I reached the foot of the stairs and went for the door. “We will add two more murders to the list if you two don’t shut up.”
Masculine laughter followed me out the door.
Tholdri was right. My life was a lot of things. Dull was not one of them.
Chapter Sixteen
The guards didn’t blame us. Imagine that. It was clear that the bolt came from outside, and someone on the street had seen the cloaked man running away and confirmed that it wasn’t Tholdri. Though that still left us with knowing everything, but having no evidence or reliable testimony.
We explained everything to Tholdri as we headed back toward the old keep, since I wasn’t sure where else to go. I didn’t think the duke’s death would cancel out the contract on our heads. In fact, it would be safe to assume things had escalated. The duke had been killed for what he had to tell us, and now we knew highly dangerous information.
Tholdri glanced around the ruins of the old keep. Many of the camps had cleared out by the light of day with most of the traveling merchants down at the main square.
“We have to go back to the canals,” I decided. “We’ll find proof to take to the Archduke.” I leaned my back against a crumbling stone wall and looked up at the gray sky. Rain would come by midday.
“What about the Nattmara?” Steifan asked, leaning against the wall beside me.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if I could break his glamour again now that he would be ready for me. I wounded him, but there’s no saying how fast he might heal.”
“Should we go back to Ryllae?” he asked.
Finished looking around, Tholdri stood in front of us. “Who is Ryllae?”
I winced at the second mention of her name. I doubted Egar was watching us, but just in case, I didn’t want to give him any more information on her if I could help it. “She is someone whose name we should not say out loud. She taught me how to break the Nattmara’s glamour, but we can’t risk returning to her now when her blood could make him practically immortal.”
Steifan moved away from the wall to look at me. “If he kills us, there will be nothing to stop him from finding her. I think it might be worth the risk.”
“He has a point,” Tholdri said, always one to catch on quickly.
“She has strong glamour,” Steifan added. “She can protect herself.”
I mulled it over. My breathing felt too shallow, on the verge of panic. Could I face Egar again without further preparation? “Fine,” I decided, “we will go to her. I will go to her. You two will hang back and make sure no one is watching.”
Tholdri looked to Steifan. “She has become far more reasonable since she started spending time with you.”
“Or far more stupid,” I muttered, pushing away from the wall.
Tholdri laughed, and both men turned to follow me.
I kept my eyes trained on my surroundings as I walked, ignoring the presence of Tholdri and Steifan behind me. If I led Egar to Ryllae . . .
I could not think of that now. Steifan and Tholdri were right, I needed the tools to defeat the Nattmara. If I could not kill him, he would find Ryllae eventually, with or without my help.
We reached the small structure Ryllae called home. A few men and women stood around, watching goods and wagons left behind by the merchants gone to market for the day. Steifan lingered near one of the larger camps. Tholdri had diverted. I didn’t see him, but I knew he would be watching.
An older woman dressed in bright foreign silks eyed me as I neared Ryllae’s doorway. “She’s not there. I heard a struggle near dawn.”
My breath left my body, and I was frozen for a moment. Then I took an aching inhale and rushed through Ryllae’s doorway, taking in the signs one by one. Blood on the hard-packed earth. Ashes from the fire scattered. A few belongings strewn about.
My heart thundered in my ears. No mortal would be able to take one of the Sidhe on their own. Egar had found her.
I rushed back outside, spotting Steifan.
He met me halfway. “What happened?”
I shook my head over and over. This was my fault. I hadn’t been able to finish Egar off, and now he had found Ryllae. “He has her. He has Ryllae. We need to search the canals, we have to find his lair.”
Steifan’s eyes went wide. “But what if his lair isn’t in the canals?”
I reached out and gripped his arms. “It has to be.”
Tholdri appeared at my side. I turned to explain things to him, but he shook his head. “I heard, let’s go.”
I nodded. “There is an entrance to the canals not far from here. We’ll start with that. If Ryllae is still alive—”
“We will find her,” Tholdri cut me off. “I promise.”
With another nod, I turned and led the way, not speaking my final thought. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
We created a makeshift torch to light our way. Fortunately Steifan still had his borrowed flint, and I still had Ryllae’s ointment. We smeared it on our eyes and ears, for what good it would do.
I led us deep into the damp darkness, praying we could find Ryllae in time. If she was already dead, Egar would kill us all.
We passed the tunnel that would take us to the trap door in the estate cellar. I knew that direction led to other trapdoors among the estates, then eventually to the exit behind the guild hall. I didn’t think Egar would be in that direction, else we would have seen signs of him. If he was stealing the vampire’s victims, he was probably somewhere close to where they were held, but far enough to not be discovered.
We reached the place where the two men and ancient vampire fell. I held the torch inside,
