I frown at that. “Caelumnai?”
Not impossible, but unlikely. More than a few of our kind emigrated across the sea in years past, before we had any notionof the Great Shift and what was to come. But we’ve been to this territory and several others down the coast of Terrosa more than once over the last decade. I’ve yet to run across a single one of our kind with the exception of a few Travelers.
Our numbers run small these days.
The guardia glances over his shoulder. Several of his colleagues are heading in our direction. “Come with us. I’m sure Johan would like to speak with you.”
Ugh. I keep my face steady. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. We’re leaving this morning.”
The male glances around in irritation. “Not until Johan clears it. Where did the other ones go?”
My lips curl up, just a little, as I glance around. There’s no sign of Esme or Leo. “I didn’t see anyone else here.”
I glance to the stall, but the keeper has wisely vanished too.
I spread out my arms as if in welcome to the group that spreads out around me. A half dozen, with more closing in. “Please tell Johan that I’m sorry to have missed him, but I have to catch the tide.”
A lie. The Guild Master of this territory is an odious, sweating, toad of a man with the bulbous eyes to match. Although it’s truly an insult to toads to lump them together.
“Next time, perhaps.” My words are smooth as I shift on my feet. “I’ll be on my way—”
“There.” The guardia that comes to stand beside the man I’ve been talking to points behind me. “He was with them.”
I turn, catching Esme’s eyes for a split second before she grabs Leo by the hand and vanishes down an alley.
Several guards move to follow, and I hold up my hand. “Wait.”
My voice is soft. A request, not a challenge. “I assure you, we know nothing about your missing girl. What did she do to earn such undivided attention?”
I pity her, whoever she is. Johan’s attention is not something I’d wish on anyone.
“She’s wanted for murder.” The guardia gestures to where Esme and Leo have vanished. “Find them. Perhaps this one will be more inclined to answer our questions then.”
The clicking of my tongue has them hesitating. “Is this how you treat your guests in Terrosa? We came in good faith to trade, you know.”
One of the guards rears back and spits, the gelatinous glob landing barely an inch from my boot. “We don’t need your gold.Maegisscum.”
Well, then.
The trio of guards speed up as they head toward the alley entrance, and my hand twitches. At the rumble that sounds through the air, the guard’s face flashes to mine. “Don’t—”
A deep, groaning sound echoes from the buildings on each side of the alley as the stone tears from the walls, dropping in huge chunks to the floor and creating a barrier between the guards and Esme and Leo. Cries ring out from the stalls around us.
I slip my hands into my pockets. “Terribly shoddy, the buildings here. Have you noticed?”
The guard pales, backing away even as his hand slips down to his sword. “You will come with us.”
I regard him for a second. He flinches when I lift my fingers, but I only scratch at a non-existent itch on my throat. “Will I, though? Willyoumake me, then?”
When I turn, another guard stumbles backward. “Or you? No? You look a little unwell, friend. Perhaps you should sit down.”
A box slides across the dirt-packed floor, slamming into the back of his knees and sending him dropping to his ass on the crate.
He blinks rapidly at his change in position. I slide my hands into my pockets, rocking back on my heels. My voice is bored, edged with a single thread of warning. “Are we done?”
“Enough.” The second guard, who seems to be made of stronger stuff than his colleagues, steps forward with a glower. “You will come with us to Johan.”
My sigh is loud in the tense silence that follows his statement as they all watch me. If they’re seeking entertainment, they’ve found it.
