Sparrow’s eyes widened, and Ravi felt the weight of the stranger’s presence at his back. “It’s okay,” he said to her. “He’s going to help me.” I hope. “Spar, I don’t have much time. I need you or one of the others to get a message to this guy’s friend.” He turned to the stranger. “Where is she?”
“The Dog and Duck near merchant row. If she isn’t there, then we have another meeting place behind the weaver’s hall.”
Sparrow grimaced. “Ezel is paying me a whole copper to take this bundle to the temple.”
Seven Hells. That’s in the opposite direction.
The stranger held out three coppers. “After, then. We need to find a place to hole up until she can get to us anyway.”
Ravi sucked in a breath and nodded. They had to get off the street. Sparrow pocketed the money. Her eyes had widened at the coins but saddened as she turned back to Ravi.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to everyone,” he said. “I can’t now either. But you’ll all be safer without me. You know that.”
Her lower lip trembled, but she didn’t argue. “Who am I to deliver the message to?”
“My partner’s name is Shura. Have you ever met a Cigani before?”
Sparrow shook her head, her eyes rounding again. “I heard they have skin darker than the oldest of sailors’ and eyes as black as night… and they’re mighty fighters, and if they declare a blood feud, they won’t stop until every person bearing their enemy’s mark is dead,” she rattled off excitedly, bouncing on her dirty bare toes.
The stranger’s lips quirked. “And they’re ten feet tall and have claws and fangs,” he added wryly. “They’re not quite so scary as all that. They’re just people, like the rest of us, trying to survive in a world that rarely welcomes them. Shura’s skin is darker than yours and mine, and even his,” he continued, nodding in Ravi’s direction, “but more like toasted barleywine than an old sailor’s hide. She does have dark eyes and thick black hair, though. If she’s at the Dog and Duck, Faret, the innkeeper will know. Ask for him. If he says she isn’t there, leave the message with him and then try to find her at the weaver’s hall. She’s kind of hard to miss, in Rassat at least.”
“What’s the message?”
“Tell her, Daks—that’s me—Daks, uh, did as Daks always does. She’ll know what that means. Tell her I need her to pack up and come to us as soon as she can.”
He turned a questioning look to Ravi, and Ravi added, “We’ll be in that place behind Tanner’s Row. You remember it, right?”
Sparrow crinkled her little dirt-smudged nose, and Ravi smiled. “Yeah, I know. But it’s probably the safest place right now. Go, deliver your bundle, and then run as quick as you can, okay? The red cloaks are on to us. We don’t have much time.”
Her eyes bugged again, this time with fear, and Ravi ached to pull her into a hug that would convey all of his emotions without words, but he settled for giving her a reassuring smile. “Go. I’ll miss you, little bird.”
It was a testament to the kind of life they lived that Sparrow only nodded in resignation, hefted her burden onto her shoulders again, and hurried off without another word or tear shed. Ravi’s own instincts for self-preservation had him moving out of the street and into another shadowed alley without a backward glance.
“Come on,” Ravi said wearily when Daks joined him. “I know a place we can hide.”
Wisely, the big idiot didn’t say another word as Ravi led him through more of Arcadia’s narrow, trash-strewn alleys to the tanner’s row—one of the few places in Rassat that actually smelled worse than Arcadia. At least the wind was up from the ocean and the air slightly cooler today, so the stench wasn’t completely overwhelming.
Ravi pulled the edge of his patched and threadbare cloak over his nose and mouth as he ducked between loose boards in the back wall of one of the older buildings. He heard a quickly choked off gag from the big lump behind him as he also squeezed into the cramped, shadowy space. There was a reason he and Vic had kept this place as a last resort only. It would be warmer in the winter than outside, and no one would fight them for it, but that was the best that could be said about it.
“Gah. It’s even worse in here than outside,” Daks grumbled under his breath.
Ravi didn’t bother to reply. The more air he used, the more he’d have to take in. He settled on the dirt floor as close to the outside opening as possible, and Daks crouched down across from him.
“Your girl will be able to tell Shura how to find this place?” Daks asked, giving the small space a skeptical once-over.
“Yes. She’ll bring her here if need be.”
“Who is Sparrow to you?”
“A friend.”
“You trust her?”
“Yes.”
Ravi could feel the weight of Daks’s stare, but he ignored it. The man shifted and then shifted again. After a few beats, he stood up and prowled the space. Then he returned to his spot by the opening while Ravi tried to ignore him.
“How did you find it?” Daks asked finally.
“One of my friends worked here for a bit. We keep an eye out for likely squats for when the guard raids kick up again.”
“Guard raids?”
“King’s Guard comes through sometimes, clearing us out of abandoned houses and buildings, and we have to find someplace new to hide till they’re done. The King, the Brotherhood, and the city council like to keep Rassat all neat and tidy.”
He couldn’t help the hint of bitterness that crept into his voice, and sure enough, Daks was studying him intently when he dared to look.
“What?” Ravi asked defensively.
Daks shrugged. “None of my business, I guess.”
Ravi grunted and went back to staring
