He stares at the gold. “Where did you—never mind. I don’t want to know.” The young man grabs it out of her hand and slips back into the market crowds.
“You just handed a scavenger a handful of gold and sent him on his way. Are you sure he’s coming back?”I ask, skeptically.
“Of course I am,”she snaps.“I’d trust Hodges with my life.”
A ripple of displeasure runs through me.
“He’s like my Viz,”she continues, which brightens my mood considerably, until there’s that prickle of alarm from her again.“I mean…not that he’s like…important to me or anything. An acquaintance more than a close friend.”
Ah.“Don’t worry, Leah Polaris. The scavenger is safe from me.”
It gives me a clue into what she might be hiding from me. Maybe there’s some other vulnerable human she fears will be put in harm’s way if the Lord of Malice knew about them. It’s a comforting theory in some ways, and unpleasant in others. Still?—
Leah spins around at the sound of someone approaching from behind. A slim man with hunched shoulders and a pointed beard.
“Ingold,” Leah says with obvious dislike, taking a step backward, but her hand doesn’t go to her knife.
“Who is he? Is he a threat?”
“Another trader. Deals in dark stuff. Creepy,”she supplies the words fast as the man sizes her up.
“Forgive me,” he says, his voice oily. “But I couldn’t help overhearing you might be willing to trade gold for information.”
“Depends how good that information is,” she says. “Why? Have you heard something?”
“If it’s ephilium gossip you want, then yes,” he replies, eyeing Leah’s pockets.
“All right,” she says, pulling out three gold pieces. “Tell me, and these are yours.”
He tuts. “What I know is worth more than that.”
Leah shrugs. “Except you could be full of shit and spinning me any old story, so I’ll take the risk and you’ll take what you’re offered.”
Ingold’s eyes glitter with irritation, but he nods. “Very well.”
“Nicely done,”I murmur into her ear. I hardly need a reminder that Leah is not a woman to be meddled with, yet I enjoy these moments all the same.
Rather than get any closer to the man, she tosses him the gold pieces. He snatches them out of the air, holding them up to the light.
“Well?” Leah demands.
“There’s been more activity around the Aradis trade rift lately,” he says. “The ephilium have been shifty, putting extra guards on duty, claiming they’re doing ‘inspections.’ Word is they’re smuggling something through they don’t want the Assembly to know about.”
“Interesting.We can’t get demons within two blocks of the trade rift usually, not without the ephilium kicking up a stink.”
Leah ignores me, staying focused on the trader she clearly doesn’t trust. “You better not be fucking with me, Ingold.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Rose Radley,” he says with a smile before slinking away.
“Ugh, he makes my skin crawl,”she says.“I didn’t even know he knew my name.”
“Your fake name,”I point out.
“Yes, which reminds me, how did you know?—”
She interrupts herself mid-thought to greet Hodges as he returns.
“Any luck?”
