“No,” Amaranthe said and Books shouted.
If not for the gust of cold air blowing snow through the back door, Amaranthe would not have noticed Sicarius’s entrance. He glided to their counter, white flakes dusting his hair and shoulders. They had finished researching Larocka’s long list of properties that morning. She did not know where he had been since then.
Books returned to the press to prepare the next batch.
Wordlessly, Amaranthe gestured for Akstyr to let Sicarius see the bill.
Sicarius studied it briefly. “Sufficient.”
“Ready for a mission?” Amaranthe asked him. “You too, Akstyr.”
“Huh?” Akstyr glanced at Sicarius. “With him?”
“You wanted someone who could watch your back while you worked your science, didn’t you?” She smiled, willing Akstyr to forget that Sicarius had threatened to break his neck a couple days earlier. “There isn’t anyone better.”
“Uhm.” Akstyr didn’t look sold.
“What mission?” Sicarius asked.
“I would like a chance to observe Larocka Myll. We’ve got a long list of businesses and properties she owns, but if we have to visit each personally, hoping to catch her there…it’ll be fool’s luck if we run into her before the emperor’s birthday. Someone with as many apple tarts in the oven as she has won’t be personally overseeing any of her businesses. Our best bet will be to catch her at home.”
“Which is likely warded,” Sicarius said.
Akstyr’s eyes twitched; he recognized the term. Good. While she doubted someone so young would have much of a magic arsenal, if he could identify it being used, that alone would be worth a lot.
“Maybe,” Amaranthe said. “That’s what we need to verify. We can’t assume that just because Hollowcrest’s assassin had trouble getting in means there isn’t a way. That fellow didn’t have Akstyr’s help investigating. And he was an unprofessional lout.”
“So, we scout the house.” Sicarius nodded.
“And if there is a way in-”
“I’ll kill her tonight,” Sicarius said bluntly.
“Er, yes, that would preclude the need for me to observe her.” Amaranthe would have preferred a solution that did not include killing people, but she doubted Sicarius would agree and did not want to argue with him in front of the others. “Just make sure she doesn’t have accomplices with orders to carry her work on. Forge could be a large coalition.”
“I know how to question someone,” Sicarius said.
“Of course.” She lifted an apologetic hand.
Though his expressionless facade remained in place, he seemed testier than usual tonight. Did he simply taste the chance to rid the emperor of his biggest threat? Or was something else going on? Where did he go when he wasn’t with them at the cannery?
“Boy, come.” Sicarius gestured for Akstyr to lead the way out the door.
Akstyr gulped and glanced at Amaranthe before scurrying for the exit. Remembering Sicarius’s earlier admission that all these men were disposable, she hoped she wasn’t endangering Akstyr’s life. But surely Sicarius would recognize the advantage of keeping a fledgling wizard around in a city where magic was believed the stuff of myth.
“You look concerned.” Books turned the wheel to screw down the press.
“It’s my new normative state,” Amaranthe said. “Are you up to helping me with some research tomorrow? If they don’t succeed in killing anyone tonight?”
“What do you need?”
“I want more information on Larocka and her businesses. I have names for all of them, but some aren’t illuminating. Right now, we know where she lives and where her properties are located. That’s a good start, but it’d be useful to know more about her history and her connections. Maybe they could lead us to other members of the Forge group. Also, if her home is magically protected, how did that come to be? Has she traveled out of the country? Does she bring back wizards like others bring back souvenirs?”
“You suggest a trip to the library?” Books said. “Some time spent perusing the newspapers and industry publications?”
“I think it’d be an enlightening experience.”
“Enlightening enough to keep me from having to stand outside tonight, pretending I know how to pull watch duty?”
Amaranthe smiled. “Perhaps.”
• • • • •
When Amaranthe stepped outside after midnight, she caught Maldynado peeing his name in the snow. The bright, starry sky revealed a little too much and she cleared her throat as she approached.
“So much for keeping our hideout inconspicuous,” she said.
“Standing out here is about as exciting as watching cherries ripen.” Without a glimmer of embarrassment, Maldynado buttoned his pants. “I’ve got to keep myself amused and awake somehow.”
“Anything happen while you were out here?”
“Not really. A grizzled old veteran using a musket for a cane took up residence in the warehouse on the next dock, but I think he’s just squatting for the night. He built a fire and went to sleep.”
“All right, thanks,” she said. “You can go to sleep now.”
He started past her, but paused and frowned down. “Have you had any? That press was in there creaking longer and louder than…my bed most nights.”
“I’m fine.” Amaranthe stretched and jumped to ward off the chill. When he hesitated, she added, “You’re welcome to stay out here and regale me with tales of your bedroom exploits, but I assume you want some sleep.”
“Depends on whether Books is snoring again,” Maldynado muttered, but he lifted a gloved hand in parting and tramped indoors.
Amaranthe paced the perimeter of the cannery to stay warm. She alternated between yawning and shivering. If not for her mittens, she would have added fingernail nibbling into the rotation. Hours passed, and Sicarius and Akstyr did not return.
What if Sicarius had found a breach in Myll’s house defenses and gone inside? What if he had been caught? What if, even now, under the influence of some magical torture, Akstyr and Sicarius were spilling kegs full of information on the emperor’s drugged state and Amaranthe’s plans? What if-
A screech tore through the air.
Amaranthe jumped. Before her heels hit the ground, she ripped her knife out of its sheath. She knew that screech. And she knew it wasn’t far away either. A block, maybe two?
The inhuman scream had caught her on the far side of her circuit, and the cannery blocked her view of the street. She could run inside and shimmy up one of those ropes. Or she could sneak out front for a look.
“It was a couple blocks away,” she breathed. “I ought to be…” She didn’t say safe. To investigate could be stupid, and she knew it. And yet…
The wind shifted, blowing from the north instead of in across the lake. A hint of something meaty tinged the air. Blood?
You’re imagining things, girl. You’re not a scent hound…
She had to look. Stepping toe first, as lightly as she could, she eased around the corner of the building and crept along the dock toward the street. Something crunched on the snow in front of the building. Amaranthe froze, knife ready, though she doubted her insignificant blade could do anything against that creature.
Akstyr and Sicarius trotted around the corner.
Before she could sag in relief, Sicarius said, “Inside.”
“We just passed a big bloody body in the street,” Akstyr blurted. “It was still gushing!”
“Inside is good.” Amaranthe meant to jog before them at a calm and confident pace. Nerves nipped at her heels though, and she sprinted down the side of the building and through the door.
Sicarius and Akstyr followed right behind. Sicarius shut the door.
“Think we need to be in the rafters?” Amaranthe pointed at the ropes and wondered if she should yell to
