Ronan noticed the growling in the alley cut off at once. His pupils tightened. The thing would have heard him. . He started waving a hand sharply at Charles to stay silent, his own breath turning ragged again.
Charles only looked at him without hurry. "It is no use," he said quietly. "It noticed us long ago. It was only pretending otherwise."
Ronan's scalp prickled cold. Pretending? Before the thought could settle, Charles gave his shoulder a light pat. "Now then, if you will excuse me." And with that the man stepped around the corner as though he were merely taking a stroll.
Ronan stood frozen for half a second. Then instinct shoved everything else aside. He spun and ran, legs driving hard, lungs already starting to seize.
The streets blurred past as he cut through one narrow passage after another, not caring if he knew the way. All that mattered was distance.
Behind him Charles moved slowly into the alley. Moonlight lay thin across the stones.
The creature stood waiting, tall as a man of six feet, though parts of its body kept shifting between solid flesh and something thinner, like smoke caught in glass. Crimson eyes burned steady in the dark. Something torn dragged behind it across the ground.
Charles took off his hat and gave a small nod. "My name is Charles Kaerleston and I—"
"The Eclipse Syndicate," the creature cut in. Its voice came out wrong, two tones layered over each other.
Charles smiled faintly. "It seems you know of us."
"Of course I know who you are or belong to . Since People like you are the reason we can't live freely, why we're forced to live like shadows while others enjoy the light."
His illusory jaw tightened.
"Why wouldn't I know the wretches behind mine and comrades misery?"
He shook his head. "Though I suppose blaming you is pointless. You're just a pawn, same as the rest. The real nuisance are the ones above you, the ones pulling the strings."
The creature's mouth stretched wider than any mouth should. Charles continued in the same calm tone. "Then you should also know that I will have to purge you tonight."
The crimson eyes narrowed. "We shall see," it answered softly, "who purges who."His eyes already crimson started turning a darker shades of red as he released the thing he was dragging along .
Ronan did not stop until the signboard of the Shrewsbury Drunkard came into view. He bent double, air scraping in and out of his chest.
Sweat soaked through his shirt and the cold night air bit at his face. For a while he could only stand there, hands on his knees, waiting for his thoughts to settle.
When he finally straightened he turned at once, checking the street behind him. Nothing followed. Ordinary people still moved in and out of the tavern, carriage wheels turning on the stones as if nothing had happened. The sight of normal life loosened something tight in his ribs. He drifted toward a shadowed corner near the entrance where people passed often, keeping himself among them until the fear eased a little.
Only then did he lean against the wall and try to order his mind. What in hell had that been? A bogeyman? Something worse? And why had the investigator been there at all? The timing felt too clean. Ronan's face darkened the longer he turned it over. Had he given something away during the questions? Even if he had not before, running like that would look suspicious now. He had been caught skulking in a dark alley watching a monster tear at something. There was no clean way to explain that.
Still, it had been nothing but bad luck. He could not even say why he had stepped into that alley in the first place. His thoughts kept circling. Would the investigator survive? The man had seemed to know what he faced. Ronan told himself that was enough to ease the guilt, yet the memory of those glowing eyes still made the skin along his neck tighten.
A light tap on his shoulder made him jerk upright, heart slamming once more. He spun, face bloodless.
"Oh… that is quite the reaction."
A woman's voice. Ronan blinked hard and finally placed her. "Beatrix?"
She tilted her head and stepped nearer, frowning a little. "What is with you? You look pale as if…" Her smile faded. "…you have seen a monster."
Ronan's throat closed. He had no ready answer. Beatrix studied him with that same odd look while he stared back. He forced a smile that felt stiff even to himself. "What are you talking about?" he managed, the laugh that followed thin and wrong. Before she could reply he shifted the subject. "And what brings you here?"
Beatrix glanced toward the tavern sign. "I had some business nearby. Thought I would stop by since you spend most evenings near this place after work."
Ronan followed her gaze. Right. Percy and Beatrix had grown up in the same orphanage, had been sweethearts once, though that had ended two years back. He cleared his throat. "How was your time in the large city? Must have been better than here."
She shook her head lightly. "Both places have their own pull."
Then she looked at him again. "How have you been?"
He scratched the back of his head without thinking. "Same as always. Nothing worth mentioning."
Beatrix nodded. "Good to hear."
They stood without speaking for a stretch. Nearby voices and the steady roll of carriage wheels filled the quiet. After a while Beatrix smiled once more. "I should be going now." For a moment a trace of something heavier crossed her face before the usual brightness covered it. She turned and walked away down the street, her figure growing smaller under the lamps until the night took her.
Ronan stayed where he was, watching the empty space she left behind, the ordinary sounds of the street pressing in around him.