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"You shouldn't be here," Knox hissed, his voice free from stutter. "They will kill you, given a chance."
"They?" Bain echoed. "The temple?"
Knox shook his head. "No. They have infiltrated the temple. They seek to influence…events."
"You seem to have infiltrated it yourself," Bain said dryly.
Knox flinched, barely enough to be noticeable. "I'm the Alpha's man. I'm watching—" He slumped back down again as a couple of priests rounded the corner. "Th…this relief wa…was carved a hu…hundred years ago."
The priests passed without a glance in our direction.
Knox's tongue darted over his lips. "They believe a man who cannot speak clearly also cannot think or hear. They pity me, while they let me go almost anywhere."
"I assume they would kill you too, if they knew?" I brushed my fingers lightly over the relief as though that was all we were talking about.
"Basically, yes."
I shuddered. Whatever was going on must be bad, for him to take a chance like that.
"What more can you tell us?" Bain asked.
"The…the relief is…is said to be Hec…Hec…"
"Hecate?" I suggested. I sensed more people passing behind us, but didn't turn to look. Instead, I played along with the game. Whatever was going on here, Knox might be our only way to find out.
"Yes, that's right," Knox agreed. "Perhaps we can meet later and I can tell you more." He spoke low, furtive.
"I would like that," I replied. I turned slowly now, my interest in the relief worn out already, in spite of the fact it showed the Goddess of Magic, and therefore witches. That was a strange thing to find here, but not the strangest thing I had seen recently.
As surreptitiously as I could, I glanced around. "Can you tell me anything about the Covener's family?"
Knox responded with a surprised double-take and barely imperceptible shake of his head. "If there is anything to know, I haven't heard."
I exhaled softly and let out the power I held. Bain must be right, the shoemaker had goaded me into a reaction and I fell for it, scale, tail and talons.
"We should worship now, before someone thinks it odd that we're standing here talking," Bain said.
"Y…yes." In spite of us still being more or less alone, Knox fell back into his persona. It was probably safer that way. If walls had ears, then temple walls likely had a metric shit ton of them.
"I'll show you wh…where." He slumped and walked with an uneven gait toward a wide archway. Beyond that lay the familiar shape of a stone altar. Stone benches, each worn down from years of asses, sat in lines, facing the altar. Many of the benches were occupied, as was the small section in front of the altar for worshippers to kneel.
Knox led us to the last row, where our backs would face the wall.
Bain nodded his approval at the choice and sat. He bent his head and closed his eyes.
I was certain all his other senses were on high alert. Mine recoiled at the smell of human sweat, anxiety and fear. The latter might have come from me.
I placed my hands in my lap and curled them tight, as though that might help.
Honestly, the sandalwood scent of Bain and a hint of bergamot from Knox steeled my nerves better than anything else could have done. I clung to a finger-full of power and held it close. Hades knew I might need it at a moment's notice.
"Hades, forgive the souls of those who gather here." A priestess spoke in a bored monotone from beside the altar.
If I were a god, I'd probably yawn and find something more interesting to do. As it was, I struggled to pay attention. That, I knew, was dangerous. My mind could wander in a dozen different directions and distract me while someone approached us.
I forced myself to focus, not just on the words, but on the room itself.
No one moved or made a sound until an older man at the front of the room leaned on the woman beside him and began to snore.
