finally, chose the wrong turning and hurried off. Wess grinned, but she felt
respect for any hunter who could follow her this far.
Moving silently through shadows, she started back towards the tavern. When she
came to a tumbledown building she remembered, she found finger- and toe-holds
and climbed to the roof of the next house. Flying was not the only talent Aerie
had that Wess envied. Being able to climb straight up an undamaged adobe wall
would be useful sometimes, too.
The rooftop was deserted. Too cold to sleep outside, no doubt; the inhabitants
of the city went to ground at night, in warmer, unseen warrens.
The air smelled cleaner here, so she travelled by rooftop as far as she could.
But the main passage through the Maze was too wide to leap across. From the
building that faced the Unicorn, Wess observed the tavern. She doubted that her
pursuer could have reached it first, but the possibility existed, in this
strange place. She saw no one. It was near dawn. She no longer felt exhausted,
just deliciously sleepy. She climbed down the face of the building and started
across the street.
Someone flung open the door behind her, leaped out as she turned, and punched
her in the side of the head.
Wess crashed to the cobblestones. The shadow stepped closer and kicked her in
the ribs. A line of pain wrapped around her chest and tightened when she tried
to breathe.
‘Don’t kill her. Not yet.’
‘No. I have plans for her.’
Wess recognized the voice ofBauchle Meyne, who had insulted Quartz in the
tavern. He toed her in the side.