“Lea, what is it?”
“They know.” My limbs grew heavy, and I closed my eyes. “The Da Vias know about Marcello. They know he’s here, hiding in the city. And they’ll find him.”
thirty-three
MARCELLO HAD STAYED HIDDEN FOR YEARS, AND I’D led the Da Vias to him.
At my words, only my grip on Les’s wrist stopped him from running home.
“What are you doing?” He pulled his hood over his head. “We have to go! They could have him already!”
“No, we have to be smart.” I tugged on his wrist, and he frowned. “I don’t know how many Da Vias are here. At least three. Maybe as many as ten. They can cover more of the city than us. If we go tearing off without any thought, we could run into them. And if it’s all of them, we won’t win that fight. They’ll kill us and take their time looking for Marcello. They know he’s a Saldana and that we prefer tunnels.”
Les rubbed his neck but nodded.
I released him. “We have to be careful so we don’t meet them. And we’ll have to move Marcello, probably out of the city.”
He shook his head. “He won’t like that.”
“He won’t have a choice, not unless he plans to greet Safraella.”
“They’ll kill him?” Les asked.
“Yes. Maybe. Maybe they’ll bring him home. Marcello told me the Da Vias killed my Family because of him, because of all this history between him and their Family. I’m sure there’s some truth to it, but that can’t be the whole story. No, something else was the final stab in the mark.”
“So you don’t actually know what they’ll do?”
“Oh, they’ll kill him. I’m just not sure if they’ll drag him back to Lovero first.”
“We can’t let them take him.” The worry leaked off Les like fog over the canals.
“We won’t,” I said. “We’ll use our knowledge of the city. Let’s take the canals. They won’t expect that.”
We armed ourselves with every weapon we could carry and traveled to Les’s boat a few alleys away.
Les steered us north while I kept my eyes open for movement on the roofs. We were probably ahead of the Da Vias, but I refused to trust my luck. Better to assume they were scouring the city, looking for Marcello.
Yvain rested quietly. The moon was new and the bright pinpricks of stars filled the dark sky. I saw no ghosts and no Da Vias as Les quietly poled us to Marcello. Even if we reached him unmolested, we’d still have to somehow escape Yvain. Now that the Da Vias knew Marcello was here, they would send for reinforcements, and they would watch the city day and night. But perhaps this could work to our advantage. If Les and I could escape to Lovero, we might have a better chance of destroying their Family home. And if we were successful, then Marcello needn’t worry about the Da Vias anymore. At least most of them, anyway.
Les docked the boat and we got off, heading toward the tunnel entrance. We’d made it safely. I allowed myself a breath of relief. Safraella had been watching over us.
We turned the corner into the dark and empty alley. It stank, an acrid, smoky odor. I stopped. “Do you smell that?”
He sniffed the air. “Smells like smoke.”
Something about the smoke . . . I had smelled it somewhere before.
I sniffed my leathers and found the same scent. The gallows. The smoke bombs when Les had rescued me.
“Where did you get the smoke bombs?” I asked.
“What?”
“When you rescued me, at the gallows. Where did you get the different smoke bombs? Yours didn’t smell like that before.”
Les stopped and stared at me. “Lea, I didn’t rescue you.”
From above, someone jumped into the alley. My sword was out instantly, my dagger in my left hand. Another figure climbed down the roof to stand beside the first. Nik and Grape Leaves, with his rope-bludgeon and noose tied around his shoulders and waist.
Beside me Les twirled his cutter in his hand, prepared to fight. It wouldn’t only be the two of them. I spun. Four more Da Vias stood at the entrance of the alley, blocking us in. The Da Via on the left wore a mask with red checkers. Val.
Les and I stood back to back, our weapons at the ready. I could feel the tension in his body, pressed against mine, his muscles tight like viola strings.
Behind Val, a man approached. He stood to the side, but his cylindrical hat and wooden staff caught my attention. Val paid him no mind. He was with the Da Vias.
“Sloppy work, Lea.” Val stepped forward. I could smell the smoke from the gallows still clinging to his leathers. His voice held no wryness or sarcasm, only a controlled fury. “You thought you’d beat us to him, but we’re not some lowly Addamos. We’re Da Vias.”
“You saved me from the gallows.” I glanced over my shoulder. Nik and Grape Leaves had taken out their swords but hadn’t moved closer.
“I wasn’t going to let you hang. And I figured you’d lead us right to Marcello.”
I had to get the upper hand here. If I didn’t, Les and I were dead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”