Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart, #1)(45)

We watched the ghost together. Alessio began to hum a song under his breath. I glanced at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. I forced myself away from the edge.

I thought I had conquered my fear of the ghosts, but when I opened my fists, my nails had dug grooves into my palms and I hadn’t even felt it. Not even on my burned hand, which ached from the pressure.





nineteen


THE NEXT MORNING I OPENED THE DOOR TO THE MAIL office, and the sound and smell of pigeons assaulted my senses. The front of the shop was small, no more than ten feet wide and fifteen feet deep. At the back was a wooden desk, kept clean but scratched by long years of use. Behind the desk were cages and cages of pigeons. White pigeons, blue, green, all of them cooing and bobbing and making a racket. Small feathers drifted out of their cages and floated to the floor. I covered my nose.

I shook the handbell on the desk. A portly man with glasses and a balding crown stepped out from a side door. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and broke into a grin.

“Hello, milady. What can I do for you today?”

“I’m expecting a letter.” Or at least Faraday had said he would send me a letter. I didn’t have an address here in Yvain, so I had been checking the post office every few days.

“Of course, of course.” He pulled out a ledger book and dipped his quill into an inkwell before he flipped to a blank page in the middle of the book. He scratched something into the ledger. “Name?”

I blinked rapidly. I couldn’t imagine Faraday using my full name to send a letter, on the off chance it was intercepted.

“Miss?” the clerk asked, glancing over his glasses.

“Oleander,” I said. Maybe it would be enough, since it wasn’t common.

He lifted his eyebrow but said nothing. Postmen took an oath. Any letters remanded to them were kept secret, as were destinations and origins. “I do indeed have a letter for an Oleander. Delivered yesterday.”

My stomach fluttered.

“Do you need it read to you?” he asked.

“No.”

He turned and paged through envelopes and letters in a bin behind him. He grunted and pulled one free, setting it on the desk. “Will you be sending a reply?”

I shook my head.

“Two gold,” the postman said. I widened my eyes, and he lifted his eyebrow again. “Is something the matter?”

“Two gold is a lot. Why is it so expensive?”

He shrugged. “Postmaster owes a debt. I don’t set the prices, miss.”

Two gold would make a significant dent in my remaining funds. Most of the gold I’d brought with me from our stashes I’d left in Dorian’s saddle packs. I had the Saldana stamped coins, but I couldn’t use them. For one thing, they were holy coins, not meant for spending. And I couldn’t take the chance of anyone seeing them. Since Lefevre had found the coin I’d left on that murdered boy, I’d hidden the coins in my hideaway for safekeeping.

But Faraday might have information regarding the hunt for me. I couldn’t risk not hearing from him. No. I had to bite my lip and accept the cost.

“If you can’t pay now, you can open a tab,” the clerk said. “Pay your debt later.”

Debts again. It had to be exhausting being Yvanese and having to juggle debts left and right. How anyone remained in good graces with their god was beyond me.

I sighed and poured two gold coins into my palm before passing them to the postman.

“Thank you so much for your business, and stay safe from the ghosts.”

I took the letter and slipped out to the streets. The flecks of quartz and mica in the mail office’s walls sparkled in the light of the afternoon sun. I took back ways and alleys to my safe house and slipped inside. It was almost too dark to read inside, but I felt safer.

The letter was from Faraday, of course, and I exhaled slowly as I opened the seal. His precise handwriting spilled across the page. I read his greeting:

They know.

My stomach sank. I scanned the rest of the letter, then realized I hadn’t absorbed any of it, so fully had my fear overwhelmed me. I took a deep breath and read the letter carefully again.

They know.

I don’t think they know who they’re chasing, but they know someone survived their fire. Word is they’re scurrying around the city like terriers tracking a rat and that they’re considering a bounty on you. It’s only a matter of time before they catch your trail. I would recommend you finish whatever business it is you’re conducting as soon as possible and flee before they find you. Or someone finds you for them.

Expect another letter from me soon, with more information.

I will remind you it is not too late to return home, live a new life. I fear, though, that window will soon close and you will be committed whether you are ready or not.

I will pray for you, though I do not think She deals in the kind of mercy I’ll ask for.

Yours in faith,

F

I crumpled the paper in my hands.

So the Da Vias knew I’d survived their attack. They must have spoken to the Addamos. But maybe the Da Vias didn’t suspect it was me. Maybe the Addamos confused the situation and told them I was Rafeo. If they had counted and identified bodies, they wouldn’t have found Rafeo’s or mine.

But even if they thought I was Rafeo, that didn’t give me much of an advantage. Perhaps they would be surprised when they discovered the truth, as Alexi Addamo had been, but it wouldn’t change anything. They’d have to kill me no matter who I turned out to be, and I’d be easier to kill than Rafeo, who had been the best of us.