Chapter 2: There Are Always Secrets…
Guen had no grievances about Yin's sudden insistence on accompanying her almost everywhere. Well, in a manner of speaking, she wasn't necessarily allowed to have any; she had, after all, broken out of her tracking anklet and evaded police custody and her handler for forty-eight hours. It was really due only to luck and Batman's word that she was getting off so lightly, and that was taking into account the lie by omission: Batman had said nothing concerning her venture to Star City, Green Arrow had covered things up on his end, and the winged woman wasn't eager to tell the furious detective herself. Really, it could have been worse.
But Wraith certainly disagreed, and took small opportunities here and there to complain about Ellen shadowing her, blatantly ignoring whenever it was brought up that the entire mess was her fault to begin with.
"What, are you going to follow me into the bathroom too?" she asked in a sardonic tone, glaring as the other woman sat down at the table across her.
"If needs be." Yin answered, matter-of-fact and calm. The criminal consultant gave a snort and an impatient rustle of her huge gray wings, turning her attention back to the bowl of cereal she had finished making. She was three bites in and barely relaxed when the detective spoke up again.
"So where did you go?" She asked. "What was so important you couldn't bother to bring it up with GCPD first?"
It certainly wasn't the first time Yin had asked that question, and she seemed determined to catch Wraith off-guard, as though hoping she could startle her into giving a straight answer. She never seemed to take into account that Wraith still had some mandatory psych sessions at Arkham—as per the requirements of her probation and position as a criminal consultant—and Chief Psychiatrist Professor Strange was more adept at subtly doing just that. So Wraith took several more bites of the cereal, savoring the peanut buttery flavor, just to drag things out and push Yin's buttons.
"What was so important that you risked putting your legal freedom on the line?"
That was new.
"Wait, what?" Wraith said, startled to the point she fumbled her spoon and sent the next bite of cereal splashing back into the bowl. Yin's eyebrows contracted sharply as her red lips thinned in a frown. Trying to look her in the eye was like having a staring contest with a cat. A very grumpy cat, with a badge, a gun, and a mean high-kick.
"You heard me," Yin answered, surprisingly patient as her glare eased up a little, "It's the same question I've been asking you since the other night. You'll have to be honest with me sooner or later."
"I know, and I will," Wraith replied, feeling her patience being stretched a bit, "Guen promised she'd make sure you know. But you aren't getting the answer right now."
Yin opened her mouth as though to protest, but she never got the chance to say anything, as Guen's phone chose that moment to ring. The words "unknown number" flashed across the screen, but her phone had been… "Alternatively programmed" by someone egotistical enough he had given himself his own ringtone that played no matter what number he called Guen from.
"And speaking of giving people answers…" she groaned as Yin snatched up the phone first. The detective raised a quizzical eyebrow at its LED display and gave Wraith a questioning look, to which the winged thief shrugged and muttered "Go for it."
"Guen Pendragon's phone. This is Detective Ellen Yin answering." She sounded suspicious as she accepted the call, and really, she was right to. In a short moment, Wraith could hear the voice on the other end, thanks to her increased raptor senses.
"Detective." Said a silky, measured voice. "Well, this is a surprise. I had not been expecting to encounter you again so soon."
"Riddler." She snarled, her eyes narrowing sharply again, giving Wraith a mild jolt of surprise. "Surely you know Miss Pendragon is working as a criminal consultant for the GCPD and her calls are being monitored?"
"I would hardly consider answering her phone for her to be just 'monitoring' her calls." Riddler answered smoothly. "That doesn't sound like any inch of freedom whatsoever. Not that I should expect any less fromGotham's finest."
"Hmm. Explain something to me, Riddler," Yin said, shooting a quizzical look at Wraith, who groaned and laid her head on the surface of the table, "If you're so keen to talk to Miss Pendragon, why is she avoiding you?"
There was a notable pause before he answered.
"Clearly because she wishes to keep our relationship free of police interference." He said in a rather angry tone. "Not that I blame her. I was hoping to ask her out to lunch, but considering there's no trust present—"
"Forgive me if I don't believe for a moment that you wouldn't entice Miss Pendragon," Yin said, tossing Wraith an accusatory look this time, "Back into her old habits."
"As I said, no trust." It was evident from the Riddler's tone he was sneering. "How is my lovely friend supposed to ever prove herself to the Gotham P.D. if you don't allow her an inch or two on her leash?"
The detective fell silent, appearing to ponder this for a moment. Wraith's heart leapt in spite of herself. No way! Was Ed actually going to make Yin let up on her? She sucked in a breath as she watched the emotions warring on the other woman's face, until Ellen finally moved the phone away from her ear and covered it with her free hand.
"Don't make me regret this, Wraith."
It was with a certain measure of irony that the winged woman reflected on those words as she stood at a bus stop, waiting for her ride to pick her up. Unsurprisingly, a green van emblazoned with a large black question mark on its side came pelting up the road, screeching to a halt when it neared her. She shifted her wings uncomfortably as the side door slid open.
I just hope that I don't make me regret this. She thought to herself.
Give me the reins. Guen's voice abruptly sounded in her thoughts. It startled her more than the van, and she moved with some apprehension, to give herself time to speak between her two personalities.
Guen, you sure about that? You haven't been, well, normal around Edward since…since you-know-what. Wraith remarked.
I'm sure. Guen returned calmly, her mental voice carrying a note of unexpected confidence. Wraith relaxed and retreated in upon herself, and the young woman gave an unsteady lurch forward as Guen regained control over her own mind once again. The henchmen in the van gave her curious stares, which she waved off impatiently.
"Relax, relax, I'm fine," Guen huffed, speaking in her usual rapid manner, "But any one of you touches me, your hands are going to be shoved into a blender, good intentions or not."
The two that had been holding out their hands to help her into the van quickly retreated, pulling their arms back and keeping their fingers out of sight.
Nice one. Wraith chuckled at the back of her thoughts, sounding duly impressed. Guen had to hold back a chuckle of her own as she stepped into the cramped vehicle, the top of the frame scraping her wings uncomfortably. She drew them around herself even more tightly than usual but there was still very little space in the van regardless, and for one of the first times in her life, Guenhivyre Pendragon felt slightly claustrophobic.
Professor Crane would never let me hear the end of it, she thought wryly as the van took off. Her thoughts immediately jumped from the doctor of fear to her friends, the other "rookie" rogues with whom she had bonded so strongly. Ink, Banshee, Magpie, Trick Deck, Erin Knightly, Rook… Guen had barely seen them since Batman had vouched for her two months ago and she had been put on probation. She had seen Two-Face, Ramsey, Gary Myers and Cassandra Derricks even less.
I miss my freaky little family of misfits. She thought, her two personalities in sync for a brief moment. Staying with her mother and her half-brother Logann was nice, certainly; Guen had been ripped away from her home before she had truly formed a memorable relationship of any kind with her mother, and she felt—and Logann agreed—that now she could make up for all the lost time that had been stolen from them. But it wasn't quite the same.
She became lost in thought, wondering what they were all up to now, until the van finally arrived somewhere on the outskirts of the city and came to a stop.
"We're here, Miss." One of the cybergoth henchmen announced, and the van door slid open. Taking a deep breath, Guen crouched low and clambered out, her heartbeat speeding up. They were parked outside what appeared to be an abandoned maze comprised of eight-foot-high stone walls and a top layer of barbed wire. Trust Edward Nygma to set up home base in the middle of what appeared to be a military-style death maze! She was wondering if they had to run all the way through it when arriving, when one of the cybergoths retrieved what appeared to be a television remote and held it up for her to see.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"Boss wants you to see, so you know how to get in next time." Came the reply, and she watched as he punched in the numbers 4-8-3-6 and the power button, aiming at a spot on the side of the maze wall. As the segment of wall began to slide down with a grating, rumbling sound, Wraith registered mild surprise in the back of Guen's mind.
What is it? She asked her other personality as the man led her through the lowering walls on a hidden path.
That set of numbers, Wraith responded, if that were a sequence in a cell phone number or text message, it would spell out 'Guen.'
The thought gave her a small jolt and she nearly stumbled over one of the lower walls. Her cheeks flooded with the heat of a blush and a tiny shiver of delight ran through her wings.
I'm one of his passwords?
"Through here, miss." Another cybergoth indicated what appeared to be… elevator doors set into a thicker wall. One of them flicked a hidden switch and the doors slid open, indeed revealing a grated elevator lift beyond. Guen looked at it for a moment, mildly surprised she had been on the mark with her assumption, and then a thought occurred to her.
"What's its weight capacity?"
The henchmen all paused, looking confused.
"Most of us can all fit in there without a problem." One of them offered helpfully.
"You all just climb in there, squished together like a bunch of sardines?" She asked.
"Well, yeah…" another admitted, and they started to exchange confused looks.
"How nice for you," Guen muttered, "Look, I want some space, and I wouldn't squash myself in there anyway. My bone and muscle structure is denser than any of yours, and my wings take up a lot of space. I want to go down the lift by myself."
They all exchanged wary looks and she sighed, folding her arms resolutely. Were they really going to have to do this dance? She was uncomfortable enough already. Thankfully, they eventually nodded consent, probably torn between duty and respect, if she had a guess. She flashed a small, sympathetic smile as she stepped into the lift, which wobbled slightly with her first step or so. She jabbed the 'down' button a couple of times, and the grated doors slid shut.
"See you down there." she said with a mild wave as the henchmen and maze walls clattered out of sight. The lift descended with a good deal of rattling and clanging, growing dark as a chill air rustled her feathers. Shivering, Guen hugged her arms. The cold, the dark, and the lack of a significant amount of elbow room was pressing in upon her, threatening to dredge up a recent memory she spent most of her time suppressing. She pulled her wings around her like a shield, trying to reach for Wraith's thoughts. Her other personality responded immediately.
Are you sure you don't want me to handle this? Wraith asked, clearly concerned.
No, I'm… I'll be fine, Guen responded with a bit of a sigh, I just wanted to know you're still here. That you have my back.
Pendragon, it'll take more than saying 'please' to get rid of ME.
A grim smile crossed Guen's face at the thought, and a shaft of yellow-gray light appeared at her feet, before the lift was exposed and she blinked in the sudden brilliance. It appeared to be some sort of underground warehouse, and there were dozens of people milling about, performing different tasks, all of them dressed like the henchmen above. Guen sucked in a breath; she had heard the Riddler ran some sort of secret network syndicate of his own, but she hadn't had a clue how vast Eddie's operation really was. She tried for a brief second to count the individuals, but then gave it up as a lost cause. If she really wanted to know, she was certain she could ask Ed how many people were in his employ.
Finally the lift slowed its descent before rattling into place, the gated doors sliding open.
"Dude, Guen!" An excited yell sounded throughout the warehouse. She knew that voice! She glanced around for a moment before he came bounding into view, skidding to a halt a few feet from her, his black-and-white hair flying about wildly. She couldn't stop a grin from working its way onto her face as she took in the young man's monochromatic chessboard color scheme, happy to see a familiar face again.
"Rook! It's been a while." She chuckled.
"A while? A while?! It's been freaking forever!" he responded, getting a little over-the-top dramatic. "Mental air-hug."
He mimed hugging someone, staring at her with large, gray puppy-eyes and a quivering lip that didn't quite hide his sharp canine teeth. Guen offered him a weak smile and nodded, silently grateful Rook had respectfully remembered to keep his distance and not touch her.
"Ed said you would be coming here! I missed you, hot stuff. Mind you, your brother misses you too. He still wants you to meet his girl."
"And I will," Guen said reassuringly, "I've already spoken with Jeanette over the phone. She sounds pretty nice, and if she makes Lance happy, kudos. I'm just not quite ready to see them yet."
Rook eyed her suspiciously as she stepped out of the elevator, rubbing his chin in thought.
"I'm not sure I want to know what he said to put you off, but I'm here if you need a go-between. Anyway, does the G.C.P.D. know you're here?" He asked. "Thought you took up the whole criminal consultant gig?"
"I did, and they do." She answered, hunching her shoulders and shoving her fists into her pockets. "Just please don't advertise it, okay Rook?"
"I won't if you don't sell us out." He snapped, abruptly suspicious.
"That hurts." She said quietly, extending her wings around her like a barrier, blocking most of Rook from her vision. "You're my friend. And Ed…"
"Sorry," Rook sighed, "Didn't mean to get so hostile, Guen. I just… Old habits die hard. And I knew you'd never betray the boss."
She gave an involuntary little jerk at that, remembering the last thing Lance had said to her concerning Riddler, the thing that made Guen unable to face her brother.
"How do you know Nygma is your Lancelot and not your Arthur?"
The words had rattled her to her core, and she had avoided seeing Lance and his fiancée in person for fear Lance would bring it up again. The last thing she wanted from anyone, much less one of her elder brothers, was thoughts that would put doubt into her mind.
"Come on," Rook said, indicating she should follow him, "I'll take you right to him."
"Thank you," she murmured, following hesitantly a few steps behind him, "Why is it I never knew of this place? Mags never told me, you didn't… Eddie never mentioned it. I always thought that one hideout near the Narrows with all the muscle-bound idiots on guard duty was the total hideout and extension of Ed's syndicate."
"Cook never knew because she was always off doing her own thing more than half the time." Rook answered. "I've always known because I was kinda here back when Nygma first built this place."
He continued to speak, but Guen stopped listening to him in short order. As they were making their way through contraptions, tables, and boards displaying maps and blueprints, the winged rogue was noticing something that was rapidly making her uncomfortable. Most of the people here working on what were clearly the Riddler's plans…were women. They moved by most of the women too quickly for her to really observe them in detail, but they were all attractive women nonetheless.
What's going on here? Guen wondered to herself uneasily. Why are all of these people women?
I don't know, Pendragon, Wraith's thought patterns broke into her own, abruptly aggressive, But I don't like it.
Not that Guen could blame her other personality. She was starting to get more and more uncomfortable by the second. Most of the women paid no heed to her or Rook, but there were several others that looked up as the two passed, and many of them would quickly look away with guilty, red-faced expressions the second they saw Guen's face. She started to frown and attempted to keep her gaze glued to Rook's back.
And I'm liking it less and less, Wraith gave a mental growl.
"Oh, I forgot," Rook said, stopping outside the door to a room with what appeared to be a two-way mirror serving in place of a window to the rest of the place, "There's one thing I need to warn you about."
"Oh, just one thing?" Guen scoffed, though her remark went unnoticed by the vampire gunman.
"The kids. They, uh—"
"Kids?" She echoed in a hollow voice, trying very hard to fight the immediate suspicion that popped into her mind. "Kids? What kids?"
Rook's face fell. "He never told you?" he said.
"No," she said in a panicky voice, adrenaline threatening to start pumping through her bloodstream, "Tell me about what?"
"His apprentices." Rook clarified. "The two kids he's training."
Relief instantly washed over her. Thank God! So it wasn't as bad as she had started to imagine.
"I didn't know he had trainees!" She said, tilting her head in what she hoped looked like mild surprise, letting out a trembling laugh of relief. "When did that happen?"
"Well, the little sandy-brunette prick was a newer addition," Rook muttered, "He was running around Jump City for a month or so, wearing Riddly's question-mark-and-green sort of get-up when we picked him up. Figured it was probably better to have him under the wing than running around on his own." He paused, giving Guen and her wings a glance, and added awkwardly, "Er, sorry. No offense."
"None taken," she answered swiftly, her eyes on the door, "What about the other kid? You said there were two."
"Yeah, er.." he ducked his head a little, "Actually, she's been around for a long time, Guen. Probably as long as you, if not longer."
That got her attention. She looked at Rook, her green eyes going wide. Was he being serious?
"You mean… longer than Wraith, right?" she asked warily.
"No, I mean longer than you." Rook answered. "Don't freak too much about it, though. I think you'll like Codi. You two have a lot more in common than you think."
Guen said nothing. Her throat was constricting too tightly to speak anyway, and even if it hadn't been, she wasn't sure what she could say. A strange, complex tangle of feelings was welling up in her at that moment, and only Wraith's increasing temper made any sense among the maelstrom.
"Boss?" Rook said, allowing his voice to precede them as he opened the door. "She's here."
Her feet moved automatically to follow him into the room, and her eyes immediately sought out all three of the people already present. Pouting in a corner as he lounged against a desk was a teenage boy decked in green and wearing a domino mask, a black-and-orange question mark splashed over his uniform. He raised a puzzled eyebrow at her and frowned, but Guen's eyes had already jumped to the other teenager. She looked rather young, but there was something in her green eyes that was aged and haunted. Her face was pale and unmarred, save for a single crescent scar running from her chin to her cheek. Her long, fine hair was black and dyed purple at the tips, and the only green among her black clothing came in the form of a shirt and an embroidered question mark on the shoulder of her jacket sleeve. This then, had to be Codi. She stared at Guen with a politely confused expression that the winged woman returned.
"Guen?" said a soft, apprehensive voice, and her eyes moved to the speaker with warm familiarity. There he was, with his disheveled dark hair still hanging wispily in his face. He pulled off his green domino mask, revealing light blue eyes that danced with overjoyed disbelief at the sight of her there.
"Eddie." She murmured softly. He strode toward her, closing the distance between them, but not before she extended her wings again to prevent him from touching her. He had thrown open his arms as though to pull her into an embrace, but at that, he let them drop limply to his sides as his face fell. The sight hurt her, as much as it had when she had shied away from his touch at Lance's home months ago. Looking away, she murmured a soft apology.
"Don't be." Edward replied swiftly, regaining some of his usual manner. "I am just glad you came here."
She looked up at him, smiling sadly for a brief moment before turning an inquisitive gaze to the kids. He followed her gaze before smiling with pride at the two teens, Codi in particular, Guen noticed.
"Brothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's son." He said slowly, moving to stand between them. Guen frowned as she shifted her wings again.
"Ed, please speak concisely."
"But Guen—"
"No 'buts' Eddie, please…" she cut him off, trying to keep her voice as gentle as she possibly could, "Why didn't you tell me about them?"
With a slightly guilty expression, he replied, "Can a mind process so much pain and information at once without a breaking point?"
"My mind reached that breaking point ages ago." She replied swiftly. "Hit it so hard it split in two. But Ed, even without everything I've been recently getting treatment for, I would have hoped you would have told me about a couple of understudies."
"I meant to, Guen, believe me. I just… I wasn't sure when the right time—"
"Please don't make excuses." She sighed. "I'm not sure I can handle that right now."
His face flushed and he fell silent, looking away. Guen wished she could hug him, but held back; Wraith gave her the strong impression doing so would make this okay in the Riddler's mind, and that meant the reprimand wouldn't stick or sink in. Instead, she glanced between the teens, watching the boy leaning lazily against the desk edge with a too-interested expression and the girl, Codi, where she perched like a crouching gargoyle in her chair as her guarded gaze shifted between her mentor and the winged woman.
"Guen Pendragon," Guen said by way of curt introduction, "Though my guess is you probably already knew that. But I don't know your names."
"Someone's bitter." The boy remarked with a scoff.
A muscle twitched in Guen's upper jaw as she forced a strained smile and asked between gritted teeth, "What did you say your name was, honey?"
"I didn't," the boy replied nastily, but at a look from the Riddler, he quickly amended with a bit of a sulk, "It's Kwiz Kid."
"If I had wanted just your alias," Guen answered in steely tones, crossing her arms, "Then I'd let Wraith introduce herself, too. Unfortunately, she's in a bit of an irritable mood, so I'm afraid that wouldn't be wise. I askedfor your name."
His eyes widened in shock.
"Aaron," he blurted out uncertainly, "My name is Aaron. Calm down."
"See, that wasn't so hard," Guen said encouragingly, mustering up a half-smile, "Once we get your manners polished up, you might be adorable."
The girl in her chair gave a soft, appreciative snicker, drawing Guen's attention to her. She stopped laughing immediately, turning her orb-like eyes up at the older woman as though trying to decide whether or not to trust her.
"My name's Codi," she said quietly, "But I prefer Mystery."
This time, a genuine smile made its way onto Guen's face. In spite of her misgivings about Edward keeping secrets, she found she liked this girl already, nor was she alone in that.
"Wraith," her other personality spoke up abruptly in her low, growling sort of voice, "I like you. At least you're not some smart-ass disrespecting your elders because you've got a spandex-wedgie."
This time it was Rook who snickered off to the side while Codi tossed a smug smile in Aaron's direction. Edward merely looked shocked as his understudy turned scarlet.
"HEY!" the kid half-shrieked, taking a few steps forward, "Listen here, lady—"
She snapped out a wing, the tips of her feathers cuffing him on the cheek, and he stumbled back, rubbing his jaw.
"Wrong." Wraith yawned. "Guen's the lady, I'm the harpy. And watch it with the hair-trigger temper, kid. I respect anyone with a fuse as short as mine, but if you aren't careful, it may cost you a hand one day."
"Wraith!" Edward hissed, stepping close to her and angling himself so as to put Aaron out of her immediate line of sight. "Please! I would appreciate it if you don't threaten or damage the boy before he's been properly trained up."
"I wasn't threatening," she answered genially, "I was just increasing his scope of awareness, that's all."
The Riddler groaned, rubbing his temples with a sigh and shaking his head.
"Come on," he said, waving a hand for her to follow, "We need to have our lunch, you and I. I promised you that."
"Fine, but we're getting Chinese." Wraith declared loftily as she folded her wings, a bit of a spring to her step again. "You and Guen haven't had a Chinese night in months, and I know for a fact she misses it."
They left the room, Riddler tossing a command over his shoulders for the two teens to behave and not burn the place down or kill each other before he got back, and Rook followed, shutting the door behind them. Kwiz Kid released a breath the second they were out of sight, clutching the edge of the desk for support.
"Oh, thank everything sacred!" He groaned. "She's a psycho!"
"I like her." Mystery offered up casually, pulling out a smartphone from her jacket and resuming a game of solitaire. "So far, anyway."
"You would." He snapped, glowering at her.
"Hey, I'm not stupid enough to have spandex as my uniform, Aaron."
Ellen Yin drummed her fingers on the counter as she watched her phone, willing it to ring any second now. She had almost panicked when the audio feed had gone staticky, but something held her back. She wasn't a woman to follow a random hunch, but she had a gut feeling that she needed to wait.
Thankfully that had worked out in her favor. Before too much time had passed, the audio had abruptly cleared and the feed was as strong as the tracker signal. Perhaps Batman had been right about Miss Pendragon; perhaps they should trust her and her choice to try to reform.
"So why an underground lair, Eddie?" Guen's voice said through the transmitter. "At risk of sounding like some stereotypical whiny, clingy girlfriend, it makes you significantly harder to get ahold of. Plus, there's the cliché factor."
A-ha! So that was why the signal had almost been lost.
"Well now, Miss Pendragon," she chuckled, mostly to herself, "I guess maybe you are trying to cooperate with me after all."
"People misjudge others all the time."
The detective's heart almost skipped a beat, and she spun out of the barstool, drawing her gun on the figure standing in the doorway.
A tall, non-descript humanoid was watching her, head and face obscured by a black hat and a long, beaked mask. Billowing black robes gave no hint as to the person's gender, and they raised black-gloved hands in a show of non-confrontation.
"Door was unlocked."
"Remind me to pay better attention next time." Ellen snorted, lowering her gun only a fraction. While she had never seen this individual in person before, she knew the description of the mysterious 'Plague Doctor' well enough she had some idea of what she was facing. "Where's that cane they say you walk with?"
"Hallway," was the brief response. She frowned. The mentions that the Plague Doctor was a man of few words were evidently true. He had mysteriously appeared in Gotham roughly a month ago, on Detective Bullock's watch, and little had been learned about him since. He was however, dangerous, if the reports since were completely accurate. She wasn't about to completely lower her gun.
"I could have shot you." She said coolly.
He nodded once.
"I could have you arrested."
He gave the barest of shrugs.
"And I take it you aren't concerned?"
There was a slow shake of the masked head, and then a black-gloved hand extended a folded piece of paper to her. Furrowing her brow in suspicion, she took slow strides forward, keeping her gun fixed on the Plague Doctor all the while. Her dark eyes never left him as she snatched the paper before swiftly stepping back, and he never moved, bird-mask as expressionless as ever. She lowered the gun a little more as she glanced down at the paper.
"And what is this supposed to be?" she demanded. When no verbal response was offered, she glanced up at the Plague Doctor again to see a shushing gesture being made, followed by the miming of unfolding something. She gave him a squinting glare of irritation, then worked on unfolding the paper one-handed.
The name of her criminal-consultant charge greeted her at the top of the paper in slanting handwriting. Yin's eyes went huge.
"What—" but she never finished her question. Looking up again showed the figure in the mask and robes had vanished. Nerves on edge, the detective rushed to the door, darting into the hallway beyond and looking to either end of the hall with her gun drawn again. But there was no sign of the silent, mysterious Plague Doctor. Grumbling in frustration, Yin holstered the gun with some reluctance and turned her attention to the paper in her hand. As her eyes scanned each line, shock overcame her.
For if what the Plague Doctor had written was true… now she knew where her charge had really gotten to during those forty-eight lost hours. And what was more, now she knew why.
