He undid the latch on the storm-shelter door, pulling it up only enough for him to slip inside and swing his feet down onto the ladder. Quickly, he descended, closing the shelter door behind him. He waited on the ladder for several long breaths, listening for any sign outside that he might have been spotted. When all he heard was silence, he dropped down to the ground and crossed to the locked door at the end of the room.

He did the fancy little knock that Zephyr had instructed him to do, and after a few moments the door opened, Raquim on the other side. Kiran had never heard the other man say a word, but he was a competent fighter and clearly had Zephyr’s trust.

Kiran stepped past him into the long, dimly lit hallway and asked, “Where is he?”

Raquim pointed a finger in the only possible direction Kiran could go. Guessing that was all the answer he was going to get, Kiran set off down the hall. Next to Zephyr’s office, he found a room with a closed door, a hint of light showing out beneath.

He knocked, heard footsteps, and then the door swung wide to reveal the hulking man named Brax. Kiran knew of him from his previous trips to Pavan. The man was a brawler. He and others like him got paid to fight in bloody, ruthless melees that others bet on. The events were big draws and made a fair amount of money for whoever won—both the fighters and the gamblers.

He looked past Brax into the room and saw the man he had come to see.

Casimir Locke.

He wished it was the other brother, but he would take what he could get.

“How goes it?” he asked Brax.

His answer came from farther in the room. “He’s stubborn. And annoying.”

Kiran stepped past Brax to see Zephyr seated on a stool in the corner, her legs crossed far too elegantly for what he guessed was an interrogation.

“Who is this bast—” The snarled question died on Casimir’s lips before he could finish the word.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Zephyr tsked. “What did I tell you about annoying me?” She rotated that red-gloved hand of hers, and Casimir shook in his chair, his mouth gaping open like a fish dying on land as Zephyr used her water magic on him.

“Man, I wish I could do that.”

Kiran swung around, shocked to find his best friend, Ransom, sitting in another corner. He had not even known the other man was here. He had assumed he was back at the inn with the others.

Ransom met his gaze. “Bait would never get a word in if I could do that.”