Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A s the rest of The Forty rounded on Cassius with scowls, I placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him through the mayhem towards the stairs.
I parted the heavy red rugs which hung over the staircase in an attempt to block out some of the noise from the men on the bottom floor, and Cassius thankfully followed without complaint.
I didn’t release him until we’d stomped up the narrow stone staircase, emerging from the dark onto the second floor where the gang slept.
We remained quiet as we passed the rooms which held the bunks, each of the large spaces sleeping ten or more men at a time – my personal idea of hell.
The nights I’d been forced to endure in one of those stinking rooms filled with sounds of men snoring, farting and generally being disgusting oafs were some of the worst I could remember. And I was a damn street kid.
Sure, I’d appreciated the four walls and the roof over my head, but sleeping in close quarters with the violent kinds of men who made up The Forty had never been a relaxing experience.
I’d worked hard to earn myself a spot of my own, and between that and the haven I’d created for myself up on the rooftops, I managed to find some semblance of peace from time to time.
We kept going until we reached the far end of the long corridor where my quarters were, and I glanced about to check for any unwanted nosy fuckers lurking nearby before shoving Cassius inside.
“Have you ever actually been in a brawl?” I asked angrily as I threw the door shut behind us.
I didn’t often lose my temper, but I was feeling pretty fucking close to it now.
I trod a fine line with Egos at the best of times, my unshakable, mirthful disposition and my pretty face pissing him off almost daily – though he endured his irritation over both on account of all the loot I claimed for the gang.
Right now, I should have been sitting happy in Tyros’ old quarters with a stomach full of food and Egos praising my name over those jewels I’d lifted, and yet everything kept going wrong.
I was in the fucking doghouse and Cassius had gone and given the damn game away at the first opportunity.
Why the fuck had I been tempted to trust an honest man?
I was starting to doubt this was ever going to be able to work out.
Cassius raised his chin at the implied insult, snarling his response at me. “I have been trained to be the best warrior that I am capable of-”
“That bullshit isn’t real,” I snapped, cutting him off before I had to listen to him prattling on about fighting with honour or something equally disturbing.
“If a man comes at me with a knife and he has the full intention of sticking it in me, then I will absolutely kick him in the balls if I have to. I’d also spit in his eye, call his mother a whore and throw sand in his face – whatever the fuck it takes to win.
And so should you. Honour will only get you killed on the streets.
” I rubbed a hand over my face in exasperation and tried to shake off my irritation, but my adrenaline was still pumping from the fight, and it was proving damn hard to do.
“It goes against everything I was ever trained to be,” Cassius growled.
“Well buckle up, noble boy, because now we really are in for it. Egos wants that treasure and if he doesn’t get it then don’t go thinking he’s bluffing. That man lives to kill. And I was doing pretty well at avoiding his wrath until you came along.”
I turned away from him, not able to bear the horrified look in his eyes at the idea of him lowering himself to become more like me. But if he wanted to survive this place then he had better do it. Fast.
I moved to the side of my room and pulled the small desk there aside before lifting a floorboard and grabbing the bottle I’d stashed under it, taking a hit of the hard liquor to try and calm my nerves before I lost my shit entirely.
Cassius sighed and dropped down to sit on my cot, looking like a fish out of water with his spine straight and brow lowered in thought. Did he ever just…relax? His posture looked like it was being held in place by the hand of a god. What did he think would happen if he slouched a bit?
I took a blade from beside the bed and handed it to him. It was nothing flashy like I was sure he was used to, and the wooden handle was well worn, but it was a sharp little fucker and it had gutted a man or two in the past.
“What’s this for?” he asked as he weighed the blade in his palm like a pro. It was a decent weapon but not one of my best. I wouldn’t be handing out anything I valued highly to him or anyone else. I’d learned a long damn time ago never to trust anyone with anything I couldn’t bear to lose.
“I’m not too sure the gang like the idea of a royal guard being amongst us,” I pointed out, just in case the arse kicking he’d just taken alongside suffering the brunt of Egos’s fury hadn’t been enough to clue him in.
“That’s so you’ve got a chance to defend yourself if anyone comes to kill you while you sleep. ”
“Aren’t you going to lock the door?” he asked, though he didn’t seem afraid of the prospect of a cutthroat appearing to stab him while he slept, so I had to assume he was confident he could handle that.
“Egos’s rules; no locks. Not much point in a place like this anyway as there isn’t a lock that someone here can’t pick, but we live under a blanket of mutual respect.
Which basically means we all work hard to be sure that none of the others would dare risk stealing from us for fear of their lives.
And if any of us does steal from another, it’s up to us to sort our own shit out by either stealing it back or making a challenge in the ring. ”
“Cosy,” Cassius muttered dryly and I smirked. I guessed this was a far cry from the guards’ barracks he was used to. He’d probably had snuggly little blankets and teddy bears for company in those.
“No one has dared to try and steal anything from me in over a year, so you’re probably safe,” I added, shrugging as I took another hit of the alcohol and sat the bottle down on the desk. “But you never know.”
I was finally finding an inch of calm inside myself between the booze and my settling heartrate, and I glanced down at myself, taking account of what injuries I’d sustained while rubbing at the blood which speckled my knuckles.
I had more than enough coin stashed away to take a visit to the local bathhouse to clean myself properly, but I’d have to wait until the damn sandstorm passed before I could.
“The way you were hitting that man was unnecessary,” Cassius murmured and I looked up to find his gaze on the blood which coated my hands too. “He was already on the floor, you didn’t have to-”
“Argun is a mean bastard who would have happily caved my head in given half the chance. Once we had him down, there was no way in hell I was going to let him back up. Besides, he hit me in the fucking face.” I touched a hand to my jaw where the bastard had landed the blow, feeling the bruise there with a hint of irritation.
I was half tempted to go find Argun and beat him for it again.
“You were literally pulverising his face, you can hardly be annoyed at him for striking you once?” Cassius scoffed in confusion, but there wasn’t a thing that was confusing about it.
“Argun is ugly as sin. Hitting his face might actually improve it. Hitting mine should be a crime.” I arched a brow at Cassius as he snorted a laugh.
“Oh, so it’s a vanity issue?” he jibed.
“Sure, I’m vain,” I agreed easily. “But I can tell you now without a hint of a doubt that this face of mine is my most valuable commodity, it has earned me a hell of a lot more coin than you can imagine.”
“Ah, I see. You’re a whore,” he stated with a knowing nod and my jaw slackened.
“No, I’m not a fucking whore. I’m picky about who I bed and wouldn’t want to sell myself to any old duck who came looking to get her world shattered by my cock.
But there are a whole host of Fae who get all too easily distracted by my face and give me the opportunity I need to rob them blind, that’s all.
Besides, girls get wet at the mere sight of me, so I’m never gonna complain about something that gets so many of them hitching their skirts up now, am I?
” I shrugged at Cassius and he shook his head at me, but he couldn’t deny the truth of those words so he made no attempt to try.
I dropped my britches and kicked them into a corner with the vague intention of paying someone to clean them for me at some point. Pip would likely do it if I filled his belly with something decent.
“Do you want privacy? I’m not sure what way you all...conduct yourselves,” Cassius said with a look of uncertainty about him as I continued to strip.
“Am I making you blush or turning you on?” I teased as I kicked off my underwear too and headed in search of something clean to wear.
“Because I’m sorry to disappoint, but no matter how much you stare at my cock, it won’t be hardening for you, lawman.
I’m hopelessly addicted to fucking beautiful women and you’re too damn brawny for my tastes. ”
“Hilarious. Has anyone ever mentioned how full of yourself you are, thief?”
Cassius turned his dark eyes to the blade in his hand as I moved about the room as naked as the dawn.
Growing up on the streets had made sure I was precious about very few things in this life and showing my body certainly wasn’t one of them.
When you were too poor to use the bathhouse, you had to join the free-for-all in the river.
And I’d seen naked flesh of every shape and size in each gender.
It didn’t bother me one bit to show mine.
Modesty was a privilege the upper Fae liked to claim, but it wasn’t something we could afford where I came from.
Of course, cleaning myself in the river had grown even less appealing to do since those dead kids had started washing up on the riverbanks.