“A little visit from a trio of Managers,” Marc revealed as he nodded at the stairs. “Let’s talk about this upstairs in Rose’s bedroom.”
I was only too glad to be helped up the steps and into my room. The plush mattress was a welcome seat, and I flopped onto my back with a loud sigh. The men stayed standing, with Ramaro at their feet. His tail whapped against the floor in time with his snorting nostrils.
Marc told our tale to them, and by the time he finished, Ramaro wasn’t any more pleased. “How could they know you were there?”
“Whoever has contracted them must have been at the party and somehow guessed who we were,” Marc suggested.
I sat up, and my face fell. “So that means one of the rich people in Cathair is who contracted Encina to kidnap me.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
My mouth ran dry, and it felt like someone wrapped a cold hand around my heart. Someone at the party. Someone who knew who I might be.
Marc grasped my upper arms. “What is it? You look like you caught the ugliest fish in the sea.”
I bit my lower lip. “Have you ever heard of a guy named Crestmoor?”
Marc lifted an eyebrow. “I have. Why?”
“I. . .I met him tonight, and I told him I was a singer. He asked to listen to me, and there was just something. . .something-” I shuddered and wrapped my arms around myself. “I had a feeling that saying ‘no’ to him wasn’t an option, so I sank for him out in the yard. Just the two of us.”
“The diving merchant?” Eldric spoke up as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Does her magic have any practical function for his business?”
I shrugged. “Only if he needs me to bring up rocks or dirt.”
Marc leaned his back against the wall near one of the windows and furrowed his brow. “Then he knew you could sing. Is that all?”
“And he knew I was hiding myself with magic,” I admitted as my hands fidgeted in my lap. “He wore a ring that could see through anything. It saw through Baba’s magic, at least it made it waver.”
Eldric stroked his chin. “Interesting. Did he happen to tell you the history of this ring?”
Ramaro flicked his tongue out at the professor. “I think that’s less important than that he saw she was hiding herself, and then they get attacked by the Managers and that blasted cat that tried to get us in Rynek.”
“One must know your adversary’s every trick to overcome them,” Eldric countered.
Marc tapped a finger against his arm. “This one seems to have only one trick, and that’s to sic the Managers on us.”
“And we got away both times,” I added.
“Yes, but we’re running out of tricks,” he pointed out as he pushed off from the wall. “The Manager who smashed your magic with his mallet won’t make the same mistake twice.”
Ramaro wrinkled his nose. “Mallet? What sort of mallet?”
“A magic one with runes on the handle,” Marc informed him as he paced the room. “We’ll have to ask the Tinker tomorrow.”
The name piqued my curiosity. “Who’s that?”
“A weapon-smith by trade, and he also collects antiques on the side,” Marc told me as he stopped his pacing in front of me. “He should be able to tell us something about the Managers and Crestmoor.”
A clock somewhere in the house struck the late hour. My body responded by yawning, and I clapped a hand over my mouth to avoid sucking in flies.
“That’s your cue to leave,” Ramaro spoke up as he frowned at the others.
“You’re not coming?” Marc wondered.
Ramaro marched over to the doorway and plopped himself down beside it, where he faced the room. “I’ll take the first watch, just in case they were able to follow you. You don’t exactly blend in when you’re flying above the city.”
“I think I’ll go reset my step trap,” Eldric mused as he sauntered to the door. He paused on the threshold and turned to bow his head to me. “I hope you sleep well, Miss Rose.”
