cracks between the stone overgrown with plants. Still, it was big enough for all of them, just barely, and they got inside just before the strange, howling wind passed overhead.
“All right, dog,” Josef said, crossing his arms. “You lost us our hideout and nearly blew our cover altogether, so what do you want? Where’s your master?”
Gin glared at him, then looked at Nico. “Don’t tell me you’re the only one who can understand me?”
Nico shrugged, and Gin rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he growled. “Tell your sword boy that his second question answers the first. I’m here looking for Miranda. She went into town this morning and never came out. Then all the spirits started going crazy, so I decided to come get her. I know she’s in the citadel, and I smelled the thief in there as well. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. But even I can’t get into a castle crawling with guards and winds who do nothing but watch, so I sniffed you out, swordsman.” Gin wrinkled his nose. “Not that I could miss you. Do you even know what a bath is?”
Nico repeated this, leaving out the bath comment, and Josef gave the dog a skeptical look.
“We didn’t even know the Spiritualist was in town,” he said. “She certainly didn’t go in with Eli. She’s probably helping the duke. Catching Eli is her job, after all.”
“It’s complicated,” Gin growled. “But she’s not with the duke. Miranda wouldn’t help anyone who treated the spirits this way. Common little spirits were never meant to be awake this long. It’s going to kill the town if it keeps up. Miranda wouldn’t put up with something like that to catch a hundred Elis. However, she is in the citadel, along with your thief, and I don’t imagine either of them wants to be there. So if you’re planning a rescue, then I want in.”
Josef listened as Nico repeated the dog’s words, rolling his eyes when she got to the end. “If you just wanted to come along there was no reason to jump us.”
Gin grinned, showing a spread of long, sharp teeth. “I figured my negotiating position would be stronger if I had your head in my mouth, but this works too.”
Nico gave him a horrified look, and didn’t pass the message on.
Monpress, however, was sitting back against the stones, stroking his neatly trimmed beard with a thoughtful calmness not usually witnessed in the presence of ghosthounds. “Dog,” he said, “you can understand what we’re saying, correct?”
“Of course,” Gin snorted. “Human speech is the simplest form of communication.”
The thief chuckled as Nico translated. “Well, then, if you’re willing to follow directions, I think we can come to an arrangement.”
“That depends on the directions,” Gin growled. “Who are you anyway?”
Nico answered that one. “He’s Eli’s father. He’s a thief too.”
Gin gave her a sideways look. “He doesn’t smell anything like Eli.”
Nico passed that on to Monpress, who laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I am Giuseppe Monpress, and I have many occupations. For the last few days, I served as a masonry and antiques expert. This morning, I was a thief. Right now, I’m simply a mentor trying to save his lost charge from his own cockiness. Does that answer your question?”
“In a roundabout sort of way,” Gin growled, but he nodded just the same.
“Excellent,” Monpress said. “As I was saying, I’m no wizard, but I can guess that the Duke of Gaol is the one controlling the town. If there’s one thing living in Gaol taught me, it’s that the duke controls everything within his borders, no matter how trivial. The man doesn’t know the meaning of the word delegate. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a personal contract with every paving stone in Gaol. This level of attention to detail has gotten him where he is, but it’s also a tremendous handicap, which we are going to use to our advantage. Look here.”
He leaned over and began to sketch an outline of the citadel on the shed’s dirt floor with one of Josef’s knives, which Josef hadn’t even felt him take. “We’ll create a series of catastrophes, each requiring the duke’s attention. Mass destruction seems to play well to each of your strengths, so I don’t think this will be a problem. While the duke is putting out fires, I will locate and free Eli and the Spiritualist. Can you tell me where they are in the citadel?”
Gin nodded. “Once I’m inside.”
“You’ll