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"What was that?" Shankey whispered in awe

"A burglar alar off et my back hairs down, but kneouldn&039;t hold There was still so Champa incense it was not

"Hoo," said Debreban, his face screwing up in reaction "What&039;s that?"

"Lots of things," I said "You don&039;t want to know about them, either" I wished I didn&039;t My nose was into overti flesh, eau de Duree weather, sewer stink, month-old armpit sweat All the bad smells I&039;d ever experienced ina convention

"Ugh" Shankey found a handkerchief, but had trouble pressing it to his face while juggling with his sword and lantern I took the latter from him and held it out The tiny fla that despite the stink there was plenty of oxygen for us

"This is another kind of burglar alar"

I hoped

We hesitantlythe lantern I&039;d thrown It was a tough piece of worklass broken Soht it, which we did

"Faugh!" said Shankey "Let&039;s go I can&039;t take nore it and it&039;ll fade"

"You sure?"

"No But I think its presence ic hideaway nearby The noise and se visitors When was the last time anyone was down here?"

"A couple of years, maybe It&039;s not a popular place"

"Try a couple of weeks" I pointed down The coat of dust on the floor showed signs of recent traffic There was a thin path worn in it, and even the

"Huh" Shankey&039;s attention shifted from the stink "Wonder where that leads?"

"No one uses this to get to the stables anye we just send a page running across to have theht to the house The lord whoto all this work"

"Maybe he was part-gopher"

Shankey stared at my cat&039;s face and slowly nodded

I went back to studying the tracks, then following theht-hand side "Who&039;s wants to bet there&039;s secret door here?"

No takers They were both closely checking the wall

"I&039;ll bet it can only be opened by a spell," said Shankey, cautiously prodding with his sword tip "I heard stories about these things You have to have a certain "

Debreban hastily backed away "We should let the expert deal with it"

I knehat he was thinking: within the mix wouldn&039;t be noticed To hell with that "You&039;re right We&039;ll talk to s" Besides,him back this way He loves scary places"

"Let&039;s hurry, then" Shankey pushed hi noise

Uh-oh

He stopped in , vertical crack that had appeared "This could be ant"

I could argue against that assuain The crack widened to a dark opening The pivoting door was narrow, but sufficient for ato a stifling chemical taint, like you find in the insecticide aisle at a store Shankey held his lantern ahead The flaly yellow

"Look at the stuff in here!" he said

We couldn&039;t do that until he went in, which he did I reluctantly followed Debreban was content to hang back over the threshold

"Watch where you step," Shankey cautioned

Glass and crockery shards were all over the floor, crunching underfoot The chemical stink seemed to come from them, or what had been in them, which was also on the floor, dried pools of multicolored whatever The chaood twenty feet across

Shankey found so more detail

A few tables, lots of paper, lots of books, not a lot of fresh air The walls and low ceiling were black, from soot or paint, I couldn&039;t tell Either one would be depressing Was depressing The latent ical power in the room pulsed at me like radiation Oh, yeah, Terrin would love this

"Looks like your lord was into some heavy shit here," I said My voice fell flat between the thick walls They were fuzzy, as though coated with sound-da material I didn&039;t check too closely in case it turned out to be soreed Shankey "What&039;s this?" He pointed to a scattering of polished stone fraght have been a scrying mirror Someone must have dropped it"

"Or smashed it" He indicated a wooden hammer with a rown croquet ain Solid I felt better with it in hand and held it close My " Shankey pointed to an oddity in a roouely lass Iar on the floor while sos around the body I&039;d seen an identical setting in a Sherlock Hol path in the debris that went straight to the door

"Just how did your lord die?" I asked

"His heart failed him Best healers in the city said so The overduke held an inquiry to make sure"

"Where did he die?"

"In his bedchaone and cold when she woke up thatShe was in quite a state You don&039;t think that it was hied "Who else knows about the secret tunnel?"

"A few in the household, myself, Lady Filima"

"Who else knows about this rooot here! I thought I knew every inch of the house and grounds That&039;s e bin," suggested Debreban

"Why hide it with a concealed door?" I asked

"Faood in Rumpock If food was short you&039;d want to keep your hoard safe but easy to get to Or it could have been a weapons cache, or a place for the household to hide out during a siege"

"Then the lord of the house stumbles across it and turns it into a private den for spell work?"

"Why not? Especially if whatever he was up to had to be kept secret"

"You think he was up to so wholesome, either A couple of s and such They told stories about the people ent in for the dark side of it Secrecy was a necessity They had to work in hidden, out-of-the-way places to keep froht stop them"

It ood, he&039;d want a shielded spot close to home to play This sure filled the bill Terrin would probably confirot him here While he did that I would have a private chat with Filietaway to the head of his house guard, but sure as anything his ould know He ht not have mentioned it to her, either, but she would know Women are like that, so I do my best never to lie to theh for now," I said "Let&039;s split"

The slang translated just fine Debreban backed clear of the door Shankey and I went through and pushed it into place The balance was perfect; it swiveled easily

"You can&039;t see the sea his lantern close "I&039;d better ed a handkerchief into the crack, and let it close again The square of white cloth hung at shoulder height

"Did you hear that?" I asked

"Not again," Debreban groaned "Hear what?"

"A voice Soly went silent, listening

"There it is again," I said, turning ht I looked down the tunnel, still hearing so to me, but unable to fix a direction As there were only two to choose fro," they said in unison

"My ears are better, butso&039;s off here"

Myhr! Where the hell are you?!

I jumped The voluh the speaker stood right next tome funny looks

Myhr! Come back to the inn Now!

Terrin&039;s voice? What the hell was he doing in iven me funny looks before

SOS, mayday, mayday, mayday Get your ass back here! Myhr!

Okay, he could send, not receive, and so He&039;d never done this before

"Co briskly down the tunnel, ot a situation Wizard stuff Let&039;s move"

Outside Clem&039;s Place

First the failed love spell, then Botello&039;s needling and psychic assault, Debreban not reporting back, more orders and assaults from the imperious Botello, and finally the surprise invitation to dinner at the overduke&039;s palace Lord Cades

At least the dinner and a comfortable sleepover in the palace would be a pleasant experience Anton had a fa hostess Cadmus would have someone decorative to feast his eyes upon and practice co Like Filima&039;s house the ducal palace had the very latest in water pipes, with bathtubs that didn&039;t require an army of servants to heat and carry water Thus far only the rich could afford this, so Cadmus had yet to install any at his place To repay his host for the luxury of such a bath, Cad for the dinner conversation Talk would probably be about that dreary Hell-river and how to get rid of it, but he was certain he could subtly shift things over to the topic of Filima She and Velma were old friends from their show business travels Old friends always knew useful things about each other Cadmus welcomed this opportunity to press Velma for courtship advice, so he&039;d sent the overduke&039;s patiently waiting pages back with an enthusiastic acceptance of the invitation

Then he had to leave on Botello&039;s errand Drat thewhat to wear tonight That crucial decision would have to wait, though, until Cade or whoever it was Botello was in such a furious twist over

During his tedious trudge through the city Cadmus concluded there was entirely too ns in Rumpock He&039;d been all around the bell tower district, on the lookout for red letters, his other senses wide open to pick up the sic at all: Botello would throw another fit Well and good if he wasted his power, but Cadotten progressively stronger and more painful Botello would be in an even nastier mood when the time came to deliver the awful news that the Talent had inconveniently died in a street brawl I&039;ll deal with Botello somehow or other, Cadmus decided

And hopefully live another day

He paused outside a structure that see the na the ubiquitous red paint He went inside The place had a solid business going and the food s, but he didn&039;t dare stop for a late lunch, though so cold to drink would not be unwelcome

"Yes, your lordship," said a tallconclusions from the new customer&039;s fine clothes "How may I serve you?"

"Have you cold cider?"

"Hard or soft?"

"Soft" Cadht on excellent palace hile the Hell-river flowed Da Literally It had certainly put a dent in the social season If inforo back to winning Filima over, and this time succeed Since his love spell hadn&039;t worked, he&039;d revert to personal charave hi; its chilled contents proved quite a restorative for all that hard walking Cadainst physical exertion, provided it showed hisaround was so ure, even in his less than best clothes He&039;d dressed in dark colors, not those of his house, as he was desirous of anonymity and anticipated the need to hide bloodstains

Anchored to his hip was an elderly small-sith a black blade The newer ones were of a e and able to hold a sharp edge for longer, but they wouldn&039;t have suited his purpose This antique had cold iron in it, and that&039;s all that mattered to him One of his ancestorsawd knohy Kill one and the others all knew about it, worse than stirring up a nest of hornets That had changed, though, since there were no more with Talent left in the city Botello had seen to it

Cad, dropped a coin on the counter, and turned to leave He froze, staring through the open door to the street beyond It was all wavery, like the air above a fire What in hell was that?

None of the wavering people walking past see

He caught the barman&039;s eye and pointed toward the door "Do you see anything odd out there?"

The tall, thin man squinted "Can&039;t say as I do unless you want to count old Marloe across the way being awake this early in the afternoon He usually don&039;t stir &039;til supper hour"

"But you see nothing odd about the air?"

"Can&039;t see air, your lordship," the man stated

A sensible answer, unless one possessed a touch of Talent "Very true Then tellhere? Anyone new? Perhaps from well out of town?"

"There&039;s Mr Myhr, very unusual-looking fellow, but friendly Packs a good crowd in for lunch and supper with his show"

"Show? What, he does tricks?"

"Sings, mostly, tells stories, lots of jokes, and you should see how he gets the rooic tricks or illusions?" Cadaudy demonstrations of their craft, but there was no profit in it Too exhausting and costly The only ones whoat it were the fortune tellers, and it was rare you could find ones who had a true gift for it The rest were frauds Overduke Anton had regular checksin Ru the public Of course, they were all gone, too, thanks to Botello

"No ic in my place Unpredictable stuff, scares off the custo after that stuff; had to tell him the same You can talk to hier-on Cadmus wanted the real wizard "Where is this Mr Myhr?"

"Don&039;t know He got picked up and carried off by two fellers One of &039;eht be with Darmo House, Lady Filireen cloak, so I reckon he ith Burkus House"

Cadmus hid his utter surprise with a deep frown "You&039;re sure about those colors?"

"Hard tofor Mr Myhr and carried hi him back soon, else I&039;ll be stuck for a show for s, stories, and &039;specially that cat face he&039;s got"

"Cat face?"

"I didn&039;t believe it myself when I clapped eyes on him, but it ain&039;t no mask, that&039;s his real face Looks just like a cat, ears, mane, eyes, and all It don&039;t half et his head around it Perhaps if the wizard wanted an iuise or to advertise his skills, he&039;d cast a glamour on himself But why bother?

"Cat, your lordship" The barman spoke slowly "Cat"

He had to be the creature that had disrupted Botello&039;s manifestation attempt Which meant he was very probably the wizard Cadh, that Botello didn&039;t sense its ic and draw it off Too busy with Filima, most likely "When did you say he&039;d return?"

"I didn&039;t I said these two fellers took hih how them up on the hill heard about hi session thisTalents she was trying to understand the et rid of it Cadmus didn&039;t think she are of Botello&039;s connection to its appearance, not for certain, not in a way that could be proved Botello hadn&039;t said anything on what she ht know Whenever Filima was mentioned all he usually did was seethe Maybe there was so to the murder ru a h Well, no matter, work that one out later

Perhaps she&039;d stu important about this Myhr fellow If he was a wizard, the impossibly powerful one that Botello wanted so badly, there was a chance he could do so about the problem

Hht be better to not kill hi Or pay him Not too much If he found a way to send the Hell-river back and closed off the planar opening, then Botello would stay in Hell, leaving Cadrieve a littlea shoulder to cry on, and what better way for hi arms around her -

Another hmm If that wizard had a halfway decent love spell

All right, so be it

Cadain halted his first step He thought he knehat caused the effect and why he&039;d not detected any uardian wards around the inn would do that Either would have to be terrifically strong to hold up against the Hell-river and Botello&039;s daylight leeching Also very advanced, so as to be unnoticeable to those within it

Now that he was conscious of the possibility, Cadmus shut his eyes and reached out beyond hi he could feel the presence of a ical wall Myhr must have set it up and let it run, definite indication of a powerful talent Even Botello couldn&039;t do it on that advanced a level Not before his displaceht be a different story at present, but worry about it later

Right, nothing for it but to go to Dar-strayed Debreban He&039;d been gone all day, and instead of following Filima&039;s man as ordered he&039;d soawd knohat Everyone did in Rumpock It was the town&039;s second most popular pastime

While there Cadmus could make inquiries about this Myhr fellow Filima should have no reason to keep hi rid of the Hell-river, which she was Why else expose herself to those ?

But he couldn&039;t go up to Dar the bell like a common peddler And he couldn&039;t let Filie and have his horse saddled was in order Her prince of hearts would arrive in style on a prancing, arch-necked charger With flowers But not a too-large bouquet, so sed into the whirl of the street Now that he&039;d attuned hiic, he felt the difference between the shielded indoors and the unprotected outside Cad, easily estion or the like; no wonder he&039;d overlooked it before

He strode away froreen and purple in the corner of his eye He halted in mid-stride, which resulted in abehind She snorted disapproval and moved around hili Debreban? If so, he was in for a good tongue-lashing The nerve of hiossip when he was supposed to report back about Filima&039;s captain as ordered Had he done as he was told, Cadmus was certain he&039;d have learned about this Myhr-the-cat-faced-e a lot sooner; then Botello wouldn&039;t have been so painfully unpleasant

On the other hand, Cadmus now had an uncontrived excuse to drop in on Filima, so it hadn&039;t turned out too badly He h, or he wouldn&039;t havefor the palace Had to get there before the sunset curfew

One last futile look, then he hurried away, gru