“No,” Sebastian said emphatically. “You’re—”Smart. Witty. Attractive.“—um,” he stumbled.
“Go on, duck,” Lord Fine said, a new note in his voice. “What am I?”
Sebastian bit his lip. “...tall?”
“Tall, again.” Lord Fine glanced down, and their eyes met. “Sure, Sebastian,” he said, slow and knowing, like he didn’t buy it for a single second.
Sebastian stuck his hands in his pockets to hide his shiver.
Soon they were in a market square in a very old part of an already-old city. People were eager to gossip about the murder, but none of them could add anything that wasn’t in the paper.
“Horrible murder, but that’s Yorkshire for you,” an elderly chemist told them. “Didn’t you readDracula? Takes place in Whitby, it does. The villages have got all sorts of nasty legends, about witches and beasts. Lords who hunted their own vassals, doing the devil’s work for him.”
Lord Fine narrowed his eyes. “Just exactly what sort of stories is everyone telling about the lords around here?”
Sebastian took that as their cue to go search the alleys instead.
They walked from the chemist past a tea shop that smelled like baking pies. “A murder takes place in a city center and no one seems to know anything or comes forward with any evidence,” Lord Fine observed. “But of course, no one would have had evidence had I been murdered the night before last, despite being a stone’s throw from Fenchurch. I was completely alone with that fire paranormal, Jack Mercier.”
Sebastian frowned. “The cage seemed to muffle the sound, but I don’t know how he ensured he was alone with you. I didn’t notice any other magic in the street.”
“Even the busiest city streets are empty now and again,” said Lord Fine. “Could he have simply timed it right?”
“Why rely on timing when you could use magic?”
“Fair point.” Lord Fine considered Sebastian. “Mercier knew you. He knew you’d be at the limits of your magic.”
“We were under the same blood magic,” Sebastian admitted. “I used to know his limits too.”
“He seemed particularly angry to see you,” said Lord Fine. “I mean, I assume most baddies would be, since you can apparently douse their magic like a snuffer on a candle. But he called you aspanner in the works.”
“I suppose I am.” Sebastian held up his arm. “It’s the same reason I can hide you. If they’re using some kind of magic to conceal or plan these murders, it won’t work on me.”
Lord Fine’s gaze was lingering on his wrist, where the edges of the tattoo would be visible to him as swirls of color. “It sounds like we can at least look for the murder site, then, in the Shambles or close by.” He set his jaw. “My guess would be an alley where the victim could be isolated and trapped.”
A few minutes later, they stood together in the mouth of an alley. “Now what?” Lord Fine said.
“Powerful magic sometimes leaves a residue. I can’t feel it standing here, the way a subordinate paranormal would, and I’ll never know what kind, but I might be able to feel traces of magic left behind if those traces weaken under my magic.” Sebastian made a face. “Of course, that means using my magic, and normally I would recommend you get some distance from me for this part. But you must stay close to avoid magical detection.”
Lord Fine’s gaze flicked over him. “And what do I do if I’mclose to you?” he said lightly.
Sebastian winced. “Brace yourself.”
Lord Fine rolled his eyes. “I can handle some watery limbs if it means catching the blighters who tried to murder me.” He looked at the wall of the alley, and then wrinkled his nose. “Christ, have these walls been washed in a century? Ever? Brick isn’t supposed to be slimy.”
Sebastian’s lips quirked up. “I can give you my handkerchief.”
“Fuck off.” Lord Fine gingerly rested his fingertips on the alley wall with an air of great reluctance. “There. Braced.”
“No, you’re not,” Sebastian said. “You’ll be covered in slime and worse from the cobblestones if you fall.”
“I’m not going to fall. Stop coddling me, you know I don’t abide it.”
“Lord Fine—”
“Any day now, princess.”
Sebastian sighed, and then surreptitiously moved within arm’s reach of Lord Fine.
