Page 100 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

Lirion gave him a long, searching look. “Just how many animals can you shift into?”

“A few.” Which was an honest answer, if not all that helpful. Even with Lirion and the rest of his team, Fenric still preferred to keep all his tricks close to his chest. “It’s a skill I continue to develop, but I have a bird form I can shift into. I can keep an eye from the air that way. What are the rest of you going to do?”

Rain lifted a hand and shook his head. “I should not be included in this number. If anything, I will man the Dark Lady from nearby with the skelebabies. If all goes south, you can always grab some longboats from the villa’s dock and row out to the ship. We can be on our way before pursuit can catch up with us.”

Malfas inclined his head in the pirate’s direction. “I second this. Rain should be aboard ship. Now, me, I can be stationed nearby in case you need me to charge in. I’ll act like I’m fishing.”

Fenric lifted a brow. “Night fishing?”

“It’s a thing,” Rain chimed in. “People do it all the time up here. There are certain fish that prefer to feed after dark.”

“Whatever.” Fenric scrubbed a hand across his face as he tried to keep straight the events they were plotting. “Just try not to call attention to yourself until it is necessary.”

“My magic offers me plenty of options when it comes to providing diversion and distractions when we need them. We can go from as simple as Fireball to set a few fires to a trembling earth spell to bring down the villa’s walls. Oh! Or maybe I can mix it up and conjure up a horde of something to go with any of Hapi’s zombies. What would make a good, scream-inducing horde? Frogs? Spiders? Monkeys?”

Belstrom shook his head. “There is no species of monkey known to call Baza home. That would not be a feasible option, I am afraid.”

“Very well. I’ll page through my grimoire tonight and make a working list of possible spells I might need,” Malfas said. Fenric was all right with Mal’s plan of chaos. It would help draw attention away from Lirion if he and Aria were discovered.

“Belstrom?”

“I shall support Malfas. It will look less bizarre if he is accompanied by a fishing companion, for one. Furthermore, I can provide additional rear support. Puppy can convene with us once the coffee has been distributed.”

“We’ll need the same uniform all the villa servants are using,” Lirion mused. “So no one questions why Puppy is handing out cups of coffee.”

“That’s a good idea. I’m sure I can snag something.” Fenric’s bird form was great for taking off with things like uniform shirts. It was easily dismissed as a dumb bird theft. No one tried to chase him more than a few feet, and it gave the group the perfect in.

“I’ll need to do some more reconnaissance to figure out how many guards there are, find a uniform, et cetera. Hapi and Mal will need to gather some ingredients and prepare spells ahead of time. Puppy can make his death coffee on the ship. Probably best if you don’t try to use the tavern kitchen or the kitchen in the villa.”

“How soon can we strike?” Lirion demanded, his voice tight with anxiety. “I don’t want to leave Aria in there any longer than necessary.”

Fenric could understand the plea behind his words. He glanced toward the window to see a fully dark sky beyond. Tonight was too soon. He needed some time to get down the rhythm of the guards, the uniform, spells. He looked over at Mal and Hapi. “Tomorrow night too soon?”

Both magic users shook their heads.

“I won’t need much to prepare,” Hapi replied. “I want to have ingredients in hand in case I need to raise any of my comrades. Zombies don’t require ingredients.”

Malfas nodded and was surprisingly brief, as if he could sense the rising tension in Lirion. “Same.”

Fenric looked to Rain. “If we go tomorrow night, when do you want to move the ship?”

“Hmm, I say tomorrow evening after Puppy has left from making his coffee. When all of you move out, I’ll move as well.”

Something about all of this sat uneasily in Fenric’s gut. He couldn’t put a finger on what. They had honestly done crazier things with less preparation and lived to tell the tale, so why? What was it about this situation putting him so on edge?

Turning to Lirion, he pressed, “You’re sure about going in? You don’t think you’ll be stopped once you enter?”

“New entertainment is a constant in places like this,” Lirion explained. For a moment, he looked so utterly calloused and weary, as if the world did nothing but consistently disappoint him. “People find favorites and buy out their contracts, so people disappear overnight. Or the slaves end up dying from the abuse they sustain. A high turnover rate is unfortunately quite common.”

Wow. Fenric’s desire to burn down the hotel had just quadrupled. Absolutely, that was going on the checklist. Rescue Aria, make sure his friends and the victims were out, then burn that shit to the ground. Fenric would not consider the job done if the building was still standing.

“I can always claim I’m there to entertain a particular client if someone tries to waylay me,” Lirion said. “So it should be fine, and if it’s not, I’ll send you a message with my messaging magic.”

Fenric’s unease didn’t dissipate, but he couldn’t think of a better way to handle it. “All right. Mal, Bel, how do you want us to alert you to come in?”

“Message?” Mal asked, but the question was directed at Lirion. “You can send to us as well, correct?”

“I can send to anyone I’ve met once, so yes. I have a limit of thirty words. You’ll be under the same limitation when you respond, so do bear that in mind.”