Page 27 of A Skirl of Sorcery (The Cat Lady Chronicles #3)

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Last time I’d grabbed Bin within seconds of his attempt to flee but that had been on my home turf in Danksville. This time, the trow possessed the advantage because he knew the area. Short legs or not, his sprint was impressive.

He was heading for the same trees through which Thane and I had marched on our way here. I knew that if Bin reached them, there was every chance I’d never find him because he’d hunker down away from the main paths and wait for the danger to pass. I was determined not to let that happen.

I gritted my teeth and pumped my legs faster. Just as I thought I was gaining on him, my toe caught the edge of a hole in the ground and I stumbled. I managed to stay upright but I lost all my momentum, and now my damned ankle – and my pride – hurt.

I gave myself a fleeting second to acknowledge the pain then worked on quashing it so I could focus on the hunt.

Before I could pick up speed again, Thane passed me sprinting far faster than I was capable of.

Bin the trow might be able to beat a cat lady in a race on home soil, but he couldn’t outrun a determined werewolf a day after the full moon.

By the time I’d recovered enough to return to full speed, Thane had grabbed Bin’s cloak and hauled him backwards until he was gripping the trow by his upper arm.

Panting slightly, I caught up to them. Thane glanced at me. ‘Thought you’d been training lately?’

I rolled my eyes in mock irritation; I was fit and I could run fast, but I wasn’t super human. My throbbing ankle proved it.

Bin was already screeching, ‘Lemme go!’ He twisted against Thane’s hold but couldn’t break free, so he switched tactics and started kicking repeatedly at Thane’s shins.

‘Hey! Stop that!’ Thane tried to angle his body away but Bin was determined. Some of those sharp kicks must have hurt.

I moved until I was facing the trow. ‘Enough,’ I growled. The menace in my tone made him falter. ‘You’re outnumbered here, buster, and we’ve got some questions that you will answer before we consider releasing you.’

There was a polite cough behind me. ‘Actually,’ said a clipped female voice. ‘I think you’ll find that you two are the ones who are outnumbered and that you will answer some questions before we let you go.’

I turned around slowly and gazed at the miniature army of trows. Several were holding weapons and all of them looked cross. ‘This doesn’t concern you,’ I told them snippily.

One of the trows stepped forward, probably the one who’d already spoken. She was wearing a bonnet like the other women but she had a heavy gold chain around her neck. Nobody else was displaying such visible jewellery.

I made an educated guess. ‘You’re the mayor of Green Humbleton?’

Her eyes glittered in the darkness. ‘I am, therefore this matter concerns me. Binhamatin is one of ours. You have no right to assault him in this manner.’

Bin emphasised the trow mayor’s words by launching another series of kicks at Thane. ‘Exactly!’ he said shrilly. ‘Let me go!’

‘I think that he’s the one who’s guilty of assault,’ Thane grunted. ‘All I’ve done is stop him from running away before we can speak to him.’

I nodded. ‘He’s not the upstanding citizen you think he is. He’s guilty of a series of thefts across Coldstream. Binhamatim here is a criminal.’

The mayor’s expression was placid. ‘I know,’ she replied. ‘Who do you think put him up to it?’

I blinked at her. ‘You?’ I asked stupidly.

‘Desperate times call for desperate measures.’

I stared at the assembled trows. None of them were backing down. I turned to Thane and met his gaze. He acknowledged my glance and cleared his throat. ‘All of us need to sit down,’ he said, ‘and have a serious conversation.’

Perceived wisdom suggests that embattled parties joining together for talks should meet on neutral ground because to do otherwise gives one side an unfair advantage.

In theory, that was true for Thane and me.

Entering the underground network of concealed trow living spaces could have been a very bad idea indeed; we didn’t know the layout and it would be easy for them to gain the upper hand and attack us both.

And given that Thane’s height meant he would have to stoop, he was already at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, there were reasons why walking into a trow space wasn’t such a terrible idea.

For one thing, I used to be an assassin and my job had centred around entering enemy territory to complete my missions.

For another, offering the small concession of literally yielding ground to the trows would relax them, and if they felt less threatened they’d be less unpredictable.

And, of course, we didn’t have much choice in the matter.

We could have walked away, but given Keres’ condition that wasn’t really an option.

Although it was possible that Bin and the other trows had nothing to do with the stolen magic, this was the only real lead we had.

The mayor, who formally introduced herself as Tanavantia, took us to an unmarked spot in the centre of the empty Green Humbleton field and waved her hand.

There was a brief rumbling sound and a moment later a narrow gap opened up leading downwards.

We squeezed in after her and found ourselves in a wide space lined with wooden benches.

Doubtless this was the trow version of a town hall.

Tanavantia offered us space on a bench near the front and I eyed it dubiously. Trows were relatively small creatures and I wasn’t convinced it would hold my weight, let alone Thane’s, so I elected to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of it. After a moment’s pause, he joined me.

As soon as we were seated, six trows flanked us to the left and the right, their expressions grim. Although I wasn’t daft enough to underestimate their abilities, I wasn’t worried. Not yet, anyway.

Tanavantia gestured at Bin and he shuffled forward, a bag in his hands. I recognised it immediately as the same drawstring bag he’d been carrying when I’d confronted him in Danksville. He moved to the centre of the room and emptied its contents.

‘There you go,’ Tanavantia said. ‘Take what is yours.’

I gave her a steady look. ‘None of it is mine.’

She sighed and jerked her head at Thane. ‘You, then. Take what belongs to you.’

He didn’t hesitate. ‘None of it is mine, either.’

Her gaze switched between us. ‘You are not members of the Magical Enforcement Team, and you are not stalwarts from the druids, the witches or the vampires,’ she said, naming the three largest and most cohesive Preternatural groups.

‘You,’ she said to Thane, ‘are a lone werewolf. And you,’ she addressed me, ‘are a cat sith.’

I didn’t bother looking at Bin; I already knew he was the one who had informed the mayor as to what I was. ‘We might be independent beings who are not aligned with any other groups but that doesn’t mean we are not community minded,’ I pointed out.

‘So you are here on another’s behalf?’ she enquired.

‘You could say that,’ Thane replied.

Tanavantia shrugged. ‘You have come all this way. You may take what you wish from what is here. Then,’ she added with a harder edge, ‘you will leave and never return.’

Thane kept his voice deliberately soft. ‘Why steal in the first place if you’re only going to hand back the property?’

She hissed, ‘Our motives are not for you to question. Binhamatim’s actions have been well thought out. We only take that which is no longer required or that which we do not believe possesses sentimental value. Mistakes are inevitable, but our intentions are profit, not pain.’

I felt a ripple of anger. ‘A shellycoat?’ I asked. ‘A one-of-a-kind family heirloom? Its loss has caused undue pain.’

Tanavantia looked at Bin. He sniffed. ‘The owner of that item hadn’t worn it in decades. He was dying. Nobody needed it, nobody wanted it. I doubt its absence was noticed.’

It might have taken a few days but Holly Shellycoat had noticed. It had meant a lot to her. I folded my arms and glared at him.

‘Is that why you’re here? To take back the shellycoat?’ Tanavantia asked. ‘It has been some weeks. We have already sold it.’

I wasn’t surprised but I was still pissed off. ‘What about the ban sith’s wedding ring? You can’t tell me that you believe a fucking wedding ring doesn’t have sentimental value.’

Again Tanavantia looked at Bin. This time he only frowned. ‘We have stolen no such item,’ she said. ‘And we have not targeted any ban siths.’

Thane growled. ‘What about werewolves?’

She looked at him cooly. ‘What about them?’

His growl increased in volume and I placed a hand on his arm.

‘What is it that you really want?’ Tanavantia asked.

‘We want the magic,’ I bit out.

‘What magic?’

I made a decision. The fastest way to confirm or deny the trows’ involvement was to accuse them directly and gauge their reaction.

I hardened my gaze. ‘The magic that you ripped out of Keres Johnson, the ban sith. The magic that you stole from the Barrow werewolves. The magic that you yanked out of the bodies of a druid, a harpy and a leprechaun. They are all in danger of losing their lives as a result of your actions.’

Tanavantia didn’t blink. She didn’t turn pale or blush or twitch or shuffle – but somehow I knew exactly what she would say next. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

Damn it. I stared at her. I knew deep in my bones that she was telling the truth. The trows were guilty of a great deal but they were not responsible for what was happening to Keres. My heart sank to the soles of my feet. The trows were a dead end.

‘What is this?’ Tanavantia asked. ‘What is this terrible thing that you’re talking about?’

I had no reason not to tell her. ‘Somebody has been pulling the power from different Preternaturals, extracting their magic through foul means and leaving them with nothing. The shock to their bodies is overwhelming.’

For the first time, the trow mayor looked genuinely disturbed. ‘I can believe that.’

Thane leaned forward. ‘There was reason to believe that the victims were also victims of your burglaries.’

Her expression darkened and she turned her head to Bin. ‘What do you know of this?’

‘Nothing,’ he said, his eyes wide.

‘Has anyone else approached you about your thefts?’ I asked with a flicker of lingering hope that this wouldn’t be a wasted visit.

His answer was unequivocal. ‘No.’

‘Have you seen anyone following you during your nightly activities?’

Bin’s lip curled. ‘Only you.’

‘What about your fence? Who do you sell your stolen goods to?’ Thane asked.

Tanavantia answered. ‘We have different contacts in Coldstream. I will not give you their names without good reason. We need to maintain their goodwill.’

‘Why?’ I met her eyes. ‘Why are you thieving at all?’

For a moment I thought she would refuse to answer, but my revelations about the stolen magic had unsettled all the trows. Something had shifted in our favour.

Bin sucked in a breath as Tanavantia gave him a long look. She nodded reluctantly and this time he answered. ‘We are trying to save our home,’ he said simply. ‘We are trying to save Green Humbleton.’

‘I don’t understand.’ I frowned. ‘This is protected land.’

Thane agreed. ‘Ancient law decrees that Green Humbleton must remain green.’

Tanavantia’s voice was resigned. ‘Who is to say what is green? The dryad’s groves are green, the witches’ gardens are green.

The land here is powerful and there are plenty of groups in Coldstream who would seek to take control of it.

We don’t own the land, we only pay rent.

’ Her expression soured. ‘Generation upon generation of trows don’t count for very much when there is the possibility of making a profit. ’

The wolfsbane that Thane had remarked on was starting to make sense. The owner of this space would want to keep it werewolf free if he or she were planning to sell it. Such assurances would doubtless increase the selling price.

Thane shook his head. ‘There are still laws to protect you. As long as you pay your rent, you have every right to remain.’

‘What if the rent is increased beyond our means?’ Tanavantia said quietly. ‘We’re trows. We don’t waste our time worrying about money. We make do with what we have – but what we have only goes so far.’

My sympathy only went so far, too. ‘You’re stealing to pay your rent.’

She inclined her head. ‘We are. We take from those who seek to take from us.’

That wasn’t strictly true, although part of me understood her reasoning how ever twisted it was.

‘But I can assure you that we would not steal anyone’s magic,’ she continued ‘We don’t wish to harm anyone physically – and we certainly would not kill. We are not monsters.’

I didn’t say anything.

Thane was already getting to his feet. ‘I apologise,’ he said stiffly. ‘We thought you were involved. It is clear you are not.’

I wondered how much money the trows owed. The collection of items from Bin’s drawstring bag wouldn’t sell for much: most of it was junk. Despite his many nights of burglary, he’d snagged very little – a battered brass cup, a small wooden witchery chest, a little white box, an ugly china ornament.

I stood up and winced slightly. Sitting cross-legged for long periods of time wasn’t a good idea.

I stretched my joints but I didn’t make any move to join Thane; instead I walked over to the small pile of items, crouched down and picked up the white box.

It was surprisingly heavy and had an elaborate seal.

‘Bone,’ I whispered. ‘This is made of bone.’ I looked at Bin. ‘Why did you take this?’

He glanced at Tanavantia and she nodded at him to answer. ‘The man had lots of those boxes,’ he said. He shuffled his feet. ‘I didn’t think he’d miss one.’

‘Lots?’ I asked sharply.

He dropped his gaze. ‘Hundreds.’

I thought of Louise’s collection of thimbles as I turned over the box.

Trilby’s words were echoing in my head; they had pointed out that whoever ripped away magic would need a receptacle to hold it in, something that could contain extraordinary powers that were usually encased within flesh and bone.

I sniffed the box but there was no trace of magic on the outside of it. I twisted the elaborate catch and opened it. It appeared to be unused. What purpose could it have? Nothing sprang to my mind.

I returned it to the pile of pilfered objects. As I straightened up, my head scuffed the ceiling of the trow hole. ‘I’ll make you a deal.’ I pointed at the box. ‘I will solve your landlord problem and in return you tell me who you stole that box from.’

Then I smiled. This hadn’t been a wasted visit after all; in fact, it might provide the solution to all our concerns – trow, werewolf and ban sith alike.