Jakob turned back around. “Let me see your toes.”
“What? Why do you want me to show you my toes?”
His voice was bleak. “Take off your stockings. Do it.”
Maia didn’t move. “You have to trust me, Jakob. I called you here for a reason — to help me finish something. Once my task is completed then you and I can travel the Continua the way we used to. Wouldn’t you like that?”
The crushing sensation lifted, a little. Maybe there was some other explanation. “What sort of task?”
“There is a thing from beyond the Gyre, trying to take property that belongs by right to my mistress, the Banthet.”
He hadn’t heard that name before, and he drew hope from it. “Go on,” he urged. “Tell me of this thing.”
She misunderstood the warmth in his voice as a sign she had convinced him. “It is a profane blendi
