As we stepped around a group of children playing with what looked like animated bones, Wickett took command. “Weneed to find the inn. Get our bearings before we start asking questions.”
“Asking questions seems like a good way to get noticed,” Calder pointed out.
The Oracle’s voice was quiet but certain. “We’ve already been noticed. The city knows we’re here. Knows what we seek. I don’t believe there will be much hiding in Dyssara.”
A woman appeared so suddenly I nearly walked right into her. She materialized from between two buildings, clipboard in hand, glasses perched on her nose, dressed in layers of mismatched fabric that somehow looked deliberate.
“You’re late,” she announced, looking at her clipboard as if we had personally offended her.
“Late for what?” I asked.
“Your arrival, obviously.” She adjusted her glasses with theatrical precision. “Dallying through the city. Very inconsiderate. The Master doesn’t appreciate tardiness.”
“We didn’t dally,” Pip protested, throwing her arms over her chest. “We didn’t even turn downoneof your creepy streets. Whoareyou anyway?”
The woman made an exaggerated checkmark on her clipboard. “Nosy.”
“Well, listen, Nosy?—”
“Pip,” I gasped. “I don’t think that’s her name.”
“But—”
“—Follow me to the hotel. Immediately.” She turned on her heel, clearly expecting obedience. “You have a meeting with the Master as soon as he summons you.”
We exchanged glances. Calder shrugged.
“I’m still going to call her Nosy,” Pip whispered.
Every few steps, something would happen that required Wickett to touch me. My boot slipped on the polished stone; his hand steadied me. A man in an elegant coat passed too closewith that unsettling smile. Wickett pulled me against his side. When we had to pass beneath a statue frozen mid-scream, its stone fingers reaching down as if to grab us, his hand moved to the back of my neck, guiding me through, and I felt that touch all the way down to my toes.
“You’re enjoying this,” I muttered.
He leaned over and whispered. “Immensely.”
“We’re supposed to be looking for Vitoria.”
“I can multitask.” His thumb stroked the nape of my neck once before his hand fell away again. “Besides, you haven’t told me to stop.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Our guide stopped suddenly. “Where are your things?”
“Our things?” I asked, tilting my head.
She peered at us over her glasses. “Luggage. Belongings. Supplies. Surely you didn’t come empty-handed?”
Pip twisted around, her tiny pack on full display. “I have things, Nosy!”
The woman made a giant show of adjusting her glasses, examining Pip like a specimen, and then making a dramatic mark on her clipboard. “One adequately prepared sprite.” She looked at the rest of us, finishing with Silas. “And four woefully unprepared travelers catering to a... griffin with a scowl. This is not a good start to your visit. The Master will ask, and we’ll be required to accommodate you.”
“The Master can—” I started, but Wickett cleared his throat. A warning.
“We apologize for the inconvenience,” he said smoothly, slipping into diplomatic mode. “We had... complications during our journey.”
“Complications.” She sniffed. “Everyone has complications. The prepared ones plan for them.”
“You’re not wrong there,” Aureth said, the first words she’d spoken in the city.
