Consideration for Scoundrels

NINETEEN

Selena stepped out on to the street. There was a stillness to the air, like the sky moments before lighting tore it open. She swung her gaze left to right and back again, but visibility was practically nothing, the bouncing lights of the pub and surrounding businesses only making it worse; the smog became a near solid wall of white. She breathed in and found the night air to reek of sulphur, churning her stomach as she turned and coughed hard into the crook of her elbow.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" She asked Celeste.

"Not in London."

Not in Sligo, or Cavan or Belfast. Never in her life had she seen fog like this. Apprehension skittered down her spine. Celeste's face paled, her jaw tightening. "We shouldn't be on the street."

"I concur."

The professor's sudden appearance nearly stopped Selena's heart. He coughed, once, twice.

"I'll have my driver bring you home." Wolfe coughed again, a wet sound. "I fear this is only the beginning."

"Of what?"

"I don't know." Wolfe admitted. He inclined his head towards Celeste, who still gazed into the cloud of white. "But we should make haste."

Wolfe flagged down his driver, the car nearly striking the curb from the rapidly diminishing visibility.

"I'll call on you in the morning, conditions permitting." Wolfe promised as he closed the door behind them. "Stay home, do not leave for any reason."

"What about you?"

"I have contacts in the city my dear."

Wolfe reassured Selena. "I'll be fine." With that, he gave a hard knock on the car's roof to let the driver know to drive.

It was slow work; it seemed the entire city had been descended upon, the veil of white making it harder to see anything beyond a few meters. The driver cursed softly under his breath as he did the best he could to keep between the lines of the road.

"I'm sure it's just fog." Selena tried to rationalize; "Mum says the amount of coal the city burns should be enough to blot out the sun for days. Especially if the winds die down too much."

But Celeste couldn't share Selena's optimism, not for a single moment. There was something out there, lurking. Like the shadows in the graveyard, the devil in the tree line. She looked down and toyed at the ring the Noctaum woman had slipped on to her finger. A bit of grave dirt bound in glass, that was what she was to depend on now to keep her mind from being eaten by this fiend? Her entire body felt heavy, the weight of the last few days piling on to her now that she had finally stopped moving. A few days, and it was if she'd aged years. Only last night, she'd spent a decent portion of it nearly torn to shreds and bleeding out in the back of some poor bloke's cab. She hoped Selena had paid him well.

Selena didn't try to rouse Celeste to conversation as Wolfe's driver made a valiant attempt to maneuver through London traffic. Everything it seemed has come to grinding halt when the smog had descended.

"I won't tell the professor if you find the need to curse." She offered.

"It's a bloody mess." The chauffeur admitted through gritted teeth.

But while she didn't try to pry Celeste to speak, Selena did take the opportunity to try and take stock in what had just transpired. The Noctaum, whomever, whatever they actually were knew of her parents, though apparently Evy, Rick and by extension, Alex were in the dark about them. Wolfe...Christ she was hardly surprised honestly. Of course he was involved, and thank god for it. As far as she knew, both she and Celeste could have ended the encounter with a bullet in their skulls.