“Before I go, I need to wake him, and ask him some questions. Is that all right?”
He was sure she would object, that after all that had happened she would want to protect Holin even from this. But she surprised him. “Yes, but I’m staying right here.”
“Of course.” He put down his tea cup and shifted to the sofa so that he was sitting beside the boy. He gently shook Holin and spoke his name. At first Holin merely stirred without waking, but Ethan shook him again and called to him a second time. After another moment, the boy rolled over, his eyes open. He looked at Ethan and then his mother before lying back and staring up at the ceiling.
“How are you feeling, Holin?” Ethan asked.
The boy swallowed. “Confused.” His voice sounded weak.
“Are you in any pain? Do you feel sick?”
He shook his head and cleared his throat. “No, nothing like that. I don’t remember… How did I get here?”
“I brought you home. What’s the last thing you do remember?”
“Walking up from the wharf. It was light still. What time is it now?”
“It’s late,” Ethan said. “Past midnight.”
“Why weren’t you with Rory?” Elli asked in that same stern voice.
“He and some friends were going to a tavern.” He looked at his mother. “I didn’t think you’d want me going with them.”
In spite of everything, Ethan smiled, turning away so that Elli wouldn’t see.
Elli started to say more, then stopped and just stared at Holin. The boy had rendered her speechless. Ethan wished he had been taking notes.
“Do you remember seeing anyone?” Ethan asked, facing Holin once more. “Did you stop to speak with someone, or pass anyone in the street?”
“I don’t think so.” An instant later, he shook his head and frowned. “No,” he said with more certainty. “In fact, I remember thinking that the city seemed deserted. I didn’t see anyone, and I thought it was strange. That’s the last thing I remember: thinking that there should have been more people on the street. Then…” He shrugged. “Then you woke me up.”
Ethan and Elli shared a look.
“All right then,” Elli said, standing. “It’s time for you to get to bed. Can you make it to your room?”
“I think so,” Holin said. But he didn’t move. “What happened to me?” he asked Ethan. “Why are you here so late?”
Ethan glanced at Elli again, but she said nothing.
“I’m afraid I got you mixed up in some of my dealings, Holin. I’m sorry for that. I won’t let it happen again.”
The boy stared hard at him, obviously dissatisfied with that answer.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” Ethan said. “Nothing you should be involved in. And I think you had better get yourself to bed before your mother forbids me to ever come here again.”
“All right,” Holin said, sounding tired. He stood too quickly, swayed dangerously, and might have fallen had Ethan not reached out to steady him. “Whoa,” the boy breathed.
“Perhaps I should walk you up,” Ethan said.
With Ethan supporting the boy, they made their way up the narrow stairway to Holin’s chamber. There, Ethan and Elli helped the boy into his bed before descending the stairs once more and returning to the sitting room.
Ethan began to gather his clothes, which were warmer but still damp.
“You should stay here,” Elli said, surprising him again. “You can sleep on the sofa, by the fire.”
“Thank you, but that’s not-”
“They’ll find you if you go home.”
“Elli-”
“Look at me and tell me that you wouldn’t be safer here.”
Ethan stared back at her, but he couldn’t argue. The conjurer would want revenge for what Ethan had done to him this night, and he had little doubt that Sephira was after him, too. His room above the cooperage was the first place they would look. The Dowser would be second, and at that thought he very nearly sprinted from the house and back to the tavern without saying another word to Elli. Hearing Sephira threaten to hurt Kannice was one thing; knowing that this conjurer might go after her was something else entirely.
“Besides,” Elli went on after a brief pause, “you’re wearing John’s clothes, and I don’t want you leaving with them.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“You’re laughing at me.”
“No,” he said. Then, “A little, yes. You understand that if I were to stay here, I would be putting you and the children in danger. I would have to set a warding on the house, and that would mean spilling blood for a conjuring.”
Elli flinched at the last word, but then she gathered herself. “That’s fine. Whatever you need to do to make it safe for us.”
She was full of surprises this night.
“Thank you, Elli,” he said, and meant it. “It’s a kind offer. But there’s somewhere else I need to be.”
“At this hour?”
“Yes. You’re right: They might be looking for me. And if they are, I want to be there. Better they find me than someone else.”
“The woman. The one who owns that tavern.”
He had never mentioned Kannice to her, in large part because she had made it clear that she didn’t want to know any more about his life than she absolutely had to. She must have heard about Kannice from Holin and Clara.
“Her name’s Kannice.” They stood there for several moments, saying nothing. Ethan felt his cheeks reddening and he wasn’t sure why. “Well,” he said, bending to pick up the rest of his clothes. “I’ll change back into these and be on my way.”
“Don’t be a fool,” she said, scowling at him and sounding much more like the Elli he had grown used to these past few years. “They can’t be dry yet. Wear what you have on. You can bring them back later. Clean.”
He smiled. “Again, thank you.” He pulled on his wet hose and boots, and walked to the door. “I can still put a warding on the house. You’d all be safer.”
“No,” she said. “Thank you.” Their eyes met again. “May God keep you safe.”
“And you.”
He pulled on his damp coat, opened the door, and stepped once more into the rain and darkness.
Chapter Seventeen
As soon as he was outside, Ethan pulled his knife free, forced up his coat sleeve and the shirtsleeve beneath, and cut his forearm.
“ Velamentum ex cruore evocatum. ” Concealment, conjured from blood.
He didn’t need to feel the resonance of the spell in his body and in the street beneath him to know that he was taking a great risk. The spell would allow him to walk the lanes without being seen. Sephira and her toughs could walk right past him without knowing he was there. But if the conjurer was still hunting him, the casting of the spell might well alert him to Ethan’s whereabouts. And Ethan suspected that a man of such power would see right through a concealment charm.
Nor was he done taking risks. He strode back to Cooper’s Alley, where Pitch still lay. He couldn’t bury the dog without then telling Henry what he had done and why. But he could at least honor Pitch by placing his body where it belonged. He lifted the creature into his arms and bore him to the front of the cooperage. Kneeling, he laid him just outside Henry’s door, taking a moment to stroke the dog’s fur one last time. He didn’t dare do more.
Ethan stood and struck out for the Dowsing Rod. He still had his sleeves pushed up and he drew his knife
