“I don’t know.”
The figure who looked like James limped toward the end of the alley.
Gavin smiled to himself. He thought he’d been a little bit more cautious with the knife to the groin, but perhaps he hadn’t been as cautious as he’d thought. The constables reached the end of the alley, and they paused while looking out.
Gavin followed them, creeping along the rooftop. Thankfully this section of the city had roofs that weren’t nearly as sloped as in other parts, which meant he could stay up here. At the end of the alley, he flattened himself to look down. The constables moved along the street.
He slipped down, dropping to the ground, and he started forward. Movement behind him caught his attention.
Gavin spun, whipping the El’aras dagger around.
Five constables were there. Davel Chan was among them.
The other constables were all of a similar size; average build, average height, and average appearance. They had on the gray pants and jackets, each of them armed with a sword, their dark blue cloaks fluttering in the wind. Then there was Davel Chan. He was shorter than the rest, wider, and perhaps more dangerous.
Gavin grinned. “Here I thought you’d abandoned them.”
“That was you?” Chan asked.
“I was the one who sent the message.”
The constables remained arranged around the alley, as if trying to block him from going down it. Gavin wasn’t blocked from the street, though he suspected they had other ways of preventing him from going anywhere. If he was right, then there were also constables that moved along the street toward him.
He didn’t have much time before he’d have to resolve this. Either he was going to have to fight through them, or he was going to have to come to terms with them. At this point, given how he’d been used, he was tempted to do the former.
It wasn’t the smart move.
Tristan had trained him better than that. Gavin could fight through five constables, but if they were enchanted, then it would be harder than he thought.
“Did you find it?” Chan asked.
“Really? That’s all I get?”
Chan regarded him with a frown. He looked more confident than when Gavin had seen him before. “If you knew you were hired by the constables, would you have taken the job?”
“Probably not.”
“I didn’t think so. Your reputation is such that I figured you would refuse, and considering how important this item is to us, we wanted to ensure it was recovered. Where is it?”
Gavin flashed a wide smile. He shifted to glance in either direction. James and the other two constables had stopped at the end of the street. They were looking in his direction. He didn’t have to turn around to know that there would be other constables there too.
“I think the terms were another ten gold crowns when I found Zella.”
“You found her.”
“That’s what you hired me to do.”
“If you found her, then you have the egg.”
Gavin shrugged.
“We have you outnumbered, Lorren. Do you really want to fight your way through us?”
“You might have me outnumbered, and given what I’ve learned, you’re heavily enchanted as well.” He watched and waited for any sort of response, but Davel stared at Gavin, his face neutral. “You don’t want to deny it?”
“What’s there to deny?”
“I guess I thought that the constables would deny using enchantments.”
“We’ve never denied that.”
“Well, let me just tell you that I incapacitated an entire gathering of enchanters, so your paltry collection of enchantments is unlikely to pose much difficulty to me.”
Davel simply stared at him. This was a different man than Gavin had met when he’d gone to his home. That man had seemed uncertain and easily manipulated. Of course, he’d made sure to come off that way. He’d played Gavin.
Gavin shook his head. He flicked his gaze down the street that was now emptying out. The people who’d been there were clearing, and the constables would be all that remained. Even if he had the jade egg, it was unlikely he would get out of here easily.
“Where is it?” Chan asked.
“You aren’t sticking to the terms of the agreement.”
“I’m modifying them.”
Gavin shrugged. “Then I’m going to modify my response to them.”
“I don’t think that’s wise.”
“And I don’t think it’s wise for you to have challenged me.”
Davel started to chuckle. “You really think quite highly of yourself.”
“I know what I’m capable of. I’m guessing you don’t know that, though, which is reason enough for me to feel confident I’ll get past you.” He smiled. “Anyway, the agreement was another ten gold crowns when I found Zella, which I have. And then a remaining ten when I recover the jade egg.”
Chan smirked. “Fine. I’ll give you the ten gold crowns as we agreed.” He reached into his pocket, and he pulled out a pouch and tossed it toward Gavin.
Gavin crouched down, using the opportunity to search along the street and survey how many other people were there. His survey showed five coming from his left and another four coming from his right. That didn’t count James and the two other constables still there.
Quite a few. Just for him.
He lifted the bag and hefted it for a moment, gauging its weight. “Are you sure it’s ten?”
“I might’ve been a little generous with you.”
“That’s kind, but it doesn’t change the terms.”
“Really. Then you’re going to tell me where you found Zella.”
Gavin flashed a smile. “Those weren’t the terms.”
“The terms were that you would get ten gold crowns when you found Zella. Now tell me where she is.”
“Again, that wasn’t our agreement. And seeing as how you were the one who wanted to change the terms of our agreement, I don’t want to give you any reason to continue to change them.”
“Lorren—”
Gavin smirked. “Thanks for the gold crowns. I might have to pass on completing the rest of the assignment.”
“You aren’t going to get out of here. If you know where to find Zella, then—”
“I know how to find her, and I have a good idea why you want me to find her. You
