By the time she entered her room, Eileen was more than ready to fall asleep. Her feet ached from the strain of jumping off a building. Not so much that it caused any pain, more of a phantom sensation of hitting the ground with significant force. It would fade soon.

  Her eyes blinked open to gaze at the faint glow of her mailing orb, a reminder of what she needed to do. They fluttered close, a sigh leaving her mouth as she moved off the bed to a sitting position. Her hand went to the colr of her coat, pulling it away to let the cool air in.

  Heat from the warming charms made the shirt stick uncomfortably to her skin. Eileen’s nose crinkled, a quick grimace on her lips as she got out of bed. Right. First, she needed to get into something more comfortable.

  Tugging off the wig to let her hair free, she quickly changed into her night clothes. A content sigh left her at the lightness of them on her skin as she sat down in her seat. Much better.

  Pulling out a piece of paper, she started on her letter.

  Grandpa,

  Eileen pauses then, uncertain on what part of the night to begin with. A part of her wants to tell him everything, but she knows she’ll only receive nagging in response. Her grandfather was firm believer in only reporting things you knew for certain.

  It was a policy she agreed with wholeheartedly, an assurance you’d investigated instead of making accusations at the slightest suspicion. Eileen and her friends had been in enough situations where that wasn’t the case. Those didn’t end well for anyone involved.

  I know you said you’d sent over everything you know, but…Grandpa, did father have any enemies? You’re probably scoffing at the thought, but I need to know. And before you ask, yes I do have a reason for asking this out of the blue. Something has come up.

  Again, she hesitates, lips thinning. Should she risk adding the details of the night. These orbs were generally safe, but there was always the slight risk of interception by people who could tamper with them.

  Or maybe that was just paranoia speaking. After all, it has always been safe before. Damn it, grandpa. She shook her head, taking a deep breath and rechecking her orb for possible tampering. No change. Good.

  Tonight I saw a board of knives on the wall with his picture at the centre. It was…obsessive. And yes, I know it doesn’t automatically lend to a murder, but you have to admit it’s very suspicious. Which is why I’m asking you to run a background check for me.

  The man’s name is Leo Conner. From what I can tell, he seems to be affiliated with the underground crime network somehow. Specifically, ask Aren to focus on why he has such a grudge on father, but you know any information is welcome.

  In any case, Leo Conner was officially going on her list of suspects. Eileen’s mind fshes back to the room, specifically the murmur of conversation. She hadn’t been able to listen to much of it, but the snippets she had heard were enough.

  Anyone who was affiliated with them and had regur business transactions with known criminals was suspicious. Eileen debated putting that into her letter as well, but decides against it. She still puts CalumFalkner’s name on her list though. Better to be safe.

  That’s all I wanted to say Grandpa, it’s been a confusing night. I’ll let you know when I make sense of it.

  Don’t forget to look after yourself,

  Your only granddaughter.

  Reading it over once to make sure it says all she wants to say, she seals it and puts it through the mailing orb. Her eyes blink shut, listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall as the faint glow brightens and buzzes. They open, gncing down to the orb.

  A smile flickers over her lips to see it has been safely delivered. Good.

  Stretching her hands out behind her, Eileen allowed her gaze to wander upwards. The familiar cracking of paint around the walls and soft shadows lent the room more peace than she felt. Her mind had decided to switch awake given the slightest leeway.

  Electricity buzzed under her skin like lightning through Calguren’s sky, frantic and incessant. It would likely not fade unless given what it wanted. Yet, that was something she could not give it. Not yet.

  The near miss earlier still remained in the back of her mind. The sound of the creaking floorboards outside that rundown hotel was something she wasn’t likely to forget. Her lips thinned. Nor would she forget the look on Raiden’s face.

  Frozen in pce with fear slowly creeping through. Wide eyes and gaping mouth. She wasn’t sure whether he’d even noticed the tremble in his hands. Or the way the blood had drained from his face with every passing second.

  She’d acted on instinct at seeing it, an escape pn forming as adrenaline soared. Eileen had only waited for Raiden to disappear from the ledge before going through. A flicker of a smile passed over her face again. It had been just in time before the door had swung open, it seems.

  Not that she’d been able to catch more than a few snippets of conversation before Raiden’s worry had grown palpable and she didn’t have any more time to waste. Eileen huffed a ugh, legs swinging of the chair. The idiot, she thought with a sense of fond exasperation.

  To think after all that, he still insisted on helping her with her investigation? Absolute madness. Still. Eileen could concede that it wasn’t the worst idea to have a second set of eyes with her. If anything, it had proven very useful thus far.

  But these were thoughts for another day. The tangent did very little to distract her from the need to do something. More specifically, she wanted to go back to the building. To research about it. She wanted to find out what their connection was.

  Yet, half of those she’d already set in motion and the other needed to wait. It was both inefficient and unlikely she’d be able to achieve any of it at two in the morning. She did, however, make note of it before heading into the corridors of her manor.

  Ghosts dwelled in these halls. Eileen had always known such was the case. Being assaulted by images of her happy childhood every time she dared to walk through only cemented the fact.

  One would think she’d be used to it by now. Apparently not.

  She stilled in her step to take a settling breath. One breath. Two. Three. Whoosh. Good. Now, a few steps to the right. A step to the left. Three doors down and a turn right. There. Finally.

  Smiling to herself, she steps into the open room. Dust covering the dummies at the door and the targets. Marble pilrs supporting the roof, and tinted gss walls on either side. It’s a little nostalgic to see the wall of weapons around the room.

  Echoes of ughter seem to carry around her as she makes her way to the tray of knives id untouched since they’d st been here. She couldn’t even find it within herself to feel annoyed that no one had thought to clean this room. Eileen already knew why they hadn’t, It was the same reason she hadn’t.

  Memories very pesky things to combat. Fighting tangible things were often far more fruitful endeavours. Eileen’s head moved to rest on the ebony cabinet, eyes shutting closed for another moment.

  Her hand reached for a knife and tossed it backwards in the next, a satisfied smile spreading when she hears a thud behind her. Enough ruminating. She wants to feel dead on her feet by the end of this. So much so that there’s no room for anything else.

  No room for another thought. Or allowance for her memories to invade her mind like this. Grandpa always did say a good fight was a wonder at clearing the mind. Eileen unfortunately cannot do that. Training her reflexes is as good a substitute as any.

  Twirling another dagger, she waits only until it catches onto her palm before throwing it after the first. Thud! Good. Now for two. Thud! Thud! Three. Thud! Screech! Thud!

  Eileen’s eyes narrowed, following the screech to where the silver-hilted dagger lies discarded. Missing it’s intended target by far more than inch, it had bounced off the gss instead. Her lips thinned.

  Well. She had come here to train.

  It took longer than she would have liked for her throws to hit where she wanted as the number of daggers increased. Yes, that could be partially attributed to the tiring day, but Eileen didn’t feel like leaving it to chance. Instead, it would be better to retrain her movements so she wasn’t caught off guard if the situation ever arise.

  Even one missed target could be the difference between life and death.

  Eileen huffs a tired ugh at the thought, shirt feeling sticky on her back. She grimaces as she comes back to herself, feeling the air cool the perspiration on her skin. Great. Now she’ll have to change again. Sigh. She supposes she should have considered that before doing this.

  Pulling a towel from the cupboard she makes her way into the shower. The warm water feels like heaven on her skin. A pleasant ache in her muscles as she lets herself bask in the moment. Her eyes blink open as she scoops some of the shampoo to ther it into her hair. It’s been a while.

  Her hands continue their path, fingers moving through locks of hair and untangling knots. She pulls her hair into a bun on her head, letting the ther sink in as she moves onto the rest of her body. Her eyes catch sight of the bath tub as she rinses it all off, a pang of longing.

  When was the st time she had let herself rex in bath? Not in a while at least, even before she’d decided to come to Teodes. Weeks on the road weren’t exactly conducive to long baths. Especially not on missions where time was of the essence.

  One wrong move can be a fatal mistake. The thought creeps back as she finishes washing and wraps a towel around herself, hair already in one of its owns. And she remembers why she’d stopped taking long baths.

  Somewhere along the way, she’d taken her grandpa’s constant paranoia and need to do something and made it her own. In a sense it had always been hers, but not to the extent she’d allowed herself to drown in it. It wasn’t wrong to be prepared, to train for the unexpected.

  Yet, Aren and Damien were always reminding her she needed to live as well. To let go of worries and live in the present when they weren’t on a mission. Of course, neither was very good at following his own advice, but the reminder was nice. And the process of it soothing if nothing else.

  Another day, she decides. When her current worry was over or even if it wasn’t, she’d take a long bath. Maybe then she wouldn’t need to fight away the restlessness in her bones. Even saying so, there was every chance she would.

  Eileen was after all, for better or worse, her grandfather’s granddaughter. As Dane has always said, it’s both a blessing and a curse. A small smile flickers over her face as she removes the towel from her hair, having already redressed in loose clothes. Once she deems it dry enough, both get dropped into transfer disc.

  She’ll clean them properly some other day. For now, letting them dry in the manor’s undry room was enough. The convenience of magic tools never ceased to amaze her. She doubted it ever would with continuing technological advancements in addition to the magic.

  Considering the former was out of grasp for the vast majority of the popution in Teodes, the tter was a welcome change for many. Eileen couldn’t say she disagreed, even if she had grown up around magical weapons in the troops. And in their home.

  Yawning, Eileen decides it’s time to go to bed for the night. Yet, something on her table catches her eye. Through bleary eyes, she makes herself over to it, covering a yawn with the palm of her right hand and bringing the parchment to her face with the other.

  Blinking, she sees it’s a note from Ay. Eileen reads it over before putting it down. Nothing to worry about. Just Ay telling her to come see her tomorrow with no opportunity for denial. A fond snort leaves her at the thought.

  Leave it her friend to fix their problem directly. It had been a while since they’d been able to meet, just the two of them. Ay had become busy with her research for the academy and other pursuits. Not to mention, Eileen’s own preoccupation.

  Raiden would likely be busy following the lead they’d found and other matters. He had mentioned to her he had family matters to consider in the near future. His club would probably also take up his time.

  Then again, she doubted he’d miss any of their meetings even if he was. Kiran, had after all, not agreed to anything. Honestly, Eileen thinks he might just enjoy being able to say anything he likes and not worry about anything else.

  She still thinks it’s foolish that he seems to trust them so much after so little time. However, it’s not something Lenora Divine would comment on and more importantly he’s not exactly wrong. So, she supposes it’s not something she needs to worry about.

  Sighing, she tries to get comfortable again. The day truly has been far longer than she’d initially thought it would be. Her eyes grow heavy the moment her head hits the pillow. The warmth of the bnket and coolness of the breeze wandering through her room a pleasant contrast.

  Soon, it becomes difficult to keep her eyes open. Eileen admittedly doesn’t try very hard to fight it, letting herself be pulled into it instead. Third time’s the charm, it seems. The st thought she remembers having is that Ay will probably have many questions.