Chapter 221: Ch219. Lightning
The crooked tower was exactly where Miles remembered it, nestled between two buildings that had no right accommodating it.
The alley leading there seemed longer today, stretched out like it was resisting their approach, but Mara walked beside him without a word, her eyes tracing the thin fractures in the stone around them.
The sky overhead was dark and oppressive, the kind of storm-wrought gray that hinted at something more than weather.
"This place makes my teeth itch." Mara muttered. "You sure it’s safe?"
"That just means we’re close." Miles gave her a lopsided, wry smile. "Don’t worry about it."
The tower’s door opened before they even reached it.
Inside, the Professor’s study was unchanged.
Tall shelves sagged under the weight of books that hadn’t been written yet. Mechanical orreries spun in orbits that defied basic physics, a single lamp on the desk bathed the room in amber light, casting long shadows that seemed to lean in, listening to every word said in there.
The Professor stood at the desk, reading, waiting. He hadn’t aged a day since the last time Miles saw him, and yet he looked impossibly older.
Like he had lived a thousand years in the moments between meetings.
"Miles... And Mara." His smile was soft, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "I was wondering when you’d return."