“I don’t know,” he said. “I blinked and he was between us. Are you all right? You’ve lost color.”
“I just need a minute.”
The first time I ran into him in the Garden, he had called Hreban a toad and mocked him. And then he’d said,Alas, one shouldn’t keep such a rare beauty waiting.I’d assumed he was talking about a celebrity attendant. He had been talking about Hreban. Hreban was the beauty. They could meet at the Garden in complete privacy without raising suspicion. Galiene’s people would simply lead them to the same secluded room one at a time, and nobody would be the wiser.
Hreban must’ve shared his intentions for Galiene with him. Silveren knew, so he paid attention when that scheme collapsed.
It explained why he’d been at the Dog Market. He knew about the Butcher, so he went to check out the killer’s handiwork for himself. But what about the Harzi? How did they fit into this? Why was he there, what did he want? They weren’t a part of Hreban’s plan in the book. I was missing something.
Damn it.
I needed to speak to Everard. The sooner, the better.
I pushed from the rail.
“Are you good?” Lute asked, his eyes concerned.
“Yes. We have to get home.”
“Agreed.”
We started across the bridge.
He said the Harzi had something that didn’t belong to them. What could it be? A weapon of some sort?
“Maggie?” Lute asked.
“Yes?”
“What was all of that for?”
“What?”
“Going to see the Harzi. What was it for?”
“For Tzeri.”
I nodded toward the mordok on my shoulder. She hissed.
“Mordoks prey on small magical creatures and when they can’t get those, bats, mice, and small birds, and they need magic to survive, so the more magical the prey, the better. When a mordok bites something or someone, they imprint on the taste, and they can find them by magic across distance.”
“No, I got all that. We let her lick some blood or bite someone’s dirty laundry, and then we make those weird noises, and she finds the person.”
He’d gathered that from just watching the beastmaster and me. Huh.
“Why do we want her?” Lute asked.
“Because last night I ripped out a chunk of the Butcher’s hair. And a bit of scalp. It’s in my study. My clothes from last night also have his blood on them. ‘Reynald’ had cut him, and when the Butcher shoved me away, some of the blood got on my tunic. I hid it in my linen chest before we left, so Clover wouldn’t wash it.”
Lute’s eyes lit up. “We’ll be going hunting.”
“I hope so. It’s worth a try.”
Tzeri screeched into my ear. I raised my hand to scoot her, and she clamped onto my finger.
“Ow! Third time today.”
“Let me take her,” Lute said. “She’ll behave for me.”
