“I don’t know. A couple hours after the fire started? Everyone was distracted.”

“Did you see any Riders?” interjected Malikel. “Or just cats?”

“Just cats,” said Flick.

“As did I,” added Tristam. “When Kyra and I arrived.”

“Where were the Riders?” asked Malikel. “Kyra, you saw them heading to the city from the forest. Kyra, are you paying attention?”

Kyra snapped out of her reflections, flinching at Malikel’s tone. “Mostly Riders going toward Forge,” she said. “There were a few cats, but just a handful.”

There was a pause as everyone thought this over. “We still don’t know nearly enough about the Demon Riders,” said Malikel.

“Kyra might be able to learn more if we go back into the forest,” said Tristam.

“Yes,” said Malikel. “Continue those trips. But we need to strike at the Assassins Guild as well. We can’t afford merely to observe them anymore. Another attack like this would destroy the city.”

The map blurred before her, and Kyra rubbed her eyes. Perhaps James had started the fire, put a torch to The Drunken Dog himself.

“A full attack on the Guildhouse, then?” Tristam was saying.

“Let’s think about this,” Malikel said. “We want to capture members for questioning and search the place for clues about their relationship with the Demon Riders. Kyra, we need your help to plan this.”

“It won’t work,” she said.

The table fell silent. “Do you care to elaborate?” said Tristam.

“I’ve seen these men work,” said Kyra. “They’re dangerous. As well trained or better than any of your knights, and they don’t bother with honor or chivalry. You’d need to outnumber them to pull it off, but you send that many soldiers, they’ll see you coming. At best, they’ll be gone before you step foot on the grounds; at worst, you’ll walk into a trap.”

“A smaller strike party, then,” said Tristam. “We capture who and what we can and retreat.”

“You’d be sending them to die.”

Tristam glared at her, his patience also wearing thin in the exhausting days since the fire. “Will you just shoot down suggestions? We could use some ideas.”

Kyra opened her mouth to speak, but found that she couldn’t. Bella’s face swam in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I…I can’t do this.”

She bolted before anyone could stop her, running up stairs and around corners before finally collapsing in a dead end. It was all too much. Bella was not cold in her grave, yet they expected her to put it all aside and go after the Guild.

Footsteps sounded. Flick’s familiar form rounded the corner.

“I must be a bad thief if you found me so easy,” she said.

“You always run upward when you’re upset.” He sat down beside her. “And you favor right turns. You’re lucky they didn’t sound the alarm.”