Page 34 of Hunt the Dusk
My phone rang as I was about to exit the office. Micah’s name flashed on the caller ID. Hopefully he was calling to tell me he’d sorted out our manpower problem. I shut the office door and answered. “Good news I hope?”
“Hello to you too.” He sounded amused. “And I’m afraid not.”
Fucksake. “Why not?”
“There’s a threat alert here. A potential leak from Morningstar and all Order operatives are on standby, just in case.”
Icy dread trickled through my veins. I knew there was an incident, and that wards had been set up, Lorenzo had told me, but to put Order operatives on standby… “What’s happening in Morningstar?”
“Nothing you need to be worrying about. Your job is to act as Ezekiel’s shadow every time he leaves his castle. Make sure he stays safe and stays in control of his…temperament.”
“Micah, what the fuck is happening in Morningstar, do you know?” Lorenzo had said it was classified last time, but maybe?—
“You know they don’t tell us that stuff. All we know is that wards have been put in place cutting the mainland off from their territory. Whatever’s happening over the golden bridge is being dealt with by them.”
Nyx was there. Trapped in Morningstar, but I believed Micah when he said he didn’t know more. He was a grunt like me, a higher up grunt, but still a grunt. “Thank you for letting me know about the manpower and…I have to go.”
“Orina, wait. Are you all right? You’re…safe, right?”
Agatha’s screams echoed in my ears for a moment. “You sent me to Dracul territory, what do you think?” I hung up, my annoyance getting the better of me, then instantly regretted the move. It wasn’t Micah’s fault that I was here. I sent him a quick text apologizing, then dialed Lorenzo, who answered almost immediately.
I spoke before he could. “What’s going on in Morningstar?”
He sighed. “I already told you. It’s classified.”
“Yeah, but now the Order operatives are on standby?”
“A precaution, Orina. It’s protocol in a situation like this.”
“Like what?”
“Look, there is nothing you can do. Nothing any of us can do. It’s up to Nyx and the Morningstar establishment now. We’ll act if the wards are breached, and if that happens, then…”
“Then it’s too late, isn’t it? It means Nyx is hurt or…Dammit!” Shit, shit, shit. “You can’t tell Quinn. She’s pregnant. The stress would?—”
“I know. I’ve spoken to Bryce about it. We’ve toned it down for her.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “When you told me before I didn’t realize how serious it might be.”
“We all have our part to play in the grand scheme of things. Your part is in Dracul territory. Focus on that. Nyx is more than capable, you know that.”
I exhaled and nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me nod. “Yeah, I know.”
Nyx would deal with Morningstar. She’d fix whatever was happening there, and I needed to make sure another problem didn’t spawn here in the form of Loviator, which meant focusing on Ezekiel, something I hadn’t been doing very well since getting here. I was his watcher, which meant it was my job to watch him, and I’d neglected that duty, allowing him to swan off by himself every night.
That was about to change. “Thank you, Lorenzo. For the pep talk and for Holly.”
“You’re welcome. Anytime.”
The true warmth in his voice evoked a pang of nostalgia for a simpler time.
We said our goodbyes, and I went in search of the others.
I found Padma in the lobby looking stressed out.
“What’s wrong?”
“The books I ordered from the Night Library should have arrived by now.”
