Page 43 of Shadows and Flames (Twin Blades #2)
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ELIáN
T he Vyrkos was still following us.
Like a sullen mosquito buzzing around us. The way we tread led directly back to the city, so, unless he was completely helpless, he would not have gotten lost.
We continued to follow my queen as she veered off the main road, taking a thinner path that was slightly overgrown, returning back to the land. Tana spoke in harsh, hushed tones with the Vyrkos as he grumbled back at her, never once breaking off from our procession.
The witch was too kind, but Tom, Meline, and I had also rid ourselves of the responsibility of dealing with him. He could follow and stay out of our way, or his life would be simple to end.
Long reeds swayed, feathery tips fluttering around us.
The shushed lapping of fresh water sang with it, and then, the bottoms of my boots met stone.
The crumbled remnants of pavement led forward toward a dark, decrepit structure.
Bringing into view the hill it sat upon, as well as the small lake below the ruins of a bridge.
Stone piers jutted up from the water, alluding to what once stood, but nearest us, at the start of the bridge, sat a millhouse, suspended over the water.
Fenix’s and Tana’s steps were muted as we went, and I sensed a human, heart rate slightly elevated, pacing within the structure that was older than me.
I took the moment to walk parallel to my queen, glancing at her. Her power had retreated, no longer visible from what I could see, but I would be na?ve to assume it was not close to the surface.
I did not feel remorse for killing Von Herron, and perhaps this was a reflection of my own selfishness, the need to win. But I was also aware this moment, this mission, was now completely hers. To find a lost friend.
It was important to her, so it was important to me. Instead of words, I brushed my fingers along the edge of her forearm, where her sleeve billowed as we walked. She did not react, at least outwardly, but I did not miss the smoothing of tension around her mouth.
A stale rank filled the air, and for a moment, I worried it would crumble around us.
Old paint was peeling and flaking off the walls, rotten.
Silver moonlight peeked through the slats of the millhouse, some boards fallen away completely.
Rusted and rotten supplies were pushed to the corners, anything useful pilfered long ago.
We kicked up dust as we entered to face the human with sword drawn.
“What is this?” he asked gruffly through his teeth. His bald head shone smooth in the dim light, and his beard was a full, slate gray. A dark cloak obscured his shoulders but left his leather breastplate visible.
My queen sighed and slowed her approach. “It’s fine, Blackwood. They are… well, they’re with us and no danger to you.”
He did not lower his sword as he chuckled dryly. “Seems as if I’ve been told that right before being stabbed in the back.”
Meline stopped before him, within range of his weapon. I fought my worry for her safety, reminding myself she was more than capable of fighting off any attack that came her way. It was irrational, and I knew she would not appreciate the show of protectiveness.
It did not stop my focused monitoring of this Blackwood’s movements, though.
Meline moved slowly, as if to not startle him, and reached in the leather bag. She held up a hand, wordlessly asking for calm and speaking peace. With the other, she pulled out Von Herron’s head by his hair.
The man froze then dropped his sword to his side. He jutted a finger at my queen and took a step closer to her. “This wasn’t part of your contract.”
A glance at my brother revealed him to be just as perplexed as I was. What did this man want with Von Herron alive? And why did he need to hire a mercenary to bring him?
“I fucking know that. We didn’t kill him.” She did not need to point to Tomás and me. The accusation was abundantly clear.
Blackwood processed through what Meline said, watching the rest of us watching him, and I predicted he would become defensive again a few moments before he raised his blade at us. He crouched into a fighting stance. “Then you won’t be getting your fucking payment.”
Meline dangled the head at her side, jostling it as she argued back with their employer. “I don’t care about the payment. We wanted information from Von Herron, and now that we don’t have the opportunity, we are asking it of you.”
“Why in God’s name would I do anything for you?” He shook his head, angling toward the door. Of course, we were blocking the way, and the sweep of his gaze back and forth, calculating his options, revealed his anxiety over that fact.
Tana stepped up, hands waving in a placating rhythm. “Could you tell us what you wanted with him in the first place? Maybe we can help you, even with him dead.”
He snorted, hands beginning to tremble. A human against four— five —blood drinkers did not provide high likelihood he’d be able to fight us off. “I’m leaving now.” He said, and none of us moved.
“Blackwood,” Meline growled, “we are trying to find someone. And we believe Von Herron had a way of communicating with those who took this person.” The man stiffened, his heart skipping before he tried to bury his reaction.
My queen noticed, and he grew more agitated. “I don’t know nothin’ you’re talking about. Now, back away from the door.”
“Just answer their questions, mate.”
Blackwood sneered, tensed muscles revealing his intention of charging toward the exit.
I stepped in his path, drew my short swords, and batted his weapon away faster than he could track.
It clattered to the ground, and I kicked it away.
My eyes were sharp enough to watch it slide, partially underneath a decaying wagon, but his mortal senses could not find it.
He drew one of the daggers on his belt instead, the sour scent of fear rising.
“You have an idea of who I’m talking about, don’t you? Are they part of the reason you needed Von Herron?” Meline edged toward the man who bared his fangless teeth and retreated toward the corner, like a threatened animal. “Do you know where they are? How we can get to them?”
Blackwood scoffed, pointing his weapon that now trembled in his fist. “What do you want with ‘em?”
“What do you want with them?” Tana asked.
I had no idea who they were talking about, but that predatory focus returned within my queen, and Blackwood was the center of it. Or, the information he held.
“He stole it from me. Needed him to break the deal.”
Meline straightened, rolling her eyes and shaking Von Herron’s head, which she still held. “Why must everyone speak in riddles. We will help you retrieve what he stole if it means getting closer with ‘them’. All right? Can you put your dagger away?”
Blackwood hesitated, lip quivering as he silently spoke to himself, maybe running through the assurance my queen offered, or assessing the odds of him getting past all of us.
The man heaved a weary sigh, his age showing in the husky sound and the wrinkles beside his eyes.
He lowered the dagger while not completely relaxing from his defensive crouch.
This Blackwood had a right to be suspicious—I would have thought him stupid had he not been—but he was also smart enough to know when he had little other options.
“Great! Now, what can we help you with?” Tana spoke as if she stood at a counter and was greeting a pharmacy customer, not offering a consolation service for a failed contract.
My queen pinched the bridge of her nose. Perhaps I would feel badly if my actions truly kept them from finding Francie.
“How are you going to do that? Von Herron was supposed to come with me, to rearrange the terms of the deal he cut me out of. Can’t quite do that now, can I?
” He gestured toward the head Meline had by the hair.
My queen lifted it, glancing at Von Herron in his unseeing eyes and tilting her head, as if listening to some silent communication.
And, if by the otherworldly coolness that swept the millhouse, the gentle wafting of black smoke around where she connected with the dead man, she was. Hearing him.
Meline turned, as if following something, and I leaned toward her. To do what, I did not know, but the center of her eyes had turned black and expanded to leave just a thin ring of white around it. Eclipsed, but not entirely.
“You won’t just fucking tell us?” she growled then sighed.
Meline jerked her head toward the door and rolled her eyes again at the same time a shot of ice ran down my spine.
“He probably deserves that,” she called to no one and was unbothered or unaware of the confusion on my face, the wide stares from the others.
My queen dropped Von Herron’s head, letting it thunk onto the millhouse floor. She swiped her gloved hands together, as if ridding herself of the sensation. With a deep breath, my queen dropped her shoulders and refocused on Blackwood who had slunk further into the corner.
“Apparently, you were not cut out, you were bested before you could do the same to him.” Blackwood opened his mouth to retort, but Meline waved his argument away before he could give it.
“I could give a shit about that. The important thing is, he so graciously informed me how to convince them to transfer the same arrangement to you.”
“Who told you that. No one was talking ‘cept for you!”
“Who the fuck else would I have been talking to. Von Herron’s spirit was lingering enough to curse your name, tell me what I needed to know, and fuck off to the afterlife.”
Of course. Death Wielder.
“Bullshit,” the man cursed, and had I not witnessed the might of my queen’s powers, I may have had a similar reaction.
“He said verbatim, ‘Walt is a jealous old curmudgeon with no tact who I could not afford to include in the bargain, lest he offend them and get us both killed.’” The man went red from hairline to throat.
“Luckily for you, I have the knowledge of how you can secure a deal yourself to…what? Be the one to transport their goods or something? Paschal was too busy chuckling about you being a cuckold, so that’s an assumption. ”
Blackwood spat on the floor while Tana could not contain her giggles, even when she slapped her palms over her mouth.
“That fucker excluded me from a monopoly that made him richer than most of the men on this fucking continent. I took in the fucking street rat only to have him double-cross me.”
“And fuck your spouse, apparently. Shame, mate.”
I reflected on the information I knew of Von Herron, the wealthiest merchant in Morova, the region. They’d not said explicitly, but our employers had wanted him dead for the same reason Blackwood wanted him at his mercy. For greed.
“The Morovan textiles. This somehow is their doing?” I asked.
Von Herron had his hand in the textiles now characteristic of Morova, but the iridescent fabric had not always been a staple there.
I had traveled long enough to remember a time before such products were available, before even the moderately well-off were able to dress in trappings that glowed and sparkled.
Blackwood’s body trembled, though not from fear. His fists tightened at his sides. “His agreement was binding. They wouldn’t even consider working with me, pledging all loyalty to him.”
Tomás crossed his arms. “And you want to be rich, not just make a living. Fine, are we ready to go?”
“Go where?” the Vyrkos asked, garnering a few glares.
“We will help you secure an agreement with this people who provide such wonderful fabric,” Meline barely held back her scoff, “and protect you during such proceedings. All we need is a chance to speak with them about our own interests.”
“All of us didn’t agree to that!”
My queen hushed Tomás while keeping her attention on Blackwood. The muscle over his bearded jaw ticked, and he ran his gaze over all of us. I did not enjoy my Shadow duties that included guarding as much as I did the hunting and killing. But I would gladly participate, for my queen.
“You will guard my back as I make another deal, with no other payment aside from asking them your questions?” Someone grumbled at the ‘no payment’ part of the agreement, but we otherwise remained silent. The floorboards of the millhouse creaked beneath our feet.
Meline nodded sharply. “Yes.”