Darrowan currency. “You’re lucky it’s me,” said the man with a wink. “You’re supposed to turn in any Terabinian coin you find.”
Tracy pulled on his arm. “Let’s go upstairs,” she said in a sultry voice he would never have imagined coming from her. He followed, and she led them up to a short hallway. There were four doors leading off from it. “Anna’s room is over there,” she said, pointing at the door across from hers, “but it will be more fun if we share mine.” Opening the door, she let them in.
After the door closed, they were alone, and Annabelle latched on to Will’s arm. “What are you doing here? Did you come for us?”
“Not exactly,” answered Will, but Annabelle seized him a hug that nearly crushed the wind from his lungs.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she mumbled.
Selene was watching them with a face carefully composed to show no emotion. “We found you by accident,” she said.
“It’s dangerous for you to be here,” said Tracy, her expression fearful. “They’ll beat us if they find out we helped you.”
“We’re getting you out of here,” declared Will. “How many of you are there?”
“It’s just me and Tracy,” said Annabelle, still holding him. “There’s two other women here, but they’re both from Darrow.”
“And Stan,” offered Tracy. “He’s the one you met in the front room.”
“That’s it?” asked Will.
Tracy seemed angry. “That’s all they need. Do you think we can just walk out of here?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” said Will. It was then that he realized that Tracy Tanner was pregnant and just beginning to show.
“Do you know where the supplies are stored?” asked Selene, her voice cool and business-like.
Tracy gave Selene a suspicious look. “Who’s she?”
Will stared at Selene a moment, unsure what to say. I wish I knew. Finally, he answered, “Her name is Isabel. She’s a sorceress with the Terabinian army. We’re here to burn the supply stores if possible.”
“You’re a fool, then,” said Tracy. “They’ll kill you and us too just for talking to you.”
“Told you,” said Selene coolly.
Will managed to disentangle himself from Annabelle. “We’re leaving. It’s up to you if you want to come with us.”
Annabelle answered immediately, “I’m in. Tracy?” She looked questioningly at the older woman.
Tracy Tanner seemed uncertain, but then her jaw clenched, and her eyes shut tightly. “I’m only doing this for Joey,” she said finally.
“Joey?” asked Selene.
Annabelle explained, “Her son.”
Will was afraid to ask, but he did anyway. “Is he…”
“Dead,” said Tracy, her voice cold and empty. “The warehouses take up most of the southeast quarter.”
“What do they look like?” asked Selene.
“The only things in this town that aren’t tents are the warehouses, the brothels, and the commander’s residence,” said Tracy. “The southeast quarter is nothing but large warehouses made of rough timber.”
Will felt like laughing. They had entered through the southwestern quarter, narrowly missing the area of their objective. If they had just turned right before reaching the center lane, they would have found them almost immediately. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.
“How?” asked Annabelle. “They sounded an alarm not long ago. That’s why we were all on the porch, trying to see what was going on.” She glanced at Selene. “The mist, was that you?”
Selene nodded.
“How are we going to do this?” asked Tracy.
Will was full of anger over what the Darrowans had done to Annabelle and Tracy. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword. “I’ll go down first and surprise Stan. Then Selene can re-summon the mist and we’ll head for the warehouses.”
“You’ll have to kill the other girls too,” said Tracy, her tone unforgiving. “The old hag would stick a knife in us as easily as breathing. Marcy is almost as bad.”
That gave him pause. Could he kill Stan and then drain the girls? Selene gave him a glance that clearly said ‘idiot.’ Then she wiggled her fingers. Oh, the sleep spell. He nodded.
Selene led the way down the stairs, and before Will reached the ground floor, Stan and both of the other women were out cold. Annabelle began rummaging through Stan’s clothes and held up a bag of coins triumphantly.
Selene gave will a sour look. “We aren’t here to steal.”
“It’s our money anyway,” said Tracy, before spitting on the floorboards. “Bastards.”
Will shrugged, and Selene summoned her mist again. The four of them stepped outside. “I can’t see anything,” complained Annabelle, grabbing Will’s hand. Will noticed a look on Selene’s face that could have peeled paint from a wall.
Adjusting his