Marietta was unsurprised to discover they were walking to Cold Bath, even though it was quite a distance. For the last few days they had walked nearly everywhere. Noble seemed much happier on foot. Or perhaps he thought walking would annoy her. On the contrary, she enjoyed the exercise, but maintained a neutral expression to keep him from guessing her attitude. He seemed to always be watching her, tossing an unbroken walnut in perfect timing to his steps. In a game where he held all of the pieces, she had to get in her digs where she could.
They approached the prison and Marietta shivered. In the otherwise decent neighborhood of cheerful row houses, the sparse, barred windows and spartan trim made the hulking building into a dismal fortress. Some kind soul had planted rows of flowers across the street in an entirely vain attempt to lift the mood.
A stocky, bearded man stood outside on the sidewalk, and upon seeing them, abruptly turned and hobbled inside. She looked to Noble, but he didn’t respond to the man’s odd behavior. They followed his path into the prison, and she could see the man’s dark shirt as he turned a corner.
Noble shadowed the odd little man, and she trailed Noble. Guards and magistrates passed them, chatting or moving prisoners. No one questioned their presence, whether it was due to their purposeful movements or something else, she didn’t know.
Two hallways turned to three and the crowds of people dwindled to small groups and then individuals as the wide hallways narrowed to cold paths. She held her breath as they rounded the fourth hall to see the odd, sour-faced man with his hooked nose and bushy brows standing against a massive iron door. No one else was present.
“You can only be here for this half hour when the guards are on rotation.” His voice was gruff. “No one should question your presence, as only someone with a key can enter, but if anyone does, I’ll take care of it. Three turns right, cell in the center.”
The man spoke with a thick accent she couldn’t place.
“Thank you, Oscar. That will be the fulfillment of the second favor, then,” Gabriel said, his voice smooth and easy.
“Dem right.” Marietta blinked at the pugilistic set to the small man’s face. “Bertha’s all over me backside.” He growled. “The sooner the third is over, the better.”
“Poor Bertha. Still sore with me over the cat incident?”
The man started muttering, and Marietta heard the words “never forgive” and “nearly ripped me leg off” in the mumbles.
“Tell Bertha that my neighbor has kittens should she want one.” Noble’s voice and face were filled with barbed amusement.
“Nothing but trouble, you are. Kittens, bah, I’ll eat them,” he said irritably as he unlocked the door and held it open.
Noble winked—winked!—at her as he walked through. Marietta stared dumbly after him for a moment, then recalled herself and turned to Oscar, whose eyes were narrowed. Judging. The prickly fondness that may have been present for Noble was completely absent now. His lips thinned as he continued to watch her, but he didn’t say a word.
“Is something the matter, sir?” Something about the way he was looking at her, like something found under a rock, made her uncomfortable.
“Trouble. I can already see it.”
“Pardon me?”
“Go on now.” He motioned toward the door, his face set in unfriendly lines. “Thirty minutes is all you get. Not a minute more.”
Her feet took her through the door, but she pivoted to ask him about his comment. He closed the door in her face and the lock slammed into place. She blinked.
The sound of a tapping foot made her turn. A perfect brow lifted. “Are you going to tarry all morning, or shall we go find our prey?”
She took a quick step toward him, unnerved by Oscar’s actions. “He is not our prey, you horrid man.”
He put a hand over his chest and his head bowed. “Your words warm my cold, brittle heart.” His hand came back down to rest at his side, the walnut appearing from somewhere and once again rolling between his fingers. He lifted a sardonic brow. “Let’s find our prey, princess.”
He strode forward and took the first turn. Marietta glanced to the right and left, noticing the cells for the first time, Noble once more having captured her entire attention when he was within the same space, cursed man. Filthy, ragged hands appeared around the bars, followed by ripped sleeves black with dirt. Soulless eyes stared back.
“I’ll be your prey, pretty.” A clawed hand reached through the bars toward her. Before she could move, something pinged off the iron and the claw disappeared inside the dank cell. A walnut rolled into the corner and wobbled to a stop.
She turned, but Noble was nowhere to be seen. Moving quickly down the hall, she was relieved when she turned the corner and focused on his back once more. She concentrated on him as she walked, the edges of his garments brushing each other as they met in perfect alignment along his shoulders, hips, and legs. Better to look at the cursed man than to see the monstrous conditions of the cells and inmates. To think about what Kenny might look or act like.
They took the last turn and she saw Kenny in an area by himself, as dreary and dark as all the others, but at least empty of the thousand soulless Hecatonchire eyes. He was absently picking at the buckle on his shoe, looking miserable.
“Kenny!”
His head shot up and he sprang forward, gripping the bars, his ripped shirt falling off one shoulder making him look even more gangly and lanky.
“Marietta!” He gripped her firmly as she tried to embrace him through the bars. “Finally! You are here to release me! It’s been wretched. I’ve ruined my shoes. My hair’s a mess.”
He touched his hair with one hand and maintained his hold on her with the other. “I’ve a lump on my head that still smarts. Some dilettante hit me!” She tried to say something but words kept falling from his lips, as if he hadn’t talked to anyone in a week. “Tackled in the middle of the street. Thank God you are here. Where’s the key?”
