Chapter 10 · The Bottle Under Lockdown

The checkpoint appeared three blocks from Milo's shop, and it wasn't supposed to be there.

Wantang pulled her hood lower. Two royal guards flanked a makeshift barricade, stopping everyone who tried to pass. One held a list. The other had his hand on his sword.

"They locked down the whole district," Rowan said quietly. He steered the carriage into a narrow side street. "Four hours ago. No one in or out without crown clearance."

"Convenient timing." Wantang watched the guards through the gap in the curtain. "Elira dies, and suddenly no one can reach the apothecary who made the original draught."

Rowan's jaw tightened. "They're not just blocking the district. They're erasing the evidence before we can touch it."

Wantang's fingers curled around the metal token Elira had pressed into her palm. The dying woman's words still echoed. Find the broker. Find who bought the poison. But first, she needed the bottle Milo had been hiding.

"Can you get us through?" she asked.

Rowan didn't answer right away. He scanned the checkpoint, the guards, the narrow alley that ran behind the row of shops. Finally he met her eyes.

"Yeah," he said. "But you're going to hate how.