The next room contained people at gaming tables. Some played cards. Others rolled dice. At one table they appeared to be racing caterpillars. Cole didn’t linger.
After the next door, Cole ended up back where he had started. Most of the same faces were present, including Hannibal and the guy who looked like a statue. In the mirror, Cole found that he looked like a skinny teen with lots of freckles and really big ears.
A gentleman with white curly hair cornered Cole and struck up a conversation, but the man was boring. Cole shared his routine information and learned nothing of interest.
After the gentleman ambled away, Cole claimed a solitary chair. He couldn’t keep his mind off Jill. She was the first person he had met from back home since leaving the slave caravan. And now he was leaving her behind because she was too scared to join him.
What if Dalton felt the same way? What if Jenna didn’t want to be rescued? What if trying to save them made everything worse?
No. He couldn’t think that way. Not everyone would be as wary as Jill. Cole knew that wherever he had ended up as a slave, he would have fought to get free. He felt certain that Dalton would leap at the chance to escape as well. And now he had a real chance of finding him! What about Jenna? Maybe Dalton would know something. In his gut, Cole believed that Jenna would want to run away too, whatever the risks.
But first he had to get away from Shady Lane. As he sat alone in the chair, Cole realized he wasn’t sure how to find Mira or Joe to learn whether they were ready to leave. How would he recognize them? Were they still here? If he left too early, would he end up alone on the streets of East Carthage?
Cole decided they would have worked very quickly if they were already gone, and he figured they probably wouldn’t take off without him. His best option was probably to stay put and watch for people exiting.
A new person came into the lounge from outside, talked to Hannibal, and moved on. A freakishly thin woman entered from a neighboring room and briskly exited. Cole continued to wait, feeling edgier as the minutes passed.
A man and a woman came into the room from the gaming lounge. The handsome man had black hair slicked back and a small mustache. The woman had green skin and snakes for hair. She pointed at the ceiling, softly said, “Away,” then scanned the room.
Hair squirming, the woman watched as Cole approached. “I know a guy named Twitch,” Cole said quietly.
“I know Jace,” she replied. It had to be Mira, which meant the guy was Joe.
“We should go,” Joe murmured.
“What about a permanent illusion?” Cole asked.
“Not here,” Joe whispered tersely.
They exited together. In the furry hall, a previously unseen door appeared ahead of them. They went through, then through another, and found themselves back in the room with the gangly bespectacled man.
“May I see your keys?” the man inquired.
After a look at Cole’s key, the man escorted him to the trident door.
“Once you retrieve your things, put on your mask and return to this room,” the man instructed. “Please leave the key behind.”
Cole did as requested, leaving his key in the lock of the trunk. He met up with masked Mira and Joe, and they left the room together through a different door from the one they had originally entered. Cole desperately wanted to share what he had learned from Jill, but decided he had better wait until they were alone. Two large men escorted them down a staircase, along a plain hall, then up some stairs to a door. They walked out to find themselves in an alley with their coach waiting.
Joe, Mira, and Cole climbed into the coach, and the large men shut the door. Once they were rolling, Joe took off his mask. Mira and Cole followed his example.
“I saw someone from home!” Cole announced, barely able to contain his excitement.
“Really?” Mira asked.
“A girl named Jill, from my school,” Cole explained. “She’s a slave—some kind of apprentice in training. She told me where I can find my friend Dalton!”
“That’s wonderful!” Mira exclaimed. “Where is he?”
“At a confidence lounge in Merriston,” Cole said. “The Silver something. Jill wouldn’t come with us, even though I tried to convince her, but I know where she is now, so I can come back for her.”
“Good information,” Joe approved. “I met with one of the Unseen. Apparently, the main confidence lounges in Carthage have fallen under heavy government supervision. He warned that it would be too dangerous to hire any of the enchanters working there. He gave me the name of an illusionist who can help us—Verilan the Incredible, a prominent local performer. We’ll go to his show tonight and meet him afterward. Did either of you pick up any leads about a valuable secret prisoner?”
Cole shook his head.
“I heard a lot about the Rogue Knight,” Mira said. “People are also talking about a big threat in the north. People are vanishing. They suspect it’s an Ellowine Carnag.”
“It’s a safe bet that Honor’s power is on the prowl,” Joe said. “My contact thought this illusionist could have some good information for us. He also warned me that Enforcers have started making inquiries about a girl and three boys traveling together, perhaps with an adult male. The contact guessed that I was the adult male in question, and I made no attempt to dissuade him.”
“Did he know who I was?” Mira asked.
“He hadn’t heard your name,” Joe said. “But he had seen a sketch of your face. Sounds like the Enforcers are pretty sure we’re here. One of their best is coming to personally oversee the manhunt. They call him the Hunter. He’s infamous. Most Enforcers limit their work to specific kingdoms. Hunter runs operations in all five. Chances are he has some unusual shaping abilities.”
“Or shapecraft skills,” Cole said.
“Nothing would surprise me,” Joe said. “In short, we need to hurry and disguise your faces, then we need to get out of town.”
Chapter 10
ILLUSIONIST
“I love illusionists,” Twitch said, fingers drumming on his knees. “With all the trouble we’re in, I can’t believe we’re on our way to a show.”
“We’re not after laughs,” Mira said. “The right disguises could help us avoid a lot of trouble.”
They had boarded a coach in front of a museum several blocks from their inn. Joe thought the vehicle would help mask their arrival and departure. It was not the same coach they had used to visit the confidence lounge.