“When did you—?”Gus trailed off, staring at the shears.
She hadn’t felt Caius remove them from her pocket.Now why would a high ranking member of a major House have such a low born skill as pickpocketing?
“Never mind.”Gus set aside her question before skirting the dead body, trusting the other two to follow.“Come on.”
Anandra scurried after her, but Caius paused long enough to collect the shears from the human’s neck and a blade from the man’s boot before sauntering after them.
Gus kicked herself.She should have done that.Now Caius was armed and she was not.
Caius squinted as the rumble of a ship’s engine came from overhead.“Their preparations are quite thorough.Is that going to be a problem?”
Gus glanced up as a small ship, one of those models common among salvagers, maneuvered through the openings of the dock’s upper levels to hover overhead.Its body and wings had been painted a bright shade of pink.
A calling card, of sorts.
Gus stopped in front of a narrow gap between two containers.“No.”
“You sure?”
Gus allowed herself a very small, slightly mysterious smile.“They’re in my territory.”
That gave her the advantage.No one knew this place as well as she did.
For instance, the narrow channel beside her that led into the heart of this bank of containers.It was just wide enough for an adult Gus’s size to slip through.The Tombs were riddled with these types of errors.Over time, they’d formed a maze within a maze.
“Come on,” Gus said, plunging into the space between containers.
She’d only made it a few steps before she realized that Caius wasn’t behind her.She looked back to find him standing at the opening, his thoughts easy to read.
“You’ll fit,” Gus promised.
It would be tight, but if he turned sideways, he should be able to make it.
Probably.
Caius grumbled something about claustrophobia but didn’t argue as he squeezed himself into the narrow gap.
Following a map that existed only in her mind, Gus led them through the labyrinth.Down one narrow passageway after another.The drone of the ship above and the shouts from their pursuers echoing from the other side of the containers.Startlingly close.Only a few slim metal walls separating them from death or capture.
“Almost there,” Gus called.
With a quick look overhead to make sure the coast was clear, she darted out from between the containers and over to the next bank where she waited for the other two to catch up.
Anandra and Caius reached her just as the ship swung into view.
“All this effort will be wasted if we can’t lose our eyes in the sky,” Caius commented.
Gus cut him a look but didn’t respond as she disappeared into the next passageway, leaving Anandra and Caius to follow if they wanted.
It turned out they did.Caius’s grunts as he squeezed into the narrow space a familiar refrain that soon faded into the background as Gus concentrated on remembering the right path.It had been years since she laid out the maze so it took a moment to orient herself.
Coming to a crossroads of sorts, Gus slowed.
Which way was it again?Left or right?
After a moment of hesitation, Gus turned left.“It’s this way.”
She was almost sure of it.
