"Mr. Cochrane," she said, trying to ignore his stare and the way it settled on her bodice. It wasn't as if there was an inch of skin to see, but she suddenly felt naked. "I—"
Rathbourne reached past her and grabbed a fistful of the little man's necktie, yanking him facedown onto the bar and pressing his nose into a faint circle of beer that someone's tankard had left behind. "I would choose your words more carefully, Cochrane. The next time you make some vulgar remark toward Miss Martin, I will see to it that you spend the rest of your days sipping your dinner off a spoon."
With a pleasant smile, he let go of the man's necktie, and Cochrane swayed back, almost falling off his stool.
Silence fell throughout the tavern. One man's chair scraped back, as if the crowd were poised to flee.
Ianthe closed her mouth slowly.
That moment in the carriage returned full force, when Rathbourne had gently patted her hair into place, then matter-of-factly smoothed the wrinkles from her gown. She hadn't known what to make of it then, and she didn't know now.
He's protecting me, that's all. But it didn't feel like this newfound interest in her reputation stemmed from his oath to her. No, she'd seen it in his face when she'd taken the words that some of the Order's sorcerers called her—behind her back, of course—and used them on herself.
It had felt like... an olive branch. And she could not quite pretend to herself that a part of her didn't ache for more of that. The way Lucien looked at her, at times... She had spent so many years alone, trying to pretend that her study of sorcery fulfilled her life, but in the deepest quiet of night, when she was alone in her bed, she sometimes wished for someone of her own. A husband to wake up to. A family. The daughter that she had watched grow up from a distance, snuggled into her lap, where she could breathe in the sweet rose scent that always lingered about Louisa's hair...
But none of that was to be.
It was dangerous, this bond between them. It made her want things she shouldn't. She'd only be left alone and heartbroken at the end of this quest. Her focus must be on her daughter, nothing else.
Magnus Cochrane gave her another appraising look, but this one didn't feel quite so slimy. "I see," he said, and from the flinty look in his eyes, he did, but didn't dare comment more on the subject.
Several of their spectators let out loose breaths, and Ianthe's shoulders relaxed. If Cochrane had thrown down upon Rathbourne, she'd have been obliged to protect him. For, despite that surge of power he'd lashed out with yesterday, she wasn't entirely certain he was up to it himself.
"So what do you want?" Cochrane demanded.
"We want passage to Balthazar's Labyrinth," she said. "We're looking for Mr. Elijah Horroway. I have some questions for him."
"Ain't here," Cochrane replied with a blank face.
"The spirit of Mr. Horroway then," she shot back. "And I know that's in the Labyrinth, no doubt trying to find some way to fully resurrect itself. Come along, Cochrane. If you dilly-dally too long, my companion here might grow impatient. Believe me, you wouldn't want that. He's barely civilized as it is."
Cochrane grunted, then hopped down off his stool and disappeared behind the counter. Rathbourne exchanged a slightly amused look with her at the threat she'd used. Ianthe shrugged.
All they could see was the top of Cochrane's bald head. Then he waddled out toward a wall of curtains and reached up to tug on a bell pull there. The red velvet curtains slid back, exposing an enormous iron wheel embedded into the wall, like the door to a bank vault, which it had once been, of course.
A panel slid open in the door, revealing an inch or two of a cold stone face. It could have been a mask or rock carving. "Yes?" Came a harsh whisper, like the breath of air slipping from a newly opened tomb.
"Themselves want entrance to the Inn." Cochrane jerked his thumb back toward them.
"They paid the price?"
"Not yet." Cochrane gestured toward the small stone altar on the side of the door.
Unease ran through Ianthe. She'd heard tales from the Colonies about curses that could be applied using a person's hair, fingernails, or skin. Still, blood was blood, and the sorcerers to be found within the Labyrinth were those belonging to the Darker disciplines.
Taking out the little athame most sorcerers carried with them, she cut the fleshy, scarred pad of her thumb, then allowed a drop to fall into the silver bowl on the altar. "Let no harm be done by my will within. I grant the sorcerers of the Labyrinth safe passage and ask for it myself."
Almost an inch of blood lingered in the bottom, and as her droplet hit the crimson liquid, small circles spread outward, a shiver of sorcery trickling cold fingers up her spine. The oath was set and would backfire upon her should she break it. Wordlessly, she handed the blade to Rathbourne, who echoed her gesture.
"Done," she told Cochrane, tucking her athame back within her reticule. "Now let us pass."
"With pleasure." His evil little leer had returned. Reaching up, he hauled hard on the iron wheel, straining to put his weight into it. The wheel turned slowly at first, then moved with well-oiled glee until the circular door popped open.
Instant noise assaulted them; foul-mouthed curses spat into the street beyond as a tall woman in a cloak argued with a hunched old man over his barrow of goods. It was like stepping into another world, one hidden from the eyes of the normal people of London. A dark echo of the Portobello Markets, well-lit by tallow candles that wept fat globules of melted wax, instead of gaslights. Dozens of occult shops, herb gardens, apothecary's, laboratories, and even a museum lurked within. Some said there were even duels to the death held for entertainment value in the courtyard of the tavern down the end of Main Alley.
"Welcome to Balthazar's Labyrinth." Cochrane gestured them inside.
The gatekeeper on the other side of the door stepped aside with slow, heavy steps, and Ianthe hopped over the rim of the door, trying to look unconcerned. This wasn't her first time in the Labyrinth, but as always, she felt a shiver of nervousness. She wasn't protected here. The Prime had no control over what went on within this slick warren of alleys that was hidden from Null eyesight. Oh, some of its denizens were still wary enough of Drake's power to be careful with her, but others here had bones of contention to pick with the Prime. Destroying his envoy would make some of them into great names amongst those who dabbled on the edges of the Order.
