“I think—”
Lucien cut himself off midsentence, and Baer immediately understood why. The light breeze that had been weaving its way through the city had suddenly shifted, carrying with it a wretched scent of rot and decay. At first, Baer had wanted to believe that the wind had run through a pile of garbage, but after several encounters with the pestilents, Baer was coming to know that smell far too well.
“Is that…?” Lucien started, his words drifting off.
“Yeah,” Baer grumbled. His fingers clamped down tight on the gift he’d gotten for Wiley. If the glass cougar was broken in this fight, he was going to rip these damn things apart with his bare hands. “On the plus side, I’m not feeling any magic from the rat whisperer.”
“Can you see them?”
Baer slowly glanced around, trying not to give away that they were aware they were being hunted. River Street was crowded with innocent bystanders. Baer didn’t want anyone to get hurt if he could help it, and it was a damn bad place to try to shift.
“Nothing yet.”
“How do you want to handle this?”
His brain sifted through dozens of options, but none of them seemed good. They had to keep this from getting into a straight-out fight in front of people. There would be blood and cops and hurt humans before it was all said and done. Not to mention, a trip to jail until they could bring Grey in to tinker with people’s minds.
“You got your running shoes on?” Baer asked with a smirk.
“I do.” Lucien grinned.
Baer tilted his head to the left. “Let’s keep walking in the direction we were going. We need to get away from people. Keep it low-key. We don’t want them to know we know they’re there.”
“I know of a few spots. Away from the bulk of the crowds.”
“Good. You lead.”
“And if we get stuck?”
“We run.”
Lucien gave a small nod as he lengthened his stride just a little and quickened his pace. They crossed the street and continued east along River Street. Conversation had fallen dead between them, and Baer concentrated on looking around at the people, at his surroundings, trying to find where the damn pestilents were, but they had obviously found good hiding spots.
On a whim, he reached out to the birds hanging out in the trees along the riverfront. They were a mix of starlings and finches. Using his powers, he lightly touched their minds and sent them off in search of strange, smelly humans. He wasn’t sure if they registered smells in the same way, but he had a feeling they’d be able to figure out the humans who weren’t quite right.
He got flashes of food and amusement as they hit the air with his request in their minds. They searched the area, soaring over trees and buildings, sometimes dipping down to land on the iron railings for balconies.
At the corner, Lucien stopped suddenly and stared at the river. Baer nearly knocked into him, his mind torn between the birds and his own surroundings.
“What’s up?”
Lucien shook his head and turned away from the river, heading up a narrow street in the opposite direction. They stepped off the pavement and onto a street made of what looked to be smooth river stones.
“Do you believe in this reincarnation thing?” Lucien asked suddenly.
“I do, actually. I didn’t before now, but since meeting Clay and Grey, even you, I do. You all feel familiar. Laughing with Clay feels like I’ve done it a hundred times. And Grey, it’s like I’ve always known him, but I can’t remember exact events. Plus, there’s a picture we found in the attic with all of us in it. I’ll show you when we get home.”
Lucien grunted. “I get hints of it with Clay…sometimes. It’s just, even before I met you guys, when I look at big bodies of water…I feel…worried.”
“You think it’s because of the Water Weaver.”
“Maybe.”
Baer clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a tense smile. “Fire and water, maybe you two were tight. I’m sure it will make more sense when he finally makes an appearance.”
He released Lucien and flinched as the birds hit him with a barrage of images, but for the most part, it was the same four people—three men and one woman. They all wavered in the minds of the birds and created a sense of fear.
“There are four of them. Coming up behind us.”
“Good, because we’re there.”
Baer blinked and looked at his surroundings. They’d slipped between the buildings that ran along River Street and an old red-brick wall with deep arched insets. Overhead narrow iron bridges stretched from the sidewalks along Bay Street and the different businesses. The sun was blocked by the towering buildings and trees, casting everything in heavy shadow and cooling the air by at least ten degrees.
“And where are we?”