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Eleven

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Sass appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, escaped wisps of hair curling around her face. “I’m heading out for a bit.” She tucked her shirt into her pants with one hand. “Thought I’d pop into the carpenter’s shop across the way.”

Lira wanted to ask her why they needed a carpenter, although the answer was that there were a hundred things in The Tusk & Tail that needed fixing, but none of them were worth sparing coin on, according to the tightfisted tavernkeeper. Lira suspected the man had run his business half into the ground from stinginess, and didn’t have the silver even if he had thought new benches or chairs that didn’t wobble were a necessity.

“I’ll be here.” Lira had made quick work of rearranging the pantry and storing her new ingredients, but she now had a work table filled with a bag of sugar hard enough make a fine weapon, bundles of herbs that had dried for so long they were nearly dust, and a sack of flour crawling with weevils.

Sass made a face at the kitchen that had seemed to relapse into its previous state of disarray due to the emptied pantry. “No one will blame you for taking a break.”

Lira started to shake her head and say she didn’t need one, but Sass had already left the kitchen.

“Hmph.” Lira rested her hands on her hips as she sized up the work she’d done, wishing she had more to show for it. Then she stilled, listening for a minute to the absolute solitude of the tavern.

Sass had gone, Durn was most likely sleeping in his upstairs room, and there were no patrons to mention.

Lira glanced around, despite standing alone in the kitchen. It was as good a time as any, she thought. If the tavern started doing better, she wouldn’t get many more times when she had the place to herself.

She walked on her toes so as not to make a sound, even though reason told her it was wasted effort. Old habits died hard, and Lira’s rogue instincts snapped back into place the moment she slipped sideways through the swinging doors and hesitated outside the entrance to the cellar.

This time would be better. This time she wouldn’t be caught off guard by the wall.

She cut her gaze to the stairs and thought of the illumination stone upstairs. She’d tucked it back into its pouch and jammed it deep beneath her mattress. By the time she retrieved it, Sass could be back or Durn could hear her moving about upstairs and emerge from his room.

She couldn’t spare the time.

She changed course, taking just enough steps into the great hall to spy a lantern behind the bar. With one of the long matches placed near it, Lira lit the wick and made for the cellar door .

Remembering her last trip down, she held the rough wood of the staircase banister as she took measured steps. The yellow light from the lantern bounced off the walls, making for an easier descent, although her heart hammered just as erratically.

The fetid smell hadn’t improved since her last visit, and she pressed her lips together as she took shallow breaths. Passing the baskets of rotten food reminded her that the kitchen and great room weren’t the only places that needed some elbow grease, although she dreaded what she might find down there. She only hoped Sass hadn’t been right about the lingering odor of dead troll.

When she reached the bottom, Lira held the lantern in front of her as she made quick work of crossing to the farthest corner. The scuttling creatures were too fast for her to see, and she told herself that they weren’t anything bigger than the insects she’d encountered upstairs.

“Liar,” she whispered as she located the correct spot in the stone wall. Now that there was no shock at finding her hiding spot walled up, Lira knelt and placed the lantern on the dirt floor.

She ran her fingers across the smooth stones, searching for any gap in the mortar. There was none.

She pressed on the corner stone, hoping it might give way or even shift under her pressure. Nothing.

Cursing under her breath, Lira stood. There would be no budging the rocks without a tool of some kind—or several. She bit back a groan. And it would not be quiet.

She thought about what was behind the wall. For the briefest moment, she questioned if it was still where she’d buried it, but that thought was easily dismissed. She knew it hadn’t been moved from its hiding place. Even though it made no sense, she could feel its presence. Not to mention the fact that her stash was most certainly what the wyvern had detected.

A shiver slid down her back as she remembered the dark-winged creature. Durn’s protests wouldn’t hold him off forever. Not if he was as hungry for treasure as she suspected.

No, she needed to work fast if she was going to recover what was hers. Lira gritted her teeth with fresh determination as she wiped her hands on the front of her apron. What she needed was a plan. “And a team.”

This wasn’t the first time she missed her crew, and it wasn’t the first time she regretted leaving them.

A creak from overhead sent a fine mist of dust over her, warning her that someone was walking above.

Lira hurried back to the stairs and headed up, keeping the lantern close to her so it wouldn’t rattle as it swung. The cellar door was open a crack. Had she left it ajar—again?

She nudged the door open and slipped out, pressing it closed behind her and releasing a breath. If Sass was back, she didn’t hear her heavy step or distinctive humming.

Stepping toward the kitchen doors, Lira stumbled back as they flew open, and the wyvern emerged. He stopped before walking into her, his black eyes hardening.

“Who are you?”

Lira straightened, summoning all her powers of persuasion and charm. “I’m Durn’s new…” her gaze went to the freshly scrubbed kitchen, “cook.”

Rygor’s wings shifted beneath his cloak. “Durn doesn’t serve food.”

“He used to.” Lira bit back the urge to remind the wyvern that he was new to Wayside. “He’s decided to do it again in hopes of bringing in more business.”

The creature’s nostrils flared as if he was trying to detect deception from her. Finally, he huffed out a hot breath that smelled of ash. “I suppose all dying things have a few final gasps in them.”

Lira pressed her lips together to keep from responding.

Rygor stepped closer, looming over her as his gaze flicked to her ears. “I have my eye on this place, which means I now have my eye on you, elf.”

Lira’s heart pounded as she managed a tight smile. “You’re always welcome to stop by for supper once we’re serving. ”

He released a hiss as he swept past her, his footfall heavy as he stormed from the tavern. Lira didn’t breathe easily until the door thunked behind him. She was still standing outside the kitchen when Sass rushed up to her.

“Was that the wyvern I saw leaving?”

Lira nodded without speaking.

Sass’s brown eyes were huge as she stared at the front door and then Lira. “What did he want?”

Lira assumed he’d been snooping around in search of the gold he was convinced Durn was hiding, and the thought of him walking out even a few seconds earlier and catching her coming from the cellar made her knees wobble. She leaned one hand against the rough wood plank of the wall. “He wanted to know why I’m here.”

Sass groaned. “Durn says he has no money and then we start fixing up the place. No wonder the wyvern’s suspicious.”

“Maybe we should tell him that Durn’s just as poor as he claims to be, and he isn’t even paying us.”

“And admit that we’re here because fixing up a tavern beats getting thrown in a dungeon?” Sass shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Lira remembered the wyvern’s beady, glittering eyes. Just like she’d known instantly that Sass wasn’t a deadly threat, she was certain that Rygor was.