Xavin was already this close to tracking down where the Magistratress and the princess had hidden themselves when it seems half of all living things everywhere perished. Naturally she though it was them at first, but it’s starting to seem not. Either way, when she finally pinpointed which apartment was theirs, she found it deserted.
In the three days since Mrs. Dean got them into Pride’s old headquarters and they saw Stacey Yorkes on the camera footage, Xavin’s been stalking the rich neighborhood-not their original one; it was another one, trying to make herself look like someone who belongs there. She’s really getting the look down, with the hair styling and the subtle “make-up” face painting and the jewelry of primitive “precious” metals.
Now at last she sees the Magistratress, her host not quite dressed like the people she lives around, getting out of her car and walking to one of the mansions. And it is her, and not her daughter. That was a possibility, that she and Tina Minoru both died, and the princess took over Mrs. Yorkes. But Xavin served the family more than long enough to tell them apart. Two people confirmed alive, but now she needs to find out about two more. Which is going to be the most dangerous thing she’ll do today.
She waits until she’s alone on the street to turn herself invisible. Most of the ways into the house are locked, but she finds one window near the back that isn’t, tries to open it as quietly as possible, trembling at every tiny scraping sound, even the sound of her knees hitting the display table she finds when she can finally climb through.
Her shoes are bought for silence, at least, and when no one comes running, she knows she’s undetected so far. Yet even invisible to most, she can’t be sure the Magistratress won’t be able to see her, at least if she’s not absorbed in what she’s doing.
She walks through much of the house without running into anyone. Most of it looks like it’s been unused for days, though there are dishes half set out in the dining room, and a newspaper from the day of death sitting on the coffee table. Probably anyone who lived here died.
But at last she hears footsteps, coming from one of the house’s inner rooms. Sounds like only one person. She stops walking when she can easily hear everything, ready to run as softly as she can at the first hint that the Magistratress might come her way.
There are computers in there; she can hear them. Unfortunately she can’t really tell what they do; there are multiple possibilities.
Until, after maybe half an hour of standing there, she hears the words, almost too soft to make the words out, “Where are you, Tina Minoru?”
That’s it; she now knows the fate of all four. Well, their fate on the day of death. With everything that’s happened in Los Angeles since then, Mrs. Minoru may well have perished since. But Xavin suspects not. It must have taken a lot of cunning for her to fool the Magistratess long enough to make her escape, and get herself safely hidden before her mother realized the princess was dead. And when she’d been possessed for so long, too. Even knowing all the evil she’s done, Xavin can’t help but admire her for it.
As she sneaks out, she fervently hopes Mrs. Minoru is indeed alive. They may have only one foe left now, but there are so few of them, too, left, that they’ll likely need her.