ly’s was just ahead on the right, and I could already hear the raucous sounds of the night crowd. Two patrons stumbled out and almost immediately began losing their meals on the side of the street. Light drinkers.

  “Do me a favor and order for me if you don’t mind,” I said to Tolman. “If you’ll pardon me for being crude, I couldn’t really relieve myself in the cell either. Could you order my sandwid drink? Mead, lightly sulfured, and surprise me on the sandwich? I’ve not been here before, I’ll trust in your experieh their menu.”

  Were any of my Watch tails magically ined? How precise were these tracers?

  I’d find out the ao both very soon.

  We entered ly’s, walking through a haze of tobaoke. I barely spared a g the interior, just firming it was a crowded night, and immediately headed to a doorway o the bar. The tele hadn’t ged much since I’d first started ing here. You went to ly’s because you were out of other options or for the different services he offered.

  At least it was only tobaoke these days.

  I spent as little time as possible in the public area of the tavern. Loyalty was cheap in ly’s, and I wouldn’t be hard to identify here. A somewhat det dress or bloodstained clothes on there own would be remarkable here. Both? Everyone would remember that.

  An employee y slumped he doorretending to be asleep. Underh a snted hat, eyes would be watg me.

  “I want to talk to the old man about losing some tails,” I said. My eyes flicked back towards the entrance. How long would I have till the Watch came in?

  The employee looked me over, then nodded. “Door’s open. The Old Man will be able to talk to you in a bit.”

  I strode through quickly, closing the door most of the way. I left a crack to peer through, watg the tavern. Tolman had settled in at the bar, already his own meal and a sandwich I would unfortunately never eat.

  Three of the Watch walked in a half mier. A pair of infernals presenting as male and female, and a ghey’d tried to dress down to fit the district, but there was no taking the erson out of some people. One of the infernals immediately went towards the bathrooms, oowards the side entrance, and the g dowo Tolman.

  Within seds, they were amiably chatting with each other.

  Sighing, I sidered what I was doing. This was not going to aly watch suspis, but Katheryn Fara was already a person of io them for various dealings, so her trying to ditch a tail would be expected. Going to ley's might suggest a level of e to the underwreater than I wanted, but it wasn't out of character.

  Of course, it would make them more suspicious of me in the short term, but I could live with that if it meaing rid of whatever Versalicci's box was without anyone seeing. After that, nothing I would be doing should make any more suspis arise and I could quietly wait things out.

  Hearing the sound of a wheel on wood behind me, I turned around.

  ly had traded his e for a wheelchair but was still a tankerous old geezer, staring at me with squinting eyes. His skin was more brittle, and the signs of age were more visible but still reizably ly. My eyes g the sawed-off stumps of his horns. You never got used to seeing them on the oldest among us. A relic of a time when they’d been banned along with any other physical trace of our infernal blood. There’d be a matg stump where his tail used to be.

  “You’re new,” he said.

  “Kathryn Fara. I’m with Tolman, but more importantly, I am willing to pay well food ge of clothes.”

  ly frowned. “I don’t like new ers bursting back here, especially with Wat their tails. It stinks of something I’m not risking my neck for. Especially when I don’t know if you’re Watch yourself.”

  Maybe staying away from here for so long wasn’t the best idea. ly had no frame of referene not being an undercover watch officer, and I could hardly call Tolman over. I kher ers of his as Fara, but I hadn’t seen any of them here.

  “You talk to Blind Marsel, Keevo, Dressa Varacts. They will attest I’m no member of the Watch.”

  I received ahused grunt in reply. I couldn’t waste time iating for long. The Watch would have figured out I wasn’t ihroom by now. Even assuming one was grilling Tolman, it wouldn’t take long for the other two to search most of the tavern’s floor space.

  “Triple your usual rate.”

  He weighed the offer for a few seds, and I became unfortably aware of raised voices behind me.

  “Done. Dovel, open up!”

  One of the rge casks swung open, revealing itself as a fake. Easily rge enough for someoo slip through, a door-shaped hole domihe newly revealed surface. Another Infernal waited oher side.

  I wasted no time running for it, and it swiftly closed behind me.

  I could still hear behind me, even if the words weren’t clear. Muffled as they were, they were definitely audible, and for that reason, my own mouth remained firmly shut.

  The versation tinued. I could guess the framework of it. Someone had seen me duck back here. The Watot b with disguises anymore, would have e back here. ly would cim he did not know me, and ihem to search back here. They’d keep that up for a little bit.

  The barrel moved a little bit, the sound of a hammer. I could make out ly yelling about them wasting his good liquor. There was some alcohol stored in a small se in the front for demonstration purposes.

  The trackers must not be very precise. They could only tell I was still in the building.

  The other infernal watched me dispassionately. A hand on a flintlock was a det warning. Do anything to give away this ba exists, you take a bullet in exge.

  I heard the versation trail off, the sound of people moving away. The fading squeak of ly’s wheelchair then the door closing.

  Dovel immediately stowed his pistol away and led me inside. Wooden stalls lined one side of the room; oher, a massive series of bins tained assortments of clothes.

  Dovel shoved a piece of paper with a list of names into my hands. “You know how this operates?”

  “Tolman’s told me the basics.” I’d do myself several times before. Trade out your clothes for a new sele from whatever ly has. A beggar would be given the clothes a few hours after you left and would then head off, along with any trackers that might be in the clothing. Leave any other possessions and e back to grab them at a ter time.

  A simple but effective termeasure orag sorcery had beore only used.

  “Select a name on the list; a beggar will be told the clothes came from this person. Might want to pick a woman’s name since you’re ditg the dress

  The list eople either dead or thought dead. Ah, perfect.

  “Malvia…Harrow? Is that really a st name?”

  “One she ended up getting for ck of an actual one.”

  I did have a st name, but I could hardly argue the point. The street name had stuck more firmly.

  “I’ll go with that one. I would love to hear the story of how that name-“

  “Doesn’t matter. She’s dead and buried long underground. I’ll let whatever bum is willing to wear your clothes know. Take the first stall on the left and hang the clothing over the door to be collected. You have three mio get the clothes off, half an hour to pick out your new ones. I’ll show you the way out when you’re dohere’ll be a bin iall, if nothing works, I’ll have one of the girls wheel in another bin. Any ons and other stuff we’ll hold onto till you’re ready to collect it.”

  I didn’t waste any time. It ity to get rid of everything, but I did not want the Watch trag me, especially to my destinations for tonight. Given a little more time, I would have seen how to find what tracers had been pnted and salvaged the clothes.

  Well, looking at the bloodied, torn-up nature of my dress salvage may be a bit too hopeful.

  Sighing, I slid my saber uhe stall door. It had served me well, and even if I had a home, it felt wrong to get rid of this one so quickly.

  “Stop getting so seal,” I scolded myself. “You’ll be colleg it tomorrow.”

  I quickly removed my clothes and everything else on my person but my purses and keyring. Was there a ce a tracker was among them? It was entirely possible. Would I trust ly with my money? Absolutely not. The same went for my keys.

  I turned my attention to the clothes bin, pig through the options.

  I could do a variation of my old standby, albeit with sizes that would fit my new frame. However, best not to give ly any indications of who I really was. In hindsight, pig my own name had probably been a mistake.

  I settled for a dull grey greatcoat, a blouse, and trousers, both in dark blue. Not the most inspired choices, they were uo draw ents oreet. They generally fit and were i enough dition. A rather rge hat that definitely did not fit didn’t help the ensemble but did help ceal my face.

  My old clothes were already missing from the stall door. They were destined for some beggar in some mockery of charity.

  One could only hope the Watch wasn’t th with him, her, or them when the coppers realized they’d been had.

  I opehe stall door and was greeted by both ly and Dovel. The old man grihreatening to split his fa half with it’s wideness.

  “Before we let you go, gotta cough up your pay girl. Twenty pounds.”

  I reached for my purse. “I thought the rate is usually four pounds. We agreed on triple the normal rate.”

  “Well, tonight it’s whatever a third of twenty is.”

  “Fourteen?”

  “Twenty,” ly insisted, and Dovel’s hao his pistol. “Or the watch finds out you were in my ste room all along.”

  I sighed. There wasn’t muegotiation. I didn’t have enough to cover that in my usual purse. I pulled out the advance from Lord Montague, and ted the s out o a time ihe bag. No reason to hint how many were actually in there.

  From the look in ly’s eye, he already had a pretty good guess. The entire district would know about my newfouh by tomorrow. Had he already known, or had he just gotten very lucky in trying to pressure me?

  It didn’t matter. I handed ly his s and tried to resist the urge to cut into his face.

  “Your Watch tails have already left, so you leave whenever you want.”

  Probably best to leave now. Even if there were other ones lurking around keeping a in case I showed up again, the sot this dohe sooner I’d be able to sleep in my own bed.

  My stomach grumbled. Maybe I should have just let the tails follow me and head home. My b could wait till tomorrow, and I should be trying to avoid my other destination.

  At the bare minimum, I should be grabbing a sandwich.

  Sighing, I turned around, sidering going bad rejoining Tolman at the bar. Order a sandwich, take it easy, and leave things till tomorrow. Get drunk, enjoy some time with a friend.

  Maybe anht.

  ***

  The ruins of Halspus cathedral glowed in the night air, pure white light suffusing the surfaces of toppled walls.

  I eyed them nervously as I approached. Spilling blood must have triggered some of the magic still infused in the church or ay bound to it. Either way, no one in the surrounding buildings had kept their lights on.

  They probably barricaded their windows for all the good that would do if something unleashed a wave of divine magic here.

  No one appeared to be keeping watch. Perhaps the Watch had given up on maintaining a presehis deep in the Infernal District. More likely, the assigned members had decided to partake in drinking, the most celebrated of the Watch’s civil duties among its members. It used to be you’d find the Watch doing that more than their actual job.

  It's less on these days, but removing all the old dregs from a barrel took time. Possibly forever.

  Then again, they might just be hiding, lying in wait, and who came a. At least they wouldn’t be hearing my stomach give me away. I had lingered long enough to grab a sandwid briefly talk to Tolman before leaving ly’s.

  Hidden away from the view of society from polite to rude on the unlit streets of the Infernal District, I’d devoured that sandwi a way that would be decred profane if people had seen me. In my defe was a remarkably good sandwich. I should let Tolman order my food more often.

  It was tempting to hand it off to Voltar a him and Versalicci spar with each other while I slunk off into the distance. Delivering it to the City Watch would have the same effed hopefully take some of their attention off of me. But that would mean antagonizing Versalicstead.

  I didn't have any affe for him, but he'd apparently known who I was and chosen to leave me alone. Delivering the box to his enemies could easily ge that.

  Enough debating myself. I o get this done quickly. I moved towards the ruins, trying to stick to the shadows. It was a bit difficult when half the ruins were glowing, but I did what I could.

  The bodies were gone, although bloodstains and tiny puddles of foul-smelling dried acid dotted the ground. This close, their acrid stench burned my nostrils. No ons, even the remnants of gss from my vials, were gohey’d picked the se .

  The glowing ks of rubble were entirely ihe old church’s boundaries. That did not include where I’d stashed the box earlier today.

  I approached nervously, half-expeg the glowing white light to reach out and zap me for the temerity of spilling blood he cathedral. Rumors abouhere was still an angel bound to it. I doubted that having Infernals polluted with the bloodline of its sworn enemies living all around them made the celestial happy.

  Still, I reached where I’d hidden the box without the divine smiting me. Perhaps the gods smiled at me?

  Doubtful. I’d already been born in their bad books, and I doubted that much of what I’d done i few years had moved me out of them.

  I reached through the crevice I had put the box and found nothing but rough stone in there.

  I didn’t feel around any further. I brought my arm bad quickly walked away, keeping a for any surprise Wat.

  None surfaced. Duty was indeed a dead cept to whoever was supposed to keep watch.

  So, the box was gone. Someone had clearly taken it. That or it had phased through solid stone.

  I suspected many things about Versalicci. His getting his cws around a phase-beast in a box was not high on the list.

  My step was lighter, and my heart a bit less heavy as I walked through the alleys. I greeted a few drunks along the way with a ary greeting of polite dise and the occasional sp with a hand or tail if they tried grabbing me.

  Whoever had taken the box was none of my . I could quietly slink bay old life, thhly disentangled from my bloodli wouldn’t mean moving myself and my mother, which was a relief.

  Now I just o check the b and this day would finally, finally be over.