Chapter 8 #6
“I didn’t think you were stupid enough to get caught for the sake of a boy,” Egos growled, his voice rough and entirely pissed off, and I took a deep breath as I forced myself not to respond with a quip.
Egos didn’t appreciate my sense of humour at the best of times, and I could tell he was mightily enraged with me now.
It would have been dumb of me to offer up anything other than respect now.
Being the best wouldn’t keep my head on my shoulders if I angered him any further.
“Pip saved my life, I owed him the same,” I murmured, wondering which of the thieves had told him what had happened and fighting to hide my irritation at them while I silently promised to track them down and beat them black and blue for it.
“Honour amongst thieves, is it?” Egos sneered, knowing I’d never offered any such loyalty to a man before.
“Something like that,” I muttered.
I still wasn’t entirely sure why I’d risked my life for the boy’s, but there was something about him that I found myself drawn to.
I enjoyed his company. He was light-hearted like me and I couldn’t deny I liked the worshipping look he got in his eye whenever I did something impressive.
But that wasn’t it. I wasn’t quite vain enough to have saved him purely because I liked having a fan.
Likely it had more to do with the boy I’d once been, hopeful and trusting enough to believe the lies that fucking Prophet had spun me before he’d gotten me at his mercy and made me into his plaything.
“Well, whatever it was, you owe me compensation for the risk we took in getting you out of the dungeons,” Egos growled.
I nodded, pulling the jewels from the bag and offering them up to him.
He thumbed through them slowly, brushing cake crumbs from one of the brooches as he examined the emerald set into the centre of it.
His expression didn’t change, but that was likely a good thing.
He wasn’t one to offer up much in the way of praise or fond smiles, but he would let it be known fast enough if he was angry.
This middle ground was probably the best I could hope for.
I wanted to point out the value of the jewels he was currently fingering and insist that they more than paid any debt he imagined I owed, but I held my tongue.
I’d felt the back of his hand more than once and the strike of the nine-tailed whip which sat by his feet twice too.
I didn’t want any scars marring my flesh if I could avoid it.
My body was already branded with enough ink to mark every piece of my skin, I didn’t need to add scars to the mix.
“Balthazar?” Egos called, and I looked around as the thief approached us.
He gazed at me as he moved to stand at my side and I eyed him curiously.
He was a sniff taller than me, which was kind of annoying, but his thick brow and permanent scowl meant he couldn’t come close to rivalling my looks in any other way, though I supposed he wasn’t hideous to look at with his muscular build and strong jaw.
He’d remained topless to combat the warmth of the room, and I eyed the bloody cut on his side with a twinge of irritation.
It wasn’t deep but it looked sore enough to hinder him for at least a few days.
No doubt that would be put down against me too, despite the fact that it was his own damn fault that the guard had gotten so close to him.
“This is a good haul, Balthazar,” Egos mused. “You did well.”
I opened my mouth to protest the fact that I’d been the one to lift the jewels and all Balthazar had really done was seduce a woman who looked like a foot, which was hardly impressive at all, but I held my tongue.
This was a test. I could see it in the set of Egos’s shoulders.
He was baiting me, daring me to contradict him, to claim he was being unfair and that I was owed more.
Rule one of The Forty rang clear as day in my mind though.
None of us were owed a single thing and only Egos could determine our value.
“Yeah, nice work, Balthazar,” I agreed, giving him a taunting grin. “You really dug deep for this one. You plunged right in. Covered every pig-ugly base-”
“Enough,” Egos growled and I promptly shut up.
Balthazar smirked at me and I forced myself not to roll my eyes. He’d still dipped his dick in that ugly wench so whatever way we looked at this, I was confident I was still coming out on top.
“What would you like as a reward?” Egos asked him.
“I’d like Tyros’ old quarters and a bout in the ring with this one,” Balthazar said, jerking a thumb at me.
Arsehole. He didn’t give a shit about Tyros’ old quarters, but he knew I had my eye on them. The room was bigger than mine and he had an actual mattress too. One that had been stolen from an upper Fae’s mansion while he was in the room next door - if Tyros was to be believed.
“Done. But I was already going to put Drake in the ring with Argun as punishment for disappointing me,” Egos said with a shrug of his huge shoulders.
I kept my face impassive but I did not want a bout in the ring with Argun. He was about eight times the size of me and had fists like goddamn hammers. I was no coward, but I liked my fucking face and I didn’t want it pulverised by that arsehole.
“Maybe the two of us can go against him. Drake deserves a good kicking for what he did,” Balthazar said and I knew he was referring to how long I’d left him with his cock inside the countess and not getting myself captured.
“Rules state it must be an even match,” Egos murmured though he seemed tempted to let Argun and Balthazar beat the shit out of me two on one.
“Let him fight alongside Pip then,” Balthazar suggested, his eyes twinkling maliciously.
I was actually beginning to look forward to going up against him and punching that look off of his face.
Though I almost wanted to protest for Pip’s sake, but I was already in trouble for standing up for the boy; putting myself between him and danger again would only stoke the flames of Egos’s rage.
“Tempting... but the boy’s face is already half ruined and it draws too much attention on the streets for a pickpocket. What of the man you brought back with you?” Egos suggested.
“The horse humper?” Balthazar asked, glancing over his shoulder towards Cassius. “Yeah, I could give him a kicking too. I don’t like the look of him.”
“He’s a mark,” I protested vaguely but the look in Egos’s eyes told me I wouldn’t be winning this argument.
“You know the rules. Any man who wishes to sleep here must be willing to fight for his right to stay. And with this sandstorm setting in I’ve no doubt he’ll be sleeping here. Unless you’d rather I kill him?” Egos asked casually.
“Let him fight then,” I shrugged. “Let’s see what the blacksmith’s got.”
“Fetch him and send Mira to me. I don’t like the way he’s been looking at her,” Egos said, his jaw working as jealousy flashed in his gaze and I dipped my head as I turned away.
He always assumed the gang were looking to fuck Mira instead of the other way around.
It was like he couldn't see how much she flaunted herself at us, trying to tempt us with her body and playing on her sexuality at all times.
But if any of us looked at her too long, he'd gut us for it and none of us were that stupid. At least not openly.
Egos dropped the jewels I’d brought him into his pocket and I supressed a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to be giving me a fucking cut even though I was the only thief on that job who had actually scored some loot. But I guessed it wasn’t all bad.
I’d been pretty sure that I’d end up in the ring tonight anyway, either with him forcing me in or of my own volition to release some of the pent-up rage inside me.
So as far as punishments went, it really wasn’t so terrible.
Besides, I was quite looking forward to fighting alongside Cassius and I imagined Balthazar was about to get a shock when he realised just what this blacksmith could do.
Sucks to be you, arsehole.