Melissa looked up in bewilderment as I opehe door to the practice chamber again. She gnced between me and the k of stone she’d pried loose from the floor, currently frozen mid-scrape against one of the irons I’d left her in.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I expected you to do that anyway. The door would have been something trickier for you to handle. e on, we’re going on a trip.”

  “I..what,” she said ftly, dropping the stone, expression tightening. “Yes, because what I want to do is go to some pce aloh you, whe time we met before all of this was me beating you to a pulp.”

  “You should maybe have not mentiohat,” I told her. “Eve someone’s mercy, don’t remind them of reasons they have for not liking you.”

  Not advice I mao keep myself, but still.

  “Besides, we aren’t going anywhere alone,” I told her. “We’re going in the pany of the Empire’s greatest detective to a crime se.”

  “That makes me less cooperative, not more,” she said. “Why should I go instead to break out of your house?”

  “sider yourself Versalicci’s informant,” I told her. “Sure, everyone is going to figure whatever is said will worm its way ba, but it’s still better access than any member of the gang would get.”

  Melissa frowned, expression going a little pensive as she mulled that over. She seemed to be genuinely loyal to Gio, so that had to be weighing on her some. Hells, ba the old days, getting anyone close to Voltar had been a project pursued by Versalicci to vary extents up until Ureet had e under siege. Never any long-term success there.

  “And if the Watch, or someone else decides to just take me captive and try to torture the location of the Street Beh out of me?”

  I blinked. “I thought he’d been joking when he said you’d all decided to that. But, in short, they aren’t going to know you’re Fme.”

  “I’m a diabolist who is an Infernal,” Melissa said, then tapped the fming goat’s skull tattooed into the back of her hand. “Even if this didn’t give it away immediately, that’s probably a close enough hint.”

  “It’s a hint, but nothing to be acted on,” I corrected her. “They aren’t going to just nab you, especially if you’re apanying Voltar. As for the tattoo, I got a way to hide that.”

  She tried to pull away from me, eyes gone wide. “I am not letting you alter my body! Machti told me what you used to do to people!”

  “I have no idea what nonsense Machti has been spouting since I’ve left,” I said drily while I reached into the pocket of my coat. “But I meant these.”

  I held up a pair of thick, leather alchemist’s gloves, a little stained from chemical exposure but otherwise in pristine dition.

  “Oh,” she said, rexing just a little. “Those would work?”

  “They’ll work for pusible deniability,” I said. “I uand the reluce. Really. I had to be dragged into a mess like this kig and screaming. But, if you really want to help our brother? There’s er pce than here fht now.”

  She mulled it over, and I didn’t press any further. It was a fragile decision, ohat could be upset by pushioo hard.

  “Fine,” she said. “Voltar will be fih this?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  ***

  Voltar rubbed his temple, eyes closed.

  “So, somehow, not only did st night’s escapades result in one dead secret diabolist abdug and murdering the poor of the Quarter, but it also resulted in you abdug Gregory Montague and a Bck Fme diabolist. Who you now want to let me apany us and participate in the iigation?”

  “That about sums it up,” I replied, pig up some more alchemicals t along with me. With the fht of knowing how these murderers were being done, I could actually bring some more useful substances along with us this time.

  “Well, it ’t turn out any worse tha time that happened,” Dr. Dawes opined.

  It was just the three of us, Gregory and Tagashin waiting out in the carriage, Melissa down below. I’d spent the time briefly expining what had happe night, minus the detail of Melissa potentially being my half-sibling. I finished pag up my gear, looking up to see Voltar ily staring down at me.

  “You know I would be relut to do this in the best of circumstances,” he said. “Why push for this? I ’t imagine you’re eager to associate with the Fme again. Or are you?”

  I smiled just a little. “I imagihat lingering of distrust will always be there. That’s fihink of it along these lines. If she’s telling the truth, she is the st loyal diabolist Versalicci has w for him.”

  "You think you save her?” Dawes asked.

  “I think I make a good effort,” I said. “And if not, well better closer to us and not by his side during this mess.”

  “How fident are you she is the st loyal diabolist?” Voltar said. “This is hardly the first time Daver has faked his death.”

  I frowned. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of him trying to. What are you talking about?”

  “That time he left his leg behind during the assault on the safehouse,” Voltar said, waving his hand dismissively. “I will admit the rotted nature of the limb did fuse me for a time, but his disappearance from Versalicci’s operations for near a year did nearly vince me of his demise.”

  “I don’t want to destroy whatever clusions you formed at the time,” I said, leaning across the tertop. “But that wasn’t him trying to fake his death, that was him getting bckout drunk and nearly rotting his own leg off on act.”

  Voltar turo face me, his expression almost as if I’d told him the sky was bright purple. “He what?”

  “It’s a long story, and not all that relevant,” I said hurriedly. “But yes, he didn’t io fake his death, and yes he did rot his own leg off.”

  “So you may be correct,” Voltar said, every wrating like sandpaper as he forced them out. “That she is the st diabolist. She will be in close proximity to all of us, and she is still loyal to Versalicci. Why should I allow this?”

  “Because no one else is doing anything,” I snapped, and Doctor Dawes recoiled. Voltar remaiill though, eyes narrowing.

  “No one is doing anything,” I reiterated. “Versalicci is at rge, nearly took over this city, and everyos like it didn’t happen.”

  Because he was so inpetent it barely mattered, The Imp said, pig the worst time to interjed the most moronient to make.

  Shut up, I thought, angrily enough I hoped it could actually hear me.

  “They’ve gone from being treated like aential threat to just anang,” I tinued, staring at a stony Voltar. “Which I imagine doesn’t sit right with you or anyone else involved in Ureet. Unless you know why and think it’s good enough to keep him running around unchecked. Do you?”

  Silence for a bit, Dawes moving to just out of my line of sight but I kept my gaze locked on Voltar.

  “You bring her.”

  ***

  The carriage acked, six of us sched inside. Not helping was forced seating arras after I’d brought the sixth member out of the celr.

  I wouldn’t sit near Gregory, Melissa refused to even be near Voltar and Dawes, and Gregory for some reason refused to sit with Tagashin. Separated by gender, me in the middle to keep Tagashin and Melissa separated.

  That meant a stone-faced Voltar opposite of a smirking, flirtatious Tagashin, a charming Gregory across from a furious, unhappy Melissa, and a relut me across from an equally unfortable Doctor Dawes.

  Outside, Ilvare burs bck gre, only the rim of it the same color as the other suns. Somehow this resulted in a day that was just as dark as when clouds filled the sky, but the light of everything around us hadn’t ged at all.

  Magietimes no matter how much you studied it, the things it did just made no sense.

  “So,” Tagshin said, breaking the unfortable silehat had built since we’d figured out the seating. She’d assumed her disguise as Barnes, although she still wore that shogly pink ensemble. “You and Gregory are back together again?”

  I gred at the openly smirking Tagashin, trying to think of the best way to ahat the treacherous vixen couldn’t twist into some kind of insult.

  “If I kick you out of the door and it doesn’t even invenience her, does it still t as assault?” Gregory asked, getting a melodramatic gasp of e out of Tagashin.

  “Mr. Montague, why I never,” she said. “You would suggest assault on a poor i woman? Truly I thought better of you.”

  “I suggest assault on someone who ts on another’s honor as a guarao sting others without retaliation,” Gregory replied, leaning towards her. “Maybe take it as a warning to stop stinging everyone in sight.”

  “I found poisoning her does wonders for that,” I offered, which made his eyes widen.

  “Enough,” Voltar said, his voice cutting through a half-formed reply frory. “Barnes, please restrain from shing everyoh that whip you call a tongue. A person has died, and potentially more could have if not for intervention that ehe Infernal corruption effects before they could attack citizens. Malvia, on the events of st night, did anything else happen?”

  Something had, and I couldn’t believe it had slipped my mind. I suppose with everything else that had happeer, it had gotten overshadowed.

  “Alice Skall visited st night,” I told Voltar.

  Everyourheir attention to me at that, all of them startled except Tagashin, who remained smirking.

  “Really?” Voltar said. “I believed she was dead.”

  “So did I,” I admitted. “Apparently not only did she fake her death, but Versalicci told her I was to bme for her ting dragged through the mud a month ago. Back when you decided her name would be a safe oo bme for the ‘poisonings’ of Edward Montague and Desmond Kersin.”

  I didn’t miss the slight tightening in Gregory’s expression at the mention of his older brother. He o get over it, it wasn’t as if I’d personally pushed his brother into the Nover or anything like that. Did he think I was able to fight drakes when they wanted something? If it was even those three drakes that were responsible.

  “Right,” Voltar said. “When I decided to use her. In my defense, I was quite fident in her death.”

  Actually, Tagashin who had decided to use her name. But two people here did not o know about the Kitsune’s es to all of this. Or the fact she existed.

  Barnes’ smirk widened just enough I couldn’t be sure if it was my imagination or not.

  “Another diabolist in town just as these murders begin,” Gregory said, lookiween me and Voltar. “Since I don’t have the experieh her that any of you do, is it possible?”

  “Very unlikely,” Voltar said at the same time as I said “No.”

  “Alice Skall is very uo have struck up a personal retionship with Father Reginald,” Voltar said.

  “I guess why,” Melissa said bitterly, speaking for the first time.

  “Not any animosity,” Voltar said. “Father Reginald was overseas until a few months ago, on aended pilgrimage across the o. As for Alice Skall also heading there, well.”

  As much freedom as Infernals might have gotten to leave the Quarters, to leave the try itself was a different story. Possible? Certainly. Possible to get ba? Perhaps? Likely to have doh.

  No.

  “Besides that, if she’s here for revenge on her name being brought up,” I said. “She’d not be drawing attention to herself with that. Alice was ying low for five years before now. Best guess? She’s irritated attention is being brought to her name again, and worried about if it means someone will find her out. She crept into my house to interrogate me for answers. Her first move instead being to murder the priest would be…tradictory.”

  “Unless she’s ting on us to think that,” Gregory noted. “Could she?”

  “Potentially,” Voltar said. “We will undoubtedly be able to tell more once we arrive at the murder se. Her being acquainted with one of the members of this program is already stretg the boundaries of believability, being associated with more than one is frankly impossible. Savareth’s priestess is also apparently not the frie of people.”

  “Differey,” I noted. Seas and storms, but beyond that I knew little. “Also part of the program?”

  “I believe I’m not the oo ask on that,” Voltar said, looking tory.

  Gregory shook his head slightly. “If you think they trusted me with the names of every member the same day they informed me the program existed, you’re mistaken. Holy getting Bishop Galspie to admit there were more than five was like pullih out. Bishop Derrick is friendlier, but I’m an imposition forced on them. And me admitting that the program exists will make them less willing to share information, not more.”

  Melissa’s eyes widened as she uood what we were discussing, but she held her tongue.

  See? Bait on the hook already pnted.

  “I suppose we’ll know whe there,” I said, looking out the carriage window.

  We were approag the docks, passing by a bustling warehouse on our way to one of the many ports along the Nover. Made sense for a deity of the seas, although the Nover could only broadly be called a river. What filled it could hardly be called water.

  The bustling of the warehouse did catch my attention though. Belton had been one Infernal’s appearance away from a riot when I’d arrived there.

  “You said the infernal corruption was caught in time?” I asked Voltar. “So news of it is-?”

  “tained for now,” Doctor Dawes said. “But not for long. People will notice sooner rather than ter.”

  “Apparently not tained enough,” Gregory said, looking out the window as well. “I think that answers your question about the victim.”

  I looked out myself, and with only a gnderstood what he meant. Ahead of us, a loose cordon of Watch officers were at the end of a dock that led down to what could only be described as a giant bar that cordon, two very familiar bishops were busy arguing with that picket line of Watch.

  Well, this should prove iing.

  Saithorthepyro