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"How does who do what?" I squinted at a larger fish who took off in pursuit of the smaller ones. It caught up with the ones which lagged behind and swallowed them. The others darted away, apparently oblivious. Or maybe relieved they weren't lunch themselves.
"Viva," Kerina said, as though I was deliberately being obtuse. "She's powerful, beautiful…" She clearly fished for something as hungrily as the predator in the water.
"Stubborn, difficult," I added for her. "Much like you."
"The best women are," she said tartly. She looked as though all of her attention was focused on our conversation, but I knew her better than that. Her senses would be as alert as mine were.
"You might be right," I conceded.
"Of course I am." Her body stiffened slightly and her hand curled near her knife. "I'm always right."
"Except when you're not." I followed her gaze, but saw nothing more than dockworkers going about their business. I reached out to the minds of those around us, but sensed nothing out of place.
Wait—
There, on the edge of my perception, something was off.
"Someone is watching us?" I asked nonchalantly.
"They're trying to pretend they aren't, but I can see strands of duplicity around them."
I didn't fully understand what it was she did, but I believed she saw what she said she saw.
She had never been wrong yet, any more than I had. Her skill was similar to mine, in a way. Like me, she would have known Gordon intended something, if not what.
Unlike her, I didn't need to see the person.
Neither of us could see past carefully guarded thoughts. I only gleaned Gordon's intentions a moment before he shifted. Too late to stop him, but late enough to leave no question as to what the man planned. To act too soon might have revealed my abilities to those I preferred to keep it from.
Gordon, Lewis, Urla and the guards in Kerina's company; none needed to know.
While I was sure it was nothing more than enhanced shifter abilities, some might think them witch-given. That would create complications Dex and I didn't need.
I reached out with my senses and touched the mind of a man on the other side of the docks. He stood looking into a crate of fish as though interested in purchasing some.
Nearby, the fishmonger served a woman who handed him a coin in return for a calico bag of the same fish as the predator in the water.
The man shifted from foot to foot when he came under the fishmonger's scrutiny. He mouthed something which looked like, 'I haven't decided yet,' and took a step away.
As far as I could tell, the man didn't know why he watched. Like Urla, he'd probably been paid.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "He seems confused. He doesn't know why he's supposed to keep an eye on us."
"I see what I see," Kerina replied. "Maybe he's committing adultery. Or planning to steal a fish."
I nodded. "That's possible," I conceded. "Although I don't sense any concern Hades might be watching."
"Sometimes people think with their nether regions, not their afterlives." Kerina sauntered toward the man, a smile on her lips.
I opened my mouth to stop her, but she was already out of reach. Calling out to her back would only draw attention to us. I had a feeling that was her intention anyway.
That was confirmed a moment later when she walked right up to the fishmonger and spoke loudly.
"Why are you staring at me?"
The fishmonger looked startled. "I beg your pardon, miss?"
I groaned to myself. I would appreciate it if women would stop trying to get me killed. Had I forgotten to pray to Hades today?
