No sooner did the thought cross his mind, than a woman emerged after him. At first glance, she appeared to be a maid, then a breeze kicked up and tore the bonnet from her head, freeing her bright-red hair. His stomach dropped as he watched her scurry down the street after the limping man. He turned away. It wasn’t his business if Princess Liane chased a killer through the city streets after dark. The sword, the sword, the sword. That was all that mattered.
The dragon rolled in protest, clawing and biting at the chains that held him. His stance was clear: protect Liane. But at any moment, Fritz would launch his diversion, and Erich would need to be ready to ambush the convoy. But as moments stretched on, his thoughts kept circling back, and the dragon within him refused to calm. Liane couldn’t be seriously risking her life, for what? Erich stamped his foot on the ground and paced back and forth, the dragon’s restless energy transferring to him.
There wouldn’t be a better chance. But he was also quite certain the convoy would leave after curfew. That meant he had at least two hours to follow Liane, make sure she was safe, and return before that happened. The dragon calmed within him, seemingly in agreement with his plan. Groaning, Erich dragged his hands through his hair. He must be the world’s biggest fool, but he followed after Liane.
22
Keeping to the shadows, Liane tracked Ludwig as he limped between dilapidated buildings lining the Velvet District. When she accidentally kicked a rock across the cobble street, Ludwig spun around, and Liane pressed her back against a wall, hiding from him on instinct. What was she doing? This was Ludwig. He’d never hurt her, and yet her heart thumped in her chest as she listened to his footsteps recede. Poking her head around the corner, she spotted him turning down a crowded street lined with brothels and taverns. Knowing Ludwig, he knew he was being followed, and either she revealed herself or turned back.
Because she’d come this far, she had to know the truth and darted out after him. The street was crowded, and when she tried to shout to Ludwig, her voice was overwhelmed by the cacophony of patrons and barkers attempting to lure them in.
Through the crowd, she watched as Ludwig turned down a narrow alleyway and rushed to catch up. But when she rounded the corner, it was empty ending at a single nondescript door and Ludwig nowhere in sight. Seeing as there was nowhere else to go, she concluded he must have gone inside. A single lamp swung above the door, casting orange light onto Liane as she knocked firmly upon it. A slat slid open, and a pair of hooded eyes peered out at her.
“Password?” they said.
Password? What could be the password? “Uh, you see...”she fumbled.
“Silver Tongue,” Erich said.
Liane spun around to Erich. What was he doing there?
“That’s not it.” The man started to slam the slat shut, but Erich jammed his hand through the gap.
“Are you sure about that? Bosch told me it changed to Silver Tongue.” He moved closer to the hole, meeting the man’s gaze.
The bouncer’s eyes turned glassy. “Silver Tongue was yesterday’s password, but knowing Bosch, he’d make that kind of mistake. Come on in then.”
The door swung open, unleashing music and loud drunken voices from within. Lamps dangling from the ceiling could barely permeate the haze of smoke around the room, let alone give her a good look at the people inside.
“We run into one another again. I didn’t take you for the seedy back-alley club type,” Erich said as he gestured for her to enter first.
“I’m not,” Liane said as she passed by the brusque door guard.
As she entered the main room, a blanket of warmth enveloped her, accompanied by the sickly-sweet scent of burnt sugar that she’d come to associate with stardust. She’d heard of stardust dens. Ludwig wouldn’t let her step foot in them, saying it was best she didn’t see. At first, stardust created euphoria in its users: they were faster, stronger, and smarter than they’d been. Some swore it made them luckier, and judging from the wide-eyed, pinpoint pupils of the patrons sitting around the gambling tables, they felt much the same. What they didn’t know was once the euphoria started to wear off, it ate away at their energy, hollowing them out until they were nothing but a creature of craving, obsessed with stardust and caring for nothing else, not eating, not sleeping, not their loved ones...They ended up like the patrons lying strewn across beds and benches at the edges of the room, eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling.
Now she understood why Ludwig forbade her from coming here. Everywhere she looked, she saw Elias staring back at her. Gaunt hollowed-out eyes and pallid skin stretched over bones. It made her stomach churn and made her want to run out the door, but she was frozen in place.
“Then it’s a good thing I showed up when I did,”Erich said.
“You’re not going to ask what I’m doing here or try and convince me to leave?” Liane asked, tearing her gaze away from the blank-eyed addicts.
“Would you, if I did?”
“No.”
“Then let’s just say I’m here to watch over you.”
She should send him away, but the smell, smoke, and memories made her sway on her feet, and her head swim. Erich put a bracing hand on her lower back and led her to a nearby empty table. He didn’t seem like the type to use stardust. For those who used it long enough, symptoms started to show up in the color of their skin and in their erratic behavior. But she’d overlooked them in Elias too. Liane shook her head. Best not to compare the two. Whatever good fortune brought him here, she wasn’t going to question it.
They sat down, and a gaunt serving girl came around to offer them refreshments, which Erich politely declined. He sat with his back to the room, giving her the chair, which allowed her to survey it inconspicuously.
Elias was dead, but she’d get revenge for him… But she couldn’t continue her investigation with Erich watching her…
“Do you frequent these sorts of places?” Liane asked, drumming her fingers on the table. Ludwig had to be in here somewhere, but why, was he chasing a lead he’d kept from her?
“Only when impulsive women lure me there.”
“Then you followed me.” Her eyes flicked back to him, studying him a moment. Had it been careless to put her trust in him?
