The streets were already dark by the time we reached Lasin's apartment. She unlocked the door and let us in.
"So," Azi said the moment the door shut behind us. "Quite a lot happened today."
Without a word, Breias pulled a chair up to the table and lit the candlestick with magic. Warm light filled the room.
Lasin rubbed her temples. "This is all getting stranger and stranger."
Jurian and I only nodded.
Azi frowned. "The cult, the murders... and now the Imperial army," she said slowly. "Does anyone else feel like none of this is a coincidence?"
"Maybe," Lasin replied. "I'm going to stop by Markus for a moment and ask."
Breias raised an eyebrow. "That officer?"
Lasin nodded. "If something is really happening in this city, the military will know before anyone else."
"And Bruno?" Azi asked.
Silence fell for a moment.
Lasin sighed. "Bruno knows a lot of things. Maybe too many."
"You say that very carefully," Breias noted. "I'd just say outright that I don't trust him."
Azi frowned at him. "He's still one of the leaders of this organization."
"And that is exactly why it's a problem," Breias snapped.
Jurian leaned back in his chair. "The murders..." he said thoughtfully. "The ritual. The magic absorption. This is not the work of an ordinary cult."
"You think someone on the inside is involved?" Azi asked.
Jurian shrugged. "I'm just saying that someone must know more than they're admitting."
Lasin was quiet for a moment.
"That's why I'm going to see Markus," she said at last.
She seemed different in the city than she had on our way to Theocran. Harder. More focused. For some reason, I did not like seeing her that way.
Lasin paused and looked at me. Her azure eyes pulled me out of my thoughts for a moment.
"You'll find something to eat in the kitchen," she added before leaving.
We had barely eaten anything all day. At most, we had bought an apple or something along the way. Lasin stood and walked gracefully out of the apartment.
"Do you think it would be a problem if we had some too?" Azi asked into the silence.
"Then we'll blame it on them." Breias smirked in our direction.
"If there's anything left for you," Jurian said sharply.
Somehow, in that very moment, Azi slipped past us and already had part of a loaf of bread in one hand. We all turned toward her. The hunger and outrage in Jurian's and Breias's eyes looked fierce enough that not even the Nimeri themselves could have stopped them.
Jurian practically launched himself off the couch and appeared by the second loaf at once. Breias was right behind him. At this rate, there would be nothing left for Lasin. Breias managed to snatch the loaf from Jurian for a moment, but Jurian immediately forced it down to the floor and had it back. He bit into the bread, spraying crumbs into Breias's face. Breias tried to wrench himself free, but Jurian was too strong.
Then Breias vanished.
He reappeared behind Jurian, snatched the loaf from him, and was suddenly on the sofa in the living room, smiling in triumph.
Azi burst out laughing. "I was waiting for you to do that."
Jurian pushed himself off the ground. "It's not over yet."
If the two of them had wanted to, they could have burned the entire apartment to ashes. Jurian charged after him at full speed. Breias kept blinking from place to place, and Jurian slowly started catching up. Both of them were burning through strength fast. In the meantime, tables and chairs were knocked over. Fortunately, Lasin's apartment was fairly bare, and most of what was in it had little value.
After about fifteen minutes of eating on the sofa and laughing ourselves sick, Azi and I ended up on the floor from sheer exhaustion. Jurian, using the last of his strength, closed in on Breias. Breias no longer had enough strength left to teleport away, so he tossed half the loaf to Jurian.
Jurian stopped, breathing hard.
"You bastard. Today, and only today, I'll leave you the rest." He took a bite from the bread.
"Next time you'll be the one crawling," Breias shot back.
"You think a little mage like you could beat me?" Jurian chuckled.
The whole thing looked so ridiculous that Azi and I burst out laughing again.
Breias and Jurian both turned toward us with murderous looks.
"You two look like a pair of puppies playing with each other," I said.
At that image, Azi and I started laughing uncontrollably.
About an hour passed.
Breias and Azi were not completely hopeless, I decided.
Then the apartment door unlocked and Lasin stepped back inside.
"I didn't realize you'd locked us in here," I said, a little suspiciously. There were four of us in here, so the lock seemed almost unnecessary.
"Only to make sure you four didn't go embarrass me somewhere while I'm responsible for you."
Breias frowned in disbelief.
"Breias, don't say a word. In your first week here, you burned two bars to ashes."
Jurian and I burst out laughing.
"Didn't they have your favorite beer?" Jurian pressed, still laughing.
"Those bars were bases for assassin guilds," Breias said with the faintest hint of a smile.
"I'm not buying that, little magician," Jurian laughed.
"So what did Markus say?" I asked Lasin.
"He didn't have much time, but he said he'd pass it on to his superiors and increase security against infiltration. So tomorrow we'll take up arms, and hopefully everything will be fine."
There was uncertainty in her voice.
A thought flashed through my mind.
"Do you think the cult is connected to the Empire?"
Azi raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"
"If I'm not mistaken, Luskar's armies could be here by sometime tomorrow, and the cult's influence in the city keeps growing," I said.
"We need to escape Theocran," I suggested.
Lasin nodded.
"What time is the meeting?" Jurian asked.
"At nine. The leaders of each district will gather in the city," Lasin replied.
"It's possible they'll begin besieging the city, and while all forces are focused on defending the outside, they'll take it from within."
A chill ran down my spine as I said it.
"What options do we have?" Jurian asked.
"Either we flee and leave the city to its fate, or we stay, destroy the cult, and hope we can find another way out," Lasin said.
"How is the Thesmar army doing?" I asked.
"Can they hold the line for at least a day?"
"They should last a day or two," Azi said.
"I'm in favor of running," Breias said.
Jurian wanted revenge, and Lasin... who knew. Staying meant almost certain death. But what would I do if I just kept letting everyone die?
For the first time in a long while, I felt a spark in my chest.
I could laugh again.
"I'm staying."
Lasin and Jurian looked at me in surprise. I did not look back at them. I did not want to explain the change.
"We're all staying," Azi decided.
Breias frowned.
"The moment this goes completely to hell, I'm running," he announced.
"It's getting late. Can we meet tomorrow at eight?" Azi suggested.
"That works," Lasin said.
Azi and Breias got up and headed out.
"Good night," they called to us.
"Night," we answered.
They slammed the apartment door behind them.
"I only have one bed and one sofa, so work it out between yourselves. I'm going to sleep." Lasin headed toward the door to her bedroom.
Jurian began taking off his armor. I had barely spoken to Lasin since we entered the city, and for some reason that bothered me. I watched her as she reached the doorframe and then suddenly turned around.
"You're staring," she said, though she was smiling.
Only then did I realize where I had been looking. I lifted my eyes to hers.
"Good night," I said.
I did not recognize the tone of my own voice.
For once, I felt as though people mattered to me again.
"Night."
Then she looked at Jurian to make it clear the words were meant for him too.
"Good night," he managed, fully absorbed in his filthy leather armor.
Lasin closed the door behind her.
Jurian looked up from his armor and raised an eyebrow at me.
I shook my head.