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I took another drink of my coffee to try to shake away the questions. I’d contacted Nem for this exact reason, to get Kenz somewhere safe, somewhere away from us. It was why even if I’d wanted so badly to call her after she’d left, to check in, to at least message her and tell her I was sorry, I didn’t.
Instead, I’d removed her number from my phone, the same as Char, Tor and Vance had done. I’d kept Nem’s contact information—I still needed to be able to update her in the event of problems—but the ability to easily reach Kenz would pose too great a temptation.
Better to head that issue off.
I walked from the kitchen after topping off my cup to the dining room, only to find a large towel spread out and Tor with his pistol taken apart. It was a strange sight, as he’d started doing this work in his room after Kenz had started to live with us. I guess he hadn’t wanted her to see his weapons up close.
It felt like a reminder that she was gone, that things had truly changed.
“Good morning.” Char’s cheery voice took me by surprise, and when I turned, I saw a smile that had been absent for a while.So instead of being depressed, he’s gone back to his mask, huh?
I nodded toward the kitchen. “There’s still at least a cup in the pot left over if you want any.” I left the other part unsaid, that I’d bet he hadn’t slept any better than I did.
Everyonehad dark circles under their eyes as proof of that.
Char went into the kitchen just as Vance came into the room as well, looking even more run down than the rest of us. Then again, Char, Tor and I were used to being up late for jobs, but Vance wasn’t. Stress probably got to him worse than us.
He sat at the table, all but falling into the seat. His gaze moved over the gun as he wrinkled his nose. “I hate the smell of whatever you use to clean that thing.”
Tor lifted his gaze for only a moment, as though to make it clear he heard Vance and just didn’t care. Sometimes that petty side of Tor made me laugh.
Char came back into the room, holding a cup of coffee. He smelled it slowly, as if to savor that scent, then took a big drink. A grimace said it was likely too hot, but he still swallowed it down. “So who’s free in two days?”
“Two days?” Vance rubbed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. “Friday night?”
“That’s right.” His cheerful tone got my suspicion up.
“I’m free,” I said.
Char looked over at Tor, who nodded as he went about reassembling his pistol. Vance also gave a half-hearted thumbs-up.
“Very good. See, this ghastly face of mine isn’t because I was up late moping. Instead, I actually made some use of my time. I’ve been reaching out to contacts, since Lorien had quite a few people less willing to keep their mouths shut now.”
His words had me fully turning toward him now, a spark of hope inside me. Did this mean he’d found something? “Do you know where he’s staying?”
“Sadly, no. He’s too careful for that.”
“So why do you look so proud?” Vance asked. “That expression should be saved for when you actually do something useful.”
Char shrugged, then took another drink of his coffee. “Well, what Ididdo was use my contacts to plant the story of a very important meeting. You see, we are going to be sending Kenz off because it’s too dangerous here, but the only good way to do it would be to give her to a transporter.”
“And how is that supposed to help us?”
Char gave me a look that implied I was quite possibly the dumbest person who had ever lived. “An exchange like that is tricky, and one of the best places to do it would be somewhere with amazing security, used to dealing with the more underhand parts of society.”
A bad feeling crept into me, and it didn’t help at all that Char appeared far too pleased with himself. There was only one place I could think of that might fit the bill, and the reasons for picking it weren’t lost on me. “You’re talking about the auction house.”
He pressed his lips together as though impressed. “And here I worried your brain was just for decoration. That’s right. I’ve already made sure to leave enough of a trail that there’s no way Lorien won’t catch wind of it.”
“And you think he’ll take that bait?” I asked.
“People take whatever they want, and he wants this to be true. He’s been banging his head against the wall, this whole time, too. He’ll be there.”
I stared down at my hands, the reality hitting me all at once. We’d planned to deal with Lorien, to make sure he couldn’t endanger Kenz again. That was still my plan, but this felt so final.
“If he shows up there, if he targets him…” Vance didn’t finish the thought.
He didn’t need to, though.
