“Careful, boy.”
“I’ve been trying to figure you out, Gaspar. I might not have the whole of it, but I suspect it has something to do with Olivia and when she was taken by the Captain. You knew what she was.” The timing was right for that, at least right enough that Gavin thought he understood. “When you realized what the constables would do to her, you left. You needed money. She needed money.”
“No.”
Gavin smiled. “So you turned to thieving. Once you paid for her rescue, you couldn’t return to the constables. And I suspect you didn’t want to. Maybe I’m right. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, like I said, the timing fits.”
He waited for Gaspar to argue with him, but he didn’t.
That didn’t explain what Gaspar had been doing in the time since he’d left the constables. Those would be questions for another time.
“What about you?” Gaspar asked.
“I have to finish my other job.”
“You can’t give it back to them,” Gaspar said.
“I don’t know what I can do. I’m not so sure the enchanters need to have it either. Not after what they were willing to do.”
“Their families suffered for it.”
“They did, but…”
Gavin didn’t know what to do or say, only that he felt as if the jade egg was too powerful to leave to those within the city. They’d already proven they didn’t have the right mindset to handle power like that.
“Just work with them,” Gavin said.
“Will I see you back at the Dragon?”
Gavin glanced over, and he stared for a moment. “I don’t know.”
He walked away, and when he reached the wall, he quickly jumped to the top of it. Gaspar still looked back at him, and Gavin didn’t have anything he could even say.
“What do you want me to do?” Wrenlow asked, creeping along the wall toward him.
Gavin crouched in place a moment. “I want you to do what you want.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t have to be a fighter,” Gavin said. “I never asked that of you.”
“I know—”
“And some of the things we’ve faced are beyond even my ability.”
“That’s why you need me.” Wrenlow shrugged. “You might not always see my value—”
“I know your value,” Gavin said softly.
“But you need me. Others. You can’t do this alone. You don’t have to be alone.” He held Gavin’s gaze without flinching.
Gavin smiled. “You’re right.”
“Am I?”
He nodded. “Now get away from here before the constables show up and decide they need to pull you in for questioning.”
“What are you going to do?”
Gavin smiled. “Deal with the constables.”
He scaled down the wall, and once he was in the street, he worked his way around until he found a pair of constables on patrol.
Gavin headed straight toward them. “Call Davel Chan.”
The two constables turned and advanced on him. “What did you just say?” one of them said.
The fight was quick. Gavin darted toward the first of the constables and drove his fist into his midsection. The man bent over slightly, and Gavin jammed his open palm into his forehead, knocking him back. The second one darted toward him, and Gavin swept his knife hand around, catching him on the side of the neck. Neither would be seriously injured. He crouched over the first man he’d knocked down.
“Call Davel Chan.”
He waited, but not for long.
There had to be a dozen constables coming toward him. Gavin remained near the edge of the street, watching the coming patrol. He remained hidden and ignored the rest of the constables. It wasn’t until he caught sight of where their leader was hiding that he stepped forward.
Gavin crept up to him and nodded.
“You really prefer to take a dangerous approach,” Davel Chan said.
“I figure it’s the only way to get a hold of you.”
“You could do so without calling attention to yourself.”
Gavin shrugged. “I figure you’ll take care of things for me.”
“What do you need now?”
“I’ve completed the job.”
“You have the egg?”
Gavin nodded. “I have it.”
“Here,” Chan said, grabbing a pouch and tossing it at Gavin’s feet.
Gavin lifted it and glanced briefly inside to check to make sure the gold crowns were there.
“This is where you’re supposed to give it to me.”
“It was destroyed,” Gavin said.
“What?”
“That was what the others wanted. They destroyed the egg.” He flashed a sad smile. “Unfortunately. I know how much you wanted the egg, but I couldn’t preserve it.”
Chan narrowed his gaze. “That wasn’t the agreement.”
“The agreement was that I recover the egg. Which I did. Then it was destroyed.”
“You don’t want to make an enemy of me.”
“And you don’t want to make an enemy of me. You see, I’ve been trying to figure out just what’s been going on. You’re the one who’s been selling enchanters to the Captain. It had to be somebody who had the position and authority to make a bargain. If others in the city were to learn that, I think there would be an uproar. The constables were allowing enchanters to stay here?”
Davel Chan glared at him. Gavin kept one hand on the sword, waiting to see if it might glow. It didn’t. With the enchantments he now possessed, some of which were borrowed from the Mistress of Vines, he wasn’t nearly as concerned about his own safety as he had been when he’d faced Davel Chan before.
“You don’t need to keep going after them,” Gavin said.
“That’s our responsibility.”
“Perhaps it once had been, but no longer.”
“Why?” Chan asked.
“The enchanters were your allies. It’s time for you to start treating them that way.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Then you’ll make an enemy of me.” Gavin turned a dark eye at him. “I’m quite certain you don’t want that.”
“I thought you wanted money so you could leave the city.”
“Perhaps I did earlier. Now I don’t.”
“I’ll consider your suggestion,” Chan said.
“That’s
