Strong Mystery: Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica) Read Free

shortly. The innkeeper bobbed impatiently in
the background.
    “You should go with him,” she repeated. The Westerner turned
towards the innkeeper.
    “Well, lead on.” The Westerner made a hurrying motion with his
hands, then picked up the single bag at his feet.
    “My thanks again,” he said with a shorter bow in her direction.
Jinhao gave him a nod, watching him climb the stairs after the innkeeper.
    “You seemed comfortable with the foreign Devil,” Lee Shen
remarked, appearing at her elbow.
    “I could not stand the commotion,” she replied. “Besides, he
was simply a man like any other.”
    Lee Shen grunted.
    “Perhaps,” he said. ”Although I am not accustomed to having men
nearby who can call fire like a sword. It may be different for you.”
    Jinhao thought he could have little idea just how accustomed to
it she was.
    Lee Shen continued.
    “Still, it was well done,” he said. “Dealing with him calmed
old Chen Lu right down. He was almost hopping with anxiety at the unlucky
appearance of the Westerner.”
    Jinhao imagined the portly old Trader hopping from foot to
foot, wringing his hands. She suppressed an impulse to giggle. It would not do
to make fun of their employer, no matter how comedic his displays of worry had
been on the road. Lee Shen nodded, as if guessing her thoughts.
     “He was ready to pull up and go back on the road,” he added.
Jinhao whirled her head to look at him.
    “Surely not,” she said in surprise.
    Shen cocked his head to one side.
    “I convinced him that it was too late,” Lee Shen said. “Too
dangerous to move around in the dark. Still, a Quizi is an uncanny
thing.”
    “You do not know that he is Quizi ,” she said sharply. Quizi was Mandarin slang for “Tricky Foreign Demon”, a term that had become very
popular here in the south over the centuries.
    “I do not know that he is not,” Lee Shen returned. “Such a
meeting is uncanny in itself, I feel it in my bones.”
    Jinhao failed to reply, suddenly feeling the crawling tingle up
her neck that she felt before a premonition. Lee Shen looked at her, noticing
her shiver.
    “You feel it too,” he observed.
    “Perhaps,” Jinhao said diffidently. She had no desire to
explain to him her birthright. Lee Shen nodded emphatically.
    “Damn right,” he said forcefully. “Mark my words, uncanny.
Anyway, the Trader wishes to be off in the morning, as do I. Best get some
sleep.”
    “Shall I post a guard at his door?” she asked.
    “No need,” Lee Shen rolled his eyes. “I shall sleep in his room
on the floor. So much for a real bed tonight.”
    Jinhao allowed herself a small smile.
    “Better you than I,” she turned towards the door. “I had best
see to the others in the stable.” Lee Shen grunted in agreement.
    ~ ~ ~
    Jinhao was just unrolling her sleeping blankets on
the rooftop when she spotted trouble . While the trail boss had
given her the preferred spot in the stable loft, she had learned that it caused
much less resentment if she was generous in such small matters with the other
guards. Besides, she preferred to sleep in a place that was hard for an
opponent to reach, yet gave her a quick escape should she need it.
    Her Adept trained eyes saw the shadowy figures stealing
across the main house’s rooftop. She paused thoughtfully, watching them. She
should give the alarm. Stealthy figures sneaking across rooftops were up to no
good. Once again though, she felt the tingly fingers of her intuition across
her neck.
    Picking up her sword tack with a sigh, she gathered her Qi and
leaped across the distance from the stable rooftop to the main house, landing
feather-light on the slates. Keeping to the shadows herself, she spied the dark
figures creep forward and silently enter a window. She counted three of them
and frowned. That was too many for common thievery or killing, as one was
usually enough if they were at all competent. These figures moved as if they
were indeed very competent.
    She was certain