Sell you a Bridge chapter 259

June 4th 2016 The Nightside 2:00 PM EDT

I  had no idea who Hadleigh Oblivion was (aside from Tommy's brother  apparently), but if Taylor was so wary of him I was guessing 'no one I  should fuck with' was the first possibility on the list. I had a feeling  if I tried to look at him with my aura sight I'd suffer for it. Still,  there was something...wrong, about him. Something off. Even without my  aura sight I got a strange impression. Not like he was a lie, but rather  the opposite. The person in front of me was the opposite of a lie. He  was the cold hard Truth, the kind you tell people when you don't care to  spare their feelings.

Which meant fuck all to me. "What  do you mean a pickle? Do you know me? Because I haven't heard of you  before, so if we have some sort of connection you'll need to fill me in  on it yourself." Despite apparently being terrifying, Hadleigh didn't  talk to me like a pissed off disciplinarian. He talked to me he was my  boss, or at least someone higher in the food chain in the same  organization. Like we had some sort of link to each other, and I  honestly had no idea what that might be.

He grinned at me.  "In some ways. I studied at the Deep School, where the forbidden  secrets of the universe are a bare minimum to graduate. Many don't know  this, but the Deep School itself is under the purview of the Endless  named Destiny. The Headmaster trains those of us who seek knowledge in  the secrets of this world, and in return we act as his agents to protect  reality from outside threats. As an Endless his ability to act directly  can sometimes be limited but people with a certain kind of fate are  fair game for him to teach."

I remembered the Deep School  graduate I'd seen on the train platform. She had seemed to know quite a  bit about me too. I wondered who this Destiny was. Maybe I'd met him?  "I'm not familiar with Destiny, at least not an entity with that name.  Does he have some relation with me?" He was telling me this like Destiny  was some kind of authority over me, which I guess if he was as powerful  as he sounded, he kind of was, but more in the way anyone powerful was  an authority over anyone else who wasn't as strong.

Hadleigh's  eyebrow went up. "She didn't tell you? Huh, that is a surprise, but  they often fail to enlighten their champions on their essential nature. I  imagine it wouldn't be too hard to think of who I mean if you wrack  your brain, but say instead that someone close to you has a connection  Destiny. Regardless, your existence in the Nightside at this moment  is...problematic. The agents of the Endless aren't supposed to interfere  with one another. It normally isn't an issue, there aren't many of us.  But your presence prevents me from more direct action."

I...had  no clue what the hell that meant. I knew who he was talking about  obviously. Del was the only powerful being who regularly interfered in  my life, and my mysterious benefactor definitely had at least a few  peers. Teague the smith was her brother, and I felt like I had heard  someone use the term "Endless" to describe him at some point. Still, I  wasn't Del's 'agent' whatever that meant. When I thought about it  though, maybe I was? Maybe Del had something to do with my powers,  Teague had certainly seemed to sense her touch on me.

Whatever  the case, it sounded like that just left us on our own here. Which  begged the question why the hell Hadleigh was even here. "So? If you  can't interfere why show up at all? Why even bother coming? I'm sure you  had better things to do than come here to let me know you would have  helped everyone if I wasn't around. I'm pretty sure if you were that  petty no one would call you the detective anything. They would just call  you an unbearable asshat. Plus who told you I was anyone's agent.  Meeting someone doesn't mean I work for them."

That drew  an inhalation from Walker, and groan from Taylor, and a coughing laugh  from Tommy. Hadleigh in the mean time just grinned appreciatively. "I  can see her influence on you. I met her once. She wasn't impressed by  much either. Figures her agent would be as insane as she is. As for how I  know you ARE...that's tricky. It's not like we wear name tags. You have  her power about you, but it could just be a concealment. I can tell  something about you is being hidden from me. Regardless, you've been  touched by an Endless, so for the purposes of our discussion you are an  agent."

He tapped the table a few times, staring at me  intently. "I didn't come here to mock or amuse myself. Not that I am  beyond such things, if I disliked you enough I imagine that would be  within the realm of possibility. Regardless though, as I mentioned,  agents of the Endless can act where our masters cannot. While the  student of Destiny and Valedictorian of the Deep School cannot interfere  here, there is nothing saying Hadleigh can't drop in to have lunch and  chat up an old student and his precious baby brother."

I  grinned at that. I could appreciate that level of sophistry. The  question then became exactly how flexible his position was. "So you're  here in an unofficial capacity. What exactly can you say in that  context. You mentioned earlier that you know what you need to know when  you need to know it. Do you even HAVE the answers we want?" I wasn't  sure how that would work, but it seemed limiting.

Despite  me questioning him, Hadleigh lit up like I had just solved world hunger.  "Give the man a kewpie doll. That was exactly the right question. To  answer your question, no, but also yes. It all depends what you ask me. I  can't tell you any of the secrets involved in this business, as that  would be interfering. But I know many things about the Nightside,  important things that I learned outside my position as the Detective  Inspectre. I can share some of those things, if you know what to ask."

His  voice was placid and cheerful, with no emphasis in any one place, but I  could almost hear him capitalizing that last bit in my head. He had a  specific question in mind that he wanted me to ask, and I suspected I  knew what it was. I took a second to frame this properly. Hadleigh, for  whatever reason, had decided I was someone he wanted to help. He'd come  here specifically to give me an opening to exploit to prepare me for  what was coming. I wasn't sure if that was because I was his brother's  student, or Del's 'agent' but I wasn't about to turn down the good will  when I most needed it.

The important part here wasn't what  he was saying though, it was what he wasn't saying. I was pretty sure  based on his mannerisms that I'd get one shot at this, so I needed to  ask the right thing. If I asked something too direct, it would violate  his non interference clause, and he wouldn't be able to help. Since that  was the case I decided focus more on what he'd said about his role  outside of all the reality saving stuff. He'd mentioned Walker  specifically, and it seemed like every word had been chosen carefully,  so I could lean into his time as The Man here.

But I  didn't think that was the right path to take. Walker was the hand of the  Authorities, it was a job, and I was betting discretion was part of  that job. Since that was the case, I needed to focus instead on a more  public identity. Something he'd hinted at already. It was his reason for  coming here, so he would have made sure to make it as clear as possible  with his actions, even if that wasn't very clear to me yet. So what  exactly had he done since arriving here? What was the first thing he did  that I was aware of?

Then it clicked. Walker. He was the  reason Walker had come to find us. But he hadn't sent Walker as his  student or as an agent of the Authorities, he'd sent him as a member of  the Londinium Club. The club was an old and powerful organization, and  Walker and Hadleigh were both members. It clicked. I sat down across  from him. "Fair enough. We can't expect you to violate your mandate.  Since you're here though, it would be a shame not to get to know each  other. Why don't you tell me some gossip about the club? That should be a  safe topic I think."

Hadleigh's smug grin let me know I'd  asked the right question. "Why, that does sound acceptable, yes?  Telling my little brother and his friends the latest juicy tidbits from  the lives of the club's more...colorful members would be a wonderfully  amusing topic. Did you have any members in particular you wished to  discuss?" He passed the ball back to me, presumably because just saying  'oh sure, let's dish, did you guys hear about how Bill from Accounting  worships the devil?' would have been a pretty obvious attempt to flout  the rules of his office.

I had  no doubt someone as canny as Hadleigh seemed to be had a good idea  exactly where the lines were, and how to best avoid them. Hell he could  probably play jump rope with the things. In that spirit, I tried to  think about the best way to broach the topic without directly asking  about our target. "I'm new in town, and you're the one who knows the  area best. Maybe you can tell us about who you think we might find the  most interesting? I bet you've got plenty of ideas about who or what  around here is the most fascinating to newbies like my friends and I."

Hadleigh  nodded, a pleased expression on his face. I'd followed his lead again,  serving back the question as he had done, and obviously giving him an  opening he had been looking for. "Of course. As a long time resident I  am happy to draw your attention to the most interesting players in the  city. Let's see..." He tapped his chin and looked up in thought, the  picture of the thinking intellectual. "Well, Max Maxwell has been trying  to stage a takeover in the waterfront district. Count Video lost a bet  to King of Skin and got himself banished from the Nightside for a year  and a day." He shrugged, tossing out an afterthought. "Oh, and the  Griffin has been a bit more active than usual lately. But not much  else."

Hadleigh  kept chattering on about nothing, talking about Tommy's childhood and  asking his brother how he had been lately, but I got the sense from his  complete shift in attention he'd already imparted the information he  wanted to pass on. Something about one of those three pieces of info  held the key to tracking down Neron, and as such, to finding my cousin.  After he finished eating and the conversation wound down, Hadleigh stood  up and straightened his coat. "Well then, I think that's all the time  off I can spare. You know,things to see, places to kill."

He  turned to look at me. "It was...interesting to meet you Morgan. I'm not  sure what exactly I expected, but it wasn't you." He paused. "Though,  perhaps that lack of predictability should have been the one thing I DID  expect. In any case I wish you look on your task. You're going to need  it. A small bit of advice, however. Whatever you think you know, it's  only part of the story. This entire mess is much more complex than you  might expect. Don't let your guard down, even at the end, or you'll  regret it." And with that, Hadleigh was just...gone. I really hated  cryptic advice from disappearing people.