“Do you think—” Steifan choked on his own words, lifting a hand to cover his mouth.
I could smell it too. Blood, excrement, and fear. “The missing people. I think they might have been held here, maybe transported through the canals.”
His hand still clasped over his mouth, Steifan shook his head. “But for what purpose?” he muttered against his fingers.
I walked closer to the cages, not sure what I hoped to find. “People are stolen away for all sorts of reasons. Judging by the cages, their captors wanted them kept alive.” I glanced at the low ceiling above us. “We need to find out where we are. If this is the Montrant’s estate, it may help us piece together what happened to Charlotte.”
Footsteps echoed across the floor above us, drawing near.
“Down!” I hissed. “Go back down!”
Steifan hopped back through the hatch, barely managing to catch a ladder rung to slow his fall.
My descent was no more graceful, and I nearly lost the lantern on my way down. I had just eased the hatch shut when footsteps hurried down the cellar stairs. I descended the last few steps of the ladder, then waited shoulder to shoulder with Steifan at the bottom.
“Get her in the cage,” a man’s voice strained.
Muffled cries, then the sound of a cage door slamming shut.
One moment Steifan was standing beside me, and the next he was lunging for the ladder.
I grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, giving him a demonstration of my unnatural strength. He stumbled, and would have fallen into the water if I hadn’t maintained my grip on his cloak.
I jerked his collar, bringing him to face me, then lifted a finger in front of my lips. While his outrage was admirable, we weren’t going to stupidly rush into things. The girl was in a cage now, she wasn’t going anywhere without us noticing. And if we could follow her, we might find the other missing people, including Bastien.
Steifan’s eyes finally focused on me. His jaw was tight, but he nodded.
We both went still as two sets of footsteps echoed up the stairs, leaving behind only the sound of soft crying.
Steifan met my gaze solidly. “We have to get her out of there,” he hissed.
I gripped his wrist, just in case. “If we leave her long enough to be transported, we may find the other missing people.”
His eyes flew wide. “We can’t leave her in a cage, she must be terrified.”
I kept my voice low. “Think, Steifan. Her being scared now could save many lives. If the missing people are still in the city, we have to find them. We have to find Bastien.”
His expression fell. “We at least have to tell her that we intend to save her.”
This was one of those moments where working with someone so new to hunting was a massive detriment. Being a hunter required practicality above all else. We couldn’t let one girl’s fear risk an unknown number of lives. “If we go up there, she might start screaming, and the missing people could all end up dead. Do you want their blood on your hands?”
It was the first time Steifan had ever looked at me with hatred. My gut clenched, but I knew I was right. He had to see reason, whether he liked that reason or not.
“We will wait right here until she is moved,” he said slowly. “We will ensure she comes to no harm.”
“Agreed.”
He relaxed his stance, probably thinking he had won the battle. In truth, I had planned on waiting here until the girl was moved regardless. I wasn’t about to let her slip through our fingers.
I didn’t know if this was all related to Charlotte’s murder, but it would be a pretty big coincidence if it wasn’t. If Charlotte and the duke knew people were being taken, it could’ve been the reason Charlotte was killed. I needed to figure out who else was involved, and not just to solve a murder. Anyone involved in stealing people away needed to be brought to justice.
My sword felt heavy at my hip, longing to protect the weak from these monsters. For although a sword was perhaps the most brutal form of justice, it was my favorite kind.
Chapter Twelve
I could sense the sky growing dark outside as we waited down in the canal. Eventually the girl above had stopped crying. I genuinely hoped she had fallen asleep to spare herself from waiting in fear.
Steifan sat with his back against the damp stone wall, his shoulders hunched and knees pulled up to his chest. The lantern sat on the ground beside him, the wick pulled low to dampen the flame and preserve oil.
I waited on the other side of the ladder, leaning one shoulder against the stones. I had moved my sword from my hip to my back. If we were to fight, I didn’t want to waste the few extra seconds it would take to draw it from my hip.
Steifan looked up toward the ladder at the sound of footsteps. The girl started crying again, her sobs accompanied by the metal creak of the cage door opening.
Steifan stood, and we both waited, looking up at the ladder. We locked eyes as the footsteps and the sound of crying stopped right above us. Steifan grabbed the lantern, and we both fled around the corner in the direction we’d come.
I peeked around the corner as the hatch door opened, letting a pool of light down into the canal.
“Climb,” a man’s voice ordered, the same one who had ordered the girl put in the cage.
I saw the hem of a dark colored dress billowing around two small feet coming down the ladder. She wasn’t a child, but she most certainly wasn’t an adult either. It was difficult to judge for sure in the low lighting.
I pulled myself back around the corner. If they came
