She snapped her fingers.
A man materialized from behind the curtain—tall, sharp-angled, black hair slicked like oil.
“Bring me their purse,” Madam Cass ordered.
The man nodded and retreated into the back.
Madam Cass faced me again. “Runecloaks have been sniffing around the last few days. Asking about atrinket.”
Rheya stiffened beside me.
I hesitated. “Don’t worry about it.”
She smiled. “They’re going door to door, interrogating humans. Seems excessive, if you ask me. Makes me think they’re searching for more than just stolen property.”
A chill slid down my spine. “Did they mention us?”
“Not yet. But it won’t take long.” Madam Cass plucked a half-burned cigar from a tray and lit it with a candle. “You should leave as soon as you can.”
“We will.”
The wiry man returned, dropping a heavy pouch onto the counter.
“Before you run,” she drawled, “you should know someone’s been waiting for you.”
I froze. “Who?”
Her grin was all teeth. “Your prince.”
My stomach dropped. “Vaeris?”
“Been pacing upstairs for an hour.”
Rheya bristled. “How did he know to look here?”
Madam Cass exhaled smoke. “The prince has eyes all over this city. Street rats willing to sell information for a few coins. He probably knew you were coming here before you did.”
Of course he did. “Did he pay you to tell him when we arrived?”
Madam Cass’s smile didn’t waver. “He pays me for a lot of things, darling. Discretion being one of them.”
“What does he want?”
Cass flicked her cigar. “You.”
My chest ached. How many times had I climbed those stairs to knock on his door? Heart racing, desperate for a few hours where we could pretend the world didn’t exist. He’d rent rooms here when court became unbearable.Madam Cass took his gold and kept quiet about the prince slumming with his human lover.
Cold washed over me, and my gaze wandered to the rooms upstairs.
He was there. Right now. I hated how clearly I pictured him—lips pressed into that grim line, shoulders tense, that furrow between his brows. Was he here to apologize? Or to make more promises he’d never keep?
He’d had weeks to explain, to fix it, to do anything but sit in Henrik’s dining room and humiliate me. And he wanted to talk when guards were hunting us?
Rheya shoved the purse into her bag.
I smiled at Madam Cass. “Tell him goodbye.”
Heavy boots struck the stone steps outside.
