We arrived at the station after about twenty minutes of a silent foot march. I knew Regin had already cast his human disguise, but I had never actually seen it myself—my Schutzgeist made me immune to the spell. Naturally, I was curious.
I leaned toward Heinrich. "Heinrich, I can't see him in his human form since the spell doesn't affect me. How does Regin look?"
Heinrich looked at me, adjusted his glasses, then glanced over at Regin. He seemed to be holding back a laugh.
"Actually, sir, it's quite funny. My theory is that his disguise takes the form of an old man, but it mixes that with whatever people subconsciously find most calming in the moment. So right now he looks like a balding old man with a walking cane and glasses as big as my fingers. His ears could belong to an elephant, and his nose is so big he could smell someone all the way in Mexico."
I chuckled, then tried to laugh silently so Regin wouldn't hear. Heinrich joined me—unfortunately, Regin noticed.
"What are you two laughing about, eh?" he grumbled.
"Nothing," I answered quickly. "Heinrich just told me a good joke."
Regin muttered something under his breath and turned away, heading toward the lady selling tickets.
I scanned our surroundings. It was an old station: the rails were outside with no roof above them, and the staff wore nothing fancy except the waiters and conductors. Mechanics hurried around everywhere. There was only one rail line—the trains came from southern Germany and headed northeast toward Berlin.
Five people stood or sat in the waiting area for the night train. They immediately caught my attention.
The first was an elderly man, maybe sixty, with a sharp, unpleasant face and small round glasses. More alarming was his SA uniform—he didn't look like a low-ranking member of that vile organization.
The second was a gigantic bearded man wearing thick fur-lined clothing and an ushanka. His beard was long and black as the night. Two briefcases sat beside him, looking tiny next to his massive frame.
The third man wore a dark blue suit that must have cost a fortune. A velvet neckerchief with a bright green emerald brooch hung around his neck. He had short dark hair and a strikingly handsome face. He admired himself in a small silver mirror.
The fourth and fifth were a man and a woman standing close together. Their clothes were unremarkable, but the man kept glancing left and right while holding the woman by the shoulders, as if afraid of something—or someone.
They were an interesting bunch.
Regin snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Tom, hurry up. I got the tickets and the train is nearly here. We should move unless you want to stay here forever admiring those idiots. The kid already boarded."
He was right—the train was about to leave. I took one last look at the five figures who were also preparing to board. Something in my gut told me this was going to be a very interesting journey to Berlin.