knob turned, and Ferris poked his head out and tipped it to one side, listening to us breathe and inhaling the air around us.
“Gabe,” he said after a pause. “And your friend again?”
“The same,” Gabe said. “Do you have any information for us?”
Ferris leaned against the doorframe and tapped his finger against the button on his sleeve. “I found a name,” he said. “Meridus Falcon, he’s calling himself now.”
“We heard that name yesterday,” I said. “It isn’t the right man.”
“Oh,” Ferris said. “But it is. According to my contacts, an older man with a scarred face came with a companion into the city recently. He originally gave his name as Borde, then seemed to reconsider that and told a few people to contact him by the name of Falcon. You have your man, I think. He’s using an alias.”
“Falcon,” I repeated. “So he’s here.”
“He’s here,” Ferris assured me.
“But you don’t know where?”
“After that, he completely vanished. Might have gone into one of the nicer districts. I don’t have contacts there.”
Gabe paid him, and we left. My mind reeled as I absorbed this new information. Borde was using another name—Falcon. And not even Ferris knew where he was now.
“Who else can we talk to? Who else might know Borde’s whereabouts?”
Gabe shook his head.
Despair filled me like water flooding my lungs. Jonn was going to die, Ivy was going to die, and I was going to be here when it happened, trapped in a city of fog and light, unable to find the man I needed to save them. In my mind’s eye, I saw them, both sick, him lying under a quilt, his bones thin and brittle as sticks beneath his skin, his eyes open and bloodshot, his mouth a gash in his gaunt face as he gasped for his last lungful of air. Her sunk down on her knees beside him, sick but not as sick, not yet, holding out till the last for Jonn’s sake. Waiting for me. Hoping in vain.
Every inch of me hurt. My legs weakened, and I crumpled into a crouch beside the fountain and braced myself against the stones, trying to breathe.
Gabe dropped down beside me and reached for my hand. I let him take my fingers. His skin was warm against mine.
“I know another man,” he said after a long silence. “It’s a gamble, but he might know something. But...” He paused. “It’s a risk. He lives near the palace, in one of the wealthier neighborhoods. If I’m recognized...”
Our eyes met. I felt my soul pouring out of mine, pleading with him even as I wrestled with the risk.
Gabe sighed, the sound scraping past his lips.
“Come on,” he said.
~
Brittle vines trailed down the sides of the buildings in this part of the city, and ancient trees snaked their roots over walls of stone and transparent roofs with vegetation inside—greenhouses like the one back in the Frost. Steam powered the coaches, and the men and women who strolled by on foot wore black silk and velvet. Feathered and veiled hats hid their eyes.
One man passing us made eye contact. The haunted fear in his face rocked me, and I stopped in the middle of the street. Gabe grabbed my arm and pulled me forward onto the sidewalk, hustling me away quickly before the man could look again. I shook off the spell that had gripped me as we slipped through a gate and stopped before a house with curving stone walls topped with pointed iron spikes.
Gabe’s expression was a mixture of wonder and unease, as if he’d stepped into an unsettling dream. “I haven’t seen these walls since before my arrest,” he murmured.
He led me down a path and through a grove of drooping trees. We passed through a hedge and into a courtyard of raked gravel. Dried leaves skittered past us, swirling in a sudden wind. We skirted the house and headed deeper into the surrounding gardens. Dried vines drooped from the trees and brushed the top of my head. The air smelled like wet dirt and dead plants. Thunder growled in the distance, a whisper of another coming
“Gabe,” he said after a pause. “And your friend again?”
“The same,” Gabe said. “Do you have any information for us?”
Ferris leaned against the doorframe and tapped his finger against the button on his sleeve. “I found a name,” he said. “Meridus Falcon, he’s calling himself now.”
“We heard that name yesterday,” I said. “It isn’t the right man.”
“Oh,” Ferris said. “But it is. According to my contacts, an older man with a scarred face came with a companion into the city recently. He originally gave his name as Borde, then seemed to reconsider that and told a few people to contact him by the name of Falcon. You have your man, I think. He’s using an alias.”
“Falcon,” I repeated. “So he’s here.”
“He’s here,” Ferris assured me.
“But you don’t know where?”
“After that, he completely vanished. Might have gone into one of the nicer districts. I don’t have contacts there.”
Gabe paid him, and we left. My mind reeled as I absorbed this new information. Borde was using another name—Falcon. And not even Ferris knew where he was now.
“Who else can we talk to? Who else might know Borde’s whereabouts?”
Gabe shook his head.
Despair filled me like water flooding my lungs. Jonn was going to die, Ivy was going to die, and I was going to be here when it happened, trapped in a city of fog and light, unable to find the man I needed to save them. In my mind’s eye, I saw them, both sick, him lying under a quilt, his bones thin and brittle as sticks beneath his skin, his eyes open and bloodshot, his mouth a gash in his gaunt face as he gasped for his last lungful of air. Her sunk down on her knees beside him, sick but not as sick, not yet, holding out till the last for Jonn’s sake. Waiting for me. Hoping in vain.
Every inch of me hurt. My legs weakened, and I crumpled into a crouch beside the fountain and braced myself against the stones, trying to breathe.
Gabe dropped down beside me and reached for my hand. I let him take my fingers. His skin was warm against mine.
“I know another man,” he said after a long silence. “It’s a gamble, but he might know something. But...” He paused. “It’s a risk. He lives near the palace, in one of the wealthier neighborhoods. If I’m recognized...”
Our eyes met. I felt my soul pouring out of mine, pleading with him even as I wrestled with the risk.
Gabe sighed, the sound scraping past his lips.
“Come on,” he said.
~
Brittle vines trailed down the sides of the buildings in this part of the city, and ancient trees snaked their roots over walls of stone and transparent roofs with vegetation inside—greenhouses like the one back in the Frost. Steam powered the coaches, and the men and women who strolled by on foot wore black silk and velvet. Feathered and veiled hats hid their eyes.
One man passing us made eye contact. The haunted fear in his face rocked me, and I stopped in the middle of the street. Gabe grabbed my arm and pulled me forward onto the sidewalk, hustling me away quickly before the man could look again. I shook off the spell that had gripped me as we slipped through a gate and stopped before a house with curving stone walls topped with pointed iron spikes.
Gabe’s expression was a mixture of wonder and unease, as if he’d stepped into an unsettling dream. “I haven’t seen these walls since before my arrest,” he murmured.
He led me down a path and through a grove of drooping trees. We passed through a hedge and into a courtyard of raked gravel. Dried leaves skittered past us, swirling in a sudden wind. We skirted the house and headed deeper into the surrounding gardens. Dried vines drooped from the trees and brushed the top of my head. The air smelled like wet dirt and dead plants. Thunder growled in the distance, a whisper of another coming
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