Gavin frowned. He’d been taught to look for patterns, and this was the kind that piqued his curiosity. Wrenlow might need him back, but he needed to see what was going on here.
He slipped along the street, watching for anything that might provide him with an answer, but nothing explained what they were doing. As he trailed behind them, he had to twist out of sight to avoid suspicion. He didn’t want to draw too much attention.
Gavin waited as they made their way along the street. They stopped outside of a plain-looking building with no storefront, which suggested it was a home. He remained in the shadows, watching and frowning as the constables lingered outside.
What were they doing?
The crowd moved past them in between him and the constables, obscuring his view.
“Has there been a sudden influx of magic users?” he asked.
“I would have heard about it,” Wrenlow said.
“Can you look into it?”
“I’ll see what I can find. Maybe Gaspar will have heard something as well.”
Gavin stared for a moment and shifted, moving along the street to get a better view of the two soldiers. When they started moving again, there was no evidence of what the constables had done. He clenched his teeth. He had no reason to rush in and evaluate the scene.
Why should I, when doing so would only draw notice to me?
“Check with Imogen too,” he said to Wrenlow.
“Why her?”
“I think she knows more than she lets on.”
“I think you’re reaching.”
Gavin smiled. There was one thing that he’d come to learn about himself—he needed to trust his instincts. There was something more to Imogen and the strangeness he detected around Gaspar’s apprentice. He might not know what it was, but he was determined to find out. He supposed he could simply ask Gaspar, but that would take some of the fun out of it.
As he turned the corner, the constables stopped again. Like before, he could see no sign of what they were doing, especially with passersby blocking his line of sight. The constables simply stood there, and it didn’t seem as if they were talking to each other.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“What is it now?”
“The constables.”
“Can you forget about them? I told you that Jessica wanted you to come back.”
“I know she does, but I’m not entirely sure I need to be taking the job she has to offer.”
“Can you at least come back so that she can hear it from you. She won’t be thrilled if she has to hear it from me.”
Gavin sighed. “Fine, but you’re going to keep digging into this. I need to know what’s taking place here.”
He trailed after the constables as they continued, but then he stopped. A section of the street had been blocked off. All of the people around had been pushed back, leaving nothing but an empty street. That was strange.
As he stood there, a caravan of wagons moved through. All three were ornately decorated, made of gray and black lacquered wood. Dark metal ran along the length of each one, as if to prevent someone from breaking into them. Far more protection than what wagons in the city needed.
They were each guarded by several constables. Others moved in either direction along the street, preventing anyone from getting too close.
What is this?
Gavin stayed with the crowd that followed the procession. The wagons turned at the intersection up ahead.
An explosion rocketed through the street.
He hurried forward, but three figures dressed in dark robes arrived first. They raced toward one of the wagons with obviously enhanced speed—either naturally endowed or enchanted—and moving faster than he could even track. Gavin frowned at them. He had tried using speed enchantments before, but they disrupted his normal training. He found it easier to work without them. These people used enchantments with an incredible skill.
He’d never seen anyone use enchantments so openly in the city before. They must not have feared exposure, or they were completely unconcerned about the constables catching them. Given how quickly they moved, that was a real possibility.
They broke toward the wagon, knocking past the constables. Then they were gone.
The constables darted after them, also at incredible speed. Enchantments too? He hadn’t known the constables used them. That made them far more dangerous. He would have to be more careful moving through the city.
The other constables pushed back on the crowd, keeping them at bay. Gavin had no interest in what was going on or in getting any closer to the constables, but he remained transfixed. Whatever he’d just observed was unusual, especially in Yoran.
In all this time, he hadn’t seen anyone attempt to attack the constables before. The others were on edge, and a dozen of them moved away from the wagon, driving back the crowd.
An unfamiliar figure jumped from one of the other buildings. They landed on top of the central wagon and snuck inside. None of the constables seemed to have noticed.
Gavin waited, smiling to himself. Whatever this person was after had to be incredibly valuable. And the first attack had been a feint. This was the real attack. The person soon crawled back out of the wagon, jumped with incredible power, and landed on one of the nearby buildings. Their movement had to be enchanted as well.
The constables realized too late that they had been targeted again. This time, they surged toward the wagons, which started rolling rapidly along the street before disappearing around a corner.
Gavin ignored the caravan. He wasn’t concerned about that. What he was curious about was who had been daring enough to attack the constables and what they were after. He followed the figure, who raced along the rooftop and disappeared.
He was tempted to chase, though doing so along the rooftop would be difficult. Getting involved with the constables wasn’t something he wanted anyway. Instead, he turned back toward the direction of the Dragon.
What am I missing?
Maybe it had to do with magic, but maybe it
