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Crossing her arms, she studied him. “So, to me, nothing’s changed.”
“Yup. Except when I do trust you, we’ll go rescue the Commander.”
She smiled, and it reached her eyes. It was that smile that convinced him she’d been telling the truth. However, he wasn’t going to let her know. No. He’d let her sweat it out for a while.
* * *
As expected, the climb to the alley was a test of his pain tolerance. Twice he clung to the wall and fought off unconsciousness as fire burned along his shoulders and ringed his waist. Thank fate the trip down didn’t take long. Onora waited for him below.
Once he recovered, he asked, “Do you know where we’ve been staying?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you been in town?”
“A couple days.”
He cursed. “Fisk will need to relocate his headquarters.”
She agreed. “There are a number of assassins in town. I don’t know if that’s normal, but it’s a good thing they’re not the brightest.”
Small comfort. Valek told her about the bounty.
“Yelena needs to leave the Citadel,” Onora said, alarmed. “The city is contained by an unclimbable wall and has only so many hiding places. Even those idiots will find her eventually.”
He barked a laugh that turned into a hiss. “I tried logic.”
“Try again.”
He admired her optimism. She followed him as he crossed the Citadel, staying in the shadows. Her passage was soundless, and when he glanced back at her, her skin and clothing appeared darker, as if she was turning into a shadow. Valek remembered Janco commenting on how well Little Miss Assassin blended in with her surroundings. Janco hadn’t detected magic, but he didn’t always pick up on the more subtle users, like Reema. It was a bad time to open his magical senses so Valek added it to the list of things he still needed to discover about Onora.
When they reached the secret entrance to Fisk’s HQ, Valek said, “Here’s the story. My injuries are due to a fight with The Mosquito. He used magic and, if you hadn’t come along to help, I’d be dead. Oh, and you had no intention of carrying out the Commander’s order to assassinate me.”
“Except for the fight with the bug, it’s true. Why the change?”
“You tell me.”
It didn’t take her long. “You don’t want Yelena to be mad at me.” Her brow crinkled. “Why?”
He waited.
Onora shook her head, truly puzzled.
“Because she considers you a friend. Yelena doesn’t have many friends. And none who have also been—” there really was no way to say this gently “—raped. You share that in common, and it forges a bond. I don’t want to ruin that for her...or you.” He sensed she needed it more than his wife.
“Thanks.”
He nodded and tapped the code on the door. Hilly opened it. Her gaze slid to Onora.
“This is Onora. She’s going to be staying with us.”
She stepped aside, letting them in. Hilly took one look at his bloody tunic and said, “I’ll fetch Chale.”
“Thanks. Can you tell Yelena I’m back?”
Hilly paused and turned around. Her tight expression warned him before the words left her mouth. “She’s not here.”
He stilled as a number of emotions fought for dominance. Fury rose to the surface, but his battered body couldn’t produce the energy to sustain it. Instead, a tired anger laced his voice. “Where is she?”
“She’s with Fisk, two bodyguards, Tweet and a four-person surveillance team. They’re wearing disguises. She’s fine.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“They went to check a glass roof in this quadrant. They should be back any minute—”
“Not helping.”
“I don’t know.”
Valek tightened his grip on his knives. He hadn’t realized he’d drawn them.
“I’ll go,” Onora said.
“No. She knows the Commander sent you. We’ll go together.”
“Renée! Innis!” Hilly called into the kitchen behind her. “Report for backup.”
“We don’t—” Valek tried.
“They know all the problem spots. And they can fight.”
Two teens raced into the room. Both were about sixteen years old. Renée was a sturdy-looking girl with pale skin and red hair, but Innis looked like a stiff wind could blow him over. Nonetheless, their determined expressions warned him that arguing would involve too much energy. And he needed every ounce to find Yelena. They tucked daggers into hidden sheaths. Valek figured he’d ditch them if they couldn’t keep up.
Without a word, he strode to the door and headed out. It took another minute for his brain to catch up with his body. He had no plan, and therefore no direction and no way of finding Yelena. Valek stopped and sorted through the limited information. Hilly mentioned a roof. A rudimentary plan formed.
“I need to get onto a roof, or the highest point in this quadrant, without scaling a wall. Can you get me there?”
Renée and Innis exchanged a glance.
“Penny’s Arch?” Renée asked.
Innis nodded. “Safest bet.”
“This way,” Renée said before taking off with a ground-eating stride.
Valek, Onora and Innis followed. After ten minutes, he hoped the teens wouldn’t ditch him. At least the effort to maintain the pace kept his mind occupied. His injuries throbbed with pain, and he didn’t have any spare energy to conjure up various dire scenarios for his missing wife.
The street lamps emitted enough light for them to skirt security patrols, avoid busy intersections and cut through an impressive number of alleys. Then it turned tricky.
Renée scrambled up a dilapidated shed and crossed a high fence to get onto the roof that was connected to a row of houses. Innis accomplished it with equal ease. Valek sweated as he climbed and almost lost his balance on the fence. Onora touched his elbow to steady him.
Once on the roof, they stayed on the top of the buildings, win
ding through the quadrant. The place resembled a maze, and Valek didn’t have the strength to track their location.
Penny’s Arch turned out to be a thick walkway between two buildings. It arched high up in the middle, as if the structures had shuffled closer together and bowed it.
Valek scanned the area, noting the brief patterns of the original structures that emerged from the unorganized mess. He didn’t know what he’d expected—a giant hand pointing to a specific section? Maybe if he used magic...
Valek lowered his mental barrier and was immediately assaulted with the thoughts of the thousands of people all around him. He raised his shield again, cursing. The entire endeavor had been a waste of precious time.
About to ask Renée to lead them back to HQ, Valek noticed that one area was darker than the others, but there was a bright glow right next to it. As if all the lanterns had decided to huddle together instead of spreading out.
Assassins were creatures of night and shadows, and if they’d set up an ambush, it would be in the darkest part of the city. And if there wasn’t a naturally dark spot, then they wouldn’t hesitate to create one.
“Renée, can you get us where it’s dark?” Valek asked, pointing to the spot.
“Yes. It’s near the entrance. There are two routes. Which one?”
“The fastest one.”
“There’s a wall.”
“Up or down?”
“Down.”
“I can handle it. Let’s go.”
Another race through the city. More pain and the conviction that his arm was about to rip from his shoulder. The trip blurred into one test of endurance. He kept his gaze trained on Renée’s back, concentrating on the next step.
Shouts pierced his fog. Two more of Fisk’s guild members joined them. Their mouths moved, but it took him a moment to decipher their words. And when he did, they made no sense.
“Slow down. What’s this about sweepers and lamplighters attacking?” he asked.
