Chapter 21
fear is a tool
continuance is power
ride the wind howling
I landed nimbly on my feet outside and took off doing what I did best: running. Heart pounding, trying to pretend everything was still normal, I dropped off a couple more pieces of mail. Still, Axel’s envelope felt like a beacon of criminality weighing in my pack, so I did the only thing I could think of.
I jogged up the steps of the Enso and summoned a hot blast of wind, rattling the doors on their hinges. Gears whirred and the imposing panels flew open. I didn’t give the arachnid automaton time to lead me, striding ahead down the hallway.
“Viv! Ava!” I bellowed. “We’ve got a problem! Viv!”
Ava burst into the hallway dressed in a bare ivory silk shift, her pale skin luminescent in the dim light. “Nikta! Tara’s toe
