Chapter 9

Gregor Dandolo reaches the Selvo Building instead of responding to the Foundryside disaster, fearing ambush and hoping to catch Sark before word spreads. He enters via balconies, breaks into Sark’s rooms, and discovers a hidden safe behind an unused stove. Inside he finds cash, forged papers for flight, tools, jewels, and a job ledger. Recent entries show bigger payouts, sparse notes, an accomplice marked only as “S,” and a cryptic “Dandolo Hyp??,” which Gregor reads as Orso Ignacio, the Dandolo hypatus.

Heavy boots approach. Two masked men with scrived blades break in. Gregor clutters the room, trips the rapier-wielder, and the overpowered blade drags the man out a window to his death. He batters the second attacker unconscious with Whip, likely killing him through overwhelmed scrived clothing.

The wall then erupts as a third assailant fires a shrieker—an outlawed, military-grade projectile that screams and detonates overhead. Gregor, concussed and choking on smoke, realizes someone has a working lexicon to power it inside Tevanne, which should be impossible. The gunman corners him and demands the thief.

A blinding stun bomb flies in from the balcony. A small, black-clad girl appears, blowguns a toxin dart into the shrieker-man’s neck, and drags Gregor to safety. In an alley, she berates him for ruining her plans and reveals she was watching Sark’s room for a score. Connecting her presence with Sark and the waterfront theft, Gregor tries and fails to arrest her.

Gregor offers mercy and protection if she surrenders, insisting he will not lie or kill needlessly. She believes him but refuses, darts him, and escapes. At dawn, Gregor wakes hidden under refuse, recalls her scent—like a Tevanni foundry—and limps away, newly convinced the thief is tied to a foundry and that powerful forces, possibly Orso Ignacio, are involved.