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Now it was Helen’s turn to look worried and we finished our meal in uncomfortable silence. We rose and our hosts escorted us to the front hall where we turned to face them.
Helen grasped one of my hands in hers and caught my eyes. “You will be careful, won’t you?”
I gave her an encouraging smile. “As careful as we can, and I promise we’ll see you in a bit.”
Will and I slipped out into the middle afternoon sunlight. A chill breeze blew past, warning us that night was only a few hours away. We found the carriage waiting and Raines in the box. At our arrival, however, he hopped down and opened the door.
I climbed in and plopped myself in my seat but Will held back. He leaned toward his driver and Raines whispered a few indecipherable words to him. Will pursed his lips but nodded. “To Baddock’s perfumes in the fine goods district.”
Raines nodded. “Very well, sir.”
He climbed back onto the box and Will seated himself beside me. I could feel the tension in his body through his arm against mine. “Is something wrong?” I asked him.
“Raines says someone is watching the house, a man with a carriage,” Will informed me.
My face fell. “Baddock or the Agency?”
“He couldn’t be sure.” Will twisted around and drew aside the curtain that hid the back window, but only just slightly. He studied our rear before he dropped it back down. “It appears the watcher is now following us. Don’t look back.”
His last words were directed at me as I sought to get my own look at our pursuers. I ceased my effort but still frowned. “So what does this guy look like?”
“Short and rotund with a bald spot he tries to hide by combing his longer hairs over the spot,” Will told me.
“Should we be worried about him?” I wondered.
“A plain spy is harder to track than one which stands out,” he pointed out as he folded his arms over his chest. “Though his clumsiness does point to his having been hired directly by Baddock rather than the Agency. Their own wouldn’t be caught so easily.”
“So that’s good, right?” I asked him.
A faint smile graced his lips. “It will be to our benefit to be pitched against incompetent foes.”
The carriage rolled along and I glanced out my side window. The elegant houses fell away and were replaced by two-floor businesses with living quarters on the top floor. Carts wheeled by animals and people rolled past and the foot traffic worsened until we were forced to stop.
Will opened the door and stood on the floor as he leaned out to survey the trouble. “Two wrecked carts?”
“So it would seem, though the carts are at odd angles,” I heard Raines reply.
Will hurriedly ducked back inside and slammed the door shut. “Whatever happens, stay close to me.”
My heart pounded in my chest at his words of warning. “What’s going-”
A huge ax slammed through the wall nearest Will and he jerked away. He wrapped his arms around me and half-carried me off the seat to my door which he kicked open. His rough treatment of the exit helped us, as the door slammed into the face of a cloaked figure. The person stumbled back and crashed into a cluster of onlookers who ogled at the cart wreck. The whole group fell to the ground and we had a chance to climb out of the carriage.
The cloaked figure thrashed about in the throes of the angry sightseers.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“Watch what you’re doing!”
The man drew out a long sword and their complaints were immediately silenced. The group scrambled away with cries and shouts which caught the attention of others around us. Will tightened his grip on my hand and raced into a nearby alley, pulling me along with him. I stumbled behind and heard a noise behind us that made me look over my shoulder. The cloaked man followed us and a behemoth of a figure chased his heels. The newcomer wore the same obscuring attire and grasped an enormous double-edged ax in both hands.
Will grabbed a shaky pile of crates along the wall to our right and wrenched them down. The stack crashed to the ground and slowed our pursuers enough that we were able to round the corner and make it some fifty feet down the street before they appeared. The street was almost as crowded as the one down because the traffic had been detoured in that direction.
Will flexed his empty hand and his claws came out. We passed a cart filled with metal cans that were tied down to the cart via ropes across their warped lids. By the stench and the stains, I guessed it was the local pubs’ garbage. Will slicedthe ropes one by one as we passed and then slapped the butt of the mule that pulled the cart. The animal let out a scream and lunged forward. The cans jangled against each other before those on the side toppled into the street, spilling out their wealth of garbage. Our foes dodged the worst of the muck but they couldn’t dodge all the splatters of filth that bounced off the cobblestones and onto their clothing.
The big one let loose a terrible roar as a fruit peel landed on his pristine ax.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
