Shadow Oracle by Laura Greenwood

Ten

Fieldingstrides out of her office looking like she means business. Surprise flits across her face when she notices Mathias standing next to me.

"I'm going to go get us lunch while you talk," he says.

Ah, he must have seen Fielding's reaction too.

"Thank you."

"Good luck." He leans in and presses a gentle kiss against my temple.

Despite the somewhat tense situation, a wave of peace spreads through me. It's good to know I have his support, no matter what's happening.

Mathias disappears out of the station.

"Sorry, we came directly from a reaping," I say.

"I can see that," Fielding replies dryly, gesturing to the scythe strapped to my back.

Right. I don't normally have it on me when I come for meetings.

"I was just surprised to see him, that's all. Why don't you come through to my office."

I follow her, wondering what's going on. She seems a little tenser than normal, but I don't know her well enough to be completely sure about that. Despite spending a lot of time in her office, I still know very little about the fae agent in charge of the Shadow Association case.

"Have a seat," she says, already on the way to hers.

Something is definitely different about today. Have I done something wrong?

I swing my scythe off my back and prop it up in the corner of the room before sitting down.

"What's happened? Has something gone wrong with extracting the children?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "We're actually hoping to do it on Saturday."

I frown. "That's the day they asked to see me."

She nods.

"Do you know why they want me there?"

"No. But we figured that if they want you, there's got to be a good reason, and they'll be distracted by that."

"Oh." I suppose it makes sense. They still expect me to show up. "I could go and distract them."

"No, you can't."

"I don't think they'll hurt me."

She fixes me with an expression that screams how wrong I am. "They want to stop you from talking," she reminds me. "And they'll stop at nothing to do it."

I chew on my bottom lip.

"This arrived for you." She hands me an envelope. Unsurprisingly, it's already been opened.

Gingerly, I take it from her. I don't even have to flip it over to know who it's from. I slide out the single sheet inside, noticing that it's thicker than normal.

Why is the Shadow Association sending me a blank card?

Cursing my idiocy, I turn it over, only to drop it and gasp.

It's clear the photo has been taken from a distance, but I recognise it instantly as the restaurant we went to when Mathias introduced me to his parents. We're all standing outside.

They haven't written a note this time, but the words Saturday and noon are scrawled across the bottom.

A teardrop splashes onto the image, the first indicator that I'm crying.

I wipe my eyes and take a shaky breath. "What does it mean?"

"They're threatening the people you love," she says matter-of-factly.

I glance at the doorway, in the direction Mathias has gone.

On his own.

A hollow feeling settles within me.

"He's fine," she assures me. "They're not going to do anything until they have you in their control. And there's an agent tailing him now to make sure he's safe."

"What about the others?"

"Your other friends are still at the academy, and the Careys are safe at their home. We have agents stationed in all the locations they're likely to be."

I nod. "Okay. What can I do to keep them safe?"

"I'm sorry, Syxe, there isn't anything."

"There has to be. They're not safe at the academy. Especially not if another letter got in." I gesture to where it sits on the desk, taunting me with the seriousness of what it contains. A threat to me, I can deal with. Maybe. A threat to my friends and to the person I love is another matter entirely.

I push aside the realisation of how strongly I feel about Mathias. I've been doing everything I can not to think the word, worrying that it's too soon in our relationship. But it seems that a threat changes all that.

"The letter didn't come to the academy," Fielding says. "They sent it here."

"What? Why?" I find it hard to believe that after so much stuff has gotten in, the agents stationed at the academy have suddenly managed to stop the Shadow Association from getting this one in.

"Obviously we have no way of being certain, but I suspect they sent it here to send us all a message. They know you're working with us, and they want you to stop."

"Oh." I suppose it makes sense. I've been coming and going from the station regularly, and it doesn't take too much putting together to realise that means I've been talking about the Shadow Association, especially when that's the one thing an eighteen-year-old reaper can possibly have to say to a nationwide crime-fighting organisation.

"My superiors want to offer you two options," she says.

"Right." I'm barely managing to focus on what she's saying while I think through the dozens of dangers that could face Mathias while he's out getting lunch for the two of us.

"The first is witness protection. You're an important part of our case against the Shadow Association, we need to keep you safe."

"And what about the Careys? And Juliet? Would they be offered witness protection too?"

"Yes," she admits, surprising me. "But it would be up to them whether or not they take it."

"Okay." That's not as bad as I thought, though it does involve a lot of sitting around and hoping the Shadow Association doesn't learn where I'm being hidden. "What's the other option?"

"That you go to the Shadow Association on Saturday."

Sound whooshes past my ears and my entire world starts to spin as I consider what she's saying. Could I do that?

"You'd be wearing a magical wire, and you'd have a safe word in case we need to interfere, but I want to underline that this is a very dangerous option. There's a chance the Shadow Association will kill you the moment you step through the doors."

"But there's a chance they won't."

"Yes."

"I want to do it."

She shakes her head. "This isn't something you can just agree to here and now. You need to think about it. You can call me tomorrow with your decision, but I won't accept it now."

"Oh."

"And Syxe, I'm going to advise you to take the witness protection. Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger like this."

"Won't that put the case in danger?" I ask.

"No. It might make things take a little bit longer, but it shouldn't put anything in danger of collapsing."

"But it's still not good?"

"Don't put yourself in danger for this," she warns, then sighs loudly. "I know I'm not going to change your mind. But please consider it carefully. If you do this, you'll put yourself in harm's way, and it might not help anyone."

"But staying silent won't help anyone either," I counter.

"Just think about it," she says. "Talk to someone else, see what they say. But don't rush into this on impulse, it's not safe."

I bite my bottom lip but nod anyway. "Okay. I'll call you tomorrow." I get to my feet.

"Why do I worry that I already know your answer," she says.

My hand hovers over my scythe. "Because you know what you'd do in the same situation," I respond. "And you couldn't sit back and watch either."

I don't wait for her to respond, and walk out of the office.

Mathias is already waiting on the sofas with a small paper bag sitting next to him.

Relief rushes through me at the sight of him safe and out of harm's way. I hurry over, throwing my arms around him as soon as he stands up.

"Syxe, what's wrong?" he asks.

"When we get back to the academy," I murmur.

To my surprise, he nods. Maybe he senses that this is too important to be talked about here.

"All right, I got lunch. We can head back now."

I smile weakly and pull away from him. "Please?"

He nods and slips his hand into mine.

How am I going to tell him that just knowing me has put him and his family in danger? Or that solving the problem is going to mean putting me in harm's way? Mathias is understanding, but I doubt either of those are going to go down well with him.

But keeping this from him isn't an option. I don't want to be that person.