Page 82 of Hexbound
"There's something moving," she hissed, dragging Lady E behind a pile of crates.
The pair of them peered over the top. Lady E's compass was still tugging at her.
"We need to get closer," Lady E muttered, shaking out her hand as if a nerve was pinching.
"Are you certain you're all right?" Lady E's skin had paled.
"Right as rain." Lady E spat a couple of power words and a shiver went through Verity's bones as some sort of cloud settled over the pair of them. "It's a Veil," Lady E explained. "It will disguise us to most eyes, though if someone is looking directly at us they might pierce it. Make sure you don't move too fast. A stroll is about the most it can cloak."
Walking out into clear view was quite nerve-racking. The pair of them strode unhurriedly, and Verity began to notice other signs that they weren't alone. There was a man in a hooded cloak standing guard at the entrance to the dock that led to the warehouse they were interested in viewing, but it wasn't until they were right upon him that she noticed him, and that was odd.
Or perhaps not.
Closer inspection showed he didn't move, not even a single fidget. Most people couldn't hold a still position like that for so long. Lady E's compass jerked toward him as they slipped past, and she met the older woman's eyes as she huddled in close to her.
Lady E nodded. A flesh construct, standing guard. They were definitely in the right place.
Verity swallowed. This was outside her realm of experience. And though she could simply punch out of there, Lady E couldn't.
This way, the older woman mouthed.
All of the hairs along Verity’s arms began to stand on end. Inside the warehouse there seemed to be some sort of green glow. Another construct stood on duty at the other end, and she and Lady E tiptoed past. The compass was pulling quite steadily on Lady E now, jerking toward the green glow inside the warehouse.
Lady E ground her teeth together and then the compass simply jerked out of her grasp, sailing through the air and straight through one of the windows up high.
Glass shattered. A pair of doves suddenly broke from nowhere, their wings thundering in the still silence of the fog.
Verity drove Lady E sideways, behind an old crate. "Jaysus," she swore, pressing her back against the crate.
The doors to the warehouse ground open. A man stepped out, his lanky form limping slightly. At least he was alive. Or more alive than the pair of constructs who followed woodenly on his heels.
"...eleven, twelve... fourteen...," Lady E muttered, craning her head to peer inside the warehouse. Her face paled. "He's insane. Nobody can control that many constructs at once."
Verity stared at the hypnotic green glow and the shadowy figures surrounding it. "Could he do it using the Chalice?"
Lady E's lips thinned.Yes. Potentially.
Through the fog and the green glow, Verity began to make out a golden object sitting on top of a single crate in the middle of the warehouse. Definitely a trap for the unwary. But also definitely the Chalice they were after. If it were her, she'd have planted a fake, but that meant there would be no need for flesh constructs to guard the place.
The man leading them turned in circles, peering into the gloom. But whatever spell work Lady E was casting, he didn't seem to be able to peer through it.
"What do we do?" Verity whispered. "I can see the Chalice."
This might be their one chance to get it back.
"It's definitely a trap though," she added.
Lady E peered along the docks. "What we need is a distraction. If we can get that necromancer moving, then we might be able to get past the constructs. They're simply dead bodies, fuelled by power and capable of performing only simple tasks. Like killing or maiming anything that comes near it. They might even follow us if they see us, but we can outwit them easily." Her gimlet gaze narrowed on the necromancer. "It's him I'm curious about. I'd love to see his face."
Lady E gathered in power, and Verity felt it like little ants marching across her skin. It was done so slowly and so smoothly she was impressed. "Forshuva di asko," the older lady whispered, letting it go in such fine tendrils that Verity could almost see the spell forming.
A sudden wind whispered over the dock, and sweat gleamed on Lady E's brow. No small feat, manipulating weather.
But the man's hood slithered back from his brow and he cursed under his breath as the wind died down.
Lady E froze and knelt back down behind the crate. She clearly knew him.
Who?Verity mouthed.
