Starsinger

Easthold

It took an hour to get back to the Drake. Another to hastily explain to Katrina and Matty why they needed their help.

Katrina shook her head. "Your girl wouldn't go rogue. Delia's too smart for that."

"She thinks Isaiah is hurting other mages," said Raelyn. "What would you be willing to do to protect your people?"

"You don't know where she went?" Matty asked. "Isaiah's got dozens of properties across the island. It would take days to search them all, and we'd almost certainly get caught."

"I might know," said Aaron.

The sun was just setting, night not yet fallen when Aaron crouched between Katrina and Jace on the domed and crumbling roof of an abandoned building, eyes fixed on the sprawling warehouse where Katrina had led them. Their team was arrayed on either side and a few of the Drake's crew waited below, keeping watch.

"Supposedly Isaiah abandoned this place years ago," Katrina muttered. "Used to stash fresh ambergris here where no one would complain about the smell. Still has his mark, though." Aaron flipped his scope into place. Over the door he could see an intricate "I" and "M" emblazoned.

"No guards," said Jace.

"Like I said, abandoned."

Jace clenched his jaw. He turned to Aaron. "You really think she's in there?"

"The accountants said they were moving a shipment out of here tonight," said Aaron. "Whatever it is, it's not abandoned."

It wasn't really an answer, but it sounded better than just a hunch.

"Two entrances, one main and one back, likely locked. A high window around the side, but no good angle to see inside from the roof across the way. No way to tell if Delia's in there or wandering around somewhere else entirely, lost or hurt—" Jace broke off, swearing viciously.

Aaron pressed Jace's shoulder. "One way to find out."

"If she'd just stayed put like she said—"

"Enough," Rae snapped. "We don't have time for this."

"We need a Strategist," said Sapphire.

That clicked. Jace pressed his forehead against the cool stone of the roof. "Okay. Okay."

It was twilight when Aaron ambled up the street towards the warehouse entrance with as casual an air as he could manage.

Easthold was a hard-scrabble place. A few years earlier a couple of fellows had mixed an evening of liquor with a handful of firecrackers and set the neighborhood ablaze. Despite fitful efforts to rebuild, the stones of the largely abandoned buildings were still streaked with black, sooty scars. It felt hollow.

Aaron caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. Not quite deserted. He zeroed in on a thin reed of a girl, no more than eight or nine, with a tiny infant strapped in a sling across her chest. She was watching him with sharp gray eyes.

Aaron slipped a silver sun from his pocket and held it out to her. She snatched it from his fingers, never touching. The baby burbled and the girl patted his head. She inspected the silver and shoved it into a pocket of her tattered smock.

Aaron jerked a shoulder at the warehouse a few doors down. "Seen anyone moving around here lately?"

The girl's cold eyes narrowed. "Tall lady went in this afternoon. They shouted some, then a few of 'em left. Haven't come back yet."

Relief flooded him. Delia was here. "Did the tall lady leave?"

"Not as I saw."

Aaron chewed the inside of his cheek. That wasn't good news exactly, but it was news. "Thanks," he said to the girl.