Yara without saying something stupid.”
“I hardly think that’s true. I-”
“Spelunking,” Akstyr said.
This time, Maldynado’s groan wasn’t inward. Seriously, had everyone heard that? Or had it simply gotten around? “Fine, fine, I’ll tell her I appreciate her next time she’s not insulting me.” He yawned. He needed to find some sleep. “You check that one?”
Akstyr turned around and tried to open the door he’d been leaning against. “It’s locked.”
“Oh? It wasn’t locked when we searched yesterday.”
At first, they’d encountered numerous secured doors with passengers hiding on the other side, unwilling to exit the steamboat prematurely. Maldynado and the others had evicted all of those folks, though, and he remembered all of the suites being unlocked on his last search.
Maldynado gave it a harder tug and, when it didn’t budge, knocked.
“Do you actually expect a stowaway to answer the door?” Akstyr asked.
“No, but it seems polite to knock before barging into someone’s room. Can you use your magics to tell if someone’s inside?”
“Magics,” Akstyr muttered, clearly disgusted at Maldynado’s ongoing irreverence for words related to his studies.
Maldynado made a note to continue using the term.
Disgusted or not, Akstyr placed a hand on the door and closed his eyes. “Yes, I think so. One person.”
“A woman?”
Akstyr tilted his head, brow furrowing. “Yea. She doesn’t have, uhm, yea.”
Curiosity piqued, Maldynado asked, “What exactly do you see when you do that?”
“Stuff.” The boy had mastered the art of being vague and unhelpful.
“ What stuff? Can you see me through my clothes?”
“Ew, no, why would I want to?”
“I’m just wondering… ” Maldynado sighed. “Never mind. I don’t suppose you’d like to bash down the door? I’ve done a bunch of them over the last couple of days, and my shoulder’s bruised and sore.”
“Can I use the Science?”
“Sure,” Maldynado said, envisioning him picking the lock somehow.
“Really?” Akstyr’s eyebrows flew up, and Maldynado realized they might not share the same vision.
“Wait, how would you do it?”
“Well, the door’s made of wood, and wood burns… ”
“Never mind,” Maldynado said and applied his shoulder. Three jaw-rattling thumps later, the door flew open, crashing against the inside wall.
Maldynado expected darkness inside, but a couple of lamps burned at low levels, creating two soft bubbles of light in the seating area. The suite appeared identical to the one Mari had occupied, though no thoughtless intruders had shot up the furniture in this one.
Akstyr stepped past him, halted, and grunted in surprise. Expecting an enemy, Maldynado pulled out his knife while missing his rapier anew. Akstyr wasn’t staring at an enemy poised to attack, though; he was ogling a woman’s undergarments that were draped across a chair beside a door leading to the sleeping area. As if drawn by a string, Akstyr stumbled forward. He held a dagger, but it drooped, forgotten, by his waist. Maldynado hung back. While he found the notion of a naked woman as intriguing as the next man, he doubted Brynia would be lying on the bed, waiting for them.
Akstyr stopped at the doorway, his posture rigid. Maldynado started to ask if there was a problem, but Akstyr waved for him to come closer. Maldynado checked behind the furnishings in the outer room and inside a large clothes trunk before joining Akstyr. If Brynia had shot Mari, she was a dangerous woman.
Still standing in the doorway, Akstyr hadn’t moved an inch. He was staring past the bed at an opaque screen set up between a wardrobe and the lavatory door. A lamp burned behind it, illuminating the silhouette of a woman’s body, a woman’s naked body, one with voluptuous curves that tantalized even the thoughts of such a seasoned bedroom warrior as Maldynado.
Akstyr crept forward. Only his ancestors knew what he thought he’d do when he reached the screen, but he was stalking over there as silently as a cat.
Again, Maldynado hung back. This had to be a trap, a trap designed to capture horny male outlaws. Without advancing an iota, he looked about, checking the room’s nooks, shadowy corners, and even eyeing the dark recesses of the ceiling.
A premonition flicked at the back of his neck. Maldynado spun around as a slender figure dressed in black slipped through the outer doorway. Though she’d changed clothing, and added a sleek black hat to her ensemble, the fitted garments didn’t disguise feminine curves. Brynia.
She saw him at the same second he saw her. Her arm lurched up, a pistol in her hand. Maldynado threw his knife at her even as he flung himself behind the sofa. She lunged to the side, evading the weapon, but the movement threw off her shot. The bullet struck a lantern on the wall, almost knocking it onto Maldynado’s head. He caught it before it hit him, doused the flame, and threw it to distract Brynia while he slipped around the other end of the sofa. With only one light left in the room, the shadows hid him. He crept forward three steps, sprang over a cider table, and leaped at her.
The movement drew Brynia’s attention away from the sofa, and she lifted the pistol for another shot. It was too late. Maldynado crashed into her, bearing her to the deck. Despite her willingness to shoot people, she lacked combat experience, and he soon had her disarmed and face down on the floor.
“It’s a stupid doll,” came Akstyr’s voice from the doorway.
“What?” Maldynado looked up.
Akstyr held up a shapely doll. “It was propped in front of a candle, making the shape look big on the divider.”
“Don’t you think the fact that the silhouette wasn’t moving should have been a clue?” Maldynado pulled Brynia to her feet. “Congratulations, my lady. You’re our prisoner again. The emperor still wishes to see you.”
Brynia lifted her head. The hat had fallen off and her straight blonde locks tumbled about her face. She smiled up at Maldynado and leaned back, pressing her body into his. “What’s the hurry? It’s a long trip downriver.” She spared a smile for Akstyr too. “The doll is based on the real thing, my handsome young fellow. Perhaps you’d like to see?”
Akstyr stared at her, then at the doll, then at her. “Uh, really?”
“We need to get you a woman, Akstyr,” Maldynado said.
“That can be arranged,” Brynia said.
Maldynado gave her a warning shake and, without relinquishing his grip, readjusted her so a couple of inches of air separated their bodies. A flash of irritation crossed her face, but she molded it into an interested smile and kept beaming it in Akstyr’s direction.
Maldynado turned Brynia around, intending to march her out the door. Something pink on the deck made him pause. A feather. He gawked. “That’s my hat. You stole my hat?”
“Not at all,” Brynia said. “I claimed it after its owner abandoned it.”
“Abandoned it? I was knocked unconscious.”
“The truth is elusive, depending on who speaks it, isn’t it?”
Maldynado shoved the woman outside. She was slipperier than wet soap. They’d have to watch her closely for the rest of the trip, maybe have Sergeant Yara guard her. He hoped Sespian was brighter than Akstyr and wouldn’t fall for those batting eyelashes.
Amaranthe had no memory of collapsing on the trail or falling asleep, but when she woke up cradled in Sicarius’s arms, she knew it must have happened. Cicadas droned from the trees, and twilight had finally come to the swamp. At least, she hoped it was twilight and that she hadn’t been asleep for hours, forcing him to carry her all night. But, no, he was following the muddy prints and cleared foliage that the Behemoth team had left. He wouldn’t have been able to do that in the dark. Probably. It was Sicarius, after all.
His long, sure strides covered the ground efficiently. Amaranthe wondered how many miles had passed beneath his feet in the last week. His arms supported her knees and her shoulders, bearing her weight easily, as if
