They ate a late supper in their room, but they joined the other guests for breakfast the next day. The common room was about half-full. Conversation buzzed and the smell of bacon filled the air. Yelena dug into a huge pile of steaming eggs, but he picked at his, pushing the yellow clumps around his plate. The trip had worn him out more than he’d expected. He’d thought getting pushed from a window by Owen twice was the closest he’d ever come to death. That crystal-clear moment when gravity tugged was forever etched into his mind. The first time, Ari’s strong hands had snatched him from that fate, and the second, an unknown rescuer provided handholds. Escaping death a third time had been much harder. He doubted he’d survive a fourth.
A man and his son entered the common room. They strode over to their table. Valek reached for his dagger, but then he recognized the man’s swagger.
Janco and Teegan joined them. They both wore disguises.
“You gonna finish that?” Janco asked, sitting next to him.
“Here.” Valek slid his plate over.
Janco flashed him a surprised grin before he grabbed a spoon.
“How did you find us?” Valek asked.
“I’ve been doing daily sweeps since we arrived,” Teegan said, tapping his head.
Interesting. Valek hadn’t felt any magic. “I didn’t pick up on it.”
“You’re not supposed to.” Teegan smirked.
“Can you teach me that?”
The question startled the smirk from Teegan’s face. “I don’t know.”
“Can you try?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Good. I need to keep working on my control and learn what I can and can’t do before we take the next step.” The boy’s presence meant Ari and Janco had caught up to the twins and a Stormdancer. Valek glanced at Janco. “How long have you been here?”
Talking around a mouthful of eggs, Janco said, “Two weeks.”
“What about my father?” Yelena asked in alarm. “Did something happen?”
“No. He’s fine.” He waved his spoon. “Opal, Devlen, Reema and the twins are all fine.” Janco lowered his voice. “I’m sure they’re making heaps of spores by now. There were just too many rabbits in the stew, and we thought we’d get a head start on things.”
“Does that include securing a safe place for all of us?” Valek asked.
“Of course.”
“Then we’ll finish our discussion there.”
After breakfast, Valek and Yelena grabbed their bags from the room they’d rented. They followed Janco and Teegan to a small building a few blocks over. The place had once been a tailor shop. Bolts of moth-eaten cloth, cloudy mirrors and dusty mannequins decorated the first floor. Black curtains covered the large display windows in the front.
Alerted by the noise, Ari came downstairs. After the hellos, he carried Yelena’s bag to the second floor, despite her protests, and showed them the living quarters. Teegan and Janco followed them.
“There are three bedrooms,” Ari said as he deposited her pack in the unoccupied room. “Janco and I are in there, and Teegan has the little one.” He gestured to a door on the left.
Valek set his bag next to Yelena’s. There was a living area with a couple couches and armchairs. A few bolts of cloth and parts of a sewing machine littered the floor. The tailor must have lived here.
Janco picked up the top half of a broken mannequin. “This place went bust.”
Everyone groaned at the bad joke.
“Come on, guys. That’s a classic.”
No one agreed.
Ari turned to Valek. “Please tell me you need Janco to travel far away from here for a dangerous undercover mission.”
“Let me guess,” Yelena said. “He’s been driving you crazy.”
“Janco and boredom don’t mix well.”
“That’s ’cause the boy genius here has taken all the fun out of everything.” Janco pressed his fingertips to his temples. Talking in a falsetto, he said, “They’re doing another sweep in town. We’d better hide.”
“I do not sound like that,” Teegan protested.
“Report,” Valek ordered before they started to bicker. He settled on the couch next to Yelena. The others sat, or in Janco’s case, plopped.
Janco gestured to Teegan. “I’ll let the boy genius fill you in.”
Teegan gave Janco an indulgent look, as if Teegan was the adult and Janco the child. “I’ve been spying on the garrison with my magic. I know where the guards are stationed, where the Councilors are housed and, most important, who the magicians are and what they can do.”
“That’s impressive,” Yelena said.
He shrugged off the compliment. “Most of them have been eating Theobroma, so their thoughts are dripping from their heads.”
“Are the Councilors together?” Valek asked.
“Yeah. They’re all staying on the second floor of the barracks. Although Master Magician Bain is not there.”
“He was moved to the Krystal garrison.” Valek considered. “Can you reach Bain from this distance?”
“It’s probably too far for us to connect. Why?”
“We’re going to need to coordinate with the Masters.”
“With your help, we might reach him,” Teegan said.
Good to know. “What’s the status at the gate?”
“No need to worry about the gate,” Janco said. “We have another way into the garrison.”