Chapter 65: His 48-Hour Clock

The library was empty when Raziel pushed the door.

The torches cast long shadows against the shelves and Lucian looked up from an anatomy book he wasn’t even reading.

“You’re late.”

“We have a problem.” Raziel walked to the back table and dropped a leather bag on the wood.

The contents clinked.

“Aerion was captured.”

Lucian slammed the book shut.

“What?”

Lara was sitting by the window with an open tome on her lap but her eyes locked on Raziel.

“When?”

“Three days ago.” Raziel took a folded map out of the bag and spread it on the table. “They have him in the Red Light District.”

Lucian stood up so fast the chair screeched against the floor.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I know.” Raziel traced a line with his finger over the map, marking streets and alleys. “Seraphina and her people grabbed him when he went looking for his brother.”

Lara closed her book.

“And you went looking for him alone?”

“I didn’t go looking for him.” Raziel looked at her. “They told me.”

“Who?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Raziel tapped the map with his finger. “What matters is that we have forty-eight hours before they use him for something very bad.”

Lucian went around the table and planted himself in front of Raziel.

“I’m going with you.”

“No.”

“I’m not asking.” Lucian’s voice came out flat. “If you go to that shitty district you’re going to need backup.”

Raziel stared at him.

’Lucian has a giant death flag if he comes.’

But the System didn’t show any new alert.

Raziel exhaled.

“Fine, You come.” He pointed at Lara. “She stays.”

Lara stood up.

“What?”

“I need you here.” Raziel crossed his arms. “Marius is wounded but not dead, and if something goes wrong in St. Celeste I need someone who can feel when the situation explodes.”

“That is—”

“You are the only one who can do it.” Raziel didn’t look away. “Your empathy detects threats before anyone else sees them, or am I wrong?”

Lara pressed her lips together.

She didn’t answer.

“Exactly.” Raziel went back to the map. “If Marius moves or if the Inquisition starts asking weird questions, you know it first and warn us.”

Lara looked down.

“And if you don’t come back?”

“We come back.”

“How do you know?”

Raziel didn’t answer.

Lucian opened the leather bag and took out a glass vial full of green liquid.

“What is this?”

“Level Two paralyzing poison.” Raziel pointed at three other vials. “Antidote, adrenaline stimulant, and something that pulls you out of shock if they hit you with mental magic.”

Lucian whistled softly.

“Where did you get this?”

“From the infirmary.”

“Did you steal them?”

“No, I borrowed them without permission.” Raziel put the vials in different pockets of his tunic. “You are going to do the same.”

Lucian frowned.

“Me?”

“You need bandages, basic healing tonics, and if you find something that stops severe bleeding, take it.” Raziel folded the map. “I’ll handle the rest.”

Lara walked to the table.

She put her hand on the folded map.

“Do you know the District?”

Raziel nodded.

“I’ve been there before.”

’In another life.’

“How many exits does it have?”

“Four main ones, seven secondary ones if you count the roofs.” Raziel marked the routes in his head. “We enter through the east alley, avoid The Smoke Serpent, and leave through the port if everything goes well.”

“And if it doesn’t go well?”

“Then I improvise.”

Lara closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath.

When she opened them, her expression was different.

“There is someone nearby, two floors down.” Her voice came out tense. “It is… waiting for something.”

Raziel tensed up.

“Hostile?”

“I don’t know, it feels hollow.” Lara rubbed her arms. “Whoever it is, feels nothing.”

Lucian looked toward the door.

“An Inquisitor?”

“Maybe.” Raziel put away the bag. “We leave in five minutes.”

Lucian left the library without saying anything else.

Raziel rolled up the map and put it in his tunic.

Lara grabbed Raziel’s sleeve before he could move.

“Come back.”

Raziel looked at her.

“Since when do you care about me?”

Lara didn’t blink.

“Since I felt what you carry inside.” Her voice lowered. “No one should carry that alone.”

Raziel stood still and for a second, he didn’t know what to say.

Raziel pushed the sleeve away carefully.

“I’m not alone.”

Lara let out a humorless laugh.

“Liar.”

Raziel didn’t answer, he left the library without looking back.

Lucian appeared five minutes later.

He was carrying a canvas backpack that looked suspiciously full.

“Ready,” he said, breathing a bit heavily. “I got everything and an extra.”

Raziel nodded, already moving.

“Follow me.”

They didn’t leave through the main door.

Raziel guided them to a forgotten section of the library, stopped in front of a shelf loaded with stories of saints that no one cared about.

“What are we doing here?” Lucian whispered. “Praying for a miracle?”

Raziel ignored the question.

He counted three books from the left and pushed the spine of one.

It didn’t move.

Then he pushed the one next to it, but neither.

’Shit, which one was it?’

He tried with the fifth book.

CLANK!

A metallic sound resonated behind the shelf.

The whole structure slid to the side with a screech of stone against stone, revealing a dark hole that stank.

“After you,” Lucian said, wrinkling his nose.

Raziel entered without hesitation.

The passage descended in a spiral of slippery steps.

Lucian followed him, lighting a small light stone that he had ’borrowed’.

The pale light illuminated walls covered in mold and cobwebs.

“This place stinks of death,” Lucian complained.

“Because it is,” Raziel replied, without stopping.

They walked in silence for what seemed like hours.

Finally, a faint moonlight filtered through a grate at the end of the tunnel.

The exit.

But there was a silhouette blocking the way.

Raziel instinctively went for the dagger hidden under his tunic.

Next to him, Lucian squeezed the handle of a short sword.

The figure moved, stumbling towards them.

When the moonlight touched it, Lucian choked back a scream.

It was Odessa.

Her paladin armor, always impeccable, was dented and stained with dark, dried blood.

She held her left arm against her chest at a strange angle and her face was pale.

“Odessa…” Lucian started.

She raised a hand to silence him, gasping for air. The blood covering her wasn’t hers.

“Don’t go to the District,” she gasped, with a broken voice. “It’s a trap.”

Raziel took a step forward.

“What happened?”

Odessa looked at him, and her eyes, usually full of steel, now reflected terror.

“Seraphina…” She took a shaky breath. “She is not alone, She has an army!”

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