Page 20

The square and the streets around the river were swirling with fog when she reached them. And she decided that was a good thing for her.

She stumbled a few times before she got to the bridge itself, but no one tried to stop her, and there was no sign of Vinest.

There used to be guard gates at both ends of the bridge, but that had fallen away as the compact between Kassia and Cervantes and Grimwalt settled into a long-term alliance.

Now there was a booth at the midway point of the bridge, to record the names of those who came across.

She reached the sentries, one for each country, and gave her name, looking back toward the square, although it was almost impossible to see anything but the swirling white of the fog.

“Someone chasing you?” The Kassian and Cervantes soldier asked her, perking up from his sleepy slump.

She glanced at him. “Maybe.”

The Grimwaldian soldier came a bit more to attention, too. “Who?”

“My former boss.” She turned to the Kassia and Cervantes soldier. “Do you know the lieutenant who came over the bridge earlier?”

He gave a slow nod.

“Did he go to the barracks?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“All done.” The Grimwaldian said, lifting his pen with a flourish.

“Thank you.” She set off at a jog, with a last look over her shoulder.

“Melodie!” Vinest seemed to burst out of the fog.

“Keep going. We’ll sort it for you.” The Kassia and Cervantes soldier murmured to her.

She ran.

Behind her, she heard the Grimwaldian soldier stop Vinest.

“Sir, you have to give your name.”

“Melodie, I won’t do it again. I swear. Just come back.”

“And what is it that you did?” one of the soldiers asked, a sudden chill in his voice, and then the fog swallowed them, and she reached the end of the bridge.

It felt like reaching freedom.

CHAPTER 9

Theo had been exhausted earlier,but after getting across the bridge, finding the barracks, and eating a meal, he’d found a second wind.

Captain Draper had hauled him into her office straight after he’d pushed away from the mess hall table, and he’d decided to tell her the whole story.

He needed assistance, and while he wanted to keep the kidnapping as quiet as possible, he also didn’t want to lie.

The only part he held back was the exact nature of Melodie’s skills.

“You trust her?” Ellen Draper asked. “The woman you want to include in the rescue?”

“She didn’t hesitate to free me from the spell I was under. She did nothing but help me. She’ll be useful when we catch up to the bastard who took the kids.” He laid out his reasoning simply, ticking them off on his fingers.

“And she says the merchant who took you from your abductor might know where he went?”