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“What kind?”
“A Sooth, as I said before, but also a Magni,” Demery said. “It’s a dangerous combination. He has a Sooth’s foresight and connection with the Other, but also a Magni’s influence over others. What else, I can’t say. The unnatural was never an area of particular interest for me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What is your area of interest?”
“I enjoy cards, military memoirs and complicated women,” Demery returned. “But at this time, I’m interested in Bretton’s lost prize. I’m tired of this life. I want to retire somewhere warm, where there’s no noose waiting for me. So I plan to rescue your mother, convince her to take me to Bretton’s lost prize, and then hang my hat.”
My breath lodged in my throat. “You intend to rescue my mother?”
“Yes, and it would go a lot better if I delivered her daughter to her, safe and sound. Which is possibly why Lirr is after you, though he could also intend to use you against Anne. I can’t be sure, and I won’t pretend to be. Their relationship was always unpredictable.” Demery lifted his cup to his lips, adding along the way, “In any case I need a Stormsinger, and you need protection from Lirr, so we both win if you come with me. I have a vested interest in your health and happiness, for your mother’s sake.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Demery looked dour. “That’s foolish of you.”
“You’re apirate,” I shot back, my cheeks beginning to flush withanger—angerat my confusion, anger at him and at the world, which had left me so alone and uprooted. “I can’ttrust—Itdoesn’t matter, does it? Are you going to drag me back to your ship now?”
Demery considered his wine. “Maybe. Though as I’m trying to endear myself to your mother, I’d prefer not to abduct you. And like I said, I want your loyalty, Mary.”
“I don’t believe you.” I spat the words this time, cold and disgusted. They were not a lie, but they weren’t entirely true, either. My heart wanted to believe him; my mind knew better. Even if he’d shown me relative kindness up until now, who knew what the coming months wouldbring—particularlyonce he realized I was untrained.
Thrusting myself back from the table, I stood and glared down at Demery. “We’re done here.”
“I’ll be here all night, and back tomorrow,” he said, ignoring me. “Drinking quietly and awaiting your response.”
“This is my response,” I stated and stormed away into the crowd.
I went back up to my room, but the walls felt too close, and I had no desire to be in a place Demery had paid for. It was time to go, to findspace—andfrom there, sort out my thoughts and make my own decisions.
Checking to ensure no one saw me, I followed a second stair I’d seen the maids use earlier in the day, skittered past kitchens full of clinking and calling, and out a back door.
I shouldered past a pissing man and out into the snowy brightness of the street. I let the press of townsfolk sweep me away from the inn, from Demery, and all that he’d tried to tell me.
“Miss?” A figure materialized from the crowd, clad in a worn brown overcoat, a cloak, and a clumsily tied scarf. He had dark hair, ineffectively constrained by a tricorn hat and a short braid, and brown eyes rimmed by dark lashes in a pleasant, if currently ominous, face.
I knew him. The memory was thin, but I’d seen this man before. One of Lirr’s men? No. One of Demery’s?
“Miss, are you well? Do you need help?”
I kept walking for a few steps, rage boiling up in my stomach. Of course, Demery would have the doors watched. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to slip away unmolested.
Well, I’d had enough of Demery and captivity. I’d had enough of hiding from punches, of trying to keep myself alive in a situation beyond my control. I’d take what scraps of power I could and run with them.
If Demery and his pirates wanted to keep me locked up? They’d just have to catch me.
I bolted into the night.
THIRTEEN
The Man in the Shadows
SAMUEL
Mary Firth lunged into a passage between two houses, skirts rippling in her wake. I skittered to a stop at the end of the alleyway, peering after her into the shadows.
“Ms. Firth!” I panted. “I am not your enemy!”
There was no response. The alley ended in something of a courtyard, but it was blocked by a fence. I doubted the woman had managed to scale that in skirts. So where was she?
