Night Study (Soulfinders #2)(94)

Fisk and his minions arrived.

Janco explained what had happened. “We need to find that box. Spread out and search.”

“Won’t work,” Fisk said. “This place is a labyrinth, and if you know the layout, you can get from one end to the other without being seen. If she’s in a box, then they’re not planning on keeping her here.”

“Which means they’re probably putting her on a wagon along with other goods to smuggle her from the Citadel,” Ari said.

“The west gate,” Janco said. “It’s the closest.”

“And the most obvious,” Fisk said.

“But they don’t know I know.” Janco thumped his chest.

“Good point. Fisk, can you show us the shortest way to the gate?”

“Of course.” He gave orders to a couple of his minions and then took off at a jog.

“What if we’re too late?” Janco asked, keeping pace with Ari. “Or we don’t spot it? There was nothing remarkable about that particular box.”

“Think positive.”

They reached the gate after two lifetimes. Fisk told them to wait while he bribed the guards to let him look at the logbook. Janco fidgeted, unable to endure even a few seconds of delay.

When Fisk returned, he said, “No wagons have left this afternoon. I sent my people to watch the north and south gates while we keep an eye on this one.”

The three of them split up so they covered all possible angles. Fisk took the high ground to look down into the wagons. Ari was stationed outside the gate. And Janco waited in the shadow of the guardhouse. If a covered wagon arrived, Janco would peek under the tarp before it left.

In the end, it wasn’t a box that tipped Janco off. It was the driver of the wagon. He just about fainted when he spotted Leif chatting with the gate guards. Stunned for a moment, Janco only had time to slip under the tarp before the wagon pulled away.





25


YELENA


I woke with a horrible headache and my mouth as dry as sawdust. Confused, I peered at my surroundings. The simple room had a night table, a single bed, one door and unadorned white walls. Not Fisk’s colorful guest room. Something wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t move. Curare!

Panicked, I thrashed and stopped when I realized my movements were only limited, not paralyzed. Just my hands and feet had been secured. What did it say about my life when I took comfort in that?

Taking a few deep breaths, I calmed my racing heart. I concentrated on the facts. My symptoms matched being drugged with sleeping potion. Concern for the baby burned, and it triggered other worries. And then I remembered. Leif! He’d been captured. Yet that wasn’t completely true. He was okay, but not okay. My thoughts spun and I closed my eyes. Perhaps I’d wake a second time and everything would be clear.

The doorknob rattled, and I opened my eyes in time to see Leif enter. He carried a tray of food. My relief at seeing him fizzled when Bruns Jewelrose and a couple goons followed him into my room. My memory jerked to life, and my arm burned where my rat bastard of a brother had pricked me with sleeping potion. I glared at Leif.

“I had to do it,” Leif said. “You wouldn’t listen to reason, and Bruns was worried Ari and Janco would find us.”

“That’s because nothing Bruns said was reasonable,” I said.

“I thought the same thing at first. But you really need to see what he’s done here. It’s wonderful.” Leif used the same tone he used to describe a delicious stew.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course,” Bruns said. “Just finish hearing me out, and then decide.”

“And if I still think you’re a raving lunatic?”

Bruns pressed his lips together and smoothed an invisible wrinkle on his sleeve. “Then we’ll discuss your options.”

“Options, eh?” My imagination produced a number of horrific scenarios. I quelled my emotions. In this situation, I suspected logic and cold calculation would be required. “All right. I’ll listen.”

Leif smiled. One of the goons placed a chair near the bottom of my bed while the other freed my wrists. I sat up and resisted the urge to check my clothing for my lock picks and switchblade. Bruns sat in the chair.

Leif placed the tray on my lap. “You’ll feel better once you’ve eaten. The chef is an artist. Everything he makes is divine.”

I started with the water, draining half in one gulp. Bruns explained his theory about the Commander’s imminent invasion. I half listened as I tried the stew. Leif hadn’t been exaggerating. The broth had a nice balance of sweet and spicy. After I swallowed, I picked up on a subtle aftertaste. It tasted familiar. It took me another three bites to identify the substance. Theobroma.

Putting the spoon down, I reached for the water.

“Something wrong with the food?” Bruns asked.

“No. My stomach is still unsettled,” I lied. “You were talking about Sitia’s assets...” I prompted.

Bruns continued with his logical yet warped reasoning for protecting Sitia. I glanced at my brother. His expression was one of rapt devotion. No surprise, considering he’d probably consumed mass quantities of the Theobroma-laced food. The substance lowered a magician’s resistance to magical influence and rendered a person without magic very susceptible to suggestion.