I approach the desk but don’t bow in deference or extend my hand in greeting. “Stefano.”
“You are?”
“Here to help get your son back.” We lock eyes as he tries to will my name from me. Neither of us looks away. “If you’d like to continue wasting time playing games, we can. But I’d rather find Nico.”
He closes his eyes. “I’m worried we are already too late.” His voice is tight with strain, and when he opens his eyes and looks at me, his gaze reflects my own pain. Under other circumstances, I might pity him. Or hate how he abandoned Nico. But I can’t spare the energy for either. I need to focus on the current situation.
I turn to Emilio, all but dismissing Stefano. Wewillget him back. Alive. “I doubt either of the guild masters are involved in this. Kidnapping and murder of LorenzoMedina’s nephew is too high profile a crime. And since Leonardo is part of House Keller, he wouldn’t go against Hans on this. Plus, this reeks of panic. I’m betting this is Aadan Hawa or Simon Brown. They may be efficient killers, but they don’t always think things through. Right now we need more eyes in the city.”
Emilio gestures to a group of men and women in the black leather armor of Protectors. They’re clustered in the corner with Elanil. Our gazes meet, and I motion for her to join me. “I need you and three others who can rapidly and accurately assess situations.” Elanil points at three Protectors and motions for them to join us. I lay out the situation and give swift orders. “You and you.” I point to the two on my left. “Determine if Guild Master Keller and Guild Master Rostova are in town. Do whatever it takes. If they’re here, find out if Nico is being held by them.” I turn to the third Protector. “You’ll find Leonardo Santorini and determine if he has Nico. Speed and accuracy are vitally important. Do you all have mirrors?”
They each pull a small leather-wrapped mirror out of their pockets. “Good.”
Elanil pulls a handful of small, deep blue gemstones from her pocket. “Kyanite so I can track each of you. Since we will be cloaked, it will still allow me to know where you are within a certain range.”
I raise my eyebrows. “LikeClear Sight?”
“Close enough to it. It is like an energy field. I will be able to sense you but not see you clearly.” I accept the answer, though I want to know more. But that can wait until we find Nico. She hands each of us a stone. “Communication will funnel through me.” She spares me a quick glance. “If that is alright with you.” I nod, because she seems to have thought this through and has a plan. “Once you have determined the whereabouts of your target and the possibility of Nico being held by them, you will retreat to a safe location and communicate this information to me as quickly as possible via mirror.”
When she’s done, I pin them each with a glare. “Do not fail.” I don’t need to mention that if they do, I’ll kill each of them slowly and painfully. I also don’t wait to see them leave. “Elanil, you and I will have the most likely targets in Simon and Aadan. My gut tells me that Leonardo isn’t our kidnapper.” He also didn’t sign the contract to kill Kas so has less reason to try to proactively stop the hunt. “I doubt either will be at the Shabah compound, so we should search for them in other likely places. They’d need somewhere out of the way and currently unused. I suggest you start in the warehouse district, and I’ll move to the docks.” She nods and hurries out. I briefly return to Emilio and Stefano. “If you learn any additional information, send a message directly to Elanil since she’s coordinating communications.” I hurry out, disappearing like a ghost.
As suspected, each of the guild masters is confirmed to be at home and conducting normal business. There are noadditional guards or unusual visitors, and nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. Leonardo has spent the day in the Shabah compound and has several witnesses to that fact, so it’s not him either. Elanil relayed those bits of information not an hour ago, and I haven’t heard from her since. Which isn’t a good sign. It does reaffirm my belief that Nico was taken by Simon or Aadan—possibly both.
I weave my way through the docks, not seeing anything odd or noting anyone behaving out of the ordinary. I’m about to move to the warehouse district when my mirror warms. I barely get it out of my pocket before Elanil appears. “I am following Simon through the docks. Passing the shipping office.”
“I’m not far from there. On my way.”
The connection ends, and I run at full speed to catch them. I slow as I near the shipping office, and someone grips my arm. “It is me.” Now that she’s brought herself to my attention, the cloaking spell dims, and I can see her. “Simon went down that side alley.” She tugs my sleeve. “Come on. We do not want to lose him.” She takes off, and I follow close behind. Further down the alley, I catch sight of Simon. Blond, five feet, eleven inches tall, right-handed, armed with at least two visible daggers, and very dangerous. He cuts down a street that stops in a dead end. Elanil and I hurry to follow, but when we turn the corner, we come to an abrupt stop.
Simon is gone. I glance at Elanil, who is turning in a circle, brow furrowed. “Where did he go?”
We walk up and down the street, trying each of the doors, but they’re all locked. Carefully, I retrace my steps,moving to where Elanil says she last saw him. My eyes dart everywhere, even the unlikely places, and that’s when I see a small metal square in the road, about three feet by three feet, tucked in a corner behind a barrel. “I’m an idiot.”
Lifting the cover from the opening reveals a set of steps that lead to the sewers under the street. I gesture for Elanil to go first and quietly follow her into the darkness.
Footfalls echo to our left, and I castSilenceon us as I follow behind her. We turn down a right-hand tunnel and keep moving until we hear voices. They’re angry. I creep forward and peer around a sharp bend. The sewer opens up into a large central hub lit with lanterns. There are various levers and valves along the main wall, but not much else is in the space. I lean forward a bit more until I can see the far corner, and my heart leaps in my chest. Nico is tied to a chair, gagged, and his clothing is torn in several places. There are cuts and bruises on his face, as well as a swath of blood across his cheek, most likely from when the earring was ripped out. But I don’t see any signs of major bleeding or broken bones, and he’s very alert, which is good. If we can cut him loose, he might be able to help with his own rescue.
Simon and Aadan continue to argue loudly. Both are bloodied and bruised, like they’ve been in a fight. Probably with Nico. A swell of pride fills my chest. Aadan is five feet, eight inches tall, black skin and black hair kept short. He’s right-handed and there are two visible daggers at his belt, but I know there are more on him. He stumbles as Simon shoves him. “Why is he still alive? His body should be coldby now and dumped down here where no one will look. And we should be long gone.”
Aadan glowers and yells back. “I was not about to kill him without you here. Do you think I am stupid? You would let me take the fall for this. Do you honestly think I do not know how you operate?”
Simon paces in front of Nico. “If Keller or Rostova find out about this, or find out that we are responsible, we are dead. They will not care that Stefano is taking us out one at a time.Theyhave protection.”
Aadan shoves Simon hard. “This was your idea. It was your brilliant plan to assassinate the son like we did the wife. You said we should take care of it on our own and not bother the guild masters. Yet you left me to kill him by myself and take the fall if I was caught. Well, I am not that stupid.”
While the two rail at each other, I lightly touch Elanil’s elbow to get her attention, pointing to myself and to her, then motioning to Simon and Aadan. She nods, and before the two Shades can finish their argument, we fly into the room. Simon sees movement and unsheathes his knives. In response, Aadan whirls around, drawing his own blades.
Choosing to go after Simon and leave Aadan for Elanil, I feint to the side and lunge as an opening in his defense appears. I catch his forearm with the blade as he spins away, leaving a bloody gash. But Simon blocks, his knife high, nearly slicing my neck with the move. He’s an excellent fighter. No one survives for long in the Brotherhood without incredible knife skills. Under typical circumstances,I’m the better fighter. But these circumstances aren’t typical, and this fight could drag on unless I can find a way to change the balance in our favor.
Blades flash and feet move in intricate patterns as we push each other around the space. This needs to end before we wear ourselves out. The best option is to free Nico and add his skills to our side. I let Simon drive me into that corner, careful to keep him in front of me. Giving him an opportunity to attack from behind or truly box me into the corner would be a deadly mistake. But Simon is an excellent fighter, and I’m hard-pressed to keep from being stabbed.
I inch toward Nico. He knows I keep a knife hidden at my hip, and if I get near enough, he might be able to reach it. I back up until my heel bumps the leg of his chair. Focusing on maintaining my balance and keeping Simon at bay, I lean as close as I can to Nico’s tied hand. His fingers fumble at my hip, and that small lapse in concentration allows Simon’s knife past my guard. He slices into my side, and I grit my teeth, lunging forward, shoving him back. Instead of pressing my advantage, I free the spare knife and place it hilt first into Nico’s grasp. It’s the best I can do. Nico will have to figure out the rest on his own.
Once again, I lunge at Simon, now able to focus and press my advantage, but a sharp pain from the slash in my torso lances through me. I do my best to ignore it as Simon tries a feint followed by a quick lunge. Elanil is struggling with Aadan, but I can’t spare them any attention. There’s a grunt of pain, and I catch a glimpse of someone dropping to the ground. When Aadan joins our fight, thesituation rapidly deteriorates. Two against one wouldn’t normally bother me, but my legs are tiring. Simon crows triumphantly. I maneuver backward to keep both men in front of me and my flank to the wall.
Fighting two on one in small spaces had been Kas’s forte, not mine. I parry a strike from Simon, but Aadan’s blade slices a new gash on my other side. I dodge to the right, barely avoiding being skewered, and Simon slashes at my face, cutting a line along my jaw. I dart between the two, spinning to face them. But now my back is to the open room, and Aadan flanks me.
I almost trip over Elanil’s body. Fuck. There won’t be any assistance from her. My side burns as the room spins, and I’m in trouble. Poison on the blades. That’s the only explanation. I assess myself for other symptoms, but there aren’t any. So it’s a fast-acting toxin that causes fatigue and dizziness. Demon Thorn or Varulite Extract. Both lower blood pressure. With growing detachment, I run through possible antidotes.
