Chapter 39
Chapter thirty-nine
Grey Spit
We set a relentless pace.
Having Jask along proved invaluable. This was not the first time she’d had to make an emergency stop at Knifejaw Cove.
Because of its proximity to Grey Spit, smugglers often used it as an alternate docking location when the loot they were carrying was too hot or when local officials hadn’t been adequately paid off and were cracking down.
“You guys doing good?” Jask asked a couple of hours into our march. We had paused only twice for water and a short rest.
Darion gave a thumbs-up.
“Doing fine,” I said between labored breaths.
Getting to Grey Spit was all I could think about, and her punishing pace was exactly what I needed.
Even without taking the East Road, we were making great time.
The terrain was varied enough to provide natural cover, and what time we lost in navigating around the cliffs and boulders, we made up for in not having to worry about being seen.
It wasn’t long before rooftops dotted the horizon. From a distance, Grey Spit appeared to be a typical coastal town, similar to Brackmar but a little smaller and more run down. Most of the buildings were one or two stories tall, with only a handful of larger stone structures in the center.
Zephyra had followed us the whole time, circling above and providing the occasional update. According to her, we had made it to Grey Spit just before Elena and Kael, so we took cover in a rocky glade that had a clear view of the road as it entered the town.
I turned to Jask. “I can’t thank you enough for guiding us here,” I said to her. “But this isn’t your fight. Feel free to do whatever you need to help out Rook.”
Jask smirked. “Rook was being dramatic back on the boat. We’ve moored there a hundred times, and he can wait a bit. I know Grey Spit better than either of you and like being where I can be the most helpful.”
“We certainly welcome the help,” I said. I liked Jask. I got the impression that she’d grown up on the streets like me. I recognized the ruthless pragmatism in her eyes—the way she was always watching the horizon, calculating, assessing.
“Okay,” I said. “Here’s the plan when we see Kael and Elena. If she’s in immediate danger, we go right in. Otherwise, let’s just watch. I’d rather not confront Kael right away. The situation is too unpredictable. Let’s see what he does.”
Jask nodded.
“Sounds good,” Darion said, and for a moment, things between us felt normal. It was so easy to fall back into trusting him with my life. It unsettled me.
We sat there for what felt like forever.
I grew impatient, worried that we had missed them somehow, but Zephyra flew overhead in tighter and tighter circles, presumably an indication of how close they were.
Soon I made out two figures cresting a hill in the distance.
Elena’s fire-red hair was impossible to miss.
She didn’t appear to be restrained or injured, a fact that Darion and I acknowledged with a relieved nod. In fact, if I didn’t know better, they looked like any two people out for a stroll. And yet something about it felt wrong in my bones.
As they approached the town, they spoke to each other. Kael appeared to be pointing out landmarks in the distance. But they were moving very quickly, and as they got closer, I saw Kael glancing around, looking for danger.
I felt an irresistible urge to jump up and confront them and whisk Elena away. I’d missed her so much and had been so worried. She was literally right in front of me. As I fidgeted, Darion leaned closer.
“If you want to pull her now, just say the word,” he said.
“We hold for now.”
As they passed, Jask whispered, “If they decide to stop, there’s really only one inn that’s not a pleasure house. Hidden Reef Inn. Still pretty rough, though.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s fan out. Jask, since they don’t know you, you’ll follow behind them.
I’ll walk one block to the left. Darion, you take one block right.
If it looks like Elena is in danger, we’ll converge.
If they go into an inn or something, you follow them, Jask. If you need backup, give us a whistle.”
They nodded.
As Kael and Elena passed the first buildings in the town, we began to follow.
Walking a block away was nearly unbearable for me.
Each time I lost sight of them behind a building, my pulse kicked up until they emerged on the other side.
But from what I could see, Jask was a master of stealth, staying within a reasonable distance but never looking like she was.
Exactly as Jask had predicted, they approached a sea-worn but respectable-looking inn with the name HIDDEN REEF painted on a wooden sign, a mug of ale and a bed drawn below it.
Elena and Kael entered together. After just enough time that it didn’t look suspicious, Jask followed.
Darion and I converged behind a stack of old ale barrels across the street.
“I like Jask,” Darion said.
Despite the churning in my gut, that forced a smile from me. “Me too.”
“Well, now we wait.”
The waiting was killing me. I fidgeted with my hands and tapped the ground with my boot.
As we watched, several patrons entered and left. The inn appeared to cater to traveling merchants and locals of relatively high standing. I assumed the fishermen and dockworkers favored the inns closer to the wharf. I hoped Jask didn’t stand out too much in her worn nautical attire.
Just as I was nearing the end of my patience, Jask stepped out the door as casually as she might if she were strolling home after a night on the town.
Darion cupped his hands around his mouth and made a short series of chirps that sounded remarkably like a sparrow’s call.
Without even looking up, Jask pivoted and walked our way.
She leaned against the barrels we hid behind, took out her pipe, and started fussing with a chunk of flint and a steel striker.
As she did, she whispered while somehow barely moving her lips, “Kael’s downstairs, meeting with a well-dressed man.
Elena’s upstairs, second room from the northwest corner. ”
“I’m going in,” I said to Darion.
He nodded. “We’ll keep watch.”
Darion stayed put as Jask drifted back into the inn, and I orbited the building’s perimeter.
The inn had a small field in the back with a chicken coop and a few pigs and goats in a pen.
There were stables attached to the building along the north side.
Just above where the stables met the inn was a row of second-story windows.
I let the smallest bit of my Ember flow through me. Its absence felt very alien to me, and I welcomed the inner warmth. After scanning for anyone watching, I scaled the back side of the stables and crept up to the second window from the northwest corner. The wood creaked as I walked along the roof.
My heart leapt at the sight of Elena sitting at a small wooden table, tending to something in her bag. As quiet as a mouse, I pulled open the window and slid inside.
Elena spun on her heel, brandishing her short sword, eyes wide, a scowl on her face. But the moment she saw me, her scowl turned into a smile. “Cas!” she said, far too loudly, as she ran to hug me.
“Shh!”
She covered her mouth, then whispered, “Why did you shush me? And how did you find me? And why didn’t you come in through the door like a normal person?”
“We have to go,” I said. “Now.”
Her brow crinkled in that same suspicious expression she’d had since she was a small child. “Kael is downstairs, trying to get us horses. We should go talk to him.”
“No,” I said quietly, with as much gravitas as I could manage. “I can’t explain right now. You have to trust me. Let’s go.”
“Through the window?” she said, still thoroughly confused.
A crashing sound came from downstairs.
“Oh my! Pardon me, sir!” Jask said loudly, her voice carrying up from the inn’s main room.
“Watch where you’re going,” Kael’s voice shot back.
“Now!” I said, holding out my hand.
Elena sheathed her sword, grabbed her pack, and followed me out the window.
We scampered along the stable roof, keeping low to avoid prying eyes. But as we did, a “Psst!” came from below.
I peeked over the edge to see Darion sitting astride a beautiful brown-and-black horse with a silver mane. In his hand was the bridle of a second horse, a bit smaller, mostly white with black spots and a black mane.
“You stole horses?” I asked.
“I left gold,” Darion said. “You said I could travel with you as far as Grey Spit. If you don’t want me along anymore, you can take one horse, and I’ll take the other.”
At that very moment, Jask was shoved out the front door of the inn.
“Go down to the docks, you drunk fool!” a man shouted from inside.
Jask staggered back, apparently playing the part of a drunk sailor.
Then she turned and saw Darion on the horses and Elena and me on the roof just above them.
It took her all of two seconds to size up the situation.
“Let’s go!” she said, racing to the horses. “Kael will probably find out she’s missing soon.”
Darion sent me a questioning look.
“We stay together for now,” I told him.
We climbed down from the roof, and Jask swung up onto the back of Darion’s horse. I mounted the other horse with Elena riding behind me. But the moment we started to gallop away, a shout came from behind. I turned to see Kael racing out of the tavern. “Stop!”
When it was clear we weren’t heeding him, he started to shimmer, and ozone and citrus hit me like a wave. Then he blinked out of view.
“Kael has Chronothene,” I said urgently to Darion.
Before Darion could react, Kael appeared just ahead of us, holding out his hand. “I said stop!”
“Your call, Cas,” Darion said.
“I don’t trust him,” I replied, and Darion nodded.
Suddenly Jask was on the horse alone. The ozone-and-citrus smell hit me harder than ever before.
I realized that Darion had shared his Chronothene with me.
But something about two Chronothenes joining together made the whole experience extremely disjointed.
I was vaguely aware that Kael and Darion were having an all-out brawl with punching, kicking, and tackling.
Darion looked almost solid, but Kael was just a shadow.
I wanted to get off the horse and help, but the clashing Chronothenes prevented me from moving. But I could still see bits of what looked like a brutal fight. Darion kicked Kael, who doubled over. Then he delivered a final hard blow, and Kael crumpled to the ground.
Time came rushing back like a torrent.
Kael lay unconscious on the ground in front of us, face bloodied and bruised, clothes torn and dirty.
Darion stood before me in almost equally bad shape, a cut across his eyelid and his clothes a mess.
Then Darion fell to the ground.