Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
She gripped Girard’s wrist, not wanting to speak and cause alarm. He returned the clasp for a moment then moved ahead, catching Donall’s arm, putting a finger to his lips.
The gesture was passed through the group and the Reunion settlers, who had already been quiet, went completely still, everyone pressed into the shadow of the building, seeking whatever shelter they could find.
As she crouched in the shadows, Hallie queried the zauber, asking if it had enough energy to provide more concealment if needed.
The artefact stirred, far more sluggish than it had been before, and sent an impression back to Hallie.
Willing to help, but only if there was risk to life.
It was almost drained again. Hallie sent it a silent thanks, and left it alone for now.
She thought she might be able to provide some cover, based on what she and the zauber had done earlier, but only if absolutely necessary.
For now, she strained to listen as the footsteps grew louder.
Crouched next to her, she felt as much as saw Girard move, his hand going to his hip, and freezing as he was reminded - again - that his holster was empty.
She could feel the tension in his body as their shoulders touched.
They were at the end of the group, so closest to whoever was approaching.
Hallie told herself that was a good thing.
She and Girard both had some skills in hand-to-hand fighting that could be useful, as well as the extra strength and speed that came with being hochlen.
It might just be enough to protect the settlers.
“What nonsense is this?” A male voice, one that Hallie didn’t recognise, snapped in the night air.
The tone was angry, the volume reasonably low, as if the person didn’t want to be easily overheard.
For a heart-stopping moment, Hallie wondered if she and the others had been spotted.
But there was no note of discovery in the voice, and no one in sight.
So the cross words had been directed somewhere else.
“I told you. Somewhere private we can talk and not be seen.” The answering voice made Hallie’s brows lift, trying to reach her hairline. Nicholas Rigg. Even though she’d only met him once, she knew that voice.
From the sounds of the voices and footsteps, Hallie thought that the two men were alone. She wondered just what Nicholas was doing sneaking around after dark in his own town and who he was meeting that he didn’t want to be seen with.
“Let’s get this over with,” the first speaker said.
“In here,” Nicholas answered. More footsteps. A soft click then a creak. A wooden door being opened, Hallie realised, then the footsteps faded away followed by another creak and click. The door shutting behind them.
Hallie turned to meet Girard’s eyes. She was deeply curious about what was going on.
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in the direction that Nicholas and the other man had gone, silently asking if Girard wanted to join her.
He nodded, a smile tugging one side of his mouth, his eyes bright with his own curiosity.
Next to Girard, Donall moved slightly, as if he was going to follow them.
Hallie put a finger to her lips and motioned for him to stay where he was, trying to make it more of a suggestion than a command.
Donall frowned, not liking the idea, but then glanced over his shoulder to where Sylvie, Nixie and the others were tucked into the shadows of the building and nodded, face set in determination.
Willing to stay to protect his people. Hallie wanted to tell him that she thought he was going the right thing, but settled for a brief tilt of her head.
With Donall staying in place, Hallie turned her attention to the front of the building and eased forward, Girard with her.
Her ears had told her that Nicholas and the other man had been alone, but she could have been wrong and the last thing she wanted was to run into a pack of gunners.
The courtyard was empty, which was a relief.
Nicholas and the stranger must have gone into the main building, through one of the large wooden doors.
She and Girard would never be able to sneak in there.
But there were those open-fronted workspaces to either side, which extended back along the sides of the barn.
She and Girard could get in there and stay hidden while they tried to listen in to whatever was happening inside.
No sooner had she realised that, than she was moving, heading around the end wall and into the nearest workspace, careful to stay in the shadows as much as possible as she made her way to the far end of the building and the shelter of the barn.
As she reached her destination, Girard right behind her, a light came on inside the barn.
She froze, heart thumping, wondering if she’d been seen or if Nicholas had somehow sensed her presence.
After a moment, when there was no cry of outrage, she crept forward and saw that there was a narrow horizontal gap between the wooden slats that made up the barn wall.
It seemed to be deliberate, as she could see more running along the wall, highlighted by the light coming from inside.
Some kind of basic ventilation, she guessed.
Careful to keep herself in shadow, Hallie took a look through the gap.
The inside of the barn had been formed to hold livestock, with open-fronted wooden stalls around the outside and an open space in the middle.
It didn’t look, or smell, as if any creatures had ever been housed here, which matched Donall’s information.
The floor was bare earth with no trace of straw or hoof impressions.
Instead, a few three-legged stools were set in the middle of the barn around a small, low table.
There was an oil lamp on the table, along with a bottle and several glasses that looked dusty from lack of use.
Not the first time this space had been used for a secret meeting, Hallie guessed.
Although the oil lamp was turned down low, it provided more than enough light for Hallie to see the two men settled at the table.
They were facing each other so that Hallie and Girard could see their side profiles.
Nicholas looked much as he had done earlier in the day, although his eye and nose were swollen and there were bruises on the cheek Hallie could see. She wanted to congratulate Girard on the damage he’d managed to inflict.
The other man drew her attention, and then held it.
He had light brown hair with blond streaks that shone gold in the lamplight, and an unlined face of flawless pale skin.
He could be anywhere between thirty and fifty, though Hallie guessed he might be at the higher end of that range.
From the side profile it was hard to tell, but she thought he had light-coloured eyes, startling in their brightness.
Human, like Nicholas, but that was all they seemed to have in common.
“Enough pleasantries,” Nicholas said, snarling. “You wanted the meet. So, talk.”
“Every time we meet I am always so impressed by your charm,” the other man said in a silky smooth voice that made the hair on Hallie’s neck stand up.
Nicholas was dangerous. He’d been controlling New Hope and its people for a long time now.
Despite his threats against her and Girard, and as unpleasant as he was, Nicholas didn’t seem to have a habit of killing people, or causing actual physical harm.
He seemed to prefer bullying and intimidation.
It had only taken those few words spoken for Hallie to realise that the other man was lethal.
There was an undercurrent to his voice as he spoke to Nicholas that suggested the stranger would like nothing better than to hurt Nicholas.
Badly. He would probably laugh while doing so.
And yet, Hallie found the stranger compelling.
So much so that she’d shifted her weight forward onto her toes to get a closer look before she realised what she was doing.
She went motionless, hoping she hadn’t made a noise.
When the two men kept glaring at each other she eased her weight back a fraction.
She could still see and hear them. And she needed to make sure that they could neither see nor hear her and Girard.
“What do you want, Jonah?” Nicholas asked.
He was short-tempered, probably sore from the various bruises Girard had managed to leave on him.
He seemed unaware of any particular danger from the other man.
Not a stupid man, in Hallie’s assessment, but perhaps too focused on his own interests and too confident that he was safe here, in his territory.
Hallie’s attention snapped back to the other man.
Jonah. The governor that she’d heard about.
Here, in New Hope. The impression she’d formed from what Rhodda, Donall and the others had said - and not said - was that Jonah left New Hope and Nicholas alone.
And yet, he was here, meeting with Nicholas.
“You’ve had visitors to the town,” Jonah said easily, as if he hadn’t noticed Nicholas’ temper.
But of course he had. Hallie could see the watchful glint in his pale eyes, fixed on Nicholas.
Perhaps wondering how he was going to kill the self-styled principal of New Hope. “A man and a woman. I want them.”
“You what? You’ve come asking for a favour?
After your thugs attacked my people?” Nicholas’ anger was real, unrestrained.
“You cost me one of my gunners,” he added, his voice tinted with more irritation than rage.
Hallie remembered the burned corpse on the forest road.
Whoever the dead man had been, he’d deserved better than being an afterthought in Nicholas Rigg’s mind.