31.15 Undaunted

“Anagnorisis, chiaroscuro, cicatrize, defenestrate, eldritch, excelsior, pulchritudinous, skank.”

Eric couldn’t decide whether to gape at me or at the paper that had been shoved under our door. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It’s a message.” It was a catalyst. Well, at least it was better than dealing with ennui.

“Ah. Well, if it’s not someone just being facetious, I’m going to have to google some of those definitions, then.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “The words themselves don’t matter; the legend is the initials. It’s a bit clumsy, but not bad for quick work.”

“I see. So what does it say?”

I hesitated, holding the decision in judgment, but I had to tell him. “It says ‘Escaped. C.’”

If I had looked up the definition of ‘flabbergasted,’ there would have been an image of Eric’s expression right then beside it.

“’C.’ As in Carl? As in your ex? As in the codpiece who’s been in prison for elemental black magic?”

All I could do was nod.

There was a bench in the park that night with a carrot and a stalk of celery on it. It was no wonder Carl had been caught in the first place; he was about as subtle as unfurling a flag to mark territory for all that he liked to play at subterfuge. I sat down under the twinkle of the stars and the glow of the moon and waited.

Footsteps on the moist grass told me I wasn’t alone anymore.

I didn’t look around before speaking. “You summoned me? What do you want, Carl?”

He didn’t stop until he crossed into my field of view.

“I don’t know. Forgiveness, maybe? I know we didn’t deserve the ending we got.”

“You were torturing things, you barbarian. I seem to recall enough spirits shoved into a single circle that they fused into one amorphous body with at least ten different heads.”

“That was a miscalculation. I think I’ve figured out an auto-terminus to prevent overcrowding—”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood and punched him in the nose in one motion. He staggered back a step, and I hit him with a Binding before he had time to react any further.

“Dispatch, this is Dauntless.”

“Go for Dispatch.”

“Rog, I’ve got the subject ready for pickup in the middle of Hendrickson Park.”

“Copy that, Dauntless. The nearest squad car is about eight minutes away.”

I really wanted to go home and bathe in ethanol rather than wait for the squad car, but at least I could use the time to come up with an explanation for Eric.