We could demand answers from Rasla, but he was already suspicious. Grey could use his powers to wipe his mind, but that wasn’t always foolproof. It’d be better if we could find answers without running into him.
Below, I heard the door slam.
“He’s inside.” I rifled quickly through the blanket on the crib, my heart racing. “Hurry.”
Grey paced the room, testing the floorboards with his feet. I rose to join him, then stopped.
The cradle drew my attention back to it. There were answers there. I just needed to try harder with my magic.
I knelt by the crib and gripped the wooden edge, calling upon my power.
Where are you?
Magic flared to life inside my chest, bright and strong, yet still weaker than it could be. Come on. I needed to try harder.
I envisioned the woman I’d seen when I’d touched the book. Imagined her now, running with her baby. Or dead.
The thought made a shudder run through me. I was afraid of what I might find, but still, I needed to find it.
Where are you?
Shouts sounded from down below.
“He’s yelling at the maid,” Grey said. “He’ll grow suspicious soon. Hurry.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and kept trying. Come on, come on, come on.
I could find her. I had to find her.
Finally, an image flared to life. I’d recognize the place anywhere.
I surged upright. “I’ve got it. The Haunted Hound. Let’s get out of here.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs below, and my skin chilled. “He’s coming.”
“Best if we don’t meet him.” Grey moved swiftly and silently to the exit and took a left into the room next door. “There’s a larger window here. No bars.”
I followed him in, the sound of Rasla’s footsteps making my breath grow short in my lungs. Grey stood near a mullioned glass window in a room filled with old furniture. It was storage space, obviously. The window wasn’t the sort that opened, so Grey picked up an old chair and smashed it through the glass.
He tossed the chair aside and threw an old blanket over the jagged glass, then turned to me, holding out his hands. “Come on.”
“I know it’s you, Devil!” Rasla’s voice sounded from below.
“Do we stay and erase his memory now, or go get our answers from Evangeline?” I asked.
“We go. There’s no time to waste trying to learn how he resisted my power before. And if she’s running, we can’t let her get farther. We’ll deal with him later.”
I nodded and raced to Grey, then scrambled out the window and onto the steep roof. Grey slipped out behind me and darted gracefully to the side, moving quickly on the tiles. I followed, moving as quickly as I dared in my long dress and unfamiliar shoes, and we raced across the slanted rooftop.
“I’ll find you!” Rasla’s voice echoed after us.
I looked back and spotted him hanging out the broken window. It was growing dark, but there was still enough light to see the rage in his eyes.
He was totally onto us, though he probably still had no idea who I was. It would prove problematic for Grey, however. We’d need to sort this out before we returned to our time.
I followed Grey along the rooftops, climbing from building to building, and nearly losing my footing several times. We were three stories up, and a fall would be catastrophic.
“Come, we can get down right here.” Grey stopped at the edge of the row of buildings where it terminated against a side street.