"My torture?"
"She…" Nophel paused, head to one side. "Three years ago. She was the guide for the Blades who took you."
"What's happening?" Malia asked.
"We have to follow," Nophel said.
"I can't even see her," Peer said.
"But I can." He stood and smiled into space, reaching out one hand and clasping the air. "Really, you can trust them," he said quietly. "Somewhere private, and I'll tell you what we need."
"I can't even hear her," Malia said. She was still wielding the sword, but there was no threat in the air.
"Could we, in time?" Peer asked. Nophel nodded, evidently pleased that she'd acknowledged what was happening.
"I think so," he said. "I hope so."
"So we follow you?"
"Yes."
"We don't have much time," Peer said. "If you want to take advantage of the lead the Bellowers gave us, tell your Unseen friend to hurry."
"She hears you well enough."
She hears and sees us; we hear and see nothing, Peer thought. It was not a good place for trust to begin. But the sun was rising, time was passing, and she felt urgency plucking at her heart. Perhaps the time for caution was over.
Peer nodded. "We should go."
"I was watching you for a while. There's something strange about you. Those other two were like every other person we see and covet, their flesh glowing with substance. But you… A friend came and told me you were back, and I thought you'd come to join us. Thought you'd given in. But, instead, you've done something different. The Blue Water's effect is about you-I can smell it, taste it, and I haven't smelled or tasted anything in a while-but you're not Unseen. They follow you following me, and they can't hear a word of this, can they? They really can't."
"Not now they can't," Nophel said. "But maybe I can change that."
"How? Why?"
He thought about that as they followed Alexia's slight gray form around the central staircase column. They were almost back down to the street, and he could hear Peer's and Malia's nervous footsteps behind him.
"What's she saying?" Malia asked, but Nophel shook his head without turning around. He had the advantage here.
"Because I need the Unseen to help us," Nophel said. Alexia laughed a little, a gentle coughing sound that was barely audible. He guessed she did not laugh very much.
"The man beneath the domes," she said.
"What do you-"
"Somewhere private," Alexia said, and she spoke no more. She led them across a narrow street and into a bustling square, where traders and food vendors were jostling for space. She barged through without a care, and anytime she shoved into someone, it was Nophel they laid eyes on when they turned around. He was familiar with the expressions he saw-brief anger, turning into fearful disgust. No one would punch him even if they wanted to, for fear of dirtying their hands.
She's doing this on purpose, Nophel thought, angry at Alexia's behavior. But he supposed she had reason to feel jealous. He was flesh and blood again, after all.
They entered a building with one tumbled wall and a fire-blackened facade. Alexia had no need to be secretive, but Nophel signaled for the others to halt, making sure they were not observed. Alexia called something tauntingly from inside the open door, but Nophel could not quite hear her words.
The coast clear, the three of them entered the ruined building. It had been a large home once, but fire had gutted the insides, leaving only scorched walls standing. Timber floors were burned away to expose the sunken basement beneath, and, looking up, Nophel could see dawn sky through the remains of the roof. But he could make out no other Unseen, and for that at least he was glad. She had brought them somewhere deserted to talk, not a place where he would be surrounded by fading, sad remnants. He had no desire to be reminded of what he might become.
But I'm different, he thought. Even she noticed that. He looked down at his hand and willed invisibility, but all he conjured was Alexia's nervous question.
"Lost the talent, Nophel?"
"Not all the time," he said, and thought, Has she ever seen anyone like me?
Alexia was looking at Malia with undisguised dislike, and at Peer with uncertainty.
"Why should I trust them?"
"Why shouldn't you?"
Alexia regarded him for a few moments but did not reply.
"You mentioned the man beneath the domes?" Nophel said.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have."
"Peer," Nophel said, "could you describe Rufus?"
"Where is she?" Peer asked, and Nophel pointed. "Touch her face," Peer said. Nophel did so.
Peer came forward and narrowed her eyes. "I see… shadow."
"Now that you know she's there, you see more than most," Nophel said, and Alexia reached out quickly to touch Peer's face.
Peer pulled back, startled, and pressed her hand flat across her mouth.
"Rufus is tall," Malia said. "White hair. The greenest eyes I've ever seen. Wears strange clothes-light and strong but not leather. And if they haven't taken it from him, he carries a shoulder bag with unusual things inside."
Alexia was frowning at the description, and Nophel knew that she recognized it. So without any prompting from Peer and Malia-and without pausing to consider whether it was a good or bad idea-he told the Unseen who Rufus was and where he came from.
A loaded silence gripped them all. Nophel expected Malia to berate him, but she did not. He thought Alexia might laugh dismissively, but she simply stared at him.
It was Peer who broke the silence. "So you see why we have to get him back."
"And I should help why?" Alexia asked.
Nophel told the others what she had said, but already the answer was with him, obvious in his flesh and blood.
"There's a cure when you thought there wasn't," he said. "When he gave it to me, Dane Marcellan called it White Water."
Alexia did not act surprised, nor did she ask why a Marcellan would cure Nophel and not anyone else, but anger burned bright in her eyes. "Now that you've told us, the Unseen will look for it themselves."
"And knowing that, Dane will keep it where you can never find it."
"You think he'll listen to you?" Alexia asked, and Nophel knew just how far removed she was. It did not concern him that he was using her-there was very little guilt, even knowing that the chance of procuring the White Water for them was almost nil. But the fact that she actually believed there was a chance was a mark of her utter desperation. Accepting help from such a woman would be a great risk. He looked back at Peer and Malia, saw that they knew what he had offered, and then nodded.
"Yes. He listens to me. Help us, and I'll help you all."
"All," Alexia said softly. "There aren't many of us left. Only those like me, who hang on. Who still see themselves as part of this city."
"And that's how you know about Rufus?" he asked, probing for more information now that she did not seem so defensive.
But perhaps Alexia was not as damaged by her curse as he thought. She smiled at him-and at the others, as if they could see-then played her final card. "Your blood," she said. "Whatever was given to you is in your blood."
"Go on," Nophel said softly.
"A trade," Alexia said. "Think about this: You know what we are and where we can go, because you were one of us for a time. We have days to fill. The city hides fewer secrets from us than from most other people, but the enigma that has intrigued me and those close to me for so long is apart from the city-Dragar's Canton. We know the best routes in, the best out, the ones they guard and those they don't. And when they use guards, we know how best to distract them. We know some of the domes' insides, though they're not easy to know. The Dragarians suspect, but they're a superstitious people, and they consider us as phantoms of phantoms. So we'll lead you in and help you find your man, and we'll help you bring him out. But first you must offer some of your blood."