“Yes, Pea-Brain, new demon worlds. This isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last. Every time humans find their world, the smoke people end up being exploited and hunted. When that happens, they just . . . move somewhere else.”
“How do you know this?” Ambrose asked.
“I’ve seen into the demons’ thoughts. In the demon world, I see into everyone’s thoughts quickly. Instantly. You know that, Sir Ambrose. I saw your whole life in moments. It’s just something I can do.” She smiled briefly, a genuine smile for once. “Something I seem to be uniquely good at. And I’ve seen into the demons’ thoughts, their knowledge of the world. Knowledge they don’t normally share with anyone, not even Little Miss Pea-Brain, but I saw it. It’s like having a key to a door; once you have it and open the door, the information is all there, and you just have to walk through and see inside their collective memory.”
It was certainly true that Frost had seen Ambrose’s whole life in an instant. “So you’ve seen in the demons’ thoughts that their world closes up, and the smoke moves away to form another?” he said.
“Yes, I have. That’s exactly what I’ve seen. The tunnels close down, the cavern gets smaller, the old world dies as the smoke builds up. Haven’t you noticed that the smoke is changing too? Getting paler and hotter. Eventually it’ll go white and be so hot that nothing’ll keep it in. It’ll move up into a cloud of burning heat. A cloud of death.”
“Death of the demons?” Ambrose asked.
Frost rolled her eyes. “Death of anything that’s close to the smoke when it turns white.” She kept her gaze on Ambrose as she added, “Not just the smoke in the demon world. All the smoke everywhere. It’s all connected. It’ll all burn and destroy anything near it. The smoke in the bottles carried by the boys’ brigades. The smoke in the boys’ lungs. And the smoke in that small bottle Queen Catherine carries close to her ever-so-fragile heart. It’s all connected; it all belongs to the cloud. It will find a way to get free, and it will kill anything it touches.” She blinked innocently up at Ambrose.
Ambrose felt his stomach clench. He turned to Tash. “Do you believe this?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “But all the smoke is connected. And it is changing.”
“How soon will it happen?” Ambrose asked.
Frost shrugged. “That I don’t know, but I’m not going back in there to find out. Today or tomorrow or the next day . . . I’m not sure which, but I’m certain that if you come back here next week, there won’t be a demon world to see. It’ll have moved to a new place to start again.” Frost blinked and smiled at Ambrose. “Anyway, lesson time’s over. Aren’t you off to save your lady love?”
Ambrose hesitated. “My men are in there. They’ll die.”
Frost frowned theatrically. “Oh, yes. I quite forgot about that. Well, you have a choice to make, don’t you? Save them or save your queen. Or . . .” She turned to Tash. “You could always send her back.”
Ambrose cursed.
Tash put her hand on his arm. “You warn Catherine. I’ll go back. I’ll get them out. It won’t take more than half a day, if I’m quick. I can do it.”
“But it could turn white at any moment.”
“I have to try. But what are you going to do about her?” Tash asked, nodding at Frost.
“I’ll think of something.”
“Something painful, I hope.” Tash gave a quick smile. “I need to go. Not a moment to spare, I guess.” She made a fist and knocked it against Ambrose’s. “Good luck—and don’t fuck up.”
“Um, same to you, Tash.”
And then she turned and ran into her tunnel. Ambrose felt guilty about letting her put herself in danger, but he couldn’t stop her, and he had to warn Catherine. But what to do with Frost? He couldn’t kill her, but he couldn’t release her either in case she raised the alarm. All he could do was take her with him until he came up with a better idea.
“Come on,” he said, dragging Frost with him. He set off, keeping a tight hold of her wrist and was surprised to find her going with him, neither resisting nor slowing him.
Still she said, “You’d be faster if you left me.”
“Yes, until you send the Brigantines after me, and then I’d be dead.”