Unlike the first emergency of the morning, Noble made it to the next scene long after the area was secured.
Child of Promise walked up to the tape that had cordoned off the street before a policeman blocked her path.
"This is an active crime scene." The officer took one look at the woman's eyes and took a step back. "Ma'am! It's nothing personal! We cannot let anyone in just now, unless you have a personal connection to the family."
'Why does he look like he has seen a ghost?' Noble realized just how frightening her eyes must look with all the emotion she was containing. She blinked, returning them to a more natural blue.
"I don't want to disrupt your work, especially if everything is alright now."
The officer frowned. "You were not friends with Master Tympst, were you?"
'He used the past tense...'
Glancing over his shoulder, Noble understood why. Multiple body bags were being loaded into emergency vehicles.
"Master Tympst of the House of Night?"
The officer's emotions spiked, telling her all she needed to know. She felt for the emotional signatures of the two assassins from earlier that day. There was no way that they could have made it this far so fast normally, but there were too many Aspects for Noble to completely discount the possibility.
She didn't feel them anywhere in the vicinity, though.
"Is everyone dead, including the attackers?"
"I didn't say there were attackers." The policeman suddenly eyed her warily.
Noble waved off his concern. He could be suspicious all he wanted. She had not done anything wrong. "You said it was an active crime scene, and I have counted at least seven bodies. If one person did all that to a Legacy in his own home, then they are truly powerful. Did you catch them, or are they dead?"
"I am not at liberty to discuss the investigation." The policeman shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I can direct you to my supervisor, ma'am..."
Noble used her second sight to view what was beyond the walls of the affluent home. Smoke billowed out of all of the fractured windows. Inside, the fire had been contained but not extinguished. Based on the smell in the air outside, something chemical had been used to start the blaze, and depending on the concoction, it wouldn't be finished smouldering until late into the night.
That would delay any investigation until well after the trail went cold. That was the point, Noble realized. However, Child of Promise didn't need to be inside the building to survey the extensive damage. The family had put up a fight before meeting their gruesome end.
Inside, a few people wore protective suits looking for more victims or survivors, but otherwise there was no movement in the mansion. There was nothing more for Noble to find here.
"I don't need your supervisor. I'll be on my way."
This time Noble walked down the street away from the scene. Two attacks on House of Night members…
'No...three...' Noble couldn't prove that the other column of smoke she had seen was due to the House of Night, but it was a logical guess.
That was not a coincidence. That was a pattern. That… was problematic.
What had caused the clan's quiet internal strife to suddenly become so public? Something had changed, and Noble didn't like it.
There were enough human-created problems with the war in the Dream Realm. Why was another one of the pillars of humanity suddenly deciding to wage war against itself?
'Something is off.'
Noble couldn't worry about all of the House of Night, but as she heard another loud pop, she did begin to be concerned for those she knew within that group. She had come into contact with two prominent members of the clan.
Saint Naeve had given her safe passage to the Sword Domain for her to conquer her Third Nightmare. He did not strike Noble as someone who would play political games.
'That wouldn't make him an instigator, but that could make him a target.'
The second person was one she had already thought about that day: Saint Aether. Having gone through a Nightmare with him, she knew him much better. He was as honest as they came, not wanting to dabble in politics nor be forced into a political marriage.
Noble began to fear for the two men whom she held in high regard.
'If they don't know about the attacks by now, someone should warn them.'
The floating woman refused to believe that either of them would have resorted to such underhanded tactics to take out perceived competition, which meant they would be affected by the plot.
The problem was Noble had no idea where either of them lived. Neave surely lived in the NQSC or near it because he had ferried people back and forth from Antarctica to the shore closest to the capital.
Aether could be anywhere. Noble had never thought to ask him because she was unwilling to give any personal information in return.
The easiest way to discover the location was to look for them.
Noble's connection to Naeve was not deep, but it was still present. The tie to Aether ran much deeper, as it should with a former cohort member.
Noble pulled on her connections to both legacies, and her eyes widened. They were in the same direction.
'No…they are in the same place!'
Two Saints from the House of Night were together. And if she could find them and discover they were in the same place…
So could someone else!
The ground became more distant as Noble soared into the sky. There was no time to waste. Another pillar of smoke was already filling the world with its inky blackness. The smell of tar filled Noble's nose. The smoke did not seem to be escaping the protective dome, so the higher she went, the thicker the air felt.
Noble held her breath even as her eyes stung from the contaminants in the air.
'If this keeps up, all of the NQSC will be set ablaze before long.'
How many members were there in the House of Night? Noble wasn't sure.
It was also possible that other crimes were happening under the cover of this greater scheme. Below her, the people were clearing the streets, afraid of going indoors, but also unwilling to continue breathing the low-quality air.
Fear was as rampant just now in the NQSC as the pollution. Few knew what was going on, and even fewer were able to do anything about it.
'If it's so widespread, why hasn't the government issued an alert?'
Then she wouldn't have to race across the city because the men would have their communicators ringing like a gate was opening.
There was no such luck. Noble dove below the smoke as she came closer to the two Saints she sought. Releasing the breath she had been holding, Noble took in a fresh lungful of air.
Well, fresh was relative, but she didn't care. Noble was still too far from her destination. She passed over the most affluent part of town where the buildings were farther apart and lower to the ground. She steered clear of the Bastion compound.
'I don't want any trouble from them today.'
There was no time to explain what she was doing or why, so she avoided the situation altogether.
Minutes passed as Noble continued to follow the connection and grow closer to her goal.
Landing at last at the front door of a mansion with an aquamarine door, she knocked once.
The home exploded around her.