cascade | kotlc

20. Tracking Lady Gisela

"Hey," Fitz murmured, standing before the Panakes and seemingly at a loss for words. "So... that just happened."

"It did." June stared at the petals drifting over the wind, their blueish pink tints glittering in the afternoon sparkle. "Our first mission ever. And... it was my fault."

"It wasn't," Fitz insisted. "That's not your fault."

"You didn't even see what happened. If you did... forget it."

"I mean-"

His voice trailed off when he noticed Sandor and Sophie, sprinting down the rolling hills and holding something oddly similar to an Imparter.

"Sorry," the goblin panted when they reached them. "But I thought you might not want to ignore this."

The Imparter was ringing.

Slowly, carefully, June took the square device and accepted the call.

"Hello, June," Lady Gisela trilled. "We need to talk."

"You hailed me?" she asked, squinting at the black Imparter screen.

"What can I say? I've missed our chats. I notice the Vacker girl's not here. Mind you, I'd hoped to find you with my son and not the Vacker boy again. But you can correct that error in judgement later."

Does she know about the entire car chase yesterday? Fitz transmitted. Heck, was she the one that orchestrated the entire thing? Or was that the Neverseen?

I'm not sure. I'll have to ask.

"I want you to stop wasting time," Lady Gisela continued.

"We're not," June interrupted. "We've stopped-" She cut off, tilting her head and examining the Imparter, wondering if Lady Gisela knew about the events on US-1 yesterday.

"Stopped what?" she asked.

"You don't know? I thought you planned the thing."

"No..."

June could hear Lady Gisela's brows scrunching together, even before she asked, "What's the Neverseen done this time?"
"They tried to assassinate a human president," June said slowly.

"Have they? And why is that, exactly?"

"We're not sure," she admitted. "Biana knows, or-" She choked off before she could finish that sentence with "Faye."

"Hmm. That's interesting."

Tell Biana to come over, now, June demanded. We need her powers. Fitz nodded subtly and excused himself, hastily digging out his Imparter from his back pocket.

"Are you finally going to tell us about what happened to Cyrah?" Sophie butted in.

"She's not important. What is important is your family, and the fact that you're not focusing on that shows your weakness-"

"SHUT UP!" Sophie screamed, appearing close to tears as she tore at her face. "That's not a weakness. I just fucking want to know what happened. Why she's dead. And if you did it."

"Do you really need to know?" Lady Gisela asked, her voice turning haughty. "Or is it just some random trivia that offers no actual assistance to your mission?"

Biana flashed into form over by Havenfield, Fitz waving frantically at her and mentally shouting at her to dash over.

"If it's on your mind at all, it's proof of your foolish priorities. You have no clue what's going on, and you never will unless you accept my help."