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Page 4113

"Pardon me, senator," Hector had to say, holding up a hand. He didn't wait for the man's response, either; and he turned back through the door they'd entered. He was looking for the Basilica's courtyard, and with the Scarf, it wasn't hard to find. He could sense the others following close behind, but none of them were saying anything, perhaps because they knew there was no point.

It was suddenly occurring to Hector that, despite all this gallivanting around the city and meeting with influential people, he'd still not discovered the source of that "screaming" that Roman had heard when they first got here.

And it felt particularly unsettling, because that background noise hadn't really gone away. It was distant enough and quiet enough that he'd been able to get used to it, almost to the point of forgetting about it entirely, but here and now, he was getting the dreadful feeling that it was about to start ramping up.

This awful aura. Hungry. Thirsty. Eager. Looking to inflict pain.

He could feel it everywhere. All directions. Did it cover the entire city? That seemed unlikely, given how huge Andeyal was, but man. It sure felt like it.

Hector didn't stop at the courtyard. He went up on a hovering platform, not even waiting to bring the others along for the ride. Something told him they might be better off where they were.

He ascended quickly, soon gazing over the Basilica and into the vast cityscape.

Still, nothing was quite clear yet. According to his eyes, at least, everything looked normal enough. It was just this horrible knot in his gut. The massive aura in all directions felt like it might make him sick.

'Sense anything else yet?' Hector asked.

'I think it's coming from the north,' said Garovel. 'It feels like there are tons of souls over there now, when there weren't before. Or at least, they were all kind of migrating to the southwest. Now it's like... I don't know, exactly. They feel off, somehow.'

Hector looked in the designated direction. Skyscrapers blocked much of the view, unfortunately. Perhaps Loren would be able to--

Everything began to tremble. From this stable position in midair, unaffected by it himself, it looked somehow even more disturbing. Like the city was suddenly floating atop a choppy ocean.

Then the ground began to swell.

Up and out at different points. Explosive bursts. Upturned earth. Sometimes as small as a car. Other times as massive as an entire building.

Page 4112

The man fell quiet for a moment, apparently needing to think about that. "That would depend on what type of approach you wish to take," he said. "If you want to be quite direct and speak to a leading figure in person, then I'm sure you don't need advice from me to find an appropriate target. They are all plenty famous without me hyping them up for you, eh?"

Hmm. Was this guy being cautious? Trying to read his aura, that was the impression Hector was getting. Perhaps he didn't want to reveal too much about which of the big name Vanguardians were currently in the city.

Which was disappointing but also fair enough, Hector felt. It at least implied a sense of loyalty and conscientiousness toward the Vanguard. That was admirable in its own way. And Hector was about to move on when the senator decided to keep going.

"...But if you would like to take a more subtle approach, then I might suggest speaking to a woman with red hair named Delilah. Or a man with glasses and dark hair named Ruben. They might be able to help you, if you can conduct yourself respectfully--and with a little charm, perhaps. That never hurts."

Well, it was something to go on, at least. Those descriptions were a little odd, not even bothering to include last names, but Hector resisted the urge to press for more. He had a feeling even just saying that much was already being fairly generous. Plus, it seemed likely that Jacobson wouldn't even know much else about them, especially if they were quite well-connected. Hector knew that the higher ups within the Vanguard had a tendency to conceal their histories and familial connections for reasons of safety.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Hector. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Now if I could perhaps--"

The man kept talking, but Hector suddenly became very distracted. For two different reasons.

The first was that Garovel began talking privately, and Voreese began talking publicly.

'I'm sensing something extremely strange.'

'What in the fuck is that out there?!'

And indeed, that led into the second reason. Hector might not have had their reaper senses, but he did have his aura sense now. And it was certainly telling him something. He had no idea what, but it was strong. Distant. But strong.

And it felt hostile.