Dead silence for a heartbeat. “You are insane. How dare you visit her when you’re disavowed.”

Chrysabelle kept going. “She’s already tried to kill me.” She patted the hilt of one sacre standing over her shoulder. “But I’ve learned to anticipate.”

Rennata raced to join her. “You can’t do this. I won’t allow it.”

“Put your hands on me and you’ll regret it.” She stopped outside the carved double doors that guarded the house’s portal to the Aurelian. Every comarré house had one, but few comarré ever used it. They were taught to fear the Aurelian, to respect her for her age and wisdom and her part in the creation of the comarré, whatever that might be.

Chrysabelle put her hand on the door, then gave Rennata one last chance. “You coming? Why not let the Aurelian decide this?”

“I don’t take my orders from her.” Rennata’s angry words sliced through the hall’s quiet.

Chrysabelle shrugged. “If you’re not curious…” She pushed through the door.

Rennata followed. “I’m only coming to keep an eye on you.”

“Suit yourself.” As soon as the door swung shut, a flash of light flooded the space. Chrysabelle blinked. And met the Aurelian’s eyes.

“You.” Nadira rose from her chair. “I thought I killed you.”

Rennata glanced at Chrysabelle, then immediately dropped to her knees. “She barged past me. I couldn’t—”

“Quiet,” Nadira snapped. She walked out from behind her worktable, laden with scrolls, maps, books, and an assortment of objects, but kept her hand on the hilt of the massive sword resting atop the whole mess. “I said I thought I killed you.”

“You did,” Chrysabelle answered. She hooked her thumbs in her pockets, pushing back the sides of her leather jacket so the twin daggers at her waist could be seen. “But death doesn’t seem to stick to me ever since I melted down the ring of sorrows and used that gold to replace the signum Rennata stripped out of my back.”

Nadira’s mouth came open. She closed it slowly, swallowing. “You foolish child. No wonder you didn’t die.” Her fingers tightened around the sword’s hilt. “What do you want of me?”

Chrysabelle smiled. It was nice to hear a little bit of fear in the Aurelian’s voice. “I’m so happy you asked.”

Doc parked his car a few streets away, praying to Bast that the alarm system kept it from being jacked. In this part of town, there were no guarantees. He checked the address on his phone again, hoping the file on Fritz was up to date.

He climbed the four flights to apartment E. There were voices coming from inside—sounded like an argument—but the building wasn’t exactly built for privacy, meaning too many other conversations overlapped. Picking out more than a few words was impossible. He knocked twice, then waited.

A few moments later, Fritz came to the door. Behind wire-rimmed glasses, his eyes widened. “Maddoc Mays.” He almost shouted Doc’s name. “What are you doing here?” Still too loud for normal conversation.

Weird, but then Fritz was an odd dude. “I’m not here to hurt you, if that’s what you think. No need to freak out. I just want to talk.”

Fritz didn’t budge. The door was only open about eight inches. He glanced to the side of the room Doc couldn’t see, his body language twitchy and nervous. “We can talk right here.”

The dude needed to calm down. “I’d like to come inside. I’ve already told you I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to—” The sound of breaking glass came from inside.

“Are you in trouble?” Doc didn’t wait for an answer. He shoved Fritz out of the way and ran inside. Every room was visible from the apartment’s tiny living room. The kitchen window had been broken.

Doc ran over and looked through the window. He caught the top of a head as someone made their way down the fire escape. The person wore a ball cap and was dressed in all black. The lack of streetlights made it impossible to make out more detail. He dashed back to the front door and past Fritz. “Call the cops. I’ll catch the intruder.”

He shifted into leopard form halfway down the first flight of steps. By the time he got out of the building and turned down toward the alley where the fire escapes ended, the intruder was disappearing out the other end.

Doc poured on the speed, pushing himself through the dark streets as fast as he could go. What few solars existed in this part of town were mostly broken. The runner smelled like varcolai, but that was all Doc could make out. Finally, he got close enough to swipe one big paw across the intruder’s back, tearing through his jacket and shirt. Blood welled from the four thin slices.

The man glanced back. A bandana covered his nose and mouth. There was no way Doc could ID him from the sliver visible between the ball cap and fabric. When the man saw Doc, he leaped into the air, shifted into a jaguar, and blasted forward. Police cars barreled down the street ahead of them, screeching to a stop as they blocked the road. The jaguar sailed past the cops as they jumped out of their cars.

One stepped into Doc’s path, tranq gun pointed right between his eyes. “One move and I drop you.”

Doc shifted back to his human form, pointing after the intruder. “Damn it. That’s the one you want, not me.”

The cop took one hand off the tranq gun to click a receiver button on his collar. “Suspect has been apprehended.”