“Come inside.” I stepped back and waved him in.
Affie shuffled past, careful not to touch me. He didn’t like physical contact. A combination of his skittish nature and too many encounters with the bad kind of touching. I tried to respect his boundaries while watching out for him.
“Welcome, Aff,” Oss greeted.
Affie, catching sight of our company, folded into himself as if by sheer will he could become invisible. “I came to tell you…”
We waited, but he said nothing more.
“Tell me about my son?” Justin prompted.
Affie nodded. “I know where they hide, but you cannot save them if you go too fast.”
“Them. Are there a lot?” Justin asked.
I didn’t like how that sounded.
“Some,” Affie rasped. “They’ve added your baby to their collection.”
I barely resisted yanking out my hair in frustration. “Why can’t we save them?”
“They are kept by people. Powerful people. People who will kill to keep their secrets quiet.” Affie swayed as if moving along an invisible breeze.
I clasped my hands together to stop me from grabbing him and giving him a good shake. Unfortunately, Thorne didn’t have the same awareness of Affie’s issues. He put a hand on Affie’s shoulder, too close to his neck, and touched skin.
Affie screamed and fell to the ground, convulsing.
“Shit.” Oss dropped to his knees beside Affie. A crack of sound had my mouth dropping open.
“You slapped him!” I shouted.
Affie blinked and his gaze sharpened. He examined the room as if he had just noticed he was inside, before focusing on Oss. “Thank you, Oss.”
“You’re welcome.” Oss grabbed Affie’s arm, careful not to touch skin, and helped him to his feet.
“If they think you’re coming, they will kill them all,” Affie said. His voice, despite its soft tones, portrayed the graveness of the situation.
Justin began to protest, but I held up my hand. “What should we do?” Affie wouldn’t have come if there wasn’t any hope.
“Tomorrow, they will leave the mechanicals alone for the day,” Affie insisted. “There will be a gap in their schedule that no one notices.”
“How do you know?” Justin asked.
Affie shrugged. “Sometimes, I just do.”
I elbowed Justin in the side, glaring him into silence. If Affie thought Justin doubted his abilities, he wouldn’t share any more of his visions.
“Who is in charge?” I asked. It was best to know the enemy.
“Henrik Vahagn.” Affie paled as if just saying the name caused him trauma.
“As we suspected,” Justin said. “Why would a restaurant owner do this?”
“He transports things, some of them people,” Affie said.
I tried to remember everything I had heard about the man in the past but not much came to mind. He came from a minor noble family and earned his money moving goods between cities. He also held the license for several dirigibles and kept them in constant rotation between walled cities. Until now, I hadn’t known he had any restaurants.
“I’ve never met him, but the city sometimes pays him to transport goods,” Thorne said. “He has a lot of connections in other towns.”
