Page 69 of When Storms Ruin

She turned and grimaced at the front door of the pub we stood outside of, a shiver running down her spine.

“True,” Puck agreed. “And if Tyr was welcome there…those folks might be running in circles that have them associated with the Kotova bloodline.”

Tyr wouldn’t have stolen the spell…would he? Tyr was a Kotova, but he wasn’t a Stormshade. He would have no need of the spell for himself.

We carefully crossed The Shadow, following the way Liss had led us last time we had been here. We were careful to keep our heads down and eyes up, alert to any possible threats. The Shadow appeared more deserted than usual today, which was certainly saying something.

Quite a few of the seedier shops had closed since our last pass through, their windows and doors boarded up. The second pub was near the base of the staircase that led back up out of The Shadow on the other side, and it was nestled at the end of a long stone corridor.

We rounded the corner and were surprised to find this pub much livelier than the last. There were girls dancing on the bar top, ale sloshing from their mugs, and men pounding their fists against the bar as they cheered. The music wascoming from a live folk band nestled into the back corner of the pub, where there appeared to be some type of poker game taking place.

There were both young and old patrons, and the clientele didn’t appear nearly as questionable as the last place. Nik and Puck pushed their way through the crowd to the bar where they perched on a couple of stools. Tess and I followed, keeping an eye out for any of Fletcher’s men who might frequent a place such as this.

“Hey!” Puck called out, raising a hand to get the attention of the bartender.

A younger man with a mustache approached, leaning across the bar. “What can I do you for?”

“We are looking for someone. Do you know a Phineas Wolfe?” Puck asked.

The bartender raised his brow and glanced down the bar to see if anyone was close enough to hear.

“You’re not likely to find Mr. Wolfe in a place like this. Your best bet is Madam Dougherty’s over on West. Do me a favor? Don’t tell him I sent you.”

Puck nodded, and the bartender disappeared behind the bar to tend to the next patron. We had passed West street on our way here, we would only need to backtrack a bit. Was Madam Dougherty’s a brothel? What kind of business was this Mr. Wolfe into, anyway?

We shuffled back out of the bar, avoiding the sloshing drinks of the drunk patrons as we made our way back onto the street. I had to admit, that bar looked like a good time, and I was a little sad to be leaving so soon.I knew we needed to focus on retrieving the key spell, but I had a craving for alargemug of ale right about now.

West street was a few blocks away and only took us a few minutes to walk to. I was surprised we hadn’t gotten lost yet, but didn’t want to mention that out loud and jinx it.

We found a stone building stained with moss that had a small, wooden sign hanging out front declaring this to be Madam Dougherty’s. There was no indication of what type of establishment it was, and there were no windows to peer into.

Nik pulled on the heavy wooden door, and we entered into darkness. The door led to a staircase which we descended, finding an attendant at a wooden stand asleep across his books at the bottom.

Nik cleared his throat, but the attendant didn’t budge. Puck gave him a slight nudge, and he woke with a start, whipping his head up. He took our group in with a scrutinizing gaze before turning to Nik, deciding he must be the leader.

He cleared his throat. “Appointment?”

“We don’t have an appointment,” Nik started, shifting uncomfortably. Maybe wehadwalked into a brothel after all. “We are looking for someone. Phineas Wolfe.”

The attendant nodded before disappearing behind the black curtain behind him. A moment later he returned.

“Follow me.”

Had we found him already? Could it be that easy?

The simple part would likely be finding him…getting him to give up the spell on the other hand was something else entirely.

We followed the man behind the curtain to a small room with a folded table at the center. A woman sat atop a tall chair, a scrying glass before her, an empty seat across from her. So, not a brothel after all. I breathed a sigh of relief.

It appeared Madam Dougherty was a fortune teller of some sort, and I doubted any fortune she might tell would be a positive one based off on her moody expression.

“Madam, we are looking for Phineas Wolfe. Do you know where we might find him?” Nik asked, leaning over the chair across from her to bring himself down to her level.

She glanced up at him and her mouth thinned. “You just missed him.”

Tess and I visibly deflated. How many places were we going to have to search in order to find this man?

Nik sighed, clearly frustrated. “Do you know where we might find him?”

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