Fee grinned. “It was a good sign.”
Trayla laughed. “Right. Well, he’s a pro, because I didn’t see him again.”
Fee studied the passing landscape out of the window but looked back at Trayla when she realized the woman was staring at her.
“I didn’t expect you to look Grihan.” Trayla waved at the ears and the wig.
“They work, don’t they? And I couldn’t come down as myself.” Fee tapped her right ear. “These are detachable, so a good yank will expose me.”
“They’re excellent.” Trayla studied them. “But you’re too short to be an adult Grih. You look like a teenager.”
“Can’t help my height.” Fee shrugged. As someone who was tall for a woman on Earth, she never saw herself as short, even though among the Grih she usually came up to their shoulders.
The runner turned off the main thoroughfare, and Fee caught a glimpse of the river up ahead.
For the last few minutes they had been traveling through low, large buildings she assumed were warehouses set near the port authority, but now the structures twisted and soared, and she could see touches here and there of the style that made Larga Ways the jewel that it was.
Beaten copper, walls of flowers, slate cladding and colorful art that looked as if it were made of enamel was everywhere.
The runner turned again, and she admired the trees and plants that abounded on the pavement and in containers on the buildings themselves.
This looked like a business district, and there were cafes and small boutiques that catered to the steady stream of pedestrians.
The next turn they took went straight down to the river front, and then the runner swung left, coming to a stop three houses down from the corner in front of a building facing the water.
Fee scrambled out and took it in.
The three houses were all obviously built together, each with a high pitched roof and balcony. There were gates and tiny, lush gardens in front of each, and stairs leading up to brightly painted doors, each one a different color.
“Admiral Hoke is paying for this?” Trayla asked, surprised.
“No, I am.” Fee set her bag more firmly on her shoulder and pushed the gate open.
It was delightfully beautiful.
Trayla trailed behind, and before Fee could tap in the door code, the man who’d stared at her in the port authority stepped around the side of the building.
Trayla was suddenly right behind her.
Fee turned her head to look at him, the bracelet on her wrist a comforting weight. “And you are?”
“It’s the other operative,” Eazi murmured into her earpiece. “I double-checked with the admiral.”
“Natta.” He lifted both hands. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t want to wait where everyone could see me.”
Trayla relaxed. “You admired my sign at the port.”
“The card with the name on it made it very easy for me.” There was amusement in his voice. “And you looked just the right amount of delighted to meet our lovely way station manager.”
Fee punched in the code and pushed the door open.
“Wait.” Natta slipped inside in front of them both and disappeared, presumably to check the rooms.
Trayla kept behind her and once they were inside, she closed the door and dropped the bag.
Fee had the feeling she was keeping her hands free.
“You’ve been told about the plot to assassinate me?” she guessed.
