The conversation ended and they went out to the street. It was snowing heavily and the city was covered in a blanket of white. Parked cars were buried under the piles of snow that had collected on them, and the ones that were still driving around were barely creeping. People who were walking either had their hoods up or were using umbrellas, and were all wearing heavy coats to protect themselves from the cold.

  They tried to quickly and inconspicuously slip into the crowd. Asius soon realized their clothing could draw attention to them as it was nowhere near warm enough. Any human who was dressed like they were would be shivering violently. Unfortunately, this was just one more detail they’d let slip past them due to the rush. But there was nothing they could do about it now.

  “Is it much farther?” he asked Lyam.

  “A few more blocks. Do you prefer to take a car?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Asius thought about the Twins size, and besides, there were too many of them for one vehicle. “I don’t want to call attention to us, and besides, we’d need two cars. Let’s just hurry.”

  Lyam picked up the pace. Zaedon was right behind him, and Vyns and Yala were in the back. Vyns continued his diatribe about the thirteen centuries he’d spent among the Minors. What Asius found odd was that Yala seemed to be listening closely.

  “They were more fun before,” said Vyns. “Technology has dulled their minds more than I thought possible. You should see how many of them commit suicide—and for so many different reasons you can’t even imagine.”

  A bus stopped in the street and a large number of people got off and immediately blended in with the flow of people around them.

  “I don’t think I can get used to this place,” said one Twin. “I’m more comfortable in the Ne—” The other Twin covered his mouth with his hand.

  “Don’t worry about the Minors hearing,” laughed Vyns. “So, it looks like you’re not too interested in what’s going on around here, either. How long has it been since you’ve gazed out off the Balcony? No matter. I understand where you’re coming from; that’s why we’re Observers, right? By the way, it’s okay to say ‘Nest.’ They don’t know what the Nest is—or at least they don’t know it by that name. They call it Heaven, and they don’t really think it exists. Even the ones who truly believe in it have a completely erroneous concept of what it really is.”

  Asius shot him a stern look.

  “Bloody hell! Did you see those two?” exclaimed a tall, fat man to a man that was beside him. “Are there two of them or is one of them looking in a mirror?” His friend laughed loudly and a few more people stopped and stared at the Twins.

  “Go away,” said one of the Twins.

  “Go away,” the other said simultaneously.

  They’d uttered the two words in concert, in the same voice and with the same tone of indifference. They were in perfect unison.

  Asius heard them and hurried back to where Yala was.

  “Don’t, Yala!” Asius shouted.

  He had no idea what Yala was thinking about doing, but he wasn’t inclined to want to find out. Even less so considering the Twins had never been out of the Nest, and from the little they’d spoken since they’d been on Earth, he didn’t think they were too pleased with it.

  Vyns looked at Asius, surprised by his reaction. The Counselor’s face looked worried and he couldn’t understand why since Yala had only told them to go away. But Asius knew the Twins better. Not only that, but he knew when they spoke at the same time it was because they were agitated, or worse.

  “Let it go. Don’t pay any attention to them.” He grabbed one of the Twins and pulled him forward. “It’s better if you’re separated, Yala. You draw too much attention. The Minors aren’t used to how you look. On top of that, you’re out here with bare arms and they don’t understand why you’re not cold.”

  Yala didn’t say anything, but he went along with separating from his Twin as the Counselor had asked. One Twin stayed with Vyns and the other followed Asius. They moved up until they caught up with Lyam who had stopped to wait, not knowing what the problem was.

  “Let’s separate,” Asius firmly suggested.

  “We’re already separated,” said Zaedon. “Vyns and the other Twin are already about thirty feet back from us.”

  “That’s not enough,” replied Asius. “I don’t want any problems. We’ll stay a couple of blocks apart. Lyam, move faster.” They all started walking more quickly. “Yala, stay with Vyns and stay a couple of blocks back from us.” Lyam and Zaedon exchanged glances, wondering what the Counselor meant by the last order he’d given to Yala. They crossed the street and left Vyns and the other Twin behind.

  “They’re way ahead of us now!” exclaimed Vyns. “Why are we in such a hurry?”

  “Asius wants us to follow from farther back,” said Yala, pulling Vyns back by the arm. We need to give them a head start.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t hear him say anything about that.”

  “I did.”

  “Seriously?” asked Vyns, confused.

  Yala didn’t respond. They continued walking slowly along until they lost sight of the others. Vyns asked again if Yala was sure that’s what they were supposed to do, but the Twin just kept walking. He must have been right about it; otherwise Asius would have stopped to wait for them.

  A little while later, Yala took him by the arm again.

  “It’s through here,” he said, pointing at an adjacent street.

  “No, we’re already heading in the right direction. Only Lyam and I know where it is. You weren’t there when they captured Diago.”

  “Asius wants us to go this way,” Yala insisted.

  “And how do you know that? I don’t see him anywhere around here.”

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  “He just told me.”

  “Are you kidding me? If he’d said something to you, he’d be here with us, I’d see him, and I would have heard him, too . . .”

  Just then, it dawned on him. The Twins could each hear whatever the other was hearing. Asius was telling the one who was with him where he wanted them to go, and the one that was with Vyns was repeating it. This discovery left him speechless for the rest of the walk. He let the Twin lead, wondering just how closely the Twins were connected. He thought about saying something to Yala and then having him ask Asius about it to check to see if he got the message, but looking at his poker face, he figured he wouldn’t take too kindly to it so he let it go.

  They finally arrived at the entrance to the subway. It seemed to Vyns that they had taken a roundabout way to get there, but he assumed Asius had his reasons. When they got to the platform and the tracks, the memories of the encounter with Nilia came flooding back into his mind. His memory easily retrieved a vivid image of her blowing him a kiss and winking at him just before she caused the cave in.

  The place was exactly as they had left it. The cave-in was still blocking the subway tracks, except for where they’d hollowed it out to get through it. This was not surprising; they knew the Minors would not finish digging it out unless they were going to repair the track. Vyns heard Asius on the other side of the rocks, and went to join him and the others there.

  “We’re here,” he announced.

  Zaedon was looking over the edge of the massive hole at the Fog Raven had fallen into when Vyns had tried to stop him. Lyam looked downhearted. He was sitting, leaning against the wall with a profound look of sadness on his face. Asius was studying the cave-in. The Twins had been standing together, observing the scene in silence since they’d both arrived.

  “This was where Nilia struck the wall to cause the cave-in,” Asius stated to no one in particular. “Look at that rune on the wall.” Vyns moved closer to him and followed his gaze. “It’s darkened now so it isn’t clear anymore, but I’m sure it was the cause of the cave-in.”

  “She didn’t have time to trace a rune.” Vyns shook his head, unconvinced. “I would have seen it. She just hit the wall with one of her daggers.”

  “That’s because she’d drawn it there before. Everything was prepared in advance. It was a trap, Vyns. I’d also bet she forced Raven to use his powers so you’d detect him.”

  “Raven seemed to have forged an alliance with her. Minors are stupid; put a beautiful woman in front of them and they’ll be putty in your hands. It doesn’t surprise me he would collaborate with her.”

  “Either that, or she tricked him so he would use his abilities. In any case, there’s no doubt it was all the result of a careful plan. Tell me where she was when you cut her shoulder with your sword.”

  Vyns pointed a little to the right of where Asius was standing. The Counselor crouched down where the Observer had indicated and carefully passed his hand over the ground and the wall.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Lyam, joining them.

  “Something I can use,” responded Asius. He closely examined the entire area until he found what he was looking for. “Like this, for example.” He held up his hand and showed them a dark feather. He bent it a bit between his fingers.

  “Is it Nilia’s?” asked Lyam, surprised.

  “I’d say so.” He placed it flat on his hand for a few seconds. “We’ll know soon enough. It’s very light, so that fits. Nilia is a Runner. But it’s longer than normal, and much more flexible. That’s why she’s so agile and fast. Let’s see what this little feather can tell us about its owner.”

  Asius cupped his hands, one over the other, with the feather in the middle. A light shone from his hand and a series of images paraded through his mind. They didn’t form a complete sequence; they were more like isolated fragments. The longer an artifact was separated from its owner, the harder it was to bring up something from its past. He did his best to review the images in his mind to get the most information possible. Finally, he dropped to his knees, exhausted.

  “It’s Nilia’s,” he confirmed, panting, a few seconds later. “I know where she was before she came here . . . Give me a moment to recuperate and we’ll see if we can find Diago there.”

  “Can I do anything for you?” Lyam asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

  “No, thank you. I’m not hurt, just worn out.” Asius let Lyam help him off the floor. “I can walk now, so we should get going. We’ll leave the same way we came in—in two groups. Let’s go. Vyns, you’ll follow us at a distance with one of the Twins.”

  Vyns stifled the urge to protest and stayed behind with one of the Twins as he watched them walking away, leaving them behind yet again. Asius and the others disappeared into the dark subway tunnel.

  “Okay, let’s follow them,” said Vyns.

  “Not yet. We should wait a while longer.”

  “You’re too strict, Yala. It’s not like we have to be separated by an exact number of yards.”

  “We’ll wait until the Counselor tells us to go.”

  “Whatever. I tried. I know you don’t like being on this plane any better than I do.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m going to disobey a Counselor.”

  “I see that. But still, I bet you’re not a fan of Asius. I can tell.”

  Yala did not respond.

  Truthfully, Vyns couldn’t tell any such thing. Yala’s face was very hard to read, and the indifferent tone in his voice didn’t offer much, either. But he sensed the Twins weren’t completely comfortable with Asius.

  “Let’s go,” said Yala, starting to walk.

  Vyns immediately followed, exasperated by the Twin’s slow pace. When they got to the platform, they came across a noisy group of beggars.

  “Didn’t that blond guy just come through here a minute ago?” commented one of the indigents, pointing at Yala.

  “You should stop drinking,” responded a guy sitting next to him.

  Vyns repressed the urge to laugh. Yala didn’t react at all. The two of them came out of the subway and once again started walking the streets of London. The snow was still falling nonstop and the temperature had dropped a few degrees. There were almost no cars out on the roads now. Yala led the way since Vyns had no idea where they were going.

  “Have you worked with Asius before?” asked the Twin indifferently.

  “Not much,” responded Vyns, surprised by the question. From what he knew of him, Yala never showed any interest in conversing, and even less in initiating conversation. “We happened to cross paths not too long ago. What do you want to know?”

  “I think it’s strange he came along with us.” He was quiet for a few seconds, as if waiting for Vyns to say something. Then he added, “I thought Counselors had other obligations.”

  “I knew you didn’t like Asius!” Vyns did a little jump and teasingly pointed at Yala, as if pleased to have caught him in a lie. “I’m guessing you’re referring to the fact that he should be more concerned with being our leader than with rescuing Diago.”

  “Isn’t that what a Counselor’s job is? To keep watch over all of us, not just one of us?”

  “Diago is a very close friend of his,” Vyns said, as if that cleared it all up. “You’ll see, Asius worries too much about everything and everyone. He couldn’t stand waiting to see if we’d be able to rescue him. In my opinion, it’s his worst quality. He has a hard time sorting his priorities.”

  “It sounds like you don’t care much for him, either.”

  “My case is a bit different; I know him. And I don’t like him. In fact, I don’t like him one bit. I can’t stand the way he cheerfully gives orders, or the way he empathizes with everyone. You can tell he wasn’t always a Counselor. Let’s just say it’s how he acts that bothers me, not who he is deep down.”

  “Then why do you so meekly follow his orders?”

  “Because he’s intelligent. He sees much more than any of the rest of us see in normal circumstances. And I know on good authority to what point he’s capable of doing what he thinks is for the best. I’m just an Observer; I prefer to obey someone who has more knowledge.”

  Yala walked on in silence. Vyns saw no change in his face, but he had the feeling he was thinking about what he’d just said. They continued for several blocks without saying a word, and he again thought about saying something to Asius through the Twins, just to keep himself entertained. It was quickly getting dark and there were less and less people out on the streets.

  “Don’t touch me again or you’ll regret it,” said Yala calmly.

  “You mind telling me what you’re talking about? I didn’t come anywhere near you!” exclaimed Vyns, completely confused by Yala’s threat. Yala suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. “Now what are you doing? Man, you’re strange!”

  He took a step back, not knowing what was going on. Yala tensed up and clenched his fists. Vyns looked around them, searching for any kind of threat. Before he could open his mouth, Yala took off running down the street, and the Vyns took off after him, wondering what the hell was up with the Twin.