Path of Smoke Read Online Free Page B

Path of Smoke
Book: Path of Smoke Read Online Free
Author: Bailey Cunningham
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supposed to blend in, remember? There’s a bounty on my head, but everyone’s looking for a sagittarius. Nobody will notice another girl in a dress.”
    â€œYou’re not another girl in a dress,” he said.
    â€œWell—” She looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “Don’t get any ideas. I can kill you with these shoes.”
    â€œI’ve no doubt.”
    They both leaned against the wall. Babieca heard faint strains of laughter from the garden, and more distantly, the hum of Via Rumor. The nocturnal citizens of Anfractus were moving from party to party, hunting for diversion. They assumed that their lamps and knives and connections would keep them safe as they darted between houses, avoiding the shadows. Most of them were right. But before the night was over, a few of them would disappear.
    â€œYou played nicely,” Morgan said.
    â€œI strummed my fingers bloody, and all I have to show for it is a pocket full of dormice.” He reached into his tunica. “Want one? They’re still warm.”
    â€œNo thanks.”
    â€œShit. I must have dropped them.” He closed his eyes. “All they’re going to remember is the spado’s voice.”
    â€œIt’s hard to forget.”
    â€œThe worst part is that I’m sober.”
    â€œHere.” She handed him a wineskin.
    â€œWhere did you steal this?”
    â€œIt’s better that you don’t know.”
    He took a sip, then passed it back to Morgan. “This is usually the moment when you lecture me on public drunkenness.”
    â€œI don’t have the strength.” She took a sip, then put the wineskin away. “Is this what we’ve become? Entertainment for that woman?”
    â€œI’m the entertainment. Fel’s the muscle. And you—” He blinked. “Why are you here, exactly? To make us look bad?”
    â€œI’m her eyes and ears.”
    â€œA spy.” He smiled. “A bit like your previous post on the battlements, only you get to wear much nicer shoes.”
    â€œI have a dagger, although I’m not telling you where I put it.”
    â€œGood. Let me imagine.”
    â€œI’d prefer that you didn’t.”
    Babieca felt the moss tickling his hair. “I saw Julia.”
    â€œEveryone loves her frogs.”
    â€œDo you think she’d ever—” He shrugged. “I mean, we could use an artifex.”
    â€œIt’s not safe for her to be seen with us.”
    â€œBecause we’re so terrifying.”
    â€œBabieca, she still has a chance. The Gens of Artifices will support her.”
    â€œWho’s going to support us?”
    She chuckled. “At least we’re still getting work.”
    â€œUntil Domina Pendelia decides to throw us under the wheel.”
    â€œIf that was her plan, she’d have done it a long time ago.”
    â€œYou aren’t normally this trusting.”
    â€œWhat choice do I have?”
    â€œYou could roll again. Shoot another arrow.” He smiled. “Maybe if you rolled high enough, you could hit the basilissa from here.”
    â€œDon’t be stupid.”
    â€œIt was a hell of a shot, though.”
    She looked at her hands. “It was.”
    â€œYou’d need another stone arrow. We could ask the gnomo who lives in Pendelia’s garden. Do you think he’s still there?”
    â€œI have no idea.”
    â€œMaybe if we listened hard enough, we could hear him.”
    Morgan looked at Babieca. Then she touched his hand, lightly. She was about to say something, but stopped. They both heard the sound of footsteps. Quickly, Morgan pulled him into the shadows. They crouched in the corner of the alley. He felt better, knowing that Morgan was here. Not much better, but a little.
    Two figures stepped into the alley. One was slender and wore a white cloak with the hood pulled down. The other was large and wearing some kind of dark mantle. He seemed out of

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