He gazed steadily at Micah, having no idea whether this kind of appeal would do any good at all. But it would tell him something about Micah that he needed to know.

For a long moment, they stared at each other. Finally, Micah nodded.

He looked around the table. “Alister is telling the truth. He knows where the armory is. I don’t. You’d better listen to what he has to say.”

C H A P T E R  F O R T Y - N I N E

UNEASY
ALLIANCE

The tap on the door startled them into silence.

“Come!” Han called.

The door edged open, and Hammersmith stuck his head through. “The…the…ah…Lord Dancer is here. With his colleagues.”

“P—perhaps we should wait for Lord Bayar before we proceed,” Mander stammered. Clearly, matters were moving too quickly for his liking.

“The meeting is now,” Han said. “It wasn’t easy to get them to come onto your turf. Lord Bayar is no longer on the council. You can stay or go.” He gestured to Hammersmith to admit Dancer and the others.

In they came—Dancer and Willo, who’d been there before, with Averill and Elena, Bird and Shilo Trailblazer, who would never have willingly set foot there.

Automatically, Han took a head count, as he would with any rival gang meet and greet. Six clan, if you counted Dancer with them, and six wizards.

The Demonai scanned the room, their bodies rigid with suspicion, hands on the hilts of their throwing knives. Micah and Dancer avoided looking at each other.

After a moment’s awkward silence, Abelard spoke. “Perhaps it would be best if our visitors put down their arms before we sit down together,” she suggested, looking at Han, eyebrows raised.

“And perhaps the jinxflingers should remove their amulets,” Elena retorted, looking up at the ceiling.

“There’s no way we can fight together if we can’t trust each other enough to sit down together without disarming,” Bird said. She chose an unoccupied chair and perched on the edge of the seat. Willo sat down next to her, looking pointedly at the others.

Averill chose the empty seat nearest the door. Elena scowled disapprovingly at the elaborate chairs surrounding the table, but finally sat cross-legged in one.

When everyone was seated, Han nodded to Dancer. “Hayden Fire Dancer is the queen’s representative on this council. I’ve asked him to speak first.”