Chapter 8 #2
“No.” My gaze still darted around the crowd. “It felt different. Like she knew who I was and purposely knocked me down.”
“What do you mean purposely?”
I faced Luk. “We need to find Ash and Kek now.”
“Why?”
“Because I think she knows something about the fae experiments.”
Along a shadowy back street, a single worn iron door with a faded painting of a lantern next to it almost disguised what it was. Amongst boarded-up shops and dilapidated buildings, the existence of this place would never be noticed by anyone who didn’t already know it was there.
Luckily, Ash did.
“I really don’t like this.” Ash pressed me deeper into the shadows as two horses and their riders trotted by.
Their confidence and interest in everything suggested they were out looking for trouble.
It was late afternoon, and the lowering sun hidden by the angry clouds was already heavily shading the alley into twilight.
“This isn’t a place you go unless you’re looking for conflict. ”
“And funny you know it so well,” I challenged back.
Ash lowered his lids, not amused. “I’m not kidding. It’s underground, which makes it a perfect place to trap someone. It’s for those who are looking for cheap drinks and dirty dealings.”
“Sounds like my kind of place,” Kek replied dryly next to me.
“I have to go. If this person really does have information . . .”
“They knew who you were, which clearly means they’ve been watching you.” Ash hitched the heavy bag up higher on his back, uneasiness riding his brow. “This is such a perfect setup. Dangle something they know you want and trap you.”
“I agree with Ash.” Lukas gestured to him. “It seems too convenient. It has to be a trap.”
“How would they know I was particularly looking for this warehouse, though?” I argued. “Istvan wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know Sarkis has been searching for them. I feel it in my gut. I need to do this.”
“Brex.” Ash rolled his hands in frustration. “I’m not sure I trust . . . you’re not—” He broke off, his head bowing.
“What?” I challenged, hurt curling into anger. “I’m not what? Special anymore? Able to make a call because I’m an ordinary human now?”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.
” Ash snapped with exasperation. He took in a huge gulp of air and let it out slowly.
“I’m just worried.” His moss irises met mine.
“With or without the magic, you are one of the smartest, fiercest people I know. I trust you implicitly. But I won’t pretend you not having those powers doesn’t worry me.
Humans are fragile; your lives can be taken in a blink compared to us.
So yes, I fear you going down there is outright stupid and dangerous.
And if something happens to you? I’m dead. He will kill me. And I like my life.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” I scoffed.
Ash, Kek, and Lukas burst out laughing.
“You serious?” Kek chuckled. “He would string us all up by our intestines.”
“Which, I’ve seen him do, by the way.” Ash’s lip lifted in a grimace. “More than once.”
“Well, guess what? Warwick isn’t here.” I pushed off the wall I was tucked into, moving past them.
“And no one is letting me do anything. I’m going.
” I heard their rebuttals, my hand going up to stop them.
“I’m not stupid or a newbie at fighting my way out of deadly situations.
And lucky for me, I have three badass fae at my side.
” I turned to face them. “You guys spread out through the bar, and if anything goes sideways . . .”
“I’m sitting at the table with you.” Ash stepped closer to me.
“But—”
“That’s where I draw the line.” His expression was firm. Ash was easygoing, so when he said that was the line, he meant it. There was no swaying him. He would be by my side, no matter what I said. “And if they’ve been watching you, they already know we are with you.”
“Fine.” I nodded. “Let’s go.”
The four of us crossed the dirty street, dodging a few motorcycles and horses, making our way to the entrance. Ash and I went first, appearing like patrons after a day at the market, looking for a drink to ease our tired feet and ebb the weariness of our lives.
My stomach knotted as we descended the stairs to the decrepit basement pub. My trigger over small, windowless underground spaces saturated me in panic, adding to my anxiety.
The dimly lit place looked like some underground tunnel with brickwork and sloping ceilings, ready to crumble at any moment.
Low murmurs from the patrons bounced off the walls like white noise.
The tight space was pretty full for this time of day, but I guess in this world, they had no societal rules about what time of day you could drink your life into numbness.
HDF had a more uptight notion of drinking in the day, though I knew many wives who filled their tea with alcohol to forget their own boredom and unhappiness, plastering on a happy smile for their husbands.
At least these people were honest about it.
A mix of ages, races, and genders, mostly hidden under hats and hoods or stuck in the shadows, made it hard to define between species.
Most didn’t glance our way, but I still felt eyes on me.
Keeping my hood up, I peered quickly around the space, trying to pick out the woman in the marketplace, knowing the longer I stood here, the more notice we would receive.
My focus landed on a single form in the corner.
I couldn’t see a face, just a hooded figure, but the short, curvy stature told me it was a woman.
Taking a chance, I weaved through the tables, Ash close behind me.
She watched us sit down across from her, our backs to the door.
Her silence and unsurprised reaction to us suggested I chose correctly.
“Were you followed?” Her voice was low and controlled.
“No,” I answered.
“Except there were four of you,” she replied.
Twisting slightly, I watched Kek and Luk stroll in out of the corner of my eye, one sitting at the bar and one grabbing a small table near the front.
“They’re around.” Ash’s tone implied we were not unguarded.
“Good.” She dipped her head. “Do not trust anyone.”
“Yet, you are asking me to trust you by coming here.” My muscles coiled, ready to respond to any attack coming.
“I owe it to you. To my mother. I have much to thank you for, Brexley Kovacs.”
“How do you know my name? Who are you?”
The woman reached up, pulling her hood down, exposing her face. She was in her mid-thirties, her naturally curly, dark hair spang from the hair tie. Her brown eyes and round cheeks were so familiar.
A breath caught in my lungs, her appearance shifting me back in my chair.
A thin smile curved the woman’s face, her head dipping. “I am Lena, and my mother Maja worked as your maid for the last five years.”
“Maja,” I heaved out, connecting the resemblance now. To me, she was far more than a maid. She was like a mother, friend, and grandmother rolled all in one. “You are Maja’s daughter?”
I had never met either of her grown children, although I heard much about them. I felt a connection to them even though we didn’t know each other.
“Yes.” She nodded across the room, and I turned to see a balding man at least in his late thirties with the same brown eyes rise from his stool at the bar, walking over to us. He slipped into the chair next to Lena. “And this is my brother, Emil. We just wanted to make sure you were really you.”
She had the same idea we did, someone watching her back if anything bad went down.
“It’s odd to finally meet you in person. Especially here.” Emil dipped his head in greeting.
“I’ve heard so much about you both.” I shook my head in awe.
“As we did you,” Lena responded, her eyes still darting around, on guard. “We are taking a huge risk—our lives and our families are on the line. But what you have done over the years to help us . . .”
“I realize now how little I did. What it’s really like out here. How arrogant and sheltered I was.”
“No.” Lena’s hands cupped over mine. “You saved my baby girl from death. We were able to sell the items and get money for a healer.” She blinked the tears away. “I owe you everything.”
“I wish I had done more.” What I stole was so little in the scheme of things. So many were starving and dying while the rich got richer.
“It may be small in your eyes, but to us, it was the difference between life and death some days.”
Liquid burned the back of my lids. She squeezed my hand again before letting go.
“Besides, our mother adored you. Considered you another one of her children. She wanted us to do this.”
“Maja wanted you to come to me?” I pointed at myself in shock. I was a traitor now. She always seemed very faithful to the Markos family, to HDF.
“She was the one who told us about the incident at the market. She overheard a conversation with General Markos about you being spotted there and what you saw, afraid of what you might know. My mother was very worried about you. Knew none of the rumors they were saying about you were true.”
The greatest spies were those who the arrogant people overlooked, like a sweet, older lady who cleaned their home had access to everything and everywhere.
“Okay, but what does that have to do with you two?” Ash motioned between them.
“Because.” Emil leaned closer, his voice going so low only we could hear. “Lena and I work at the factory they are using for their fae experiments.”
Shock slammed into me, dropping my jaw. “What?” I belted out, instantly slamming a hand over my mouth, peering around to see if we grabbed anyone’s notice before whispering hoarsely. “You work there?”
“For twelve years.” Emil’s guarded focus went around, leaning even closer. “It’s a normal factory by all appearances, and most of those working there don’t know what’s going on below their feet.”
“How do you?” Ash laid his forearms on the table, his lids tapering.
“Lena and I have kept our heads down, done our work, and been there every day,” he defended.
“We have been faithful employees no matter how many times they cut our pay or docked us. We were promoted one day out of the blue about a year ago. To do clean up.” He swallowed roughly.
“What we saw down there. What they were doing to fae. Men, women . . . children.”
“But you stayed.” Ash sneered.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Lena snapped back. “I’m a single mom of two kids, one sickly. If I lost my job, my family would starve.”
“It’s not that.” Emil patted her arm consolingly.
“They threatened us. Our families . . . our kids . . . if we spoke one word of what we saw.” He gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“We would receive extra money for our silence. To keep from living on the streets and watching your kids suffer would silence the most honorable of men trying to survive in this land. But someone like you might not understand true destitution.” Emil’s censored gaze drew over Ash.
“You have no idea what I understand or don’t.” Ash sat back, his arms crossing in front of him.
From what Warwick told me, he did know what it was like. He lived it daily as a child. All three of them did.
“We took this chance to meet with you. I’m sorry we can’t do more, but our families’ lives are at stake.
” Lena slipped a piece of paper to me. “There is a door we use on the northwest corner to take the trash out. It’s always locked and alarmed by magic, but it would be the only way in.
” She stood up, her brother joining her. “That is all we can do.”
“Thank you.” I tried to express my gratitude in two words.
Lena bowed her head, lifting her hood back on, Emil doing the same before they slipped through the dusky pub, and up the stairs, out of sight.
Ash and I watched for a while to see if anyone followed them before turning to each other.
“Well, I was not expecting that today.” Ash’s head wagged. “Gods, Brex, even without your magic, danger still seems to be drawn to your ass.”
I unfolded the paper Lena gave me. An address was written out roughly.
The location of the factory.
I exhaled, folding it back up.
“Like a fuckin’ G-string.”