Page 81 of Of Fate and Phantoms
"Why was he your leader?" I asked. "Was he stronger than the others?"
"Aye, but there's more to it than that. A leader's got to be liked. King's liked, all right." He sneered. "Some think he can do anything he wants, and they bow to him like he really is the king sometimes."
"Canhe do anything he wants? Can hebeanything he wants?"
His gaze sharpened. He swallowed. I had my answer—King was the man we needed.
"He can shift into all sorts of different shapes, can't he?" I pressed when Gawler didn't respond.
He backed away. "I didn't tell you that. I didn't say nothing."
"Where can we find him?"
"I have to go."
"No!" both Harriet and I cried.
"Please, Mr. Gawler," she said. "I have so many questions. Are there any women in your pack?"
"I told you, they ain't my pack no more."
"But you're still friends."
He lifted one shoulder.
"I want to speak to them," she said, striding up to him. She reached for him, but he shrank back and she let her hands drop to her sides. "Please, where can I find them?"
He glanced toward the exit. "Best you don't come looking. We don't want no attention." He tilted his chin at me. "Most of us don't want no trouble."
"What about Mr. King?" I asked. "Does he court trouble by shifting into the shape of others?"
His nostrils flared and he sniffed the air. Drawing in my scent and committing it to memory? "King ain't my concern no more. I don't care if he gets into trouble. I don't want none of it, you hear?"
"What has he done?"
He paced backward but kept his gaze on Harriet, matching him step for step. "Please," she begged, her voice shaking. "Please, I want to meet the others."
"Mr. Gawler," I snapped. "This is important. The royal family may be in danger."
He stopped. Stared at me. His throat worked but he didn't speak. He could only shake his head, over and over. Then he turned and sprinted away.
"Wait!" Harriet cried. She did not, however, try to run after him.
I took her hand and she allowed me to lead her back to the coach. She sat in the cabin, blinking back tears. "I can't believe he would run off like that," she muttered. "What am I to do now?"
"Nothing," Alice said. "Mr. Gawler spoke of the dangers, and I see his point. You must protect yourself and stay away."
Harriet hunkered in the corner, a pout on her lips and a hollowness to her eyes. We emerged from the market and rolled along the street. As miserable as Harriet was, I couldn't be unhappy. We had a nameanda place now. Gawler had mentioned that King lived in Bloomsbury. Lincoln had been looking in the wrong area, that's why he couldn't find him. And from Gawler's reaction, I knew King was the man we needed.
We deposited Finley and Mink back at their Clerkenwell home along with the blankets. They both looked rather pale by the light of the coach lamps. They couldn't have heard our conversation with Gawler from where they sat, but they'd seen Doyle's pistol and the scars on Gawler's shoulder. They must have guessed the meeting could have turned dangerous.
"Will you be all right?" I asked them as I carried an armful of blankets to the boards covering the entrance to their den.
"Course," Finley said. "Weren't nothing to be scared of."
Mink lifted the boards with his foot and threw the blankets inside.
"Mink?" I asked as he reached for the stack in my arms. "What about you?"
