24 Chapter Twenty-Four

"Makina's room is empty," Servilia said, stepping into Lexi's room.

"Cross is gone as well," Lexi said, picking a pair of knives from among the many weapons that were laid out along her bed. She slipped the blades into sheaths strapped along her lower back. Another went into her boot, followed by two blackened throwing knives along her chest.

"Alexis…." Servilia warned.

"I'm going to retrieve them," Lexi said, grabbing Nightmare and securing it firmly to her hip. Walking over to her desk she fixed her hair into a tight ponytail and pulled on her travel cloak. She took a moment to lift the hood before finally turning on Servilia, her dark eyes just visible. "The Mistress put me in charge of watching the girl. It is my responsibility to bring her back."

"Alexis, you must wait for the Mistress. She does not want anyone leaving the guild without her permission."

"Then I will inform her I am leaving," Lexi said, brushing passed Servilia and heading towards the stairs.

"That won't be possible," Servilia called, freezing Lexi in her tracks. The dark-eyed girl turned around slowly. "The Mistress is currently in a conference with the town guard. She won't be returning for a few hours, at least."

"That's too long."

"Alexis, you don't even know where they are. They could even be heading back at this very moment."

Lexi shook her head, the tassels on her scarf fluttering. "They would have had to leave after everyone was asleep or they would have been caught. If Cross was going to bring her back, he would have done it by now. They are going somewhere, or they have been captured."

"Be that as it may, we still have no idea where they are headed," Servilia said, exasperated.

"Yes we do." Lexi stalked down the hallway. She came to a stop at Banksy's room and slammed her first against the door repeatedly. There was a groan, followed by a curse before the door opened and a bleary eyed, messy haired Banksy glared at Lexi.

"The hell do you want?"

"Cross is gone, so is the girl," Lexi said.

The words hit Banksy like a bucket of cold water. Stepping aside from his door he beckoned Lexi and Servilia into his room. Spread across the floor were piles of papers with his handwriting scribbled in various places.

"What do we know?" Banksy asked, running a hand through his hair.

"They left last night, no signs of them being taken," Lexi said. "Banksy, I need to know where they are going."

"How the hell should I know that? Cross didn't say anything to me," Banksy balked, eyeing the many weapons Lexi was currently carrying.

Lexi pointed down at the papers. "Makina hasn't stopped talking about some sort of rescue since last week. If the Sons came to capture her and bring her back, then these should tell us where she is headed."

"That's complete speculation. Alexis you need more than-" Servilia went silent as Lexi fixed her with a one-eyed glare before turning back to Banksy.

"Banksy, I need your help. Please. They could be in danger."

Banksy rubbed the side of his head as he sat down on the floor and stared at the papers. "Yeah…. Yeah, give me a few minutes."

Lexi nodded and exited the room. Servilia hesitated for a moment, watching as Banksy pulled out his necklace of rings and began to slip them onto his fingers, one after another. His hands shook ever so slightly.

"Nathan?" The concern in her voice was evident and it secretly gave Banksy a flutter in his stomach.

"It's okay," he said, forcing as much bravado into his voice as possible. "If I combine a few elements from multiple rings, I should be able to decipher these. It's basically what I've been doing lately… just really, really, really, fast."

Servilia watched as he stared to take in deep, even breaths, preparing himself.

"Why didn't you do this before?" Servilia asked.

"Oh, it uh, it kinda hurts a little. A moderate amount. A lot, it hurts a lot. The rings contain magic and my body does not, really. So basically I end up working as a conduit. With one or two rings it's not really a problem, you know? Kinda like when Lexi gets tired or Cross gets those headaches after they use their magic. Most people can… well, could, use magic to some degree, so we can take it… but the more you add the worse it gets. I wouldn't say it's dangerous, per se."

Servilia glanced down at his hands. "Nathan… you're wearing more than ten rings."

"So I am, huh." Banksy laughed humorlessly, before slapping his hands together. The rings clanged off each other with a sharp metallic ping and he slammed his hands against the papers before him.

For a moment nothing happened as Banksy stared down intently at the documents before him. Servilia watched him with growing apprehension. Another moment passed and Banksy's hands clenched into fists as his arms begin to shake. The veins under his skin pulsed and he bared his teeth, a groan forming in his throat as he started to teeter forward, his body completely rigid. Servilia stepped forward and caught him by the shoulders, holding him in place as his body began to violently shake.

"Nathan!"

"I'm fiiiuuuuck." Banksy hissed, breaking free from Servilia grasp and slamming his arms against the ground and pulled himself over the documents. Foam dripped from between his grit teeth as he forced his eyes to remain open, staring at the words and runes before him. In his mind they rearranged at a dizzying rate. Patterns formed and broke, changing into words that burned into his mind.

Black began to eat away at his vision.

"Come on, Banksy," he yelled, leaning even closer to the floor, a small amount of blood beginning to trickle from his mouth. "Don't let go. Don't let go. Don't you fucking let it go! Just… Just a little… Yes! "

Dropping face first into the floor Banksy's body twitched a few more times as he hastily shook of the rings, letting them fall haphazardly around him. After a moment he lifted his head up ever slightly and managed to give Servilia a weak smile.

"Got it."

xXx

"Who was screaming like a little bitch?" Romeo asked as he swaggered into Banksy's room and leaned against the doorframe. Lexi glanced over at him while Banksy continued to hastily write, ignoring Romeo for the moment.

"Cross and Makina are gone," Lexi said, looking back at Banksy as he jotted out a crude map.

"How did they manage to get out? I got caught every time!" Romeo whined before letting out a deep sigh. "Alright, when are we leaving then?"

Banksy slammed his pen down on the desk and thrust the map over to Lexi. "Finished! It's not perfect, but it should be enough. They're heading north. Or at least, the Sons were going to take Makina north, to Ash. If we leave now we can probably catch the next train."

Lexi accepted the map and tucked it into her pocket. She looked at the boys and frowned. "This isn't a sanctioned job. The Mistress will be very upset with both of you if you go."

"Ah, she's been mad before," Romeo said with a wave of his hand. "Come on, I'm not going to leave a damsel in distress."

"They're family," Banksy said, grabbing his coat and touching his hand to his necklace. "Even that moron knows we don't leave family behind."

"Never though I would agree with a two-bit thief, but for once you're speaking the truth." Romeo said with a partial smile at Banksy. Banksy returned it with an eye roll, but a small smile managed to sneak onto his face as well.

Lexi looked back and forth between the two former friends and nodded.

"Let's go."