“He’s Alexios. I’m Helia.”

Gabriel nodded and turned to the cŵn. “Lloergan?” He crouched before her and pulled a sock from his inside pocket, one he must have snagged from the hotel room. “This belongs to the person we’re looking for. Can you follow her trail from here? It’s up to you, of course.”

She sniffed the sock gingerly, as if it didn’t smell very good. Then she snuffled the ground and headed into the alley. We followed.

“We can come along?” Alexios called after us.

“Shhh,” Helia said. “Don’t ask. Just follow until they make us leave.”

Gabriel turned, and Helia fell back with a yelp.

“Let me make this clear,” he said. “If you wish to help us, we will not stop you. Nor will we set you on tasks or give you any information that might be used against us. If we seem paranoid, understand that we have cause. Outside Cainsville, fae who have asked for help or offered it have been uniformly—”

“Nasty,” Helia said.

“Horrid,” Alexios said.

“Don’t interrupt him.”

“I’m not the one who—”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “They betrayed us, which has taught us a few things about dealing with fae. It has also, I hope, taught them a few things about dealing with us. Namely, that we are enough fae ourselves to understand the concept of quid pro quo. Help us and we help you. Hinder or harm us…”

“We have heard the fates of those who crossed you,” Helia said, going serious. “We might seem foolish, but we did not live to this age by being foolhardy. Our help is offered freely. In return, we hope for a bit of fun and, yes, the favor of Matilda and Gwynn, which is no small thing. The favor, not a favor.”

“Not a specific thing or a chit,” Alexios said. “Just to—in the colloquial—get on your good side, because it seems a fine place to be.”

“All right, then,” Gabriel said, and we returned to following Lloergan.

—

The trail didn’t go more than a mile before Lloergan lost it. Cŵn aren’t tracking hounds. They can pursue prey in the forest, and they can find them in the city, but the latter requires preternatural abilities, some of which her injuries stole from her.

It was equally likely that, after that first mile, Seanna got into a vehicle and the trail legitimately ended. Either way, Gabriel only wanted to see how far the trail went because it told him that we weren’t following someone disposing of Seanna’s body. It was her. On foot. And not so badly injured that she couldn’t walk a mile.

As we’d tracked Seanna, I’d given the dryads what information I could to help them find her. Not that I expected they actually would, but it would keep them occupied.