“None,” Skye said. “I must have the interview.”

“At least you’re not begging for money,” Lady Madeline said. “Or trying to interact with my friends.” She shivered theatrically.

“Thank you, Mother,” Skye said.

“Thanks,” Cole added sincerely. He had been braced for Lady Madeline to reject their request. They were going to find Dalton! It was actually happening! How long would it take before they came face-to-face?

“Thank me with your silence,” Lady Madeline scolded Cole, fanning herself. She turned to address Skye again. “Am I to understand that you and your stalwart footmen expect to sleep here tonight?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Skye said.

“It is far from ideal, but I can hardly throw you out,” she replied. “You know where to find the guest rooms. Try not to advertise your presence. I will send a message to Gustus in the morning. It normally takes months to earn a response from him. Expect an interview by the afternoon. I hope you know what you’re doing, Skylark.”

Skye kissed her mother on the cheek. “So do I.”

Chapter 18

THE SILVER LINING

Late the following morning, Cole, Jace, and Skye climbed out of a hired coach and onto a shabby street corner. They all wore new clothes that had been dropped by the townhouse late that morning, and Skye carried a written invitation. She looked prim in a white blouse and tweed skirt. Cole and Jace wore buttoned shirts, pressed trousers, and brown leather shoes.

Skye led the way to an alley between a run-down pawnshop and a moneylender. Iron grates guarded the windows of both businesses. The cobblestone roadway was knobby enough that Cole worried about turning an ankle.

As they reached the entrance of the alley, a pair of tough guys detached from the wall to bar the way. One of them wore a flat cap and had a pronounced underbite. The other had a wide scar that curved from below one ear to his upper lip.

“Nice folks don’t go this way,” said the guy with the underbite. He kept both hands in his pockets.

“None of us are nice,” Skye replied.

The thugs parted to let them pass. Cole hurried after Skye, keeping his eyes on the uneven cobblestones.

The first stretch of the alley curved. When it straightened, Cole saw that it ran onward for an unrealistic distance, shrinking to nothing before an end came into view. Merriston was a large city, but Cole didn’t think it was big enough to contain this alley.

“No way,” Jace said.

“Illusion,” Skye replied. “If we go too far, we’ll step through false ground and into a pit filled with spikes. Or something equally delightful.”

Cole noticed Jace slowed his pace, keeping Skye and Cole a little ahead of him. He hadn’t survived so many Sky Raider missions by being stupid.

The rough walls of the alley, constructed from fitted stone blocks, soared unusually high on both sides, with no doors or windows. Ivy spilled down from the top in some places. Skye held her invitation in one hand, glancing at it as they walked.

“Do you have a map on there?” Cole asked.

“No map,” she said. “But as we approached the alley, the card told me what to say when those thugs asked for the password. Mother suggested I keep it handy.”

“What are we looking for?” Cole asked.

“This leads to a service entrance,” Skye said. “I bet sections of these walls are false. There must be many hidden defenses. We’ve already passed a few scrubbers. We’re almost certainly being watched.”

Cole decided not to talk too much if they might be overheard. Most of this mission would be played by ear. The Silver Lining was only open in the evenings, and through the night. Since the confidence lounge was currently closed, the workers were either sleeping, relaxing, studying, or doing behind-the-scenes chores. Cole, Jace, and Skye would poke their noses into as many places as possible in the hope of coming across Dalton.

Cole could barely believe he was about to see his best friend. Dalton would be so surprised. Cole wondered how he would have felt if Dalton had just shown up one day to rescue him from the Sky Raiders. It was too mind-blowing to really imagine.

Skye stopped. “See?” She held up the invitation. All it had on it was an arrow pointing left. “This just appeared.”

Turning left, Skye experimentally pushed a hand through the wall. They passed through the seeming into a dim, narrow stairwell that descended to an iron door. Cole noticed that the arrow vanished from the invitation and a quote appeared: “Nobody else deserves me.”

A string dangled from a small hole in the door. Skye tugged it, and a bell clanged. A moment later, a peephole slid open. “Why should we let you in?” a man asked.

“Nobody else deserves me,” Skye replied.

The door opened. They passed a few armed guards and reached a second iron door. A guard there tapped an elaborate rhythm on the door with a small hammer. It opened, and they kept going.

They walked up a staircase and into a lovely courtyard. Flamingos waded in a dark, shallow pond. Trees with deeply grooved bark grew in fancifully contorted shapes. Dressed in togas, lovely women and handsome men roamed winding paths, softly playing a variety of instruments. The area smelled of moss and damp grass.

A woman with metallic golden skin and vibrant orange eyes approached them. “Skye Ryland?” she asked.

“Yes,” Skye replied, showing the invitation. “Along with my two young friends.”

“Please follow me,” the woman said. They crossed the courtyard to a heavy wooden door and entered a grand hall full of large portraits. Cole saw a few people walking around, all dressed in gray robes. One was about his age.

None were Dalton.

They walked through an insubstantial fireplace full of blazing logs and into another hallway. After passing several doors, the woman showed them through a mirror at the end of the hall.

Cole found himself in a spacious office. The entire back wall was the side of an enormous aquarium where three white narwhals swam, horns shining like silver. At a desk before the aquarium sat a plump man, bald on top, but with long gray hair dangling along the edges. He seemed like a regular human except for his eyes—bulbous mounds with tiny holes at the peaks. They swiveled like a chameleon’s.

The man rose as they entered. “Skye Ryland,” he said, opening his arms wide and smiling. “I never expected to see you here.”

“Hello, Gustus,” she said. “This is Cole and Jace.”

“Splendid boys, no doubt,” he said without a trace of sincerity. “The last time I saw you, I believe you were chased out of a party I attended.”