Gavin glanced toward the door. “I have a feeling the constables will be watching.”
“Which means that you think Davel will follow you when you go for the egg,” Wrenlow said.
Gavin chuckled. At least he could laugh about that much. “I do.”
“You don’t want him to know where you’re keeping it, though.”
“Not really.” There was value in having the sorcerer’s lair to himself.
At least, there had been.
Now he didn’t know if he could consider it safe.
“How do you intend to sneak past him?” Wrenlow asked.
“Oh, I have a few ideas.”
Chapter Thirteen
Gavin kept the hood of his cloak up as he headed through the streets. The city was quiet, as far as Yoran was concerned. There was typically more of a crowd, and this was not nearly as dense of a gathering as was often found moving through the city. A dozen people were in the distance, but as they looked toward him—or, more likely, toward the constables trailing him—they veered off, disappearing down some of the side streets or alleyways.
As far as he could tell, a pair of constables had been following him for the last few blocks. The streets of Yoran quickly widened the closer to the edge of the city, the buildings getting even more spaced apart, mostly because the buildings were smaller. Gavin hadn’t made any effort to sneak out of the Dragon any differently than he would’ve normally.
He wanted the constables to know he’d left, though he didn’t know if that would leave the tavern unprotected. Having the constables watch over the Dragon would offer a layer of protection that Jessica might need.
Gavin reached an intersection, pausing on the uneven cobbles and stepping off to the side of the street to let three children pulling a wagon toward a nearby market pass him. He hesitated before hurrying forward. The carts on either side of the street pressed toward him, as if they were actively trying to slow him. Most of them looked to be houses, though he noticed a few storefronts, all with darkened windows. In the distance, he noted three constables heading toward him. They must have been using enchantments to communicate.
Clever.
Of course, he had a similar ability.
Gavin turned into an alley, climbed up onto the rooftop, then slid forward. He didn’t see any of the constables around him, though he suspected they would be following even from afar.
He wasn’t entirely comfortable moving from rooftop to rooftop, but it did offer him a freedom he didn’t have down on the street. He could more effectively watch the movement within the street and make out whether the constables were trailing him. There was another cluster of constables he hadn’t seen when he was at street level. They were heading toward his previous location.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Gavin whispered, looking below.
Wrenlow popped out of the doorway where Gavin had just been, pulled the hood of his cloak up, and started to walk down the street. “Are you really sure this is necessary? He knows what you’re doing anyway.”
“We need some protections he doesn’t know about.”
“Even if the Fate knows how to find the lair?”
Gavin thought about arguing that the Fate might not know how to find this lair, but it didn't matter if they were connected. “Just do it.”
“I don’t look anything like you.”
“It’s not a matter of whether you look like me. It’s a matter of whether you can convince them that you are me. At least for a little while.”
Wrenlow started to tilt his head up in Gavin’s direction, but he stopped. “I don’t even have your size.”
“You don’t need my size. You’re wearing one of my cloaks, and that’s all they’re going to see.” Thankfully, he had two that were the same. He could take the one he’d been wearing off and slip into the growing crowd. Some constables could be curious about why he looked different, but he suspected they’d focus on the cloak and trail after that more than anything else. “I’m going to watch for a while.”
“Fine, but I don’t know how well I’m going to uncover anything going this way.”
Gavin smiled to himself as Wrenlow headed into the street. The constables converged on him, keeping some distance, though not so much they wouldn’t be noticeable. Could they really think that Gavin was so ignorant as to overlook them? It wasn’t as if they were traveling at night.
“Take the next left,” he said.
“And then what?”
“And then keep winding that way.”
“What about you?” Wrenlow asked.
“I’m going to be fine.”
“You don’t have anybody watching over you.”
“So long as I have you in my ear, you are with me,” Gavin said.
He waited for a while longer, ensuring the constables were trailing after Wrenlow. Then he scrambled down from the roof and followed the alley until he reached the end of it, twisting back out into the main street.
From there, Gavin started to head deeper into the city. He took a circuitous route to make sure that there wasn’t anyone else following him. It wasn’t just the constables that he worried about. It was also the enchanters. And, worst of all, the Fates. If the Fates happened to find him, then he wanted to be ready.
Gavin didn’t see any followers. As far as he could tell, no one was trailing after him. He followed the street, heading toward the outskirts of the city.
When he reached Byron Street, quickening his pace as he strode along it, there weren’t nearly as many people limiting his movement as there had been before. Cyran’s house sat in the distance.
As Gavin approached, he slowed, glancing around him and looking for signs of movement. He didn’t see anything, but then a surge of shadows near him caught his attention.
There was a danger for him coming here, especially if the Fate knew about the lair, and Gavin had a hard time thinking the Fate wouldn’t know about it. He just had to hope they hadn’t found the egg.
Besides, without the sword, the different lairs didn’t connect.
Unless he knows some magic trick to open the door.
He had to push that thought out of his mind.
Gavin decided to make a loop around Cyran’s house. Following the road past, he didn’t see anything there. He moved as quickly as he could and then circled around the block. The shadows never changed. Perhaps he was just overreacting.
Looking back around, Gavin glanced toward the forest. It was near enough to the edge of Yoran that it seemed as if the city had grown up to the forest and then stopped. It had younger trees, at least in this section, but if he were to follow through the forest, he would reach an older growth—and the El’aras. It amused him that the people of Yoran thought they were so separated from magic when they lived so close to the El’aras.
It wasn’t just the El’aras, though that was what Gavin had believed when he’d first come to Yoran. Now he knew about the sorcerers and enchanters and the constables, even. Far too many people in the city used magic. Even him, to an extent, though he really had no idea how he was using magic or whether what he did truly constituted magic.
As he headed back around, he made his way toward Cyran’s home. The building was darkened, as expected. When he neared, he glanced along the street, looking for signs of anyone paying attention to him, but didn’t see anyone. Gavin slipped his dagger into the lock, glancing at the blade to make sure it wasn’t glowing as he popped it open, and headed inside. He closed the door behind him, locked it, and then peered out the window, watching for movement.
When he was convinced the street was empty, he turned his attention back to the house. The blade still didn’t glow. It hadn’t at the Captain’s house, either. He would be careful. Work quickly. That was all he could do.
As he headed deeper into Cyran’s house, he glanced at the cabinets. Then he moved into the back room, pulled the rug off, and lifted the trapdoor. Once he climbed down the ladder, Gavin hurried past the broken stone that had been pulled do
wn from the ceiling and reached the lair entrance.
He held his hand up against it, and he felt the sense of power within him, the core reserves of energy. Given everything that he’d gone through today, he needed a chance to rest and recuperate to restore those reserves of power, but he didn’t have the chance to do so yet. He called on that power, and then he pulled the door open. Once inside, he closed it behind him again.
Gavin looked around the lair. Nothing seemed amiss. He searched for evidence that someone had come through here, but the triggers he’d placed to detect such a thing were undisturbed. As far as he could tell, no one had been here.
Get the egg and get back. That was all he needed to do.
Stay ahead of the Fate. Prepare for what he might do next.
He wanted something he thought Gavin had.
The sword made the most sense, especially if he were coming to a sorcerer’s lair, but there was another possibility. The Fate could have been after the egg—only why? It created enchantments. Nothing a sorcerer needed.
Gavin headed toward the back of the room, where there was another cabinet. He had found this cabinet during one of his attempts at exploring and was intrigued that he had to press the El’aras dagger into it to open it. That suggested the cabinet involved magic—that it would contain magic.
He pried the dagger into the cabinet again and opened the door, revealing the jade egg inside. The egg was smooth and had a greenish hue to it, though from time to time, Gavin thought that it glowed. He didn’t take out of the cabinet that often, as he was unsure whether he should. As far as he knew, the enchanters had poured some part of themselves into the egg to create a weapon that could be used against the sorcerers during the war two decades prior, and doing so had changed things for those who had been involved. It was the reason that Gavin was tempted to return the egg to the enchanters, but he needed to know that he would do so at the right time. For now, he had held onto it, making sure that neither the enchanters nor the constables could use it against the other.
Gavin slipped it into his pocket.
It felt strange to have an item of such importance in his pocket, but he didn’t know what else to do with it. Perhaps he should have acquired a case for it at one point. Would this place have a connection to those hidden tunnels the same as the other sorcerer’s lair had? What if there was something here that he hadn’t seen before?
The door.
He paused in front of the door, and he traced his finger on the symbols. Much like in the other sorcerer’s lair, the El’aras writing seemed to have some sort of meaning, though Gavin couldn’t read it to understand just what it was. He held the dagger up to it and waited to see if there would be some sort of hiss coming from it, but there was nothing.
What about the sword?
It had worked for the other doors. If it worked here, then maybe he could find a connection to those other lairs.
The sword didn’t do anything either.
There didn’t seem to be any hidden doors. Maybe that was why Cyran had chosen this place. Either that, or Cyran had built it himself, and it didn’t connect to the others.
There was still one other door he hadn’t managed to unlock. Maybe it would connect here, but he didn’t have any way of triggering it to open.
Not now, though. He needed to head back. Stay ahead of the Fate.
Gavin opened the door and stepped back out into the hallway, sealing the door closed again. When he neared the ladder, he thought he saw shadows moving near him.
He unsheathed the sword. The blade had a faint glowing sheen to it.
Not the Fate. It would glow more brightly were it him.
There were times when he had seen the blade glow when there had been no magic. Gavin had come to believe that this was possibly related to him. He held it out, peering along the hallway.
He had been attacked there once before. He started to climb the ladder, and then he paused again when he was partway up, looking along the length of the hallway. There was nothing other than the shadows, but they didn’t seem to be anything unnatural.
He reached the surface, closed the trapdoor, and rolled the carpet back over. Then he stood there, waiting.
Gavin had no idea if something had been down there with him, though he didn’t think there was. He would’ve seen something more.
Would it even matter? As far as he could tell, he’d searched through it enough that he didn’t think there was anything of value in there.
Gavin headed to the front door and pulled it open. Had I closed it all the way? He thought that he had, but it didn’t seem as if it had latched. If the Fate decided to attack, he wasn’t about to be surprised again.
Time to show him something more.
Gavin reached into his pocket, and he grabbed the bracelet that Olivia had enchanted for him. He slipped it on and paused a moment as the enchantment took hold. He had to adjust to the sudden shift through him. There was a surge of strength that coursed through him. It was a reason he didn’t like using enchantments that often. He could see how they could become a crutch, almost intoxicating in their strength. It was better to be prepared to exist without such enchantments.
Gavin stepped outside of the house. He pulled the door closed, making sure to seal it tightly behind him. As he backed along the street, he kept his gaze on the building until he reached the forest. He stayed at the edge of the forest for a few moments, watching Cyran’s house. There was nothing, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he had.
Something moved along the street. He shifted his attention but then saw another surge of movement. This one came from closer to Cyran’s house.
Shadows—or smoke, he realized—snaked out of the door.
There had been something inside.
Gavin remained where he was, lingering at the tree line. He stayed concealed as long as he could, watching the street for signs of movement. The shadows were like smoke, making it difficult for him to trail them, but he could see them drift along the street and then disappear.
He stayed where he was for a little while longer. He didn’t see anything more, but what if that one movement, that wisp of smoke, wasn’t all that was there? His patience was rewarded when another wisp of smoke drifted out of Cyran’s home.
Strange.
This one floated away, heading in the opposite direction as the first.
He continued to watch, but nothing else changed.
“Gavin?” Wrenlow’s voice came in loud through the enchantment.
“What is it?”
“They caught me.”
“How far did you get?”
Knowing that Wrenlow would be taking a roundabout path to the market, it wouldn’t have taken long before they realized that something was amiss.
“Well, they waited a lot longer than I thought. Got to the central market and did some shopping,” Wrenlow said.
“What sort of shopping?”
“A few books. Some pastries. A belt.”
“A belt?”
“I needed a new one. Mine was starting to fray.”
Gavin chuckled softly. “What did they do?”
“As soon as they realized I wasn’t you, they disappeared,” Wrenlow said.
“Did you see where they went?”
“No, but there had to be a dozen constables following me.”
“They really want the egg,” Gavin said.
“You won’t be able to keep it in the city indefinitely.”
“I know.”
Gavin didn’t feel as if he could take it from Yoran either. And if the Fate was after it, he had to keep it from him, too. The egg belonged to the city. It belonged to the people here, to the enchanters who had sacrificed so much to create it.
“When are you returning?” Wrenlow asked.
Gavin stared at Cyran’s door for a little while longer. So far, there had been no more smoke drifting out of it. Whatever had been there must have disappeared.
Had they found what they were looking for?
“What is it?”
“Something that I saw.”
“Be careful,” Wrenlow said.
“Aren’t I always?”
“Be as careful as I would be.”
“I don’t think anyone can be as careful as you,” Gavin said. He stepped out onto the street, moving away from the forest.
A hint of smoke rose in the distance. It was at the far end of the street, and it was coming toward him.
Gavin turned and looked behind him. There was smoke moving toward him from that direction as well.
“Wrenlow?”
No answer. Either Wrenlow didn’t hear him, or something had happened to the enchantment.
Gavin tapped on it again, focusing on the enchantment. “Wrenlow, if you’re there, I’m going to need you to alert the constables. At least, alert Davel. He needs to come—”
He didn’t get the opportunity to finish.
The smoke started drifting toward him.
Chapter Fourteen
If Gavin needed any proof that the strange smoke was something magical, that was it. The smoke swirled along the street, moving quickly, as if it were something alive. He’d never seen anything quite like it before. There was a soft energy within the smoke, though he didn’t know if what he saw was real or not. Did he imagine it?
The smoke slithered along the street, heading directly toward a young couple making their way along the edge of the forest.
When it struck them, they both collapsed.
Gavin leaned forward, prepared to try to help, when he saw them twitching.
It was the same thing that had happened to the constables.
He started forward, as his mind managed to catch up with what was happening.
The smoke drifted toward him.
It wasn’t just his imagination. It seemed as if the smoke were actually chasing him.
He debated which way he could go. If he headed along the street, he’d be caught between the two strange streams of smoke. That left only one other option: going into Jaren Forest.
Which might be exactly what the Fate wanted.
The Fates of Yoran (The Chain Breaker Book 3) Page 14