Free The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) by D.K. Holmberg

buildings where it would be less likely for Firell to look up and see him.
    He didn’t need to wait long. Jonas came out first, glancing along the street, and then Firell followed, his eyes narrowed as he searched the shadows. Neither man had bothered looking up.
    Rsiran Slid after them, moving from building to building. Firell paused often, glancing around, almost as if he feared that he might be followed. He still didn’t look up, or seem to notice that Rsiran followed him from above. He thought it strange that Firell would move away from the shore where he would have his ship, but this way was easier for Rsiran to follow. When the street darkened to the point where he couldn’t see anything, he pushed a knife ahead of him to light the way. Firell might see the knife—that was a risk he would have to take—but he wouldn’t see the light off the blade.
    The men moved deeper into the city. The buildings were spaced farther apart here, and he was afraid that he might lose him because he had to wait between Slides. But they continued to walk along the darkened streets, Jonas appearing to lead them, rather than Firell.
    The men stopped outside a long, low row of buildings. Rsiran Slid to the rooftop and emerged as they entered. He paused, detecting the chain Firell wore, and realized that he wouldn’t have lost him as he tracked him through the city, not now that he knew what to listen for. Firell was inside, and had stopped moving.
    He wanted to hear them. Were he a Listener, he wouldn’t have any difficulty. Not for the first time, he wished he had some of the skills of the Great Watcher, abilities like the Elvraeth, but then, he wouldn’t trade what he could do for any of them. Traveling risked weakening him, and he didn’t have anyone able to watch him, so he would have to determine what happened inside some other way.
    Sliding to the ground outside, he searched through windows until he found a room where Firell and Jonas were. A dim lamp glowed inside and he could just make out the door to a darkened room on the other side. Rsiran debated whether he should return to Elaeavn or see what else Firell might be up to. Curiosity won out.
    He Slid into the room, readying his knives in case one of the men noticed him. He would not be caught unaware by Firell again. The last time, the Forgotten had used slithca on him, and he was not willing to repeat that.
    Voices drifted to him through an open doorway. Rsiran Slid, emerging near the door. The light of his knives allowed him to see that he was in an older home. Shelves lined the wall where he stood. A table and chairs were in the middle of the room. Opposite where he’d entered, a cold hearth occupied most of the wall. Dust filled his nostrils.
    “Dangerous for us to stay here now,” Firell was saying.
    “You know the assignment.”
    “I know it. That doesn’t change the fact that I see how dangerous it is. After Lareth came…”
    “That was always a risk.”
    Was it Jonas talking to Firell or someone else? It seemed the other person seemed superior to Firell, rather than the other way around.
    “You saw how easily he handled you.”
    Jonas then.
    “I allowed him to handle me. We can watch him now.”
    What did that mean?
    “Do you really think it so easy?”
    “Not easy. Fortuitous. Had he not come to you, we would have spent countless hours searching for him. Now we don’t have the need.”
    “I think you misjudge his ability,” Firell said. “From what I have heard—”
    “Heard. Not seen. There is nothing you need to fear, unless you don’t want to see her again.”
    “Enough.”
    Rsiran cocked his head as he listened. Had something happened to Firell’s daughter again? Once, he could understand, but a second time… Either Firell wasn’t able to protect her, or there was something more at play than Rsiran understood.
    “Now we wait,” Jonas was saying. “It should not be long.”
    What did Jonas expect to happen? Was someone coming to the