Half an hour after deg on this pn with Elise, I became vinced we were heading for disaster.

  The alterations had gone well. At first. Theaff knocked on the door and told Elise that because of security s, the entire first yer would o be evacuated within half an hour.

  “This will not work,” I muttered, looking in the mirror.

  You could see the thied bone where my horns had been, hurriedly covered up by skin. Skin that was supposed to be the same shade as Petrou, but I’d only managed a few yers so far, so the color looked off.

  Facial structure was….I’d dohe best I could but adjusting bones up there was always the trickiest part. I suppose I should be proud of the fact I looked like a member of my mother’s family pretending to be Illtean. Well, outside the coloration which could be expined. If I’d spent most of today in a freezing icy ke before ing here.

  “This will not work,” I repeated louder as I stretched my eyelids, looking at the altered eyeball. It didn’t look too bad, as long as no one peered too close at the pupil and spotted the botched alterations there. How had a straight line snu there? This happened when you asked an artist to work under pressure.

  “Have more fidence,” Elise said with force cheer. “Just think, its this or we go back to the kidnapping pn.”

  “The failings of this one don’t mean we go back to kidnapping,” I said. “Just that we need a fresh approach.”

  “In about fifteen minutes?”

  The time left was a bit of an issue. The guards were only being polite, probably because they assumed Elise would have nothing to do with that pair of gers, and that she’d still been in here when they came knog.

  The moment someone’s mind happened across the possibility a third person could have snu as a ger shrunken down among what we’d carried ihat politeness would evaporate.

  “I could turn myself in,” I suggested. “Give you the papers to take out, say I tricked you, and you get them to Doctor Dawes.”

  Elise shook her head. “No, father would kill you! And that’s if they didn’t just take you to the .”

  “He wouldn’t kill me straight away,” I tered. “There’d be torture first to ferret out what I was doing. And I’m sure your father has nothing I’ve never felt before in that department.”

  Not ko start with. Lord Montague seemed a little squeamish and probably not eager to withat kind of mess. Not that he’d ever wield a knife himself, but I’d bet on him going for methods that wouldn’t turn his stomach when he came in to see the results. Probably one of those devices or spells ied to just cause pain.

  “That is still horrifying,” Elise protested. “We try the disguise.”

  “If we try the disguise a caught out, you get implicated and we don’t get those papers out at all,” I replied. “I deal with a few hours of disfort. Your father seems squeamish, so I doubt he’ll do too much that leave a mark.”

  He might not o do muarks to appear. Some parts of me didn’t hurt, but a lot of me was hurriedly joined and closed skin over wounds. I’d dohe best I could with the time I had, but much like how the coloration ges were barely skin deep, so was my healing of the wounds I’d suffered ihe Archive. Skin hastily joihe interior left split and probably still bleeding. I’d need a potion, or preferably a few hours, to work over the damage.

  Also, despite our best efforts, the dress still had smudges of dirt and grime and tears from imp cws. So that also was going to give me aretty quickly.

  “Our backup pn is not you being tortured,” Elise snapped. “Listen, what if we-”

  There was a harsh rapping on the door. It shook as a sound like the sound of thunder echoed across the room. The hells? Not evet of a rifle made that noise.

  “Mistress Elise?” A gruff voice barked from the other side. “Are you in there?”

  Elise’s eyes widened as she turo the door. Clearly, she reized the voice, and it looked like they weren’t supposed to be in there.

  “Mitchell? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with Edward?”

  “A situation has arisen,” the gruff voice said, and as it tinued, I could hear the muffled sound of distant shouts and arguing. “ you open the door? We o take you to the estate immediately.”

  “Uh…” eyes wide, Elise turo me and I could only shrug. This might actually be the perfect time to turn myself in.

  The door shuddered, then swung open as nearly two dozen people tried to squeeze through all at once. Somehow they made it past without serious injury to themselves.

  Half of the people shoving themselves inside were in the colors of Lord Montague, including my old friend the human who’d been ged to be like an ogre. I drew bato the bookshelves while Elise tried to say something only to be overwhelmed by the cacophonous sound of multiple voices trying to speak over each other.

  The leader of the Montague guards was a tall man, with brown eyes, rust red sideburns, and bits of grey mixed in.

  “My dy, we o leave this pow,” he hurriedly told Elise and not paying me any mind, thankfully. “Its-”

  Whatever was about to be said was cut off by one of the archive staff yelling at him about how they o turn around ao the entranow, and sooire group dissolved intuing.

  It at least wasn’t devolving into threats with ons, and somehow no one was notig the strange abomination standing awkwardly in the back. I began to quietly inch towards the door.

  Eventually, things grew quieter as Elise demanded someone expin what was going on as I slipped behind the Montague guards.

  “Shape-gers attacked the tea party your father was attending,” Mitchell told Elise and my breath caught in my throat. “They were disguised as you and your eldest brother. They killed many members of the party before making their escape.”

  Elise paled. “Many….are any of my family alright?”

  “They all are, although your brregory’s panion was killed,” Mitchell said, the mild expression of distaste that passed over his face telling me all I o know of his thoughts on that. “Gregory and Henry both suffered minor wounds and are currently rec at your estate. We’re t you there immediately.”

  While Elise tinued arguing, I retreated inside my own thoughts. Tagashin? Dead? I could only hope trickery had been involved. No matter how infuriating the Kitsune was, she didn’t deserve death.

  “Your father has demanded you be brought to the family estate now,” one of them said. “We be better assured of your prote there.”

  That rahe Archive staff in here with us, who looked on in a distinct usement.

  I said nothing as I sidered how to get out of here. I didn’t want t attention to myself, and also my mouth had far too many poieeth io pass as human.

  “Her dyship is perfectly safe inside here,” one of the Archive guards snapped. “Holy, the only risk was the chaos you all caused rushing in here!”

  Which sounded like an opportunity. I caught Elise’s gaze as I tinued ing my way out. I just needed o distra, sure to grab all attention.

  She ined her head ever so slightly, then with her eyes rolling upwards, colpsed onto the ground.

  That drew every eye as it looked like the Archive and Household guards were rag each other to reach the fainted dy, and with a small grin, I snuck out. Sure, there was still the checkpoint, but I would figure something out.

  ***

  I got waved past. I could barely believe it. I stood he checkpoint, looking at the guard, almost in disbelief.

  “I go?” I asked slowly, and they rolled their eyes and nodded.

  “Yes.”

  Hesitantly, I walked forward a few steps, then when no oried to tackle me or pull a on, moved more fidently away from the archive’s entrance.

  Behind me, my enhanced ears picked up a few key remarks about how dumb nobles were being about mixing races and how it robably going to end poorly for one of them iure.

  Well, as I hurried along, the quick efforts doo repair my body threatening to e undone any sed, I couldn’t disagree with the se.

  The bit after about how Intelligence always gave him the shite jobs like ing after Vaggle of misfits I could not. Well, that expined some things at least. And given how it would be very unprofessional to reveal something like that, robably meant for me to hear.

  Something to chew on while I hurried back to Voltar’s house.

  ***

  “-so after the ger stabbed the fake body I’d made of you, I just stayed invisible, helped keep your dear friend alive, and tried to fight them off.”

  I nodded numbly, letting some tea take the edge off as the mixture I’d imbibed did its best to keep me together. I’d taken it soon after gettio find an alive, well, and far too cheerful Tagashin enjoying tea with Doctor Dawes. After letting it seal my wounds shut just a little, I’d e dowo listen to her story of the tea party.

  “They eventually fled ohey realized they wouldn’t be able to kill Gregory easily, and soon after that, his father came over to firm your death. He interrupted a tle versatioweewo of us doing that.”

  “What was the versation about?” I asked, trying to hide my i in whatever Tagashin and Gregory had chatted about in private. The Kitsune had been frustratingly vague about eae of those versations.

  From the looks on Dawes’ and Tagashin’s faces, my i was not particurly well hidden.

  “It rivate versation,” Tagashin said with a grin.

  I wao pry, but ceded for now. Pushing wouldn’t gain me anything.

  “So, Lord Montague has decided to handle any inve witnesses,” I said, looking down at the first of the two dots I’d brought back with me. “After that I wonder how long till he betrays the shape-gers?”

  “Who knows?” Dawes said, leaning ba his chair, expression grim. “I’ll o tact people, and quickly. Killing you and his son might be the limit, but if he decides he o remove myself and Voltar from the picture, there are people who must be warned.”

  “Take Tagashin with you,” I suggested. “If it wait, I might heal my leg soon, but otherwise find a few more people as well. We ’t move about alohat’s just begging for the worse to happen.”

  Something I’d been guilty of that night of the party.

  “Or you could just seers,” Tagashin said with a yawn. “I’m already pretty tired of fighting these things.”

  “Mails too easily intercepted,” I said.

  “And some of Voltar’s associates will only listen if it’s him or me in person,” Dawes added. “Especially some ones who o be warhe most. How far do you think Lord Montague’s ambition stretches?”

  That was a good and potentially terrifying question.

  “He has a group of shape-ging assassins and a long list es,” I said. “He has to deal with the fact the retionship isn’t what I’d call friendly. They will not tolerate being bckmailed with the information they want for too long. I think he realizes that though, I doubt they were just in the Archive to steal his records. So he’s trying to fulfill his end of the bargain, probably because before they were just after his archive access and willing to py the long game. If he tries to double-cross them? He makes them both angry and desperate.”

  Mind you, the long-game approach was only a theory for the target the shape-gers had selected. Going after Lord Montague’s heir instead of him probably meant they would wait for the shape-ger who repced Edward Montague to i access to the Archive. But then the raid on the party itself had hardly been what I’d call careful and with the long term in mind. A sunk cost being pursued?

  Moot for now. What was important was what I’d gained from the Archive.

  “There has to be somebody we show this to,” I muttered. “If we have Imperial Intelligehis, do you think they could get us the books so we could firm it? At a minimum, we show that Lord Montague let a pair of shape-gers into the archive, knowingly or not.”

  We both turo look at Dawes, who was in the middle of scrutinizing said paper.

  “I send these to my tact,” he said. “And see when Voltar will be back. This situation might trump what they’ve sent him to handle.”

  “What did they send him to handle?” I asked, curious about what was so important it had demanded Voltar’s attention away from shape-gers loose in the Empire’s capital.

  “I don’t know how much I say,” Dawes admitted.

  “Oh, what you are relut to do , I will be happy to share,” Tagashin said. “Voltar is off handling- hrrk!”

  The Kitsune seized up, toppling backwards off her chair as he paws scrambled at her throat as if trying to pry hands off of it. I got up from my chair, uain if I even could help. I had no genuine fondness for the Kitsune, but this seemed several steps too far.

  “Please Tagashin,” Dawes said tiredly. “Enough theatrics. I’ve temporarily silenced your voiothing more.”

  The Kitsune’s scrambling stopped as she pouted at Dawes.

  “It’s a serious ,” Dawes told me. “Ohat is greater than this? Perhaps not, but no one knew where this case might go when he left.”

  “Seems short-sighted,” I ented. “Shape-gers aren’t something you should ever let out of yht. That’s when the problems start.”

  “To be fair, Shape-ger was one of a few different theories he was eaining,” Dawes said. “There wasn’t firmation till the Warehouse after he left.”

  Well, that was a little disappointing, but answered an idle curiosity. I had met the Empire’s Greatest Detective, with the trade-off between him and Tagashin before then. Probably right before then, if I had to guess.

  “We have another avenue,” I said, getting up. “While you take these to your tacts in Intelligence-”

  “I wanted you along for that,” Dr. Dawes protested. “You o meet them at some point.”

  That I did, but something else o be atteo first. I could not imagine how much I owed for help to get out of that Archive. And anything else they might have been helping with from the shadows.

  “I do, and if you insist I must e, I will. But unless it’s necessary, I think it is time to go talk to Mr. Hawkins.”