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“All the better,” Siobhan replied, grinning. She leaned over, speaking directly to me now. “The madam of the guild is called Phillipa Blacktongue. She keeps a close watch on all her charges and has very extensive records of everyone who passes through her establishment. If we could get her book, we could undoubtedly track down the location of the lookout, but it’s not that simple. We’ve tried to get a look at her books before, but she keeps them in an enchanted safe on the second floor of the Side Saddle.”
“I thought you could break any safe,” I replied.
She didn’t seem offended. “It’s not the safe that’s the problem. It’s her. She watches that thing like a hawk, especially on busy nights, and she’d recognize any of us the moment we walked in the door.”
“So what do you want us to do?”
Cross grinned, his twinkling gaze full of a mischief that reminded me painfully of Bael. “Blacktongue has an office on the first floor for entertaining important guests.”
“Important like royalty,” Scion asked, his tone resigned.
“Exactly,” Siobhan answered. “We don’t need a large diversion or even a complex one. Just keep Phillipa Blacktongue in her office for ten minutes, fifteen if you can.”
“We’ll do it,” I said at the same time as Scion said, “I don’t fucking think so.”
I glanced at him. “What’s wrong? It’s a ten-minute conversation.”
Cross clapped his hands together. “Wonderful! We’ll let you work out the particulars and meet back here in a few hours.” He looked me over. “You’ll need to wear something else. Perhaps Siobhan can lend you something.”
I barely heard him, all my attention focused on Scion. I twisted my hands in my skirt, feeling intuitively that the other shoe was about to drop. “Why should that be difficult? Talk to her for ten minutes?”
The prince grimaced, his heated gaze landing hard on me. “Because there’s not likely to be much talking involved.”
28
LONNIE
THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT
“What do you mean exactly by ‘no talking’?” I asked several hours later.
It had taken quite a while to come back around to the topic of Phillipa Blacktongue—partly because Scion was clearly avoiding me and partly because he and Cross had spent several hours behind closed doors in some sort of private meeting that I was not invited to. I supposed I should have been grateful that it had taken so long for me to be shut out of a conversation—it was far better than what I’d been used to before—but instead, I was bitter as I used that time to take a real bath. So bitter I couldn’t even enjoy the feeling of washing the grime from my skin.
“I mean,” Scion said flatly as we walked through the city square that afternoon, “that Phillipa Blacktongue doesn’t take on clients unless there is a very good reason.”
I looked sideways at him shrewdly. “How do you know?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know nearly every important player in the city, rebel, whether or not I like or socialize with them. I also make it a point to be aware of potential enemies. Blacktongue is a succubus, and like you may have noticed earlier, I do not particularly care for their kind.”
I shuddered. He certainly did not.
“So?” I asked. “I’m sure she’s capable of a normal conversation.”
“Capable, certainly, but whether she’ll be willing is another matter. She does not bill her time merely to gossip.”
Embarrassment stained my cheeks. No matter what he claimed, he certainly seemed to know a lot about it. “Then what will we do?”
He grimaced. “Well, seeing as you have committed us to yet another errand without consulting me, I suppose we will have to improvise.”
I raised an eyebrow. I was not sure I liked the sound of that, but I had no better suggestion, so I kept my mouth shut.
* * *
We’d venturedinto the city so that Scion could make good on his promise to find me something new to wear, but I had to admit, it was more overwhelming than I might have anticipated. A battle of inner afflictions rather than those that lurked outside the city walls.
The Cutthroat marketplace was lively and bustling, even more so than the streets we’d walked yesterday. There were rows of booths selling potions, herbs, weapons, sweet-smelling pastries, and smoked meats. One vendor had nothing but cloth-bound books, while another sold strings of glittering gemstones on long, leather cords. I saw many stalls selling clothing yet nothing that caught my eye.
“They seem to have more free humans here than in the capital.”
