Free The Smoke-Scented Girl by Melissa McShane

cared enough to drop by. Not that they’d let you in, of
course, trade secrets and all that. Oh, that’s true, you wouldn’t
know anything about that.”
    “I’m privy to more secrets than you can
possibly imagine, Lorantis,” Odelia said.
    “Oh, I believe you,” Evon said as insincerely
as he could manage without giving the game away.
    “Really? Watch the newspapers. Speculatus is
on the verge of something big, and I’m the one who’s going to find
it. Magic like no one’s seen before. We’ll see how important your
secrets are then, won’t we?”
    “I’ll be watching the papers for your name
with great interest,” Evon assured her. “We should let you get back
to your... secret business.”
    Odelia sneered at both of them and walked
away, kicking up her skirts to keep them out of the slush. Evon and
Piercy watched her go without speaking. When she was out of sight,
Evon said, “Good instincts.”
    “Speculatus is going after the
Fearsome Firemage,” Piercy said. “I’d bet on it.”
    “She seemed pretty confident. Whatever other
flaws Odelia has, she never acts on impulse. They must have a way
to track the magician. We have to move quickly.”
    “I ought to let my superiors know about
this,” Piercy said.
    “Now?”
    “This could mean bringing Speculatus to
justice. I think some of my superiors would call that more
important than locating the Fearsome Firemage.”
    “That’s true.” Evon chewed his lower lip. “I
can continue on my own.”
    “Is that safe?”
    “I have no idea. But we can’t afford to halt
the search while you send a message. I won’t approach her unless I
think Odelia’s about to attack. Do you have a mirror?”
    Piercy patted his front pocket. “I may not be
much of a magician, but I can manage a communication spell.”
    “I’ll contact you when I find her. Go back to
the inn when you’re finished.”
    “I think this is a terrible idea.”
    “So do I. But we’ve run out of good ones.” He
nodded at Piercy and walked rapidly to the park gates.
    The park would be beautiful in the summer,
leaves in every shade of green, close-trimmed grass, gravel
crunching underfoot as you strolled the paths, possibly with an
attractive companion. It was still beautiful in the heart of
winter, though in a different way, the bare branches making runes
against the cloudless blue sky, thin drifts of snow over the
winter-yellowed grass. Evon walked as quickly as he dared without
drawing attention to himself. It wasn’t impossible that Odelia had
companions, and that they were watching him; Odelia’s mind was that
suspicious. But it was hard not to break into a run, especially
since the scent was growing stronger. His heart rate picked up, not
from exertion but from excitement. He wanted to see this woman. He
wanted to ask her a million questions. And he was so close he
could, literally, smell victory.
    He emerged from the park into a paved
pedestrian zone, a place he guessed in summer would be thronged
with holiday-goers and the kind of street artists who painted poor
reproductions of the scenery for far too much money. The scent
still led directly forward, across the pavement and...stopped. He’d
expected it to cross the street that terminated in the pedestrian
zone, but it ended somewhere in the middle of the vast brick-paved
promenade. She was here. One of these women walking past.... He
went forward slowly, using his eyes as much as his nose. Long
blonde hair, an oval face, not too tall, young. All the women had
their hair bundled up under bonnets or kerchiefs. It was impossible
to tell the shape of their faces. And from this distance, they all
seemed to be the same height and age. He continued moving forward,
narrowing his search. She was in that group of about ten women, but
which one? All looked identical in dark cloaks and bundled hair,
though one of them wore a kerchief while the rest had dark bonnets.
The woman in the kerchief carried a bag over her shoulder and was
moving