Chapter 30
“We’re getting out of here,” I told Ambrose under my breath while I tucked the lockpicking kit back into my shirt. “Right now.”
“What?” His voice went up an octave.
“Keep your voice down. Do you know a safe place we can go?”
Ambrose watched me tinkering with the locks.
“If you aren’t the Employer, do you know who they are and where to find them?” I asked.
He bobbed his head up and down and I was irresistibly reminded of a turtle. “I can take you there if you can get me out.” He looked more awake now, and though he said it very casually, his eyes kept darting over to look at me.
I grabbed his upper arm and hoisted him to his feet. “Good. Because I don’t have anywhere else to go. Would the Employer be willing to take us in?”
“I’m sure,” Ambrose said, a sly smile on his lips.
This weasel wasn’t much better than Elvin.
He was planning to bring me in himself and walk away with the bounty set on my head.
I couldn’t believe I’d ever imagined that this pathetic excuse for a man was the Employer.
But then, who was the Employer? He had to be rich, if he paid out all the bounties.
He also had to be well connected and competent in battle.
And if such a person existed, why would they be interested in me, of all people?
What had I done to attract their attention?
I cracked open the door just enough that Ambrose could squeeze his way out without making the cell door groan.
“Come on,” I told him, leading him out past the other prisoners. A few stirred in their sleep, but we managed to get nearly to the exit before one woke up.
The prisoner’s shout came just as we reached the door. “Hey!”
I didn’t wait to see if he was calling out to be freed or trying to alert the guards. My fingers clamped over Ambrose’s wrist and I wrenched him through the exit and out into the hall.
We didn’t have time to be stealthy. As we ran, I quickly concluded that if I was ever to enter a sprinting contest, Ambrose would be one of the last people I wanted on my team.
He was so slow that I kept yanking on his arm and wondering if he was actively trying to hold me back.
His breathing came in wheezing gasps that were easily audible even over our pounding footsteps.
“Hurry up,” I snarled at Ambrose, who was running with a choppy gait that made me think he mustn’t have gone for a good run in at least several years.
“My…knees,” he huffed, wincing with each footfall.
“It’ll be your neck if you don’t hurry.” I wrenched on his arm again. Why weren’t there more guards? Was it because Lochlan really had diverted their attention that successfully? Had Marta bought them off so they’d turn a blind eye? Perhaps it had been a combination.
I heard a few shouts from guards, but there was no one between us and the side door I’d seen when Lochlan took me in for my interrogation, and no guards were posted there either. Ambrose was dragged along with me as I sprinted for the courtyard beyond.
I didn’t stop running as I went through the courtyard, past the exterior wall, and began darting through the city streets I knew so well.
“I…need…a…minute…” Ambrose wheezed, his voice coming in short, halting gasps before he collapsed, unable to go another step.
“Catch your breath,” I said, panting for breath as well. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins so hard that my fingers tingled and my legs itched to continue to run. I was not willing to get caught because Ambrose was a terrible runner.
I tapped my foot impatiently while his chest heaved. We were about to have any number of guards descend on us, not to mention any civilians who might’ve seen my wanted posters. Throw in the bounty hunters and the Employer all hunting us down…it was a miracle we hadn’t already been recaptured.
“This…was…too easy,” Ambrose gasped.
“Don’t complain,” I snapped at him. He was doubled over, hands on his knees, eyes closed. “You have five minutes, then we need to move.”
My thoughts drifted back to the Employer while I waited.
He must’ve learned of my involvement with the pixie blood.
Somehow, he’d found out and wanted me to report my findings.
That was easy enough. I would gladly hand over Roderick and all the pixie blood available without even taking the bounty if it meant finally being able to find my family.
My family…
Those files in his office said that both Nora and my father had been recovered, so the Employer must have been the one to take those files from Roderick, which meant the Employer knew where Nora and my father were.
Maybe if I could convince the Employer of how important it was to me, they’d be willing to give me that information I wanted in exchange for what I knew about the pixie blood.
But why the bounty on me? That was so unnecessary; all bounty hunters dreamt of meeting the Employer. Why not simply request to see me? I would’ve gone; I would’ve been delighted to meet him.
“I can move again,” Ambrose groaned, getting to his feet. “It’s still quite a walk.”
What Ambrose should have said was because he was in tow, it would be a long walk. I could barely stop myself from sprinting ahead to cut down on time and kept asking how much longer so often that I genuinely did feel like a young boy, and Ambrose stopped talking to me altogether.
Near dawn, he came to stop in front of a cozy inn that had a flute and notes carved into the wooden sign that read, The Serenade Inn.
“Here we are,” Ambrose said, a crafty smile on his lips.
My upper lip curled. “There’s no way Elvin is the Employer,” I hissed.
Ambrose’s eyes darted from side to side. “Maybe we aren’t here to see Elvin.” Even in the dim light from the few illuminated inn windows, I could tell that Ambrose’s pupils had dilated. He was lying.
“Give me a name.”
“Wh-what?”
“Give me the name of the Employer.”
“It-it’s…Samuel,” Ambrose stammered.
I sighed in a resigned sort of way. “Ambrose, you’re a bookkeeper, not a bounty hunter. If you want to survive the morning, I strongly recommend that you don’t continue lying to me. I’m done with your games. What is the Employer’s name?”
Ambrose took a nervous step back.
I rolled my eyes. “Ambrose, let me tell you something. Between you and me in a fight, you will lose. In a footrace, you would lose. Knowing your occupation, I can confidently say that you won’t make it out of the city without me.
Now, I’m willing to keep you safe only if you take me to the Employer. The real Employer.”
“He’s here,” Ambrose said. “I’ll show you.”
Still thoroughly unconvinced, I followed Ambrose into the dim inn.
A young teenage girl with curly strawberry-blonde hair had fallen asleep at the front desk, a strangely-colored flute in her hand, and Ambrose and I slipped past her.
I was led up the stairs and down a hall to where Ambrose gave the familiar volley of knocks.
After a few moments, he repeated the pattern, slightly louder, and this time, there was the sound of footsteps padding across the floor.
The door cracked opened to reveal…Elvin.
Furious and thoroughly out of patience, I kicked Ambrose in the back so he went toppling into the door, which swung open, and he fell on top of Elvin, who was sleepy-eyed and tousle-haired.
Within seconds, I was across the threshold, had the door shut, and snatched up one of the knives from a belt Elvin had draped over a chair.
I didn’t care if I woke the entire inn. They weren’t going to get away with this.
Ambrose had scrambled up off Elvin, who was choking for air, and I grabbed a fistful of Ambrose’s shirt and slammed him against the dresser. “Enough games,” I snarled. “What, you thought you could get Elvin to do your dirty work for you?”
“Hey!” Elvin protested. “What’s going on?”
Ambrose’s cheeks were puffed up. “The Employer has a bounty out for Gil,” he squawked to Elvin. “Get him, quick!”
I pivoted to face Elvin, who had positioned himself into a fighting stance.
“Out, out!” the innkeeper had arrived, flinging the door open. “There’s no fighting allowed here. I’ll call the Nightsworn!”
He chivvied us out, and Elvin and I leapt down the stairs first. I would not let him pick where we were about to fight.
Ambrose fell behind and the moment we stepped outside, Elvin spoke in a low, urgent hiss.
“Gil, I know what’s going on. My mother already told me.
She told me everything. Let me win the fight so Ambrose trusts me. ”
“No,” I snapped, prepared to fight, but as the light from the inn hit Elvin’s face, I lost my composure. He looked a little like Lochlan.
“Gil, please,” Elvin whispered. “Ambrose won’t trust you, and I’ve been earning his trust for more than a year. He won’t take you there, but if he thinks I’m there to protect him…”
I hesitated. As much as I disliked Elvin, he had a point. Ambrose would never just waltz me right to the Employer because I sprung him from prison.
“If you double-cross me, I’ll kill you then bring you back to life just so I can kill you again,” I said, fire blazing from my eyes.
Ambrose was stumbling down the stairs and being forcefully thrown from the inn.
Elvin grabbed at my hands. “I’ve got her, Ambrose! I’ve got her!”
“And stay out!” the innkeeper bellowed, then slammed the door.
“What-what do you mean her?” Ambrose puffed.
“Didn’t you see the reward posters that the Nightsworn put up recently? Our little Gil is actually a woman,” Elvin sneered.
Shoals, how I despised him. If this plan didn’t work…
I gave a dramatic tug on my hands, but Elvin held me fast. There was a moment when I imagined what Lochlan would do if he saw his brother manhandling me, and wished he was here. He would knock Elvin flat just like he did to the men in that alleyway.
“Well done,” Ambrose said, still panting for breath. “Well done, Elvin. Now, how would you like to come with me to deliver Gil to the Employer? It would mean a nice bounty for you.”
“Sounds good to me,” Elvin said with that same slap-worthy smirk on his face. “I’ll be glad to be rid of Gil.”
Ambrose beamed. “Then follow me. I think you’ve proven yourself worthy.”
Dawn led to mid-morning, and around that time, the road left the city and wound into the foothills surrounding the Briarcliff Mountains.
I gave several more overly predictable attempts at freeing myself, and Ambrose chuckled so often that I was tempted to actually break free simply so I could punch him.
To distract myself, I kept looking ahead, squinting to see if I could see a dark figure lurking near one of the aqueduct maintenance tunnels.
I’d heard of desperate, unpredictable people who congregated in those tunnels, eager to do the rat-infested sewer work that no one else was willing to. Could the Employer be one of them?
But then Ambrose turned off the road and instead of heading for the maintenance tunnels, he veered off to pass through large iron gates that had white and pink painted roses designed into the metalwork. Beyond the gates, a grand estate sprawled out, neatly trimmed and well maintained.
Roses covered delicate trellis archways dotted throughout the gardens, a dancing water fountain splashed down, and several girls who looked like prime pickpocketing targets strolled between the flower beds or sat on carved stone benches beneath trees, reading quietly or conversing in whispers.
This looked like the sort of place where spoiled rich girls came for tea parties and dancing lessons, not where the head of the Syndicate lived.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Elvin asked. “You said we were going to see the Employer.”
“Yes,” Ambrose answered confidently. “The Employer is here.”
I blinked hard, sure my mind was playing tricks on me.
“And where is here?” Elvin asked
“Rosehaven Hall,” Ambrose said.
Rosehaven Hall… Memories snapped into place. The girls from the cemetery on the Day of Mourning were pupils there. But my confusion increased.
“The Employer is here?” Elvin asked, still keeping a firm grasp on my hands.
I couldn’t help but stare at the girls as we passed.
Several gave us strange looks, clearly wondering why three ill-dressed people were traipsing through their beautiful gardens with me being forcibly detained.
None of them even looked old enough to be out of school, and certainly not old enough to be heading up the entire Syndicate.
One girl looked tough and mean, but still too young.
The Employer had been operating for more than thirty years.
Then again, Peter Pan looked young but was more dangerous than most criminals I’d encountered, and everyone assumed I was far younger than I actually was. Who was I to judge based on appearance?
“The Employer can explain,” Ambrose said in his wheezy voice. He went around the perimeter of the manor house to a door nearly hidden by ivy and knocked.
“Enter,” a musical female voice called.
Ambrose pushed the door open, which swung in on well-oiled hinges that didn’t squeak in the slightest. The lack of noise unnerved me even more than lurking in fight clubs near the dock.
I could handle myself in motley groups of thugs, but this prim and proper private school had me all sorts of uncomfortable.
“We’ve brought Gil, the one who tried to put out the bounty on Tavrek,” Ambrose said, pulling himself up proudly as he entered. “Elvin, meet Mistress Davenport, our Employer.”
A thin, blonde woman maybe a few inches taller than myself stood facing away from us as she consulted a map on the wall. I could see one of her perfectly manicured nails tracing along a shipping route.
“Leave Gil with me,” she said in that musical, feminine voice, her back still to me. “I’ll get you the bounty.”
Elvin released my hands and left with Ambrose, snapping the door shut as they left.
I braced myself as the woman turned, unsure of what to expect, then we stared at each other for a full ten seconds as wave after wave of shock crashed over me.
I knew that face. She was now in her thirties, but I could still see the teenage version I remembered.
She and I looked very alike, with similar builds and hair the exact same shade of blonde.
“Nora?” I asked in a small voice.
“Jillian!” The dignity, poise, and aloofness I’d felt when first entering the room evaporated on the spot as she flung her arms around me.
I had found my sister at last.