Page 79

“Ah, Ferris,” Donny shook his head. “He tends to let those mares get away from him in the stables. Slippery hands don’t hold the reins right.”

Kirkby grunted. “Gave me a little tip though, did Ferris. Told me that he had a very peculiar encounter with a woman he believed to be an earth Charmer, of all things. Said it was Nina Clarke!”

Utter silence, except for the lighter Patrick struck to light his smoke. The room held precariously by the tips of his fingers. “Did he?” Patrick said eventually, seemingly indifferent. I, on the other hand, felt my blood freeze. “Ferris says a lot of things, Kirkby. He’s a bluff hawker, after all. I wouldn’t pay him any mind.”

“Said I might find this Nina Clarke here, inyourcompany,” Kirkby continued, stepping surreptitiously closer. “There’s a mighty big reward on that swank’s head, Patty. Far more than me and my colleagues get paid for our… discretion.”

Men rose in their place. The sounds of their chair legs scraping across the floor filled the room. The balance teetered.

Kirkby seemed undaunted. “You brought a woman into market today,” he said. “Took her around town, too. Loads of people’ve been whisperin’ about it.” He waved an arm around the room, and indeed, several people averted their eyes. “Rumor is, it’s someone new. Funny accent. What’s the newcomer’s name, Pat?”

Patrick answered without delay. “Harrow,” he said. “Of Scurry.”

“Vaguely reminiscent of your last wife, Kirkby,” Gunner said loudly, stepping forward to stand beside Patrick. “Only this one never ran off with the night soil man.”

Kirkby slammed his baton down on the nearest table. A glass bounced and shattered. Those nearest backed away several paces.

Patrick gave no reaction at all.

Before me, Tess Colson ground her teeth.

“You can check with your masters for the records, if you like,” Patrick said. “You’ll find the name. Miner’s daughter.”

“Bloody Ferris,” Gunner chuckled. His brass tooth flashed. “That horse must’ve kicked the wits out of him.”

“Nevertheless,” Kirkby replied. “Ferris said there was a strange quake in the ground at the market this afternoon. Reckons there were plenty of witnesses there who can attest to it.”

Patrick looked around with a raised eyebrow. “Does he now? Well,if anyone here wishes to speak to the esteemed officers of our great Belavere…” He stepped forward and turned in a circle, arms out. “Do so now.”

There was hardly a mutter. Just a creak in the floorboards, the whisper of bodies shifting. Gunner took a pistol from his coat, checked the barrel casually, then replaced it. He sniffed, rested his elbows on the bar. “You’ll find no witnesses here, Kirkby.” His voice was hewn from some deep, dark place in the earth, and it gave me the strange sensation of being buried. “Why don’t you go back home to that empty bed now.”

Kirkby turned puce with rage. “Fuckin’ Colson boys,” he muttered, spittle collecting on his lip. His hand tightened around the baton.

Through the crack in the door, I could see nothing but men with flared nostrils and women with taut fists. The entire tavern somehow smelled of hot flowing blood.

“Not your brightest idea, comin’ in here tonight,” Patrick said quietly, darkly. “We agreed you’d bring any concerns to me privately. Save all the…” He gestured to the angry crowd around them. “Ill will.”

Kirkby seemed to become slowly aware, through the haze of his own fury, that he was vastly outnumbered. That his two uniformed comrades were gape-mouthed and backing furtively away. His eyes shifted to the glass shattered over the floor, then to Patrick, Gunner, Donny, and the others—none of whom had bothered to draw a weapon.

Kirkby teetered. “We’ll speak about my new payment,” he said, pointing a finger at Patrick. “House of Lords is offerin’ a hundred, so I want a hundred—for my tolerance.”

Gunner took two heavy, menacing strides before Patrick caught him around the chest, preventing his advance. “Enough,” Patrick said, unflinching. “I’ll be comin’ to find you tomorrow, Officer,” he said, waving Kirkby off. “Off you go now. Bar’s closed.”

“You’re a crook, Colson,” Kirkby grunted, spitting on the floor. “You and your mongrels.”

Donny barked. Briggs crowed with laughter. Gunner bared his teeth, not arguing the accusation. The coppers turned their backs.

Tess let the door swing shut, muffling the returning conversation outside. “Lord almighty,” she said slowly. She appraised me from crown to toe. “You’ve caused quite a stir.”

I swallowed. What I’d done in the market had been foolish.

“My son went on and on formonthsabout how useful you’d be,” Tess said now, peering closely at me. I could see with total clarity the prisms in her eyes. “I told him it wasn’t worth the risk.”

Despite her shorter stature, her slightness, I felt smaller in her presence. I shrunk in my place. “Yet,” I rasped. “Here I am.”

“There you are,” Tess agreed. “Do you understand the gravity of your position here, miss?”

I nodded, though I feared I only knew the half of it.