Silver Basilisk - Zoe Chant Page 0,74

The second time, on this same terrace right before he and Godiva left on their trip, they had regarded him with polite neutrality. But this time their welcome was as genuine as their smiles.

Godiva stretched out her hand to him, and when he went to her, she patted the bench next to her, scooting close so they could sit hip to hip.

Joey Hu said to Rigo, “First thing to report will probably come as no surprise: some of our LA connections checked the address you texted us, but Cang’s house was empty. We think he has several lairs.”

Joey turned to face the group, and indicated a short, round woman with curly hair. “This is Sara Greenbaum, who specializes in Renaissance History.”

Doris, on Godiva’s other side, whispered behind her hand to Godiva and Rigo, “Raccoon shifter.”

While Sara looked over the translation papers that Godiva had stuffed into her purse, Godiva leaned forward. “Do you know how Long Cang would have connected up with Barth? Is there like a Scumbag Central Clearing House where villains can go shopping for evil?” Godiva asked.

Joey Hu said, “Not that I know of . . . Mikhail?”

The quiet imperial knight said, “My understanding is that there are various attempts to establish something like that. But from what we have been able to discover, those trying to form a shifter version of the Dark Net either require loyalty—stringently enforced—or else something equally valuable in trade. Ones such as this Barth are usually solo operators, making them much harder to find.”

Joey spoke up. “Bringing us back to Cang. Our plan to insert Caleb and Bryony—one of Nikos’s hetairoi—into Long Cang’s minions has been pretty successful. Neither of them has been able to get near Long Cang or his captains yet, but last night Bryony overheard mention of the latest plan, which we figure was put together as soon as Cang received the new charm.”

Mikhail said, “Tomorrow.”

Godiva flashed a glance up at Rigo, and he knew what she was thinking: just in time.

At that moment, Sara looked up from the translation papers. “Nice job here, whoever did this. You only misinterpreted a few words. What you call the zombie spell, which is here termed ‘A Call to Obedience,’ is centered around sound, as you already know. This new spell is complicated by the fact that it does two things, both centered around scent.”

“What are they?” Joey asked.

Sara winced. “There is both an effect on the user and on those around the user, and as such, it’s especially vicious. It purports to give the target super-strength, but at the risk of their lives. While under its influence, they have about an hour to use every reserve they have. As for everyone around them, the scent coming off the user will deaden their senses for a few seconds, making the user effectively invisible as they pass by. Unless you’re really looking for them—or in this case, expecting the scent.”

“Most invisibility charms really just distract attention another way,” Mikhail said. “And so can be broken.”

Joey nodded, then said, “As for the risk of that second charm, my guess is, Long Cang won’t tell his hirelings about it.”

Bird spoke up, clearly upset. “Most of his hirelings are barely out of their teens. Messed-up, maybe, but they’re still really kids.”

“The red dragon doesn’t care,” Mikhail said shortly. “Even when he fought as one of us, back in his Guardian days, he had a tendency to shrug off the cost of battle, regarding what he called foot soldiers as expendable.”

“A dead twenty-year-old can’t exactly come back to complain about being betrayed by their own side,” Doris commented.

“What can we do?” Bird asked, clasping her hands. “Didn’t Caleb say that Cang’s underlings are being told to gather tonight?”

“Yes. They are to deploy in the morning,” Joey said.

Sara counted to herself, then looked up. “The timing is right. If Long Cang received this new recipe yesterday, it takes twenty-four hours to prepare.”

“Then we’re out of time.” Bird looked alarmed.

“Not if there’s a chance of getting hold of some of it,” Sara said. “The antidote is actually based on the mixture for the charm. If there’s some way to obtain some of it, it looks like doctoring it for the antidote will only take a couple of hours.”

“I don’t think Caleb is equipped to try something as dangerous as stealing it.” Now it was Doris’s turn to look worried. “He’s a student. His skills are pretty much maxed out following Cang’s minions, who are not the brightest crayons