Juryokine

Chapter Seventeen

Toke crouched atop a building, a cool gust of wind tugging at his jacket as he faced the Capitol. His skin crawled as he knelt there, sure that, at any moment, Klevon was going to swoop down and slaughter him. The mission had just become a whole lot more dangerous, and he didn't even have Zashiel to guide him through it anymore. He couldn't back down, though. Not when all of Yasmik was depending on him.

All of Yasmik depends on me, he repeated to himself. Does that make me a realist or an egomaniac?

He wasn't even sure what he was going to do tonight. Zashiel was the one with the plan. She was supposed to tell him who to spy on and what to listen for. Without her, he was going in blind. All it would take was one wrong move and he'd have guards all over him. Not to mention an angry Sorakine with no qualms about killing him. He breathed deep, trying to make the void form, and wiped the sweat off his hands. He couldn't just go to bed. Not when there might be something he could do to help. Tensing his muscles, he weakened gravity's pull and jumped over to the Capitol.

Toke landed on the wall, instantly anchored himself to it, and then dropped to his stomach to wait. When nobody sounded the alarm, he got to his hands and knees and made his way to the roof and ran to the opposite end of the building. From here, Permissor Adal's office was just below him.

"I'll tear Yasmik apart if I have to..."

Toke still wasn't convinced that statement had anything to do with the Gravity Storms, but he didn't have any better leads to follow. Hopefully, he thought as he anchored himself to the wall again, Adal would be there tonight. He made his way down as quickly as he could, but stopped when he found the Permissor's office dark.

"Smite," he hissed, and then dropped to his stomach again. Now what? Adal wasn't working late tonight, apparently, and none of Zashiel's other suspicions had proven fruitful. Maybe he should just start looking into any window he saw with a light on, and see if he heard anything.

Or, he thought, looking closer at Adal's window, I could take a look around the Permissor's office.

The window was locked with a single pin, Toke could see it from his perch outside. It was a simple lock, but effective. All it took was a quick twist to undo it, but it would hold fast against anyone trying to open the window from outside. Anyone who didn't have gravity powers, anyway.

After looking around to make sure there weren't any patrols nearby, Toke held his hand over the window and reached out with his powers. He'd been practicing in his room, trying to pull things into his hand, and he thought he was getting better. This was much more subtle, though. He didn't want to pull the pin out of the window frame, he just wanted to give it a gentle tug so that it would unlock. He pulled, but immediately let go when the entire window rattled.

"Easier, easier," he whispered to himself, and reached out again. He began giving a series of tiny jerks, more akin to tapping his finger against the latch than actually pulling on it. It vibrated, coming out a fraction of an inch further each time.

"Come on," he urged it, just as it popped free. "Yes!"

Giving another quick glance to make sure he wasn't being watched, Toke grabbed the window and pulled it open. Then, in one quick motion, he stepped into the office, letting normal gravity take him once again, and shut the window behind him. He was in— and it was only then he realized he didn't know what he was looking for.

Documents, he thought, his heart racing. Letters, plans, anything!

Still keeping low, he went to the desk and opened one of Adal's drawers. Inside, he found a bunch of pens, pencils, and bottles of ink, but nothing useful. He closed it and went to the next one. This one had folders in it— perfect! He picked one at random and opened it up. The room was dark, and his hood visor wasn't helping, so after a moment's hesitation he lowered it to help him see better.