"What's going on between you and the Inquisitor?" Isla asked as we walked through the doors of the Guildhall.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. There's this weird tension between you two.”

We waved to Castille before continuing down the street to go to the bar.

"Tension? There’s no tension."

"And what was that about more than one assignment? What else are you doing for her?"

I almost tripped.

“It’s-It’s nothing.”

Isla sighed.

"Jacob, how are we supposed to work as a team if you don't trust me?"

I recoiled.

"Trust you? You’ve been keeping secrets since this journey started. I've been upfront about why I'm here. So has Castille and even Dugan in his weird way. We still don’t know what you’re hiding."

She stopped in her tracks.

"Jacob… I want to tell you—tell everyone, but I can't. It's too dangerous."

"For you?"

"For the country."

That shut me up.

What could make one person so important?

"How about this? If I'm seconds away from dying, let me in on your secret. That way, I can’t share it with anyone."

Isla folded her arms, shivering under the heat of the rising sun.

"Why are you so morbid?"

"Life experience."

We walked down the main street that led deeper into the Service Quarter. Despite the lack of customers, most shops were open now, with elaborate, hand-painted signs hanging in the windows.

I stopped at a general store, looking inside at a row of plain iron cutlery: forks, knives, and-

Who is that?

In the window's reflection, a man on the other side of the street walked at an easy pace. Dressed in a long brown duster, nothing about him stuck out, yet the paranoid part of my brain itched.

It was the way he walked—he was killing time. In the Dellends, that luxury was only for those too drunk or sick to work.

"Someone’s following us. Act natural," I whispered.

Isla turned to the shop window.

"Great. Who did we piss off this time?"

I stifled a laugh.

"You've been spending too much time with Castille."

"No, I've been spending too much time in this spirits-cursed land."

I turned to her.

"You, OK?"

"I'm tired."

"We told you to rest."

"Not that.”

She looked down at her hands.

“I'm tired of hiding my abilities.”

My eyebrows raised.

I hadn't thought of our new rule from Isla's perspective. As a noble, she was trained to use her Landbound abilities from a young age. Being a mage was a fundamental part of who she was, and for the past couple of days, she had been forced to suppress what came naturally. Seeing Dugan use his abilities must have been the final straw.

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I glanced over my shoulder as another man in a duster slipped onto our side of the street.

Tip for new spies: don't wear matching outfits when tailing someone.

"Misdirection."

"What?"

"What if you disguised your abilities as something ordinary."

"How would I do that?"

"I don't know. You're the genius.”

I took Isla’s hand, pulling away from the window to walk further down the street.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, we have more company. Get ready to turn into that alley.”

We made a sharp turn at the edge of the general store, breaking out into a run until we stopped at a narrow intersection behind the storefronts. I pulled Isla to the left and crouched low against the back of a building, burning my will to activate the coat’s enchantment.

“Stay quiet,” I whispered, mostly to myself.

I took a deep breath and waited for my heart to stop pounding in my ears.

Heavy footfalls slapped the ground as the two men ran into the intersection. One was a gruff, older man with a wiry frame and an iron-grey mustache. The other was a boy a few years younger than me, growing the beginnings of a bread. They stopped, looking indecisively down the back streets. I burned more will as they stared over our heads. So far, the enchantment was working, deflecting attention as long they didn’t look too hard.

"Where did he go?" the boy asked.

"I don't know. The elf has tricks. We'll split up to cover more ground. Scratch that. Get everyone. Lady Kateen wants him found."

The boy ran off in the direction he came, leaving the older man alone in the intersection. He rubbed the greying stubble on his chin and slipped his hand into the chest pocket of his long coat. He pulled out a hand-rolled cigarette and looked down where we crouched.

He strained against the invisible force keeping his head up. The veins in his neck bulged. His teeth clenched. He grunted from the effort. The harder he tried to look down, the more will I burned.

I turned off the enchantment. The older man’s head snapped down. He stumbled forward—off-balanced by the sudden release of force. Good. I jumped up, willing my dagger into my left hand and sliding it under his ribs. He gasped, the cigarette slipping from his mouth. I laid him down at the intersection, wiping away the sweat prickling my forehead.

On my right, the boy looked at me slack-jawed with two other equally stunned men—one blonde. One brunette.

"Damn."

I ran down the right alleyway—away from where Isla crouched.

Fighting three men in an alleyway was doable, but not here. I needed them coming at me one at a time, and I needed Isla to get away. Lack of sleep aside, she wasn’t ready for a fight without her Landbound magic.

The two men ran after me while the boy broke off in another direction. Great. Was he going to get more friends?

I turned to the two pursuing men and threw my dagger. It sunk into the thigh of the blonde running in front. He stumbled back into the brunette. I willed my dagger back into my hand. The brunette slipped behind the injured man for cover and pulled out a hand crossbow. My eyes widened as he shot a bolt aimed at my heart. I tried to twist out of the way, but it was too late.

The bolt hit my chest at an angle and skittered off my left shoulder into the back wall of a store. Not a stitch on the jacket was out of place.

Thank you, Shay!

The impact left me unbalanced and unprepared as the injured man dropped on all fours. The brunette leapt over him, pulling out his rapier in the same motion. He thrust it at my left shoulder, hoping to stab me in the chest when I got my balance. Instead, I went with the momentum, accelerating my fall forward instead of correcting myself.

I slipped under the rapier thrust and placed the side of my right fist against his chest. I willed my dagger from my left hand to my right. The knife materialized in a reverse grip, stabbing the brunette man in the heart. I spun on my heels to twist my short sword free, slashing the blonde man across the neck as he rose to his knees with his weapons in hand.

All three of us collapsed to the ground.

I got to my knees, panting. They were good. Much better than the Lagos guards at last night’s party. They fought like me, preferring skill and speed over mindless aggression. That told me something about their mistress.

I sighed.

I had forgotten about Kateen. No, I’d done worse than that. I underestimated how violent she could get. Fooled by a pretty dress as if the most dangerous woman in Luskaine didn't raise me. The Service Quarter was her territory. The only reason she hadn't stormed the Pit was the Sanctifier Guildhall across the street.

I flashed back to Reed's suggestion of bringing extra hands. Had she anticipated this? That woman was too clever. I needed to get out of here, back to the Pit with the rest of the party—with Isla.

Isla!

I looked down the alleyway, straining my eyes to spot where Isla was crouched. She was gone!

Did she escape? Was she captured?

I stabbed my short sword into the ground, pushing on it to get to my feet. The main streets were a no-go, but if I-

The crossbow bolt bit into the back of my knee.

My left leg buckled, making my short sword bend to support my weight.

I turned on my right leg to see the boy behind a stack of boxes, hand crossbow drawn.

He stared at me with a shocked, wide-eyed expression that became permanent as my dagger buried itself in his eye.

His head jerked back. His limp body draped over the boxes like an animal skin and then slipped behind them and out of my mind.

I willed the dagger back into my hand and hobbled down the alley.

If I could just make it to the Pit, Dugan could heal me; I could get Castille, and we could find Isla.

My leg… Why can’t I feel my leg?

Of course, the crossbow bolts were poisoned. Sin was right; poison took the fun out of fighting—the fun out of winning.

I loosened my belt sash and tied it above my knee as I walked. It wouldn't help much, but it would be worth it if it kept me moving for a few extra minutes.

The Pit. If I could only-

I staggered and fell against the back wall of a store. A person on the other side of the wall pounded against it.

“Keep it down out there!”

I took two more steps before I collapsed. In my mind, I was still walking, the steady crunch of boots on dirt surrounding me. The frills of a white dress rolled into view as my vision faded to black.