Crooked Magic - Eva Chase Page 0,56

steps beyond the farthest sofas, complete with a marble counter and a few cushioned stools.

Thankfully, none of the Portland fearmancers were around to witness my momentary amazement. I’d purposefully come down to the docks here a whole three hours ahead of the party’s start time in the hopes that I’d catch some conversation not meant for the full crowd.

To make sure no one else who might have been around this early realized what I was up to, I’d cast an illusion over my face to change my hair and features so I wasn’t recognizable as Cressida Warbury. That wouldn’t help me listen in now that I was here, though, since they weren’t likely to start plotting with a stranger in earshot either, even if they managed not to pick up on the magic clinging to me when they were that close. Now I had to find a good stakeout spot.

The yacht was anchored alone at the end of the dock, nothing else nearby but a large storage container closer to the other moored ships. I paused there as if I might be getting onto one of those, debating whether I could sneak right onto the yacht itself.

I didn’t see anyone around, but there was a security camera mounted on a post nearby, and I suspected the Haythorpes would have placed at least a few security spells to prevent intruders. Anyway, once I was ready to make my actual arrival as a guest, it’d be difficult to pull off my entrance if I’d already entered.

I settled for sitting in the thickening shadow beside the storage container where I had a view of the yacht, casting an illusion around me that was a mix of darkness and an impression of the blue metal behind me and the weathered boards beneath me. Then I pulled up an ebook on my phone to pass the time until any persons of interest showed up.

About an hour later, a few staff people boarded the ship, a bartender restocking the bottles at the bar and two cleaners moving around on the deck and then heading deeper into the yacht to make sure everything was spic and span. Eventually, the bartender vanished too, I guessed to relax until he had to really get to work.

It took another hour before I heard voices I recognized traveling up the dock. I picked out both of the Haythorpes along with Wilhelm and Flora Acheling. The hush to their conversation made me scoot closer to the edge of the storage container to catch more of it.

“…the material we’ve gathered,” Barbara was saying. “Surely we have almost enough by now?”

“I believe so,” Wilhelm replied. “Although I think tonight will give us the crowning glory.”

Octavian hummed. “It’ll be a careful balance, pushing enough to show our influence but not so much that we get resistance. Then it’ll simply backfire.”

I sensed a glower in Wilhelm’s tone. “I’m aware of that. I’ve already talked to our man. The Saber will bring it all together.”

They came to a stop by the boarding ramp, apparently wary of the bartender who’d re-emerged at their approach. Their voices dipped lower, and I had to strain to hear them, leaning forward as far as I dared.

“…compiled all the material from the various sources to send it together?” Barbara was asking.

Flora nodded. “Wilhelm is keeping it at the Carver Street office so there’s no chance of even the staff stumbling on something we wouldn’t want them to see.”

“As long as we all get credit for contributing,” Octavian said.

Wilhelm gave him a clap on the shoulder with a patronizing air. Whatever he answered was lost in the thump of their footsteps crossing the ramp. After that, they were too far away for me to follow their conversation at all.

Most of what they’d said I’d already known—the Saber was the final key to their plan, they hoped to convince him to join in while having him as their guest tonight. But the materials they’d talked about must be evidence of their plans for the barons’ companies. I’d need to find out more about the office where Flora had said it was being stored.

Get my hands on that, and the barons could eviscerate them. Or, well, whatever milder version of evisceration the new, less vengeful pentacle would approve of when it came to conspiracies against them.

A couple more staff arrived bearing the food for the evening, and then the first guests started to trickle in: the Mismerens, Carmine and his girlfriend, an older couple who’d