The Raven Spell (Conspiracy of Magic #1)(67)
Edwina peeked out the slot in the door. The sun had set behind the buildings, but her eyes gleamed in the glow of dusk from the street. She was about to answer him with the truth this time, he could swear it, when she startled. “It’s her. She’s walked out. She’s leaving.”
Ian looked through the slot. Mary was walking east as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I have to go after her,” Edwina said. “I have to speak to her.”
Before Ian could stop her, Edwina pulled the door open and shot outside. Cursing under his breath, he made a quick check of the pub, making sure no one from inside had caught up to Mary, then followed. “Keep your pace natural, like we’re out for a stroll,” he said, catching up to her. “Let’s see where she’s going first before we let her know we’re here.”
“She’s my sister, not some ruffian,” Edwina said, but she slowed down as he’d asked. He held out his arm to seal the illusion of them as a couple, and she took it.
The setting sun created a silhouette effect that sank the city into a cauldron of light and dark hues. The buildings’ shadows stretched out on the pavement, helping to cloak their presence as the sister walked several strides ahead of them. Ian thought he heard Mary humming a tune to herself, but the sound sailed away on a crosscurrent, so he could not be sure. At the corner, she stopped to let a carriage pass before crossing the street, forcing Edwina and him to feign interest in a handbill about crime in the East End that had been glued to a horse stable door.
Mary, wherever she was going, was not heading in the direction of home. The farther they walked, the more the broken windows in the buildings were stuffed with rags and old newspaper. Edwina tensed at Ian’s side when they passed a man staggering in the street from drink, but he patted her hand and held her arm firmly with his own, encouraging her to act natural. Twice he twisted around to look for George’s face in the bustle behind them, but if he was there, he did not show himself.
Unlike the neighborhood they’d run to while seeking the safe house, the block of tenements Mary led them to was crowded with stick-thin women watching their children run in the lane, while weary-eyed men milled about in front of a doss-house on the corner. It was impossible to ignore the stench of too many humans living in squalor as the smell infiltrated the people’s clothes, their hair, and likely the stale bread they put in their mouths at the end of the day as well.
“She’s left the road.” Ian pointed to where Mary had disappeared around a corner onto a quieter lane.
Afraid of being seen, he had them hang back at the entrance to the lane. From there they watched Mary walk several yards before passing through a narrow opening in the wall. He took a measurement with his watch and found only the three of them in the vicinity. Wherever George was, he hadn’t followed. “Come on, let’s see where she’s gone.”
Catching up, they came to a narrow, damp corridor that led to a rectangle of gray light at the far end. There appeared to be a courtyard ahead surrounded by more ramshackle tenements. Ian paused, waiting and listening.
“Let’s not stop now,” Edwina said.
Bricky lass. Ian pressed forward with a grudging smile on his face, even as he fought off the anxiety he felt at the sight of another cramped nook made for murder.
Inside, the corridor was sour with the reek of curdled milk. Edwina whispered she wished they had a torch, then risked a little fire to better see where to set her feet by blowing on her fingertips. She held the small flame aloft, scaring a pair of pigeons from their roost above. In the orange light, the puddle causing the sour smell was made more obvious, resembling the leftovers of a drunkard’s rebellious stomach. Letting go of Ian’s arm, she lifted the hem of her skirt until they were through to the other side.
Unlike the busy road they’d left full of people sorting out their lodging and food for the night, the courtyard was abandoned. And hastily so. A fire burned in a communal pit with a fish hovering above on an improvised spit. The split flesh was still pink from too little time in the heat. Edwina blew out the flame on her fingers as they left the passageway. Surrounding the courtyard were a dozen flats, upstairs and down, that formed a U shape around a muddy common area. Laundry hung like flags from the upper rails to dry. A brick wall enclosed the far end, and a second corridor continued out the other side. Ian realized too late that anyone entering from either passage could be seen from every window in the building. But where was Mary?
A curtain snapped shut on the upper level as a door clicked closed at their right. “Why do I feel like a mouse trapped in a dead end?” Edwina said, surrounded on all sides as they were.
“Because we were led here deliberately.” Ian realized now how blinded by curiosity he’d been. “She knew we were following her,” he said, taking note of the exit on the other side of the courtyard, where the alley appeared as dodgy as the one they’d just come through.
He was considering their limited options when Mary emerged from behind a grungy bedsheet that had been hung on a rope strung between the stairs and the single lamppost. Almost coquettishly, she swung out to show her face as she braced her feet on the base of the lamp and held on to the post with one hand.
“Sister, what a surprise to see you here, and with your new beau,” she said, letting the sarcasm drip sweetly off her tongue.
“You’ve taken us on a jolly expedition,” Edwina said. “What a lovely location you’ve chosen.” Though he could not be certain, Ian thought he detected a note of charmwork in her voice. As if she was accustomed to calming her sister. “Perhaps now we can go home so we can talk about how you came to know this place. You know I understand everything. I forgive everything. But you need to explain the details to me so we can make things right again.” Edwina attempted to take a step closer, her hand held out to clasp her sister’s, but was forced to stop when the false smile fell away from Mary’s lips.