Page 55 of For the Ghastly and Beautiful

“I think it will be less suspicious if it’s you and me. The guys will draw too much attention, other than maybe Imryll. But even then, everyone knows he’s friends with Ecaeris, so…” she trails off, growing quiet as we enter the village.

The sun hangs high in the sky, its heat licking across my skin as a light breeze blows through my hair. It’s a beautiful day to be outside, and the village square is bustling with busy Mongrels completing jobs and shopping.

I’m lost in the activity when Rin nudges me with her elbow, discreetly pointing out two guys who walk into the general store.

“They’re two of the three guys that work there,” she tells me as she claims a table outside the bakery. “Cotear is the third. Watch. I’ll grab us some tea and snacks.”

I don’t recognize them, though I do catalog brief descriptions to compare against what we know. One guy is a young teen, so I mentally mark him off the list. He’s not big enough to be either of the attackers Rin described to me. The other guy has a slight limp, favoring his left leg, but his build isn’t wrong.

“It wasn’t the first guy.” Her words startle me out of my thoughts. “I’m sure of that. He’s too small.”

“I thought the same thing. We’ll mark him off our list,” I whisper. “But we need his name.”

I sip at my tea and pick at a muffin as we take turns observing the comings and goings of the general store. Rin stays quiet, so I filter through all my knowledge of her attack, then piece the other problems together.

We’re looking for at least two men. Nothing I’ve deduced leads me to believe it’s more than that. The numbers are still unclear, but my list gets shorter every time I learn something new. Currently, six names are on it.

I know two of them are behind the Shade attacks… Or they’re feeding information to the Shades, I should say. They aren’t actually attacking, which means catching them is tricky.

I’ll feel more confident in my accusations once I can narrow the list down further. But for now, Rin is the only one I’m telling my suspicions to. We both agree the guys will jump the gun, and I don’t quite understand Mongrel justice well enough to go around pointing fingers at innocent people.

A woman leaves the general store, her cloth bags filled with her purchases as she strolls across the square. The scent of ginger and jasmine trails behind her, but it’s not thick enough to linger the way Rin described.

“The scent is too faint,” she murmurs, echoing my thoughts again. “We knew it wasn’t a customer, though.”

“We needed the confirmation to be certain we’re moving in the right direction. That leaves us with two employees. The suspect pool is getting shallow, and now we—”

I bite my tongue as Poko approaches us, not wanting him to hear what we’re working through. Rin furrows her brows before I cut my eyes to him. Then she frowns and sips her tea. I wish I could ignore him as effortlessly as she does, but he just keeps popping up.

An ill-timed STI joke rolls around my mind, and I sigh loudly. He’s worse than herpes.

“Ada, do you have a moment?”

“Sure,” I bite out, hating that I feel the need to be polite in public.

I swear, a swift kick to the balls won’t make him comprehend that I don’t like him or want to talk to him or even be around him. But maybe the she-devil at my right can… Maybe.

“Will you walk with me?” He nods his head in the direction away from the square. “I’d like to speak in private.”

“I’m kind of in the middle of eating.” I glance down to the half eaten muffin I’ve had sitting in front of me for the last two hours. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Us.”

I cough. “Excuse me?”

Rin scoffs as she waves her hand at me. “She’s claimed, Poko. Taken and occupied. Stop trying to court her.”

The fake pleasantries vanish as his budding temper slips across his features. I force a smile, seeing Rin lean forward as she studies every movement he makes.

“You seem…” I struggle for kind words. “Nice and all, but I’m not interested. I apologize if I’ve given you that notion.”

He steps closer, reaching out like he’s going to grab my hand.

“I just want to talk—”

“Then talk,” Rin interrupts, giving him an icy glare. “She isn’t going for a walk with you unless I come, too. I’m not leaving her side.”

“We can just go over—”