Forgive me, Tessa.
We’re going to have to act.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Corrick
Lochlan and I have tucked ourselves into the shadows, and while neither of us has aweapon, we’ve each put a hand on something sturdy enough to use as a club. Mine is a heavy wooden dowel about the length of my arm. The man’s feet climb the steps heavily, lacking any stealth at all, so he’s clearly not worried about scaring off thieves. We’re ducked behind a large chest, so I can’t see anything at all, but I can hear when his footsteps reach the landing. Lantern light suddenly flickers on the walls.
The man lets out an aggrieved sigh. “There’s a draft up here,” he calls down. “Someone left a window open. I bet some gulls got in.”
“Can you get them out?” a woman’s voice calls.
“I’m looking,” the man calls back. “I knowsomeoneis going to be discharged for this tomorrow.”
Lochlan looks at me. His eyes gleam in the darkness.
I wonder if he’s thinking the same things I am.
There’s this man, and now a woman, too. Plus Ford Cheeke himself. Four guards outside. He has a lantern, so he’s going to discover the shattered window eventually—if he doesn’t discover us first. Do we kill him, too?
The man is moving away from us now. He’s wearing a white shirt with sleeves rolled back and pants held up with suspenders, and he’s built like the kind of man who spends a lot of time sitting at a desk. I can’t tell how old he is, but the top of his head is bald, and what’s left around the sides looks gray. I don’t want to sit here and stare at him much longer, because if he doubles back with that lantern, he’s going to see us.
I turn to Lochlan. I point at him, then toward the stairs. I point at myself, then at the man. I hope my meaning is clear.Go for the stairs. I’ll take care of him.
Lochlan nods and doesn’t hesitate. Silently, he slips away from me, and I’m alone behind the chest. My heart pounds against my ribs, and I consider that for all the hours I’ve spent hiding in the darkness, I never did it with the intent to cause harm.
I hate that I’m doing it now.
I have to close my eyes and take a breath.Please, Tessa. Forgive me.
I slip out of my spot as silently as Lochlan did. The lantern light helps me avoid the obstacles that made us trip earlier. I creep along behind the man, who gives another sigh. He’s muttering as he goes, and he sounds like the kind of person who rambles as he works. “I know it’s hot during the day, but those men havegotto remember to close up before they go. They were probably lingering with Penny again. Now where are those gulls?”
It reminds me a little of Quint, and I feel a pang of homesickness. I wish I could have brought him instead of Lochlan. Traipsing thestreets of Silvesse with my best friend would’ve felt like a holiday, regardless of what Oren Crane wanted us to do.
Well, I’ll never see Quint again if I don’t handle things here. I steel my will and tighten my grip on the dowel, ready to knock him across the back of the head.
But the man turns around.
He jumps a mile when he spots me, and he drops the lantern. It cracks into the floor with a little tinkle of glass, but the flame doesn’t go out. Now that I can see his face, I realize he’s older than I thought. Fifty, maybe sixty. I’m prepared to fight, so I’m surprised when he falls back a few steps and gasps.
His eyes skip up and down my form, and he actually says, “You’re not a gull.”
“No,” I say.
His eyes shoot behind me, where the draft is coming from, then flick toward the stairs. I see him put two and two together, and when he inhales sharply, I know he’s going to shout for Mr. Cheeke and the woman we heard.
I don’t give him the chance. I surge forward and punch him right in the face.
He drops like arock. I stand there with my fist drawn back to hit him again, because I genuinely didn’t expect to knock him out with one strike.
He’s landed in a crumpled heap, and I drop to a crouch next to him. I’m a bit horrified at the thought that I might have killed him without meaning to.
But no, he’s breathing and already moaning a little.
“I’m sorry,” I say softly, and I mean it. “Please forgive me. This wasn’t my intent.”
His fingers are already shifting against the floorboards. No one ever stays knocked out for long.
