PRAEDO

ALEX

Alex Gabriel was a daybreaker of the Night caste, 1032nd in precedence in the Host of the Glorious Destruction. This particular Host currently only had forty-five members, which was pretty good for angels. They just didn't have the numbers of the other cultures. Alex's number was so low because they were listed below every washed-out glowling, not to mention all the dead martyrs and idiots recorded in the Book of Glory.

Joining Necessarius rarely met with approval from the Saints.

Alex was worried about Kat and everything, so in order to take their mind off it, they had asked MC to inform them of the first job that became available. It turned out to be interviewing Ileana, the Nosferatu who had helped Derek talk to the warlords. She wanted to join up with Necessarius. It wasn't their normal job, but it was better them than Adele Lucifer.

Ileana was pretty, in a pale sort of way, especially for a Nosferatu. She had retractable claws and only very small, albeit poisoned, fangs. She was a diplomat, trained to deal with other cultures, so she was less monstrous than most of her brethren. According to her toy receipt, she made up for it with a number of internal buffs, like muscle and bone enhancements.

Alex liked her, and unless she did something really stupid, was planning on recommending Necessarius accept her. But that wasn't why they were there. Right now, their job was to make her sweat, not be her friend.

“It says here you participated in the Battle of Hathsin.”

She winced. “Yes. That was a... mistake.”

“I'm sure it was.” Alex made a show of paging through the pad, letting her stew for a minute.

She shifted in her seat. “I understand why you wouldn't want me—”

“We want everyone, Miss Ileana,” Alex said tiredly. She only had the one name, but that wasn't as odd in Domina as it was elsewhere. Changing your legal name was easier here, and many people didn't know who their parents were anyway. “We will take absolutely anyone we think won't betray us.” Alex slid the pad to the side and locked gazes, forcing her to recognize their dayeyes. “Do you know why?”

She adjusted her goggles. “Uh... because it's the only way to keep recruitment up?”

Alex sighed. “Because it is necessary, Miss Ileana. That is the only reason Necessarius does anything.”

The two sat there in silence for a moment, as she tried hard not to look them in the eyes. She had worked under Cinder for years. He was a heartless, selfish bastard, and those Necessarius managed to recruit away from him never believed in honest intentions. None of the gangs did, really. It broke Alex's heart sometimes.

At least Cinder and Halifax wouldn't be a problem any more. Derek had slapped them down twice, in front of their followers no less. And if that wasn't enough, they'd probably be dead before the week was out. Killed by their “friends” or their former victims, it didn't really matter.

That reminded Alex. “I have one last question. Soaring Eagle is asking for those Nobles from last night. Says she wants to kill them herself. Any idea why?”

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Ileana blinked. “Soaring Eagle? The ave Animal King?”

Alex shrugged. “Queen, but yes. Do you know her?”

She frowned. “No, and I didn't think Cinder did either. I mean, him and Halifax have been at each others' throats since back when Halifax still had a face. I can't think of a reason...” She caught her breath. “Adânc de noapte,” she swore. Alex recognized the curse—their sister was a vampire, so they had picked up some Romanian here and there.

“What? What is it?”

She paused, clearly considering how honestly to answer.

Alex narrowed their eyes, impatient for real this time. “Miss Ileana...”

“The cause of the fight last night,” she said quickly. “A few nights ago, some of Halifax's scouts managed to ambush and loot an ave truck. Cinder sent his men to steal the loot back. It was... a toy box.”

Toy boxes were basically a large-scale version of the toy maker. You could put an entire person inside it, make large-scale changes cheaply and easily. Their invention had jumpstarted the recent creation of the anthros.

Something like that could finally bring prosperity to the ave culture. They were one of the oldest cultures, but they had almost no members, since they didn't have any worthwhile buffs to offer. If they got their hands on a toy box, they'd have a real chance.

There were only twenty-six toy boxes in existence, as far as Alex knew. One was in the hands of the fey, another was the one they sold to Necessarius, and the other twenty-four were Clarke's reverse-engineered copies of the second.

Alex pulled out their phone as fast as they could and dialed MC. She picked up immediately, as always.

“Greetings, Alex Gabriel,” her fake voice said, cheerful as ever.

“I need to talk to the real MC,” they said. “Immediately. It's about the toy box.”

It only took a few moments for them to be connected with the real thing. “Hey, Alex? What's this about a toy box?”

“Ileana says the Guruhi stole one from the Nictuku, who stole it from Soaring Eagle. Any chance she bought the damn thing legally?”

There was a pause, presumably as she checked her records. “No. It was stolen on the morning of the first. The first of September, I mean. Does that gel with the timeline?”

Alex held the phone away from their mouth and turned back to the Nosferatu. “What date was the ambush?”

She bit her lip, thinking. “It was... Saturday night. So that would be the first.”

“Day and dawn... yeah, that fits.”

“I'll tell Butler,” MC said. “He'll figure out where Cinder stashed it. Anything else?”

“No, that should be all. Bye.”

“Later.” She hung up.

Alex plunked the phone on the desk with a sigh. Ileana stared at them, as wide-eyed as she could be in the painful light from the desk lamp. Alex, on the other hand, could barely see out of the very small circle of light it provided. They really should have left this to Kelly, or anyone with nighteyes.

“Cinder and Halifax will be interrogated for information soon,” Alex said as calmly as they could. “There will be no mercy. Once Soaring Eagle is found, she will also be interrogated, to see if she has any other plans against Necessarius. Then, she will be executed, as will any of her co-conspirators.”

Ileana gulped.

“Once the toy box is found, anyone guarding it will be captured and interrogated, to determine if anyone managed to reverse-engineer it in the meantime, and to keep the secrets of its construction from getting out. Soaring Eagle has just killed several hundred people.”

Ileana shivered. “But... why? Why not just make her pay retribution? Or help you retrieve it? Or both?”

Alex locked their gaze with hers. “Because,” they said slowly, “it is necessary.”