Read Online Beneath the Surface by Lindsay Buroker - Free Book Online Page A

delightful. You should trying unsheathing it as often as your sword.”
    “ I’ll consider it.” Evrial pointed again. “Now there are two figures working their way along the wall after—”
    “ I see them. And, yes, I think that’s Akstyr. Even if someone else had adopted his hairstyle, nobody here would have the poor fashion sense to wear clothes three sizes too large. I wonder if there’s some way we can get to him before they do.”
    “ Go under the tables?”
    “ I don’t think either of us is small enough for that.” Maldynado shifted out of his nook. “We’ll have to use the elbow method.”
    “ You seem to have a knack for it.” Evrial touched her knife for reassurance as she followed him, though she feared the universe might have an ill fate in mind for her if she brawled with the same enforcers—and hurled them over the side of a steamboat again. If her captain found out, she’d never get her job back.
    “ I have big elbows,” Maldynado said over his shoulder as he jostled more people aside. Now that the show was starting, this drew even more grunts of anger, and Evrial almost received a punch meant for him. “Other things as well,” Maldynado added.
    “ Such as your head, I know.” Evrial shoved him to encourage more movement and less talking.
    They turned the corner and headed down the side of the dining hall. By now, men and women in sleek, tight-fitting clothing were performing handsprings, somersaults, and flips back and forth across the stage, their movements synchronized to the drumbeats. Evrial wondered how they’d manage the athletic feats on ice. If the city wasn’t immersed in bloodshed when they arrived, maybe she could attend a show.
    Maldynado halted.
    With drumbeats reverberating from the walls, Evrial had to stand on her tiptoes to speak into his ear. “What is it?”
    She didn’t hear all of the words in his response. “...lost him... those enforcers...”
    Evrial leaned around him for a better view. They’d reached the end of the standing area, and only tables remained before the stage. If she and Maldynado drew closer, they’d risk being highlighted by the colored lamps. But there was no reason to. Akstyr and the two enforcers had disappeared. Evrial checked on the enforcers at the table, then looked away. One of the men’s faces pointed toward the stage, but the other fellow was gazing straight at her and Maldynado.
    “ We may not want to linger,” Evrial said.
    “ Oh, I agree, but where do we go? I don’t see a door, or where they went.”
    “ Backstage?” Evrial pointed to black curtains hanging between the wall and the side of the stage. She assumed a doorway or stairs lay behind them.
    “ I have a feeling backstage will be busy.”
    Evrial glanced at the enforcer table again. Both men were gone. “Blast it, go, Maldynado. Better to deal with performers than enforcers.” When she heard the words come out of her mouth, she frowned. She told herself she wasn’t thinking like an outlaw; it was just these particular enforcers she needed to avoid, not uniformed people in general.
    “ Whatever you say, my lady.” Maldynado stuck his hands in his pockets and casually strolled toward the curtains.
    He looked about as inconspicuous as a purple-winged swallowtail on an apple tart. Figuring they’d already been spotted, Evrial hustled past him and reached the curtains first. She parted them and paused only long enough to make sure the other two enforcers weren’t standing there with crossbows. Costumed dancers milled about, waiting for their turn on stage, but she didn’t see anyone armed. A muscled, bare-chested man standing nearby did turn around and frown at them.
    “ What—”
    Maldynado giggled and grabbed Evrial’s arm. The giggle surprised her into silence. She’d heard all sorts of laughs from him, but nothing that effeminate.
    “ I told you, sweetling,” he slurred, “that’s not the right door.” He blinked a few times at the performer with