“I smelled it during some…” I didn’t want to get into specifics, but my curiosity got the better of me.“During some unusual activity.I thought maybe it came from a potion?”
“Did this unusual activity involve a person?”
“Yes.”My encounters with the golden-eyed thief and the beast-like stranger flashed in my mind.
Mrs.Crowe beckoned me over.I complied, standing only a few inches away.She smelled of a hundred different potion ingredients, an eclectic potpourri.Her voice was barely a whisper.“What do you know of the Emberborn?”
“Emberborn?You mean the extinct race of magical beings?”I asked.
She shushed me and got even closer.“Not so loud,” she said, almost in a panic.“Yes, Emberborn.And they’re not extinct, just rare.And they do have…special abilities.”
It was a shock to hear this from someone I considered rational and level-headed.It was just a bunch of superstitious nonsense.
“What do they have to do with ozone and citrus?”I asked.
She leaned in even more.“Some people have the ability to sense Emberborn.”
Before I could respond, the door opened, and in walked an elderly man with expensive-looking dark robes and a fat coin purse.Mrs.Crowe transformed back into her typical stony self in an instant.“Evening, sir.”
She didn’t give me a second glance.Our conversation was over, apparently, so I slunk out of the shop even more confused than I’d been before.
Chapter ten
The Last Lantern
AsIcontinueddownthe Lantern Mile, the bustle of the street died down.The crowds thinned, and the open shops grew sparse, many of them closed or fully boarded up.This was the darker part of the Underworld, and the entrance to the catacombs was near.
No light shone from any of the shops, save for a lone tavern where the golden glow of a dying fire flickered, casting dancing shadows on the cobbled path.A half-rotten sign above the door readTHE LAST LANTERNin faded paint.Old ale casks served as makeshift tables out front.A handful of surly-looking types sipped their drinks, whispering in each other’s ears, shooting me suspicious looks as I passed.I tried to melt into the darkness.
Then something caught my eye.
It wasn’t possible.
That mop of curly brown hair and emerald eyes.
Darion.
He sat alone, frowning, eyes cast downward toward the mug in his hands.How could he be here?Another in an ever-growing string of coincidences.
I didn’t like coincidences.
I stopped to watch him, but nothing was more obvious than someone standing still in the street, staring.I should have continued on my way.This was not a distraction I needed.But as I moved, he looked up from his mug, and his face transformed from glum to jolly as he shot me a glowing smile.
“Cas!What are you doing here?”His voice echoed through the quiet street.
I cringed as the other patrons looked up; so much for stealth.Resigned to my fate, I approached, trying my best not to smile, but the involuntary curve of my mouth betrayed me.“I could ask the same of you.Are you following me again?”
Darion laughed.“That would be some talented following, since I was here first.”
“Maybe you were following me very quickly?”
Darion snorted.“Are you drunk?”
“You’re the one with a mug of ale.”
“Ale?”Darion shook his head.“No, this is cider.Almost no alcohol.”
“Almost.”I smiled.“But seriously.What brings you to the edge of the Lantern Mile?”
