“Is that so?” Sted said, slinging Eli over his shoulder. “In that case, I’ll make a point to eat every one of your little spirits. That is, if I can be bothered to remember.”
Gin snarled, but Sted just turned, laughing, and started toward the door. Before his foot hit the ground, he was gone, vanishing into the long shadows. For a moment Miranda just stood there, almost too angry to breathe, then she knelt down beside Gin. “How is it?”
“I’ll live,” the hound grumbled, licking the blood from his muzzle. He caught her look, and his enormous orange eyes narrowed. “If you’re thinking what I think you are, the answer is yes.”
“Are you sure?” Miranda said, suddenly hesitant.
“I wouldn’t have said anything if I wasn’t sure,” Gin growled. “If you think for one second I’m going to let that bastard get away with our prize, then you can find yourself another ghosthound. Get on.”
Miranda didn’t ask again. She pulled Mellinor back into her body and vaulted onto Gin’s back. The second she was on they were running, smashing through what was left of the shattered door into the torch-lit street. She caught a glimpse of Sparrow’s shocked face, Tesset and Nico standing behind him, but she put them out of her mind. This had gone far beyond Council games and power plays. It was between her and Sted now. Gin thundered through the streets, sending bandits flying when they got in his way. He cleared the last row of buildings in one leap and stopped on the edge of the box canyon that hid Izo’s city from the world. He raised his head, holding his nose up to the night air, and took several large sniffs.
“This way,” he said, turning north so hard Miranda’s neck snapped. She grimaced and bent low on the hound’s back, clinging to his fur as they raced through the dark woods, chasing the shadow of Eli’s scent on the cold mountain air.
“I don’t know how we’re getting out of this.” Sparrow’s voice held none of its usual charm as they stomped through the torch-lit streets toward Izo’s fortress. “And that’s not a turn of phrase. I really, honestly, do not know how we are going to make this situation into anything other than an unmitigated disaster.”
Behind him, Tesset stayed silent, matching Sparrow’s frantic pace with his long, ground-eating steps. As the shortest, Nico had to run to keep up or be dragged by the rope Tesset had affixed to her wrists. It was an awkward setup, but Sparrow had refused to see Izo alone and Tesset couldn’t leave Nico unguarded, so they had no choice but to face the fallout together.
When they reached the hall, the guards told Sparrow that Izo was waiting for them at the infirmary, though they wouldn’t tell him why.
“Probably just wants to save time,” Sparrow muttered bitterly.
“If that were the case, he’d have asked us to meet him at the burial pit,” Tesset pointed out.
Sparrow shot him a dirty look and kept going, winding his way through the maze of barracks and training grounds until they reached the long, low building that served as Izo’s infirmary.
“Looks like they took a pigsty and replaced the pigs with bandits who could tie a bandage,” Sparrow muttered, nodding to the boy who opened the door for them. “Remember, let me do the talking.”
“That’s why you’re here,” Tesset said calmly.
Sparrow shook his head and walked faster.
The infirmary was a long hall lined with beds. Most were empty, the stained sheets dumped in piles at their feet. Izo was waiting for them at the very end with several men in drab surgeon’s smocks. They were all standing around a bed, and Izo was shouting something, his words so slurred together by rage that Nico could barely make them out.
“I don’t care if you have to stab him again!” the Bandit King roared. “Wake him up! Now! And where is that Council peacock?”
One of the doctors pointed nervously over Izo’s shoulder, and the Bandit King turned, his face going even redder when he caught sight of Sparrow.
“You!” he shouted, grabbing Sparrow by the arm. “You’d better have something to tell me. Where’s the wizard girl?”
“I couldn’t say for sure,” Sparrow said, his voice pinched with pain. “Probably off after your bruiser. You know, the one who stole our thief?”
Izo bared his teeth and jerked Sparrow up until the smaller man was within kissing distance. “You’d better watch that fancy tongue of yours, boy. I’m in no mood to humor Council dogs who can’t even keep their downed prey.”
He spat in Sparrow’s face, then dropped him. Tesset caught him before he could fall, and Sparrow nodded his thanks, pulling an orange silk handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his face with a disgusted grimace. Point made, Izo turned back to the bed.