Chapter 22
Kandra Gus looked quite normal,if you couldn’t see the net over his head and shoulders.
Theo kept looking at him in quick, suspicious glances, as if he couldn’t quite believe his level of cooperation, but Melodie could see the net, and she never forgot they were using this man.
He would have used them. He would have delivered them to Marchant for money, and she held that thought firm in her head every time she felt guilt at his willing agreement to everything they said.
He had walked out of town with them, down the road to Nena’s farm, and then Theo stopped, stepping close to her and bending his head.
“You stay back when he goes to the clearing, Melodie. You keep well back.” He reached out and gripped her shoulder fiercely. “I’ll be waiting for him, but I don’t want you in his sights.”
She could say that she’d agreed with him when they planned this, that she knew what she had to do, but he looked so worried, she simply inclined her head. “I will.”
“It’s not just because you’re the only one who can see his traps,” he said. “That’s part of it, but you will not fall into his hands because I don’t want him touching a hair on your head.”
She found no words for that. He squeezed her shoulder, and then turned, vaulting the fence and getting past the web before leaping back into the road.
“Give me twenty minutes,” he said, still looking unhappy. He hesitated. “I don’t like splitting up.”
“This is the best way,” she reminded him, and he gave a curt nod and walked backward for a few steps before turning and jogging away.
Melodie watched him go, and when Gus started after him, she touched his arm and asked him to wait with her awhile and chat.
“How many people have you brought to Marchant over the years?” she asked. She might as well find out as much as she could.
Gus rocked back and forward on his heels. “I really don’t know how many he’s taken, but it’s nothing to do with me.” He seemed agitated. “I’m not getting involved in his slave trade.”
Melodie felt as if someone had run a handful of snow down the back of her neck. “Slave trade?” She tried to keep her voice steady.
“He looks for travelers with lots of magic and he sells them to powerful people.” Gus lifted his shoulders, then gave a shiver. “Gives me the creeps. I won’t be having it. I told him I draw the line there.”
“How did he take that?” Melodie asked.
Gus twisted his lips. “He didn’t kick up as much of a fuss as I thought. I actually think it made him trust me more. Besides, it’s hard to take people. Steal too many, and people start coming to look for them. So he only does it if they can do something really spectacular, and that isn’t often, he tells me.”
“But he has to take them first, to work out what they can do?” she asked. “What does he do with the ones that aren’t any use to him?”
“That’s the interesting thing. He sends them into the forest. Dumps them somewhere, he’s never told me where, but a lot of them end up in Warven a day or two later, sort of confused and babbling. He’s got a couple of the town guards in his pocket, and they spin stories of a strain of mushrooms which release spores that cause fever dreams.”
“That’s actually pretty clever,” Melodie said. She tried to keep her tone upbeat. The clearing in the forest with the magic box had obviously served double-duty. He used it to entrap his victims, and, if they weren’t of enough value to him, he used it to befuddle them into thinking it had all been a bad dream.
“Better than killing them,” Gus said, lifting his hands. “That would get as messy as taking too many of them.”
But he had taken too many. A lifetime of caution, and he’d suddenly grabbed four children all at once. Melodie wondered what was going on.
“And the people in the town don’t raise an eyebrow at all these lost souls wandering in?” she asked.
“The people in this town are a little . . . off,” Gus said. “I’d almost believe the spore story, if I didn’t know Marchant made it up.”
“You said you don’t get involved in taking people, but you were going to grab Theo with the net, and I’m assuming use Nena to help take me along, too.” Melodie thought it was almost time to go. Theo would be in place by now.
“He wasn’t going to take you. He was going to question you and put you in the forest afterward, he said. I wouldn’t have done it, otherwise.”
“I see. That’s all right, then.”
Gus smiled at her happily.
“Well, let’s get going. Why don’t you lead the way?” she said.
He moved down the road obediently, and she watched carefully as he walked through the web.
It melted as he touched it, and she couldn’t see any other reaction. She was very interested to learn how it worked.
Just to be sure there wasn’t more to it, that it didn’t pacify or lull its victims, she climbed the fence, walked around the wooden pole, and then climbed back over. She had to hurry to catch up to Gus, who forged ahead.
She let him go at his own pace. Marchant would know how long it usually took him to reach the meeting spot after he walked through the web, and she didn’t want to interfere with that. Much.
“Wait,” she called, just as he reached the gap in the hedge that led to the meeting place.
He stopped, looking at her expectantly.
“You can tell Marchant you weren’t able to capture me and the lieutenant, because we’d already left early this morning.”
She was wearing her riding gloves and she hovered nearby, ready to pull the net off Gus just before they reached the clearing.
She didn’t know how quickly he’d come back to himself, and whether he’d understand what had happened to him, but she decided it was worth the risk.
If Marchant saw him wearing the net, he would know nothing Gus said was true.
“I wasn’t?” he asked. “Is that right?”
“It’s to stop you getting in trouble with him,” she reminded him. “You failed because the confusion isn’t so strong in the town anymore.”
“Oh, yes.” He said it slowly. “The inn was full, too. It was clear they were more aware. You were more aware.”
She nodded, and he nodded back.
“Thank you. Yes, that is a good story to tell.” He turned down the narrow path and as he did, she lifted the net off him, holding it away from her body.
She let him walk on, and she used her other hand to scrunch the net up into a tiny ball, then pulled the glove on her hand off, turning it inside out and wrapping the net up in it. She slid it into her coat pocket, and kept her other glove on.
She could almost hear the shouting of her father from beyond the grave for putting herself so close to someone who trafficked in people just like her.
Then she shut the door on the voice and slid into the woods, keeping off the path, moving slowly to make as little sound as possible.
She heard voices from up ahead, and crept closer, but there were too many chances to be seen, so she got down on hands and knees and crawled forward until she could hear the conversation.
“What do you mean, they aren’t confused anymore?” Marchant’s voice was deep and smooth. It was a shock to hear him.
“They aren’t like they usually are. Vague, you know? Forgetful.”
“You noticed that?” Marchant asked.
“It was obvious. But whatever was making them so befuddled seems to have gone.” Gus sounded cheerful.
“And those two who came in late last night were gone in the morning?”
“Left early, the innkeeper said. Back to Illoa.”
Marchant swore softly. “All right. Go stay at Nena’s for two days, then go back to the inn. If they went to fetch reinforcements, they’ll take at least a day to get to Illoa, a day to get back, but most likely more.”
“Go back to the inn to do what?” Gus asked.
“To see how many they come back with. What their plans are. Get one of them alone and use the net to ask them questions.” Marchant sounded annoyed to have to spell it out.
“I can do that. Nena won’t like me staying there, she’s not so befuddled anymore, either. But she’s done too much now to say no.” Gus shuffled, she could hear his clothes rustling.
“I’d forgotten she was affected, too.” Marchant spoke softly. “I’m going to have to go check—.” He stopped himself short. “I’ll see you in three days. Same time. Whether the soldiers are back from Illoa or not, meet me here to pass on what you’ve learned.”
“Right’o.” Gus turned and walked away, whistling under his breath, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
She didn’t hear any movement, as if Marchant were standing watching after him, either deep in thought or looking for any sign he was followed.
Finally she heard a sigh, the rustle of boots through leaves, and then silence.
She held.
Theo would have a good view of Marchant, that’s why he went ahead to hide. Theo would let her know when it was safe.
But he never called out.
She wished now that her ring could fit on her finger under her glove, but she’d had to take it off. It would be good to have warning if danger lurked.
She lay absolutely still, worry building in her, and then someone ran straight for her.
Theo wouldn’t do that, so she reached in her pocket and pulled out her glove, scrambled to her feet just in time to catch glimpses of a thin man with dark face coverings dodging through the thick bush to get to her.
She pulled out the net from inside the other glove as he burst into view.
He stopped, almost comical in the way he had to windmill his arms to keep his balance. His eyes were fixed on the net.
“That’s the glow I saw.” He flicked his gaze to her, then frowned. “Or you’re glowing, as well as the net.” He shook his head, as if unsure. “What’s that in your bag?”
“I’ll tell you all about it,” she said, flicking the net toward him, but he gave a sharp cry at the sight of it billowing out, and dove away.
She heard him scramble through the brush and then the sound of his footsteps running through dead leaves until they faded away.
She fought her way through branches and scratchy bushes to the path, then ran to the clearing.
“Theo?”
Had Marchant found him? Enspelled him before he spoke with Gus?
That made no sense, because he seemed to have believed Gus’s story.
Unless he thought Theo had followed the town guard who’d come to report to Marchant about their arrival last night. Gus had said he’d passed the man on his way to his own meeting.
But if Marchant had seen Theo, he’d know he was the same person he’d enspelled before. She shook her head. There were too many what-ifs.
She studied the open space, saw the bell was still on the log, glowing softly with its magic.
She stepped beyond it, found where Marchant must stand and watch the people coming to seek an audience with him, then turned slowly, looking for where Theo might have chosen to hide.
She walked carefully around the outside of the clearing, stepping around trees and bushes, keeping an ear out in case Marchant came back with some kind of weapon—which he surely would.
She had weapons of her own, though. She had the net, the small handful of confusion dust she’d rescued from the box in the forest, and the paint set. Those weren’t to be discounted.
She wondered if he had actually seen magic in her, or whether it was the paint set, with its almost blinding glow, leaking out of her bag. Either way, he hadn’t been sure, and that was to her advantage.
She had never thought of herself as actually being magical. She could see it, not make it.
She wasn’t under any illusion about the value of that, though. And neither would Marchant be. A shiver ran down her back at the thought of what he would do with her if he ever understood her abilities.
A faint glimmer of light seemed to come from beneath the leaf-covered ground up ahead, and she slowed, skirting around the area, carefully extending a stick she found and poking at the forest floor. There was a place where it looked as if the ground had fallen away into a dark hole, but when she got closer, she saw it was a net, stretched over a pit, and it had pulled down on one side. The ropes were thick and made of hemp, rather than the gossamer silk of the one in her glove.
She hooked the stick under it, and heaved upward, dislodging leaves, but unable to move it up very much.
She almost tripped over the first stake, and she walked around the hole, working them free, and then pulled, so one whole side of the net fell into the hole.
She peered in and found Theo looking up at her. His hair and shoulders were covered in leaves, his hands and face dirt-streaked. “Melodie.”
She lifted a finger to her lips and he fell silent. Then she stepped to the edge and studied the trap.
It wasn’t that deep. On the face of it, Theo could climb out, so something was obviously stopping him.
She pulled the net completely clear of the hole and set it to one side. The moment it was completely away from the trap, she heard Theo’s labored breathing.
It had been dampening the sound from the hole. She gave it another look, saw the faint glimmer of light in the weave.
She shook her head. Had she ever encountered so many spell-worked objects in one place?
She stepped back to the edge of the hole and then crouched down, studying it.
Theo stood in a warrior stance, eyes narrowed, sword drawn.
After a moment, she rose and began to walk slowly around the hole, looking for the reason he couldn’t escape.
Theo moved with her, keeping her directly above him as she moved, and she finally noticed it. A thin line hooked into his coat, tethered to the ground.
Even as she saw it, Theo tried to climb up again, hands scrabbling in the dark, loose soil.
The line pulled him back.
She checked she still had her knife on her belt, then she jumped down into the hole.
The look of horror on Theo’s face made her suddenly doubt herself, as if there was another danger she hadn’t noticed.
“What the fuck, Mel?” He breathed the words in her ear as he pulled her close. She smelled sweat, and earth, and something so deliciously Theo, it sent a shiver through her. “You’re not supposed to throw yourself into the trap with me.”
“I’m cutting you free.” She pulled back, knife in hand, and crouched beside him. Then, having an idea, she pulled her glove tight and carefully worked the hook out of his jacket without even having to cut.
She studied it, but couldn’t see how it had hooked into Theo’s coat. And they didn’t have time for her to work it out.
She walked back to where it was tethered, and hooked the end into the iron loop that was buried in the ground.
“We should destroy it, but I don’t think we have time for that right now.”
He stood beside her, shook his head. “I can’t even see it. I don’t even know what it is.”
She straightened. “That’s why I’m here. We need to go,” she said, and he nodded, turned, and ran up the side of the hole and was up on the lip, looking down at her, in a moment.
He crouched, hand down, and she grabbed it, let herself be hauled up.
“Does Marchant know you fell into this?” she asked him, as soon as they were both away from the edge.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him.” Theo looked furious with himself. “I fell in before he even arrived, I think.”
“Then let’s put the net back. I don’t think he knew you were here. Maybe it’s a trap that doesn’t warn him. Maybe he has to check it periodically. But I frightened him with the compliance net, so he ran away.” She moved to the net and Theo helped her stake it back in the ground over the hole.
Most of the leaves that had disguised the net had fallen into the pit when she’d pulled it free, but even as they finished stretching it across, more fell from above.
“So, where did Marchant go?” Theo asked her. His sword was back in his hand.
“He ran up the hill through the forest, but who knows if he kept going in that direction. I threatened him with the net and he bolted.”
“He would not want to have that net on him,” Theo said softly. “He would lose all control.”
“Also.” Melodie hesitated, then fluttered her hands in distress. “Gus told me . . .”
Theo had moved closer to her, his gaze worried. “What is it?”
“He said . . .” She drew in a breath. “He said that Marchant has run a slave trade for years. I can only believe the children are his latest victims.”
Theo went very still, and she could see him trying to bank his rage. “How has he managed to keep from drawing attention to himself all these years?”
“Maybe because he sells to powerful people.” She didn’t think any but the truly wealthy could afford to buy a magical person.
She had lived with the fear of it happening to her, but sometimes she wondered if the fear was overblown. Now she knew better.
“Well, he’s come to my attention, now,” Theo said. “And I’m going to make him regret it.”