“Should I?”
“It’s an era,” she said. “Like…a time that’s old and preindustrial— Fuck, you don’t know what that means, either, do you?”
He smiled, every bit a flirt as he leaned closer. “You’ll have to teach me.”
She rolled her eyes, but she smiled back as she said, “I’m not much of a scholar.”
“Not so, lass. You’re becoming an expert on handsome men from the mid-1700s.”
“Handsome?”
“Aye.Very.”
A flash of black drew my attention away from their banter. Across the street, a cloaked figure darted from between two buildings and entered the flow of demons on the boardwalk.
Apprehension tingled down my spine. “Wheesht,” I said, waving Portia and Albie to silence. The cloaked figure entered the street. A wagon clattered in front of him, and he snarled as he jumped backward. His hood slipped, revealing a man with olive skin and black hair pulled back from a handsome but stern face. The intricate embroidery of a witch’s black barasta peeked from beneath his thick cloak.
Portia sucked in a sharp breath.
“What is it?” I asked.
“That’s my father…” She leaned forward, squinting. “No, it’s?—”
“Mullo Balfour,” Albie said quietly on her other side.
I met his gaze over Portia’s head. Albie had studied witches for centuries. He’d pored over texts and histories in libraries and spell shops around the world. If he said it was Mullo, it was Mullo. Portia’s great-grandsire.
My mind raced. Portia had told us Mullo eventually possessed all seven elements, which he’d used to create the Curse that killed our women. And now he was here in Razrothia.
And so was Portia. It couldn’t have happened by chance.
Mullo adjusted his cloak, then continued down the boardwalk on the other side of the street.
Albie gasped, and I jerked my head around to see him rubbing his forehead.
“Headache?” I murmured.
He pushed his spectacles higher. “Just a bit of dust in my eye.”
But he’d rubbed his head, not his eye. And his jaw was tight?—
“We need to follow Mullo,” Portia said. Before I could stop her, she darted from our hiding spot.
“Shite,” I hissed, grabbing Albie’s arm. We followed, keeping to the shadows as Mullo led us through the village. Portia moved ahead of us with surprising stealth, weaving through the crowd of demons. The look of determination on her face made me nervous.
“Portia,” I said as loudly as I dared. “Stop.”
She didn’t listen, her gaze fixed on her ancestor as he made his way toward the wharf. I caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing?” I asked under my breath.
“Don’t you see?” Intensity burned in her eyes. “This is why we’re here. To stop him before he gets all seven elements.”
Albie appeared beside us, his face strained. “We don’t know if that’s our purpose. We could be here for any number of reasons.”
She pulled from my grip. “It can’t be coincidence.”
“We need to think this through,” Albie said.
