest sentence he had said in a year. Even Sam looked surprised to find his brother so garrulous.
Kingsley nodded. “Of course. Sophia always did say wisdom had to be earned.”
A riddle. Great. A year of tracking down the Watcher, and when they finally get somewhere, they find some kind of one-eyed sphinx blocking the path. Could it have hurt her to have written Am being held captive at 101 Favela Lane! Come soon and bring a Luna Bar! Or was that just too much to ask?
You make light of trivial matters, Kingsley sent.
Just trying to keep things interesting, Mimi telepathed in return. And get out of my head. You don’t belong here.
Meanwhile, the other Venators were deep in the glom, consulting their memories, trying to ascertain the meaning behind the words. Finally, Ted opened his eyes and spoke. “There’s a bar not too far away called El Sol de Ajuste. The Setting Sun.”
“So?” Mimi said.
“It’s an old Silver Blood expression—the setting sun describes Lucifer’s fall to Earth,” Kingsley explained. “That could be it.”
Right, Mimi remembered. Lucifer was the Prince of Heaven. The Morningstar. It made sense that to the Silver Bloods, his doom was akin to the setting sun.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Mimi asked. “We’ve got a missing Watcher to find, and I don’t know about you guys, but I need a drink.”