Quill:

It felt as if my whole body was full of ants.

That might have made a bad imagery, but it felt like something was crawling just under my skin. Something that made me jittery and jumpy.

Was I nervous about our own impending doom?

Certainly. But what came close to pushing me over the edge was the fact that we still hadn't heard from Kate and William.

My mind was conjuring more and more scenarios, each more gruesome than the last.

I imagined them locked in the tomb of Marissa Fittes.

I imagined them impaled on Sir Rupert's sword.

But maybe we were lucky. Maybe Bobby Vernon had heard about Kate's capture and was able to help William in busting her out.

Perhaps they were simply laying low, unable to reach a telephone.

Not knowing was killing me.

I had checked and double checked, and triple checked all our defences to keep myself occupied, always keeping an ear out for the telephone.

Our traps were ready. The boards in front of the doors and windows were as good as they could be.

The equipment for the trip to the Land of the Dead was conveniently placed right inside the door of Jessica's room for easy access.

It was our last resort but if we'd need it, it would certainly be because we were in a hurry, and it wouldn't do to fumble around looking for the things.

I had unsurprisingly drawn the shortest straw, cape-wise with its flamboyant feathers.

I had moaned and whined appropriately, but despite my horror at wearing the ghastly thing, I figured that it might be worth it with the way their laughing at my expense had cut the tension.

We gathered at the library for one last planning session.

From my post at the window, near the telephone, I could see more and more people gathering near Arif's.

They would likely make a move soon.

I checked my belt for the sixteenth time.

I'd gone home earlier to raid the armoury.

That had been an interesting taxi ride back. Luckily, the driver had kept his mouth shut, but it's also generally inadvisable to antagonise the guy with two swords, a set of throwing knives at the belt and a dagger on the thigh. And that was just the visible ones. I had a whole duffle bag and a rucksack full of weapons of all sorts.

Hopefully they would help us.

I took another look through the window and was hit by despair.

There were so many.

Luckily, they all seemed to be adults so they would be caught off guard by the few Sources we had spared from going into the circle.

We'd planted them in strategic places and hopefully they would take care of the first wave.

I was a bit surprised by my own callousness.

People were going to die tonight, and I found myself not caring. As long as it wasn't us.

I suppose that's what happens when you work with death from a young age. You become desensitised.

I looked down the street again and saw a familiar face that I'd very much like to rearrange.

James Rumsford was casually turning the corner at Arif's, chatting merrily with three of his cronies.

They were laughing and playfully shoving each other into bushes as if they were on the way to a football match. They were all in Fittes uniforms, which annoyed me more than it should.

It was so ridiculously cocky to walk down the street to join a group of obvious thugs to go beat people up, while wearing the goddamn uniform, but what did it matter? They had the power to do whatever the hell they wanted. They had the power to do whatever the hell they wanted to whoever they wanted.

It was as I had that thought, that Tony came up behind me.

I nodded in the direction of the human waste to direct his attention to him, and we shared a look.

Part of me hoped that James Rumsford would breach our defences because I had a blade or five that would like to make his acquaintance.

Not long after, they were joined by Sir Rupert and Winkman himself stepped out of the shadows to greet him.

Sir Rupert then addressed them all.

"They're about to make a move!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"Right. Positions!" Tony called out like an army general.

Cubbins was already placed on the landing waiting for the rest. I was mostly worried about him if we had to go to the Other Side. From Lucy and Tony's trip, we already knew that going there took its toll and he still wasn't in the best condition.

Not that he was in great condition when uninjured to begin with, but he still hadn't recovered properly from the injuries he had sustained in the attack led by the hyenas outside.

We went into the kitchen, and I haven't a clue why, but I somehow found myself annoyed by the pristine condition of it. Holly had cleaned after dinner and where I generally welcome cleanliness, it felt like the way one might clean before going on a trip or leaving without any intentions of returning.

With this irrational thought, I quickly snatched a glass out of the cabinet and poured half a glass of orange juice. I didn't even drink it. I simply left it on the counter. Holly raised an eyebrow at me, but I just shrugged in return.

Leaving it clean meant not coming back. But we had to come back, if only to clean that damn glass.

I was about to head down to the basement after Tony when Lucy snatched my hand. She gave it a small squeeze and pulled me closer. I gave her a smile, because how could I not smile at her?

She opened her mouth to say something, but it was cut off by the crackling sound of a magnesium flare, followed by a shouted curse that meant that at least one of our traps had worked.

"Later," I told her with far more certainty than I felt and sprinted down the stairs to give Tony the back-up he would no doubt need.

I left my goggles hanging on my chest for now. It wouldn't do if they got lost. If we had to make a fast getaway, I sure as hell didn't want to go in blind.

I arrived in the back of the basement to hear Tony cheering.

"And stay out!"

I stepped up to him near one of the small spyholes we had made to keep up with what was going on outside. "What's going on?"

"One of Winkman's idiots just slipped and uncovered one of our sources. I think we got two with one stone."

Literally. The source was an amethyst geode that used to belong to someone in the occult circles. It was a surprisingly weak spirit for someone who was supposed to be so well connected to the Other Side, but it did what it had to do here.

"Shit!"

We both yelped when the glass in the door suddenly broke which was immediately followed by someone taking an axe to the planks.

When a small crack had been made, something was suddenly thrown, and the sound of broken glass came from somewhere behind us.

"Get back, Quill!" Tony shouted.

I couldn't see or hear it, but I could feel the miasma. Completely unfair of them to use out own methods against us. The pressure that was rising and I crept slightly closer to the boarded-up door again.

I was about to put the goggles, but was made busy again, when they started back up with the axe.

We were trapped between the thugs and whatever spirit they had released.

I heard Tony call for help from upstairs while I wiggled my rapier into a crack and jammed it through as hard as I could.

I was rewarded with a shriek. It sounded like I'd gotten the perpetrator directly in the groin.

He was apparently either quickly replaced or recovered quickly because the axe returned with renewed strength.

I felt it the minute the Source was contained and hurried back into the basement just in time to see Julius Winkmans ugly mug.

"Fall back!" Tony ordered.

We hurried through the basement, carefully avoiding the traps we had set.

When we reached the rapier room, Lucy and Tony hung back while I continued onwards to join Holly who no doubt had her own problems.

And sure enough, someone was breaking through the barricade.

I arrived just as the second board on top came down, but Holly was prepared and had several big flares ready which went soaring through the hole.

With the people outside thoroughly distracted by the explosion, I took the opportunity to look outside.

There were so many.

There was no way in hell we would be able to stand our ground here. My stomach dropped at the thought of using our last resort. An event that seemed more likely by the minute.

It was clear though, that they thought they had us.

James Rumsford and his friends were standing around, joking, and laughing.

Sir Rupert was standing next to them, eagerly waiting for Winkman's people to finish the hard bit The sight of him made my hand close around the hilt of the dagger I had strapped to my thigh. With him, I wouldn't mind getting up close and personal, thinking of everything he'd put me through.

All the people I'd lost over the years. The murders he was an accomplice to.

Ned Shaw.

Yeah. I wouldn't mind his blood on my hands at all.

Then another person stepped into the light, joining him.

One of the last persons I'd expected seeing here.

I had to shake my head several times in an attempt to prevent spiralling as I did in the library at the Orpheus Society.

"Snap out of it!" Holly shouted directly into my ear.

Along with the sharp pain of the slap she delivered to my face, her method was effective, and I regained my focus with a gasp.

We lobbed another round of flares through the door, and managed to thin out their herd considerably, but eventually we ran out of flares to spare, and the most significant players had been out of our reach. Then the crowbar returned. We had to do our best to keep them from the door leading down to the basement where Tony and Lucy still hadn't returned from.

All too soon, they broke through the barrier and Holly put up a stance, protecting the basement door while I tried to secure our escape route.

Rumsford's two friends were narrowing in on Holly, but they had underestimated her, as so many did, and paid the price in the form of broken noses and stab wounds.

Rumsford himself came at me with a smirk and I was delighted to kick him directly in the face, sending him careening into Sir Rupert who was following up behind him.

An offended sound came from the doorway and all I saw was red.

"You!" I snarled as I grabbed the boy at the collar. "Why would you do this?" I demanded, trying to mask all the hurt I felt with anger.

"Why wouldn't I?" Bobby Vernon retorted with a sneer. "Do you have any idea how bad it was for my career to be working under you? You dragged all our names through the mud. You were an embarrassment to Fittes."

He took advantage of my shock and switched our positions, hammering me into the wall with more strength than expected. My head bounced off the protrusion of the wooden panel that struck me just above my neck and I felt myself becoming a bit dizzy.

The many questions that were bouncing around inside my mind about the how and the why and the when, must have been clear on my face because he continued, obviously needing to get it off his chest.

"She came to me in person! Me! I was asked to keep an eye on you and when she saw what an utter embarrassment and a liability you had become to the company by throwing in with that lot, she asked me to take care of it!"

"The spectre in December!" I gasped. "That was you!"

I pushed him off me and delivered a punch to his jaw. He countered with one to my stomach that pushed the air out of me.

"But then that bitch had to intervene! Miss Fittes gave you another chance but then you had the audacity to leave the company, and for what? That harlot?"

"You leave Lucy out of this!"

"I don't think so," he sneered. "After all, it all comes down to her. I might even have to kill her myself. Winkman's people hadn't managed to do it either, when they paid you their little visit, and Rumsford failed too, but they're all nothing but mindless brutes!"

My mind was reeling. The Spectre. The attack at my house. Lucy.

"Kate!" I breathed. "What did you do?"

He scowled at me. "She was a traitor and she'll be dealt with as such."

Will be.

Not past tense, so there was a chance they hadn't done anything. Yet.

Anger welled up in me at the betrayal and with a roar that surprised Bobby, judging by the widening of his eyes, I punched him again, directly in the nose.

He crumbled to the floor, and I gave him a kick for good measure.

I took a quick look around to reorient myself.

Three people were lying out cold on the kitchen floor. Holly was battling a fourth and Tony was locked in a duel with Sir Rupert.

Just as Lucy came through the door, a heavy weight rammed into me from the side and knocked me over.

…

Lucy:

"Lucy!" Lockwood shouted, without interrupting his duel with Sir Rupert.

He nodded over at the other end of the kitchen, where James Rumsford had tackled Quill.

Without hesitating, I threw three knives in quick succession.

One got him in the shoulder, one in the arm and one lodged itself in his thigh.

I was a bit disappointed by that one as I had aimed for something else.

I ran over there to get my knives back and see to Quill who was slowly getting up, slightly shaking his head.

James Rumsford was rolling around, screaming on the ground. Quill kicked him in the head, and he was out cold. I quickly pulled my knives out of his shoulder and his arm, grimacing a bit at the blood. I was slightly put out that I couldn't get the knife out of his thigh. It was firmly stuck in his femur.

I was rather confused to see little Bobby Vernon, who wasn't very little anymore, groaning on the floor, clutching his nose.

"He betrayed us," Quill explained with a sneer at the little rat.

"You're the traitor!" the boy ground out.

I kicked him in the shin.

"We need to get moving!" I shouted out. I grabbed a chair and threw it as hard as I could at the guy Holly was fighting. Lockwood kicked Sir Rupert in the chest, and we all made a dash towards the stairs.

…

Quill:

Cubbins was already inside with all the things ready to go. I slammed the door behind us and blocked it with a chair.

"Just follow my lead!" Tony shouted when we were all suited up.

The door and even the walls of the room were shaking with the hammering on the door as the thugs tried to break in.

Tony grabbed on to the chain, forcing himself to move slowly towards the circle. Then Holly grabbed on, then Cubbins, followed by Lucy.

The door splintered just as I was about to put my hand on the chain.

A sharp pressure dug into my side, and I cried out.

Bobby Vernon grinned viciously at me and pulled the dagger out.

The dagger I'd given him for his fourteenth birthday.

His smile fell and his face went slack.

A gurgling noise came from his throat where a throwing knife was sticking out.

I turned my head to see Lucy staring at Bobby with the most vicious expression I'd ever seen.

I could have stared at her forever like that.

Unfortunately, we had to move. Sir Rupert was coming through the door, stepping over Bobby's body.

I turned my head just in time to see his incredulous expression when he saw what we had done.

Then I went through to the Other Side.