mirror shards // matthew fairchild {1}

four // incursion

[cw: large battle, blood, demons, ptsd flashbacks, disassociating]

After witnessing Sydney's mood when they last talked, it surprises Anna to no end when she sees her following James and Lucie across the lawn at the picnic the next afternoon. She had thought Sydney would be holed up in the Institute somewhere, reading dusty tomes on demonic magic or sleeping like the dead she's probably studying. She's pale as a vampire, Anna sees with some concern, and her eyes are ringed with violet shadows.

"Oh, lovely!" cries Lucie, plunking herself down. "We can combine our winnings. Let's see what we have."

"What did it turn out to be, last night?" Cordelia asks Lucie. "The demon business in Seven Dials." She carefully ignores James, Anna notices. Good for her.

"Shax demons all up and down Monmouth Street," James answers. "They had to call on Ragnor Fell to help glamour the place so the mundanes wouldn't notice what was going on."

Thomas frowns. "It's odd," he says. "After so long, we encountered that demon the other night, and now yesterday –"

"You encountered a demon?" Lucie demands. "When was that?"

"Er...I may have been wrong. It may not have been a demon. It may have been a textbook about demons."

"Thomas," says Lucie. "You are the most dreadful liar. I want to know what happened."

"You can always get the truth out of Matthew," says James. "You can wheedle anything out of him, you know that, Luce." He glances around the lake. "Where is Matthew? Isn't he meant to be coming?" He looks at Cordelia as if he expects her to know the answer.

To Anna's surprise, Cordelia jumps to her feet. "James," she says, "I'd like to speak with you in private for a moment, if you don't mind."

James nods. "Lead the way," he says, and gets to his feet.

"Sydney," Anna says, changing the subject, "I was telling Cordelia that I would like to invite her to tea at my flat. Would you be so kind as to join us?"

Sydney smiles. "Well, I can't exactly turn you down. When do I need to be there?"

"Two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Don't worry about dressing up, I don't think my messy little flat is worth it. How are you finding London, by the way? You haven't been with us here in years."

"It's a bit freeing, actually," says Sydney, leaning back on the heels of her hands. She moves with an almost masculine ease, and Anna guesses she's a boxer, or something like – not a fancy-weapons woman. "A fresh start. The old rumors don't seem to have followed me here."

"Consider yourself lucky," says Thomas. "That's not always true for everyone." He glances toward the lake for a moment. Anna's not sure what he's looking at.

"I dunno." Sydney shrugs. "I keep worrying someone's going to come along and spill all of my beans before I'm ready to do it myself."

"You say it like you've got serious beans to spill."

Again with the shrug. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

Anna glances up and spots a red head in the crowd. "I see Cordelia is returning," she says, "but without James. Interesting."

"Very," says Sydney. She seems a bit more subdued than usual, Anna thinks.

"Did James get what he deserved?" Lucie asks, as Cordelia sits down. "Did you keelhaul him?"

Cordelia smiles. "He is thoroughly abashed, I assure you. But we are good friends again."

"Where is he, then?" Thomas asks. "Did you bury his body in the park somewhere?"