Flutters of panic rooted him to the spot as he jutted out his chin. “No.”
“Then how do you suggest we get to my partner without being spotted?” the man growled. “Or should we just hang around here until you have another Vision and the Brotherhood finds us?”
Without stepping away from the door, Ravi ignored his snide tone and turned to peer through the grimy window. No one moved in the narrow street outside, but he could hear the bustle of people not far off. The air was redolent of sewage and fish, which meant they were close to Arcadia, where all the shit from Rassat’s elite literally ran downhill. He’d need to go outside to get his bearings, but they were at least near territory he knew well… and territory the Brotherhood only entered begrudgingly. Apparently, the Unnamed and the poor didn’t need as much spiritual guidance and attention as the wealthier classes. But honestly, many of the people who lived in Arcadia preferred it that way.
“I can find someone in Arcadia to go get your friend and bring her back to us,” Ravi replied slowly.
“That’ll waste too much time. And how do we know we can trust this person?” he countered.
“It’s my life too, you know,” Ravi shot back. “I have people I trust. They can get word to your friend.”
“Before we’re spotted? Before you have another Vision?”
Ravi clenched his jaw and counted to ten. “I can’t guarantee that, no. But there are plenty of places to hide in Arcadia, and plenty of people with no real love for the Brotherhood. Besides, I’m usually fine on the streets I know. The Visions mostly happen when I meet someone new or touch someone. As long as I stay awake and away from crowds of strangers, I should be okay.”
The stranger in front of him looked skeptical, but Ravi stubbornly held his gaze. After facing off like that for a few more seconds, the man rolled his eyes.
“Fine. Let’s just do something before we waste even more time,” he huffed.
Ravi still had no guarantees the guy wouldn’t run away at the first opportunity, but the big idiot was right—they were out of time. The streets would be filled with people all too soon.
“Follow me,” Ravi said as he reached for the door latch.
He poked his head out and glanced both ways through the light morning mist before exiting their little shelter. Heading in the opposite direction of the bustling lines of laborers on their way to the docks, he clutched his bag close, scurried down to the far end of the street, and stopped. The stranger came up behind him, looming over him, and Ravi scowled.
“Can you try to look a little less….” Ravi swept a hand up and down as he fumbled for words.
“Less what?”
“Less, you know, big… thuggish.”
“Thuggish?”
The guy actually looked offended for about a second before his lips twisted in that infuriating smirk.
“You’re going to draw too much attention,” Ravi huffed. “The leather breeches stand out enough on their own. Just hunker down a little. Don’t look so damned puffed up. This is Arcadia. You need to look beaten down by life.”
When the man blinked at him in surprise, Ravi winced. “You know what I mean.”
“I take it you’re not from around here either,” the guy murmured blandly, and Ravi shook his head.
“I am now… or I was, anyway.”
The realization of what he was about to leave behind hit him like a punch to the gut, and he clenched his jaw as his throat closed.
“Come on,” he hissed.
They scuttled down every alley Ravi knew to avoid the main streets. At first, instinct led him toward home, or at least their most recent squat, but he changed course as soon as he realized it. The last thing he wanted to do was lead the Brotherhood straight to the others. He just needed to find a familiar face, that’s all.
After about the fourth time they’d changed direction and hunkered down behind some trash at the edge of a square, his companion nudged him and cleared his throat. “Uh, I don’t want to make you hit me again,” he murmured, “but we appear to be going around in circles. And if your plan is to avoid running into people, this doesn’t seem like the best place to be. Just throwing that out there.”
Ravi scowled over his shoulder, but the big jerk wasn’t wrong. He bit his lip, turned, and desperately searched the crowd again. Just when panic threatened, he spotted Sparrow scurrying through the thickening press of bodies, carrying a load that looked far too heavy for her tiny body, and his heart sang. He shot out of the alley and jogged after her before she could get too far away.
“Sparrow!” he called out as loudly as he dared.
She skidded to a halt, and a relieved smile spread across her face when she caught sight of him. “You didn’t leave!” she cried as she hurried over. She dropped her burden and made as if to fling herself at him, but stopped just in time and gave him a rueful smile. “You’re still here.”
Ravi closed his eyes as pain tightened his chest before he nodded. “I’m here.”
“Vic said you left. You didn’t say goodbye,” she accused, her full lower lip jutting out from grubby cheeks below a mop of tangled brown hair.
Ravi often forgot just how young most of the members of their cobbled-together little family were because of how fast they all had to grow up to survive. Sparrow looked so young right now, it hurt.
“I couldn’t. I had to
