She felt like a bright red target as she dashed across the street. There was no way to stay completely hidden—she just had to trust the shadows and her ability to blend in. Kyra skirted the perimeter, past watering troughs and a post for tying horses, staying a good distance away from a door guard who peered off in the opposite direction. Once out of his line of sight, she crept closer and pushed on a darkened window. The glass didn’t budge. She climbed and tried an upper window. That one was locked as well.

Which left the rooftop. Kyra pulled herself onto the shingles and crossed toward the back, where she could look down on the courtyard. She recognized the water basin where she had washed her hands. If she leaned over the edge of the roof, she could see the guard stationed at the back door. Kyra reached into her pouch and took out a pebble, aiming for the fence at the opposite end of the courtyard. Her first pebble fell short, but the second one bounced off the fence with a hollow thud. The guard straightened and looked around. Kyra threw two more stones in quick succession. He drew his knife. As he approached the fence, Kyra lowered herself to the ground. There was a click as she turned the key, but the guard didn’t look back. Once inside, Kyra ducked into a storage room. There she waited, breathing through her tunic to avoid sneezing at the dust, and listened until she was sure there was no one nearby.

Kyra cracked the door open and peered into the hallway. It was dark, with a flickering light coming from around the corner. She could hear distant voices. The cadence and tone of one was clearly recognizable—James. He was meeting with someone in a room up front, which meant his study was probably empty. Kyra drew a shaky breath. She needed to think of James as just another person in the building. Thinking of him in any other way would get her killed.

As Kyra crept down the hallway, the other voices came into focus, and she paused. James was talking to a woman. Since when had there been another woman in the Guild? Kyra paused for a split second in front of James’s study, hand on the doorknob, and then continued down the hallway toward the voices.

“Our interest is in the livestock and supplies,” a lightly accented woman’s voice said as Kyra stopped a few steps from the door. “The city raids are an unnecessary risk.”

“I understand,” said James. “But mayhap I can convince your people to join us on one last raid of the city.”

“We have armor and medicine, enough to last a while. What more could you offer us?” said another man.

“Supplies for the winter, for one. Ranged weapons for another. There’s no reason for you to rely solely on your cats’ claws.”