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and Chaudri had done the same to theirs before coming through. Now Quinn understood why they hadn’t let him shave since he’d come to the island. A man with a clean-­shaven face would stand out here.
    All of the tables were full, so they stood up against the bar. Quinn did his best to appear casual. The innkeeper came over and plunked down four heavy mugs. Logan paid him with odd-­shaped metallic coins from a leather purse at his belt. Then he took another fistful of coins and casually dumped them into the innkeeper’s apron pocket. The man moved away without seeming to notice.
    â€œWhat’s that about?” Quinn whispered.
    â€œDon’t let his manner fool you,” Logan said. “Old Sy keeps a squad of bruisers with steel-­wrapped cudgels on the other side of that door. If there’s trouble, we just bought their allegiance.”
    â€œFor how long?”
    â€œDaybreak . . . or as long as no one outbids us.”
    God, hired thugs with clubs waiting in a back room. They weren’t kidding about this being a rough place. Quinn couldn’t get out of here fast enough.
    Kiara left her ale on the bar untouched. “Logan and I will make the rounds. You two stay out of trouble.”
    Quinn picked up his mug and hefted it. The ale was honey-­colored and frothy, the glass cold to his touch. “Is it safe to drink?”
    â€œOne way to find out,” Chaudri said. She leaned back and took a sip.
    â€œYou look like you’re on vacation,” Quinn said.
    â€œI am, in a way. It’s one thing to study the data. Quite another to be over here collecting it firsthand.” She frowned, her eyes distant. “Dr. Holt did most of the fieldwork.”
    Quinn looked around the smoky common room, taking care not to stare at anyone for too long. The smoke helped with that—­the air was thick with it. Men and women crowded the tables, drinking and laughing and shouting at one another. Like a scene from King Arthur’s court. Guess that makes me Merlin. He could see the appeal of a little fieldwork.
    He thought more about what Chaudri had just said, about Holt doing most of it. “Did you work closely with him?”
    â€œFor most of my career,” Chaudri said. “He recruited me, trained me. Took me here for the first time.” She smiled in a kind of shy way.
    Not for the first time since he met her, Quinn thought, Maybe there’s a little more to this relationship than she’s letting on .
    â€œDoes he have a family?”
    â€œI don’t think so. His work was his top priority.”
    â€œHis name was on most of the briefing documents,” Quinn said. “Must be a pretty sharp guy.”
    â€œProbably one of the smartest men I know,” Chaudri said. She took a long pull of the ale. “He lived and breathed this place. Spent weeks here at a time. Not to discount the efforts of the whole research team,” she added quickly. “But Holt was sort of our visionary.”
    â€œYou know, through all of the briefings and strategy meetings, no one’s ever mentioned to me why he left.”
    Chaudri raised a hand purposefully and leaned her head on it, tapping off her communicator. Quinn did likewise.
    â€œJust between you and me, I think he got wind of something that the company was planning, and he didn’t like it.”
    â€œWhat are they planning?” Quinn asked.
    Chaudri paused. “You saw the armory, didn’t you?”
    â€œOf course. I spent two weeks there proving my martial incompetence to Logan. You must have every medieval weapon ever used in there.”
    â€œWe have even more in storage, and hundreds of mercenaries who know how to fight with them. Not to mention the siege engines on the roof of the armory.”
    â€œLike catapults?”
    â€œCatapults, mangonels, siege towers. Even a pair of trebuchets. All built by your friends in the prototyping lab to be lightweight