“Do you think this is wise?” Michael asked, his hand resting on Axton’s arm as we headed down the hall.
“Nah, probably not.” Lorencz shrugged. “But we can’t leave a bunch of nixed kiddies down there alone, can we? Even if they’re tranked right now, what if they wake up in a panic and call across the Line again? Kyrchye knows what might answer. Look, Aronson, Nobilis, I hate to drag you back into this shit, but you’re on the board, and you’re better at discerning than I am —”
“I’ll go with you, of course. I’ll need to tell the Vigilance’s board of directors what Magister Carel is doing, anyway. I’m sure this experiment wasn’t given board approval.” My cousin forced a smile. “Axton, may I presume upon your patience a little longer?”
“Of course, my liege,” Axton said, eagerly.
“Just for the record,” Lorencz asked, her eyes narrowing, “since when are the two of you so chummy?”
Axton stopped as if he’d been slapped, gaze falling and shoulders hunching.
“Nobilis Aronson gave me permission to study his baleblindness,” the small man said, softly. “It’s my honor to serve as his eyes whenever he requires me.”
I gave Axton a second look. Now that I was looking for them, I could see signs of Michael’s influence. The little anatomist’s suit looked like it had come from a seconds stall instead a rag bag, and his face and hair were clean, for a change. He still wore the same filthy black overcoat, though … not that my coat was any cleaner.
“Don’t you have enough servants?” Lorencz gave Michael a cynical look. “Ax did serve ten years in Hellsgate, you know.”
“Don’t be rude; he isn’t there anymore,” Michael replied, sounding a bit miffed. “And as it happens, I appreciate his assistance. Axton reads the newspapers and business reports to me, and he knows a great deal about adjuration. I refuse to sit at home and do nothing, just because I’m blind.”
“A dislike for boredom runs in the family,” I remarked.
“I sincerely hope that’s the only thing that does,” my cousin shot back.
“Why don’t we ask the expert?” I gave Axton a mocking grin. He’d written a paper about me, once, while he’d been in prison. I’d read it when I got to Cislunar. He’d been right about a few things, wrong about others. But all in all, his speculations had been more accurate than most of the armchair alienists’.
“Well…” Axton hesitated. “I don’t think the question is relevant to our present situation, General.”
I laughed and turned to Lorencz.
“You want to bring the cardinal, too?”
“Why? You suddenly come down with a case of religion?”
“This is Vigilance business,” Michael agreed. “We don’t need Croix.”
“The Vigilance didn’t banish that transient in the cellar two months ago — Croix did.” I looked from one to the other. “Remember?”
“The cardinal’s ability to seal a minor Line breach doesn’t prove Reverence doctrine one way or the other.” Michael sounded huffy.
I shrugged.
“I don’t give a damn about Reverence doctrine, although mostly I agree with it. But if he can seal a breach, he can seal a breach. Never dismiss a useful tool.”
“You agree with it?” Lorencz sounded aghast.
“Why? Want to compare our respective levels of damnation?”
“Fuck you, pal. Okay, we’ll bring the cardinal. Most like he’ll just be a pain in the arse, though.”
Michael muttered something, his expression dark.
“I’ll get him, Captain. Excuse me a minute, my liege.” Axton slipped off, hurrying down the hall. I watched him go, then turned back to my cousin.
“I see you’ve prettied up your pet,” I said. “I like him better than the lizards.”
“Who? Axton?” Michael frowned. “He’s not my pet, Tegeus. He’s my assistant.”
“I don’t like him,” Lorencz growled. “His records were redacted, but you don’t do a dime in Hellsgate without a good reason.”
“Don’t be ridiculous; Axton isn’t dangerous. In fact, I’m starting to suspect he’s brilliant. He’s just….” Michael dropped his voice. “He’s not very socially adept. I expect ten years in Hellsgate will do that.”
“Someone’s in love,” I chuckled.
“Grow up, Tegeus.”
“Just ignore him.” Lorencz flicked ash on the floor. “He gets bored if he can’t rattle your chain.”
Michael started to reply, but my partner dropped a hand on his sleeve.
“They’re coming back,” she cautioned. Michael bit down on his words.
Cardinal Croix held a slim wooden box under one arm that was marked with the sword-and-sun of the Reverence. I recognized it from my years in the field — it would hold the holy texts and oils he’d need for last rites.
“I understand you want my assistance.” He looked around at us, smoothing his beard. “Two sentinels, an excommunicate, and a servant of the Enemy.”
“Sounds like the beginning of a dirty joke,” I said.
“We might need you to close another breach,” Lorencz said, sullenly. Croix nodded, beaming.
“Your description isn’t entirely accurate, Cardinal,” Axton said softly. “General Droit no longer serves Yzyrchye.”
“I’ll believe that when he gives up Yzyrchye’s gift.”
Axton looked at me expectantly. I winked at him. His expression didn’t change, and his gaze didn’t waver. Disappointing.
“Do you want me here, Sentinel Aronson?” Croix asked, turning to Michael. “We’ve disagreed in the past.”
“And I’m sure we will in the future,” Michael replied, making a visible effort to be civil. “Although next time we won’t disagree at Lady Elianora’s birthday party.”
“She has a startling temper, doesn’t she? Very well. Shall we agree to set aside our differences for the moment?”
“For the moment.” Michael thrust out his hand in more or less the right direction and Croix took it, sealing their temporary truce.
“Swell,” Lorencz said impatiently. “Now we’re all buddies, let’s move.”
Axton took the lead, his oil lamp our only source of light. Neither Lorencz nor Michael wanted to call a balelight so soon after a breach, and the hospital had been built without any exterior windows in the hallway. Croix took over the task of guiding Michael. It was a nice bit of irony, I thought. I felt sure it was quietly pissing off my cousin to no end.
The small circle of lamplight gave our passage a nightmarish quality, illuminating bare stone walls and worn, dirty tiled floors.
“You’ve been in the hospital before, haven’t you?” I said at last, when Axton made yet another turn without any sign of hesitation.
“Yes.”
“As a patient?” Lorencz was as blunt as ever.
“No.”
“You worked here?” my partner pressed.
“I was an intern here, Captain, while I attended University.”
Lorencz and I exchanged glances. In the last two months, partially as a result of the work he’d done with us during the hopscotch killings, Axton had carved out a niche for himself as Dockside’s unofficial medical examiner, available any time of day or night to inspect a body and offer a diagnosis. We both knew he ran a discreet side business selling cadaver parts to other anatomists, but we weren’t sure whether he came by those cadavers honestly or not. I didn’t much care, but it bothered my partner.
“Ten years ago? Wasn’t Blackstone still an asylum back then?” Michael asked.
“Only this wing, my liege. The rest of the hospital was completed three years before I began my internship.” Axton glanced up. “We still quarter mentally disturbed patients in this wing, on the top floors.”
I remembered my earlier thought.
“Ban Jaspin’s still up there, isn’t he?”
“Yes, General.”
“Ax,” Lorencz said slowly, “what do you mean ‘we’?”
“I beg your pardon, Captain?”
“You said ‘we’ still quarter mental patients here.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. The doctors confine mentally disturbed patients in this wing.”
“How do you know? You hang out with a lot of doctors?”
“I’ve been given the privilege of spending some time here since my release.”
“Doing what? Working in the morgue? Is that how you get those body parts you’re selling? I thought you’d been barred from practice.”
“Yes.”
Lorencz grabbed the small man’s sleeve, pulling him to a halt.
“I was barred from practice,” Axton hastily clarified. “I work as an alienist now, on a volunteer basis.”
“Really?” Michael sounded surprised. “I didn’t know that. I haven’t been keeping you from your work, have I?”
“Not at all, my liege. Baleblindness falls within my area of interest.”
“No, back up a minute.” Lorencz scowled. “Since when does Blackstone Hospital hire jailbirds?”
“The hospital board was impressed by the treatises I wrote while I was in Hellsgate and agreed to let me work here. Since there are no formal qualifications for alienists, it doesn’t matter that I never completed my degree.”
“Did they read that paper you wrote about me?” I asked.
“I sent it to them, but I told them I was going to revise it.”
“Are you going to let me read the revision before it goes to print?”
“I would very much appreciate your insights, General.”
“Kyrchye, then you’d better let me read it, too,” Lorencz sighed. “I’m the one who’s gotta work with the crazy bastard.”
“Are you writing anything about Captain Lorencz?” I asked.
“No, General. The captain offers no analytical challenge.”
Lorencz narrowed her eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re shallow,” I explained.
“You know, Axton,” Croix said, cutting off my partner’s reply, “I’ve read your petition to have your excommunication lifted. You do realize that the central tenets of alienism disagree with those of the Reverence with regard to the question of sin and personal responsibility, don’t you? Perhaps we should discuss the matter before your hearing.”
“I would be grateful for the opportunity, Your Eminence.” Axton started to walk again, but Lorencz tightened her grip on his sleeve.
“Hang on, Ax. Exactly how long have you been working at Blackstone?”
“Approximately three weeks, Captain.”
“And in those three weeks, you never saw Carel on the grounds?”
“No.”
“Is that ‘no,’ you never saw her, or ‘no,’ you did see her?” I asked. Axton shot me a quick glance.
“I did see the arch-sentinel in the hospital, General,” he said, after a moment.
“Did you know she was in charge of security?” Lorencz continued.
“Yes.”
“And did you see Milka here, too?”
“…Yes.”
“Ax,” Lorencz said, through clenched teeth, “did you know those kids were being kept in the fucking basement?”
Axton turned, the lamp lighting his face like a special effect in a cheap stage show.
“Yes,” he replied, simply.