I bit back a sigh of exasperation. “The people we are going to see – Mephi, they are bad. I can’t let anything happen to you. I’d never forgive myself.”

He finally quieted and pressed his head against my hip. “I am bigger than I was, and stronger. I will be safe.”

I’d thought so too, when I’d been a youth. It was only when I’d grown older that I understood the true extent of my mortality. More than a little apprehensive, I turned onto the street that would lead us out of the city.

I just needed this to work. Lin wouldn’t notice her sword was missing, Ragan wouldn’t bother me again, my family and the people I cared about would get the cure they needed for the bog cough. If I could get this to work, the rest – the Empire, the Shardless Few, the construct army – they might be manageable.

Just as the cobblestones turned to dirt and gravel, I found the house. It didn’t look like a den of iniquity. It was a stately affair, complete with a manicured front yard and stone lamps. But Kaphra liked to count himself cultured. This was one of his many homes, used for Ioph Carn business when not in his personal use.

I tightened my hand around my staff and took the path of paving stones to the front door. I gave it a sharp rap. “It’s Jovis,” I said loudly, not bothering with any codes. They knew I was coming.

It took a while, but then lamplight shone through the shutters by the front door. Footsteps – more than two pairs – shuffled inside. A floorboard creaked.

At last, the door opened. Philine greeted me. She must have been asleep – it was the middle of the night – yet she was still wearing her leathers, was armed to the teeth and looked as alert as though she’d been awake for hours and had already taken tea. “Jovis,” she said. “Someday I’m going to kill you and it will always have been long after you should have been dead.”

I tilted my head, taking a moment to parse her words. I pursed my lips and nodded. “That’s fair.”

She jerked the door open the rest of the way. “Come in.”

“Can’t I just give you the sword and be on my way?”

She rolled her eyes in that odd way, never really looking away from me. “Kaphra wants to speak to you.”

Every bone in my body felt lanced with ice. “Kaphra is… here?” I knew it was a part-time residence of his, but I hadn’t expected him to be here. Or to be awake.