Flame sparked in the man’s palm, and he held the light aloft, shadows dancing down the street. A fireworker.
It was the last sign Lila needed.
Her lips moved, magic prickling through her as she summoned a couplet of Blake. Not a song of fire, or water, but earth. A planter on the windowsill above him slid off the edge and came crashing down. It missed him by inches, shattering against the street, and Elsor spun to face the sound a second time. As he did, Lila closed the gap and raised the pipe, feeling a little less guilty.
Fool me twice, she thought, swinging the bar.
His hands came up, too slow to stop the blow, but fast enough to graze the front of her jacket before he collapsed to the street with the sound of dead weight and the hiss of doused flame.
Lila patted the drops of fire on her coat and frowned. Calla wouldn’t be happy.
She set the bar against the wall, and knelt to consider Stasion Elsor—up close, the angles of his face were even sharper. Blood ran from his forehead, but his chest was rising and falling, and Lila felt rather proud of her restraint as she dragged his arm around her shoulders and struggled to her feet under the load. With his head lolling forward, and his dark hair covering the wound at his temple, he almost looked like a man too deep in his cups.
Now what? she thought, and at the same exact moment a voice behind her said, “What now?”
Lila spun, dropping Elsor and drawing her dagger at the same time. With a flick of her wrist the dagger became two, and as she struck metal against metal, the two blades lit, fire licking up their edges.
Alucard stood at the mouth of the narrow road, arms crossed. “Impressive,” he said, sounding decidedly unimpressed. “Tell me, are you planning to burn me, or stab me, or both?”
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
“I really think I should be the one asking that.”
She gestured to the body. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Alucard’s gaze flicked from the knives down to the metal bar and the crumpled form at Lila’s feet. “No, not really. Because you couldn’t possibly be foolish enough to kill a competitor.”
Lila snapped the knives back together, putting out the flames. “I didn’t kill him.”
Alucard let out a low groan. “Saints, you actually have a death wish.” He gripped his hat. “What were you thinking?”
Lila looked around. “There’re plenty of transports coming and going. I was going to stash him away on one of them.”
“And what do you plan to do when he wakes up, turns the boat around, and makes it back in time to have you arrested and still compete?” When Lila didn’t answer—she hadn’t exactly gotten that far—Alucard shook his head. “You’ve got a real gift for taking things, Bard. You’re not nearly as good at getting rid of them.”
Lila held her ground. “I’ll figure it out.” Alucard was muttering curses in a variety of languages under his breath. “And were you following me?”
Alucard threw up his hands. “You’ve assaulted a competitor—I can only imagine with the daft notion of taking his place—and you honestly have the gall to be affronted at my actions? Did you even think what this would mean for me?” He sounded vaguely hysterical.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“This has everything to do with me!” he snapped. “I am your captain! You are my crew.” The barb struck with unexpected force. “When the authorities find out a sailor aboard my ship sabotaged a competitor, what do you think they’ll assume? That you were mad enough to do something so stupid on your own, or that I put you up to it?” He was pale with fury, and the air around them hummed. Indignation flickered through Lila, followed swiftly by guilt. The combination turned her stomach.
“Alucard—” she started.
“Did he see your face?”
Lila crossed her arms. “I don’t think so.”
Alucard paced, muttering, and then dropped to his knee beside Elsor. He rolled the man over and began digging through his pockets.
“Are you robbing him?” she asked, incredulous.
Alucard said nothing as he spread the contents of Elsor’s coat across the frozen stones. An inn key. A few coins. A handful of folded pages. Tucked in the center of these, Lila saw, was his formal invitation to the Essen Tasch. Alucard plucked the iridescent pin from the collar of the man’s coat, then shook his head and gathered up the items. He got to his feet, shoving the articles into Lila’s hands. “When this goes badly, and it will, you won’t take the Spire with you. Do you understand, Bard?”
Lila nodded tightly.
“And for the record,” he said, “this is a terrible idea. You will get caught. Maybe not right away. But eventually. And when you do, I won’t protect you.”
Lila raised a brow. “I’m not asking you to. Believe it or not, Alucard, I can protect myself.”