Evantra stared at the damning words, her heart beating out of her chest. The [ritual of consumption] she had triggered had failed to consume Caliburn’s catalyst. Her foolproof method of making Caliburn’s integral artefact detector vanish into thin air had failed her.

  I can’t consume it yet.

  We’re going to the contingency.

  Evantra lifted the compass from its compartment and undid the flap of the large, empty black purse she had brought along, stowing the catalyst inside. Thankfully, Noelle had obtained the largest purse that would still be innocuous at the corporate party. She had chosen well.

  After she did so, she held her breath and walked past Guinevere and turned the corner walking back towards the toilets. She let out a sigh of relief as she watched another attendee emerge from the lift, heading at a light jog towards the restroom. Evantra pretended to fiddle with her phone. The moment she passed, Evantra trailed them closely in their wake, the woman ahead of her barely glancing back at her when she entered.

  Another plausible explanation, so far so good.

  All in all… that took about 15 minutes.

  A plausible, and perfectly embarrassing duration to take a dump.

  Perfect.

  Slipping into another cubicle softly, she released the [ritual of concealment], before leaving the toilet. As she rounded the corner, she made eye contact with Guinevere and gave her a smile when the Ghostslayer turned to her.

  “Get it all out?”

  “The line down there is long. Lactose intolerance. Though I prefer the term lactose tolerant, since I have the dairy anyway.”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes, before greeting her with a small smile.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out to Elaine for taking a dump in their toilets. There were plenty with the same bright idea as you. Get some rest. See you back for training tomorrow afternoon.”

  There’s my alibi established.

  Evantra walked back towards the lift, taking it down to the floor of the departure terminal. When she reached the hallway to the exit, she froze.

  The metal detector.

  Here goes nothing.

  A single scanning machine was positioned at the doorway, along with a very bored looking security guard who was seated beside it. From the way that he ignored her presence, and was preoccupied with his phone, Evantra assumed that he would only pay attention if it actually went off.

  Steadying her breathing, Evantra briskly walked through the scanner. She activated the ritual the moment she was within proximity of the detector.

  [Ritual of concealment]

  Veilsouls remaining: 45

  Every millisecond was agonizing as she passed through. The entire process took approximately two seconds. The moment she was across, she dropped her [ritual of concealment].

  The detector went off.

  Evantra felt a chill wash over her skin, but she instantly conjured a look of mild chagrin as she turned towards the security guard.

  I mistimed it. If I kept the ritual up for any longer, they wouldn’t write it off as some visual glitch.

  Worth a shot.

  Time for the next contingency.

  “Ma’am?”

  Evantra withdrew a perfume bottle which she had extracted from her room earlier.

  “I’m so sorry, I forgot all about this. Took it from my quarters earlier… would you like me to throw it out?”

  The guard raised a lazy eyebrow before letting out a grunt and giving her a shake of his head.

  “No need. G’dnight.”

  Evantra stepped into the shuttle.

  Watching the doors close in front of her, Evantra bit down a smile.

  Good thing we planned for that…

  I certainly wasn’t going to shove it up where Noelle suggested.

  We did it.

  ***

  Noelle was waiting for her outside the junkyard, and she stared expectantly as Evantra entered the Himetachi. She stared at her, green eyes wide.

  “Well?”

  Evantra grinned, lifting up her purse.

  “Let’s hurry. Caliburn is going to be going into lockdown any moment now.”

  ***

  “It won’t be long before they realise that it’s gone missing, you need to leave and get a hotel in Bastion tonight,” Evantra said to Noelle, the girl’s eyes wide. “I’ve searched it for trackers, but I want you to do another sweep.”

  “You’re staying behind? But I thought—”

  “I’m trusting you with this, Noelle. Take care of them, and keep this safe. Hide it somewhere when you get the chance.”

  Noelle stared at the golden compass in her hands like she was holding a live grenade. In some respects, that was exactly what it was.

  “Once they realise it’s gone, they might search the church and carry out an investigation. If they realise that I’m gone, they’ll come after all of us. I have a solid alibi, Guinevere herself, and I’m certain they won’t be able to pin it on me that easily. We can’t panic now. I’m going to speak to Trevor in person tomorrow, so he can adjust whatever plans he has, alright? I’ll be fine. We’ve done it. We were right. I heard Elaine speaking to her uncle. Arthur Hallewell.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Noelle went rigid, her eyes wide.

  “She said that they’re still a few days away from reaching it, and that a Veilcreature must be carrying the artefact. If that’s the case, they’ll be blind in the meantime. We might not prevent them from reaching the artefact altogether… but at the very least, it might buy Trevor some time to accomplish whatever his plans are. I’m speaking to him first thing tomorrow if I don’t catch any heat.”

  “Alright… be safe. How… are you going to tell them that you’re resigning?”

  “I can’t for a while… Maybe I’ll tell Clark that I’ve had a change of heart when he takes me to Birmingham to outfit me with a cybernetic specialty. Although…”

  “Evantra…”

  “Kidding.”

  They stared in silence at one another for a moment. Noelle seemed to hesitate, before rushing forwards and pulling Evantra into a tight hug. Then, she nodded briskly before heading down the stairs to meet with Carmen and Lucas in the car. Noelle had suggested that they leave for the hotel in the late evening to make the viewing that she had scheduled very early in the morning the next day, and Carmen had agreed.

  Now she just has to keep them there for a couple of days until things blow over. Maybe once I’ve gained a few levels, I can consume the artefact, and there truly won’t be any trace of it left.

  I can’t depend on that, though. There’s no telling just how high of a level I have to be to consume it.

  Evantra settled into bed, her heart still pounding in her chest from the successful heist that she had pulled off. A wave of relief washed over her, reassured by the fact that Caliburn wouldn’t be drilling in the dark without the aid of their relic.

  ***

  Evantra stared wordlessly at the ceiling of her room as the night drew on. She had shut her room door, activating the infrared cameras in the event of Guinevere’s approach. It was about an hour or two since their departure, Noelle, having regaled Carmen, Lucas and Taco into the car with them was right on track to be arriving in Bastion.

  The first thing that she did was to call Noelle, at the time they agreed. The phone rang on, and with every passing second, Evantra could feel her heartbeat quicken. When the call was diverted to voicemail, she instantly tried Carmen’s phone before sending her a text.

  Neither of them responded.

  Evantra sat up in a rush, her heart pounding out of her chest. After trying two more times, Evantra finally relented. She opened the tracker app that Noelle had set up, and she felt dread well in her gut when she saw that Noelle, Carmen and Lucas’ trackers were offline.

  Evantra immediately dialled Trevor as she shot out of her bed. She grabbed her Nagantra, holstering it at her side, as she dashed down the stairs to the ground floor of the church.

  The phone continued to ring. It clicked, going straight to voicemail.

  Reopening the tracker app, she felt a surge of relief when she found his tracker locating him in the middle of Wisptown, right in front of City Hall. Noelle, in her paranoia, had placed a tracker in the recesses of his holster during one of their training sessions, just in case of an emergency.

  She ran to her car, put it in gear, and accelerated as she made her way to him.

  ***

  Evantra parked her car on the curb, and she cast a quick glance around her as she exited. Breaking out into a jog, she came to a halt behind Trevor. He was standing alone in front of the fountain, facing towards City Hall, but there were groups of people in his proximity gathered around the area – having returned from their night out on the town. She let out a breath, feeling the tension drain at the sight of him.

  “Trevor. Trevor. Caliburn are close to reaching an artefact beneath Wisptown. Once they reach it, they’re going to conduct their ritual. We managed to remove their means of finding it, which should buy us some time. Noelle left with Carmen and Lucas for Bastion just an hour ago and—”

  Evantra paused, her eyes narrowing.

  “Trevor?”

  The man hadn’t moved.

  Trevor remained standing with his back turned to her, facing the fountain in front of city hall. Evantra gritted her teeth, striding up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “Trevor. We need your help.”

  She pulled Trevor by the shoulder and turned him towards her.

  Evantra watched as Trevor’s mouth yawned open, unhinging as it turned to face the sky.

  “YOU KILLED THEM. THE KIND ONES.”

  A visceral chill ran through Evantra’s spine, and her hands began to tremble.

  Under flickering streetlights, Evantra stared as blood leaked from the corners of Trevor’s eyes like tears. The trails traced themselves down his cheek, over his moustache, to drip from his lips. Trevor’s eyes were bloodshot through, the whites of his eyes turned to garnet, as blood poured free. The trembling of his shoulders betrayed barely concealed sobs. His irises locked onto hers as they trembled.

  Trevor’s hand shot forth in a blur that Evantra’s eyes could barely register. His hands clawed towards her, in search of her throat. Evantra lunged backwards, kicking the man away from her in his chest from where he was crouched.

  “No,” Evantra whispered.

  They haven’t reached the artefact yet. They couldn’t have executed the ritual.

  What’s happenin—

  Trevor stumbled back, slowly raising his head to meet Evantra’s eyes, his lips curling downwards into an expression of despair.

  Trevor exploded towards her.

  The force of his jump shattered the solid concrete of the pavement underneath his feet, creating a resounding crack that extinguished the silence around them. As the sound returned to her ears, Evantra could hear shouting and screaming in her periphery, but all she glimpsed was Trevor barrelling into her.

  [Razor claws]

  Before he could lash out in a kick, Evantra drove her fingers into the man’s side, gritting her teeth as she felt her claws enter his torso.

  “SNAP OUT OF IT TREVOR!”

  Evantra screamed as she hooked her foot around Trevor’s ankle, curling it towards her and sending the man tumbling off balance. She dropped to the ground, placing a knee on his chest to keep him from rising.

  For a split second, Evantra saw his expression flicker. The alien smile painted on Trevor’s lips fell, and Evantra watched as he coughed, expelling blood from his lips.

  “A-another ritual. Bombs b-below.”

  “T-trevor? What’s going—”

  Evantra’s eyes widened. Seeing him cough out more blood, she hurriedly reached for the stim at her side, before she realised that Wisptown around her was twisting. Evantra flew through the air, crashing into the park lawn on the side of the street, the grass and earth breaking her fall. She rose, shaking her head to free herself from the disorientation.

  [Darkvision]

  She watched in horror as Trevor rose to his feet, her claws still embedded into his side, ripped from her fingers. Evantra watched helplessly as Trevor crouched, his gaze locking onto a bystander in their periphery. Trevor’s body coiled like a spring ready to explode with force enough to send the ground beneath him shattering once again.

  No.

  Trevor closed the distance between him and his target, her bullets thudding ineffectively into the cracked concrete.

  “TREVOR NO!”

  At her voice, the man seemed to lurch for a split second, the hands meant for the bystander’s throat instead clutching his head. Evantra sprinted towards him and watched as he turned to face her. She stumbled when his eyes met hers, his lips trembling, drawn into a familiar, dry smile.

  He mouthed the words that Evantra didn’t hear. That she didn’t need to, to grasp their meaning.

  “No. No. I won’t. You can fight this.”

  The man groaned, clutching at his head. Evantra’s arm encircled his shoulder, giving him a squeeze. Her fingers dug into his arms in a desperate attempt to draw out the man that she knew.

  “You… you were just starting a new life with Carmen, remember? You were going to come with us to Bastion. FIGHT IT.”

  Evantra shouted in his face, watching it contort, as blood dripped from his eyes. Trevor shoved her chest, sending her sprawling backwards, her legs struggling to keep up with the force he had abruptly imposed.

  “YOU KILLED THEM.”

  The voice screamed outwards, ripping through the air. Evantra fingers hovered over her Nagantra before she pulled them away, ducking beneath the man’s hands as he swiped for her. Evantra sent a sharp kick into his right kidney, just as Guinevere had taught her.

  Any ordinary organic would have doubled over from the blow, sent reeling. She watched as Trevor’s trembling eyes hovered on the area that it impacted, utterly unaffected by the blow.

  He blinked, and his frown dropped.

  Trevor smiled back at her.

  Then, she watched as he withdrew the gun at his side from his holster with shaking hands, and placed it on the side of his temple.

  “NO!”

  Evantra screamed as the gunshot rang out, watching Trevor’s body slump to the floor.

  “No. No, no, no, no.”

  Evantra’s voice was like a whisper, as she stared at the husk of the man that remained. The blood staining his kind, grizzled face. Knowing eyes that teased as much as they comforted. She could hear the sound of sirens approaching in the distance, muted by the ringing in her ears.

  Evantra fell to her knees, crouching next to Trevor’s unmoving, limp body.

  Then, she flinched.

  She watched as an arm moved, placing itself on the ground underneath it. Another arm, moving in unison. She watched as Trevor’s body contorted from its sprawled position—

  Upright.

  When he met her gaze again, there were no traces of the man that she had come to befriend.

  To care for.

  Trevor Foster was gone.

  A ghost rose in his place.