“If you’re listening, we need to be careful. Davel Chan is heavily enchanted,” he said.
Gaspar’s voice came through. “I warned you.”
“What about the others?”
“They’re fine.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
Gavin exhaled. “We need to find a safe place. At least until we get through this. The constables know about the Dragon.”
“There you go again,” Gaspar said.
“What?”
“Putting the Dragon in danger.”
“You know I don’t do it on purpose.”
“Which makes it all the worse.”
“Do you know of any place that might be safe? Somewhere the constables won’t be able to reach?”
There was silence for a long while. Gavin continued to race along the rooftops, sliding every so often and recovering, then looking behind him. Davel Chan continued to follow, though there was now enough distance between them that Gavin thought he might be able to get away.
Once I got down into the street, then I could run, but to where?
The city wasn’t safe for him anymore, not until he was able to figure out what he was going to do.
“I might know a place,” Gaspar said.
“Why do I get the sense this isn’t going to be something that I’ll like?” Gavin replied.
“It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gavin approached the home in the darkness. He moved slowly, looking over his shoulder every so often for the constables that might be after him. As far as he could tell, he had lost them long ago. The street was quiet, and his gaze lingered along the shops. He watched the reflection in the glass of the shop windows. No signs of anybody following him.
That should reassure him, but at this point, nothing did. He wouldn’t put it past Davel to have some way of tracking him.
Gavin pushed the gate open, and he paused on the pathway leading up to the home. In the darkness, he studied it. It was a massive formal home with well-manicured shrubs leading up to the door. Lights glowed in each of the windows, giving a warmth to it. He watched for any movement in the windows. Nothing. He stayed in the shadows near the shrubs, watching and waiting,
He sighed.
Had I beaten Gaspar here?
Not likely, but he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that coming on his own and waiting wasn’t something he wanted to do with Davel hunting him. Maybe he had made a mistake by engaging the constables.
Or by going after the jade egg.
Or by taking the job to rescue Alex in the first place.
As he waited, he continued to look out into the night, checking the street. This was the kind of place that the constables wouldn’t think to search. There was no reason to do so. The home was too nice, and places like this generally were left alone. When he was content that there was nothing around him, Gavin headed toward the door, and he paused as the door opened.
Jessica greeted him. She shook her head slightly. “She’s gone.”
Gavin frowned at a bruise on her cheek. “What happened?”
“We were making our way over here when they grabbed her. It happened so quickly that Gaspar couldn’t do anything. Imogen neither. They both chased, but the people were too fast.”
Gavin squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. “Enchanted,” he whispered.
“That’s what they said.” She tipped her head toward the door. “Gaspar is in there. He’s in a bit of a mood.”
“I’m sure he is.” Especially if they’d failed to protect Alex. “You’re safe?”
“We’re safe. All of us are.”
“I’m glad.”
Jessica glanced past him into the night, then turned her attention back to him. “You shouldn’t have taken on the constables.”
“I gathered that.”
“He said you attacked them?”
“I did a lot of things,” Gavin said.
He waited another moment, and Jessica seemed to debate before pulling the door all the way open and letting him in. Gavin stepped inside the immaculate home. Marble tile gleamed beneath his feet. Statues lined the walls, and paintings hung there as well.
From the outside, he knew it would be a place of incredible wealth, but it was beyond what he could have imagined. It wasn’t anything like some of the manor homes. Those were formal and lavish in their own way, but this was old wealth. This was money.
Gavin stood in place, looking at the walls and the portraits and the sculptures. He turned to Jessica. “Who is Desarra?”
“You know who she is.”
“I know who she is, but who is she?”
“You’re going to have to ask Gaspar that, if you want to know.”
Gavin followed her along the hallway, and they reached the doorway of a massive room. An enormous hearth crackled with a warm and cozy flame in the back of the room.
Wrenlow jumped up and hurried over as soon as Gavin entered. “You made it.”
“You didn’t think I would?”
“I wasn’t sure whether or not you’d get into any more trouble.”
“I would’ve alerted you had there been something.”
“The way you alerted me before?” Wrenlow asked.
“I told you something was going on.”
“You did, but only after you’d already attacked them. If you’d said anything to me sooner, I might’ve been able to—”
“You wouldn’t have been able to do anything,” Gavin said. He patted Wrenlow on the arm and smiled. “Where is he?”
“He’s in there. He’s not very happy about all of this,” Wrenlow said.
“I don’t think he wanted me to know he was married before, and now that we all know, I think it’s troubling him.” Gavin looked past Wrenlow but didn’t see Gaspar. He could hear his voice though. “What about Imogen?”
“She’s out patrolling,” Jessica said as she closed the door and joined them. “She figures she isn’t a known entity, and that gives her the ability to patrol for anything concerning.”
Gavin nodded. Imogen had already proven that she wasn’t concerned about the fights they’d experienced or fearful of the potential for magical attacks.
Was there something more to that?
Maybe Imogen had some connection to magic herself, though he hadn’t seen anything from her to suggest it. As far as he knew, she was no
