Dawn Study

“No.”

Yikes. “How long have you been here?”

“We volunteered a year ago.” The woman gave him a humorless smile. “Bought into the entire ‘save Sitia’ propaganda, until it was too late. Now they don’t even bother to feed us the Theobroma or waste magic on us.”

“No offense, but why are you still alive?” Janco asked.

“Just in case the poison wears off,” the older man said.

That would ruin Bruns’s plans. “Has it?”

“Not yet, but I’m hopeful.”

“It’s been a season, Rurik. It’s not coming back,” the woman said.

“How long has Selene been gone?” Janco asked.

“Once she found the right concentration, she produced gallons of the stuff. I think she finished with the last batch a couple weeks ago and left soon after,” Rurik said.

“Thanks.”

When he turned to go, Rurik said, “Remember your promise.”

“I will.” But right now, he needed to deliver this information to Yelena and Valek.

25

YELENA

The market hummed with activity. Late afternoon was a busy time for the merchants as workers stopped for supplies before heading home for the evening. Dressed in a light green tunic and tan pants, I blended in with the crowd of mostly locals. A few soldiers from the garrison shopped, but they were more interested in the vendors selling roasted pork than in me. I kept an eye on them, though, just in case their focus shifted.

The enticing aroma of fresh baked bread drew me to a popular stand. I was on a mission. We needed more food. Not a surprise. Valek expended a great deal of energy practicing his magic, Teegan was a teenage eating machine and I was pregnant. Mass quantities of bread, meat and cheese were being consumed on a daily basis.

As I lugged my bags toward our hideout, the nape of my neck tingled. I turned right at the next street and glanced back. Two soldiers strode down the street at a brisk clip. They weren’t carrying packages, and their gazes were trained on me. I hurried to the next intersection and turned left. Sure enough, they followed me. Unease churned, ruining my appetite. Had someone recognized me at the market? Or had a magician used magic to find me? Either way, I needed to shake the tail.

Recalling my lessons from Valek, I found a short street. I turned down it, and, as soon as I was out of their sight, I dropped my bags, sprinted to the end, bolted left, crossed the road, ducked down an alley and hid behind a row of trash cans. My heart banged against my chest, urging me to keep going. Instead, I pulled out my blowpipe, loaded a dart while palming another and waited.

Boots drummed on the cobblestones.

“This way,” one man yelled.

Shadows crossed the mouth of the alley. I counted to ten, then crept deeper into the alley, hoping there was an exit. Avoiding the piles of rotting leaves and puddles of a foul-smelling muck, I encountered a locked gate at the end. Swapping my blowpipe for my lock picks, I popped the lock and eased into the street. A few people lingered near a fruit stand and a horse pulling a cart trotted by, but there were no soldiers in sight.

I drew in a deep breath and took a long, circuitous route back to our hideout. We would need to leave Longleaf right away and camp in the woods until Ari and Janco returned.

Circling the tailor shop, I sought watchers before entering through the back door. The sun hung low in the sky. Valek and Teegan should—

Large shadows broke from the walls and rushed me. I reached for my switchblade, but it was knocked from my hand before I could trigger the blade. Fear shot through me, increasing my pulse to triple time. A sword flashed just as my arms were pinned. I braced for the thrust, but the tip hovered mere inches from my neck. This explained why I’d lost my tail so easily, but not why I’d had one in the first place.

“Search her,” a female voice ordered.

The four goons closed in, hands searching and removing most of my weapons.

“She’s clean,” one goon said.

“Put her in the chair,” the lady said.

I was shoved into the old armchair. Dust puffed up in a cloud. The goons moved, making a tight semicircle around me, revealing Selene Moon, Owen’s wife. Her long blond hair shone almost white in the sunlight. Normally as pale as Valek, she appeared as if she’d been spending time in the sun. Worry for Ari and Janco flared to life. Had she captured them while they tried to sneak into the compound and learned our location from them? If so, all was lost.

“I see prison’s been good to you,” I said.

“I wouldn’t think you’d be so smug, considering you walked right into our trap.” She gestured to the corner. My bags of food were slumped against the wall. “You thought you were safe once you’d ditched the tail.” Selene tsked. She had me there. I refrained from commenting. Instead, I dropped my gaze as if dejected, but I scanned the floor for my switchblade and spotted it near her left boot.

One of Selene’s goons came down the stairs, increasing the total to five. “Nobody is up there, but there’s evidence of at least three others living here,” he said.

Selene turned her silver-eyed gaze on me. “Who are they?”

I considered giving her the silent treatment, but I needed to stall for time. Once they dragged me into the garrison—if they didn’t just kill me here—it’d be harder to escape. “My Ixian friends. The people who helped stop you and Owen from getting the Ice Moon.” Ah, the good old days. Reminding her of the past had the desired effect.