Chapter 32 #2
“Just imagine what will happen if you put me in prison and try to drag me into a trial. My husband will pay bail to the crown and have me out before nightfall, and you’ll never see a single shilling of it.
Or”—she bent to retrieve an enormous bag of coins from a drawer—“you can leave here with influence over the Syndicate and enough gold to make the transition without any oversight.”
At that moment, Elvin and Ambrose came bursting through the door.
Ambrose sank to his knees, panting and gasping for breath, and Elvin came over, looking between his mother and Nora, clearly torn on who to protect, while Lochlan stood next to me with his arm out, prepared to step in if Elvin tried anything.
Marta gave no sign of recognition as her eyes swept past her younger son to settle on Ambrose. “You’re the man who was brought in for questioning.”
Ambrose finally looked up and he took a step back. “What are you doing here?”
“Coming to arrest your Employer,” she said with a cold smile, reaching out for Nora.
I stepped between them. “If you arrest her, every bounty hunter from Berkway to Haven Harbor will be coming for you. There won’t be a single place you can hide.”
“I’ll manage,” Marta said. “I have all the Nightsworn on my side.”
Nora placed a restraining hand on my shoulder.
“If she wants to arrest me, I’ll gladly let her.
My family will have the bail posted by the end of day and I’ll be out.
You see, this woman may have all the Nightsworn on her side, but I have all of the criminal underground and a massive financial empire on my side.
Once I’m out, I can send all the bounty hunters I want. ”
Marta tensed. “Are you threatening me?”
Nora smiled. “I tried to bribe you first to avoid it, but since you weren’t interested, I’m just as happy to use other methods.”
Ambrose gave a slight cough to hide his laughter in the corner.
Marta’s hand hovered near the hilt of her sword, ready to move, and Elvin edged closer to his mother but kept glancing toward Lochlan and Ambrose like he hated being forced to choose sides.
Lochlan moved half a step closer to me without seeming to realize he’d done it, his shoulders tense and jaw tight as he watched Marta’s every movement.
Nora alone remained calm, one hand resting lightly on the desk beside her as though she were discussing trade agreements instead of standing on the verge of a fight.
Almost as if by accident, she brushed her hand across the bag of gold set on the desk so the coins clinked gently.
“The offer still stands. Appoint someone to replace me and I’ll step aside.
Or you can try to arrest me, assuming we all leave this room alive, and I’ll rescind my offer, be out by nightfall and will send more bounty hunters than you can handle. ”
Marta worked her jaw back and forth. “If I accepted the proposition, you won’t seek to undermine any of my authority? You’d willingly relinquish the title?”
“Wholeheartedly. Getting my sister back is a fair trade for turning over an empire of bounty hunters. Just imagine how much control you’ll have when commanding the Nightsworn and placing whoever you want over the Syndicate.
I’ll even order Ambrose to transition his loyalty to whomever you appoint. You’d agree, wouldn’t you, Ambrose?”
“Anything you say,” Ambrose agreed. “As long as I’m paid, I don’t pay attention to who hands out gold.”
Marta appraised my sister. “Do you always buy your way out of all your problems?”
“Most of them,” Nora said. “And when I can’t, I place bounties on people and let my hunters take them down.”
“Which is also a form of buying your way out of your problems.”
“True. But it works. Now, do we have a deal? Or would you like me to send my hunters after you? I can make your life far better or far worse. Which do you want?”
Marta hesitated for a fraction of a second, then extended her hand to accept the bribe. “We have a deal.”
They shook and exchanged the money. Just as Marta tucked the bag away, one of the Nightsworn re-entered the room. “I’m sorry, but the prisoner passed away,” he told her.
Next to me, Lochlan tensed up.
Without thinking, I slipped my arm around his middle. It didn’t matter what Roderick had done in the past—he was still Lochlan’s father, and he’d claimed to have good memories of him. Even Marta’s jawline hardened.
“Such a shame that the Employer died before he could ever stand trial,” Nora said smoothly. “I suppose the Syndicate will dissolve now without him around to lead it.”
Marta stared at her, then waved her hand dismissively at the guard. “Leave us.”
The moment the guard disappeared, Marta looked up at Lochlan. “Would you be willing to become the Employer?”
Lochlan took a deep breath, then shook his head. “No. I’m done. And Jillian would be better for the job, anyway.”
I shook my head as well. “I don’t want to be involved with the Syndicate at all anymore. I only wanted to find my family, and now I have.”
Nora beamed at me. “You see?” she said to Marta. “None of us are a threat any longer. The Syndicate will dissolve and disappear.”
“You misunderstand me,” Marta said. “I never wanted to eliminate the Employer or the Syndicate. I simply wanted a little more control over the goings-on. But if none of you are willing…” Her voice tailed away, then she spoke directly to Elvin. “What about you?”
Elvin’s eyes grew wide. “Me? You want me to be the Employer?”
I almost laughed aloud. Elvin was barely of age. It certainly would give her plenty of oversight into the Syndicate’s operations, but I couldn’t imagine Elvin ever intimidating anyone. What did it matter how the Syndicate functioned after we left?
“Yes, I’ll do it,” Elvin said, looking prouder than a dog with two bones.
Ambrose beamed. “Now there’s an Employer I’d be honored to follow.”
While Elvin and Ambrose gloated, I crouched back down to look at Peter.
“Is he another of your bounty hunter friends?” Marta asked.
“No,” I answered. It looked as though Peter had drifted off to sleep or else lost consciousness, but he was still breathing and his pulse was strong. “I can’t imagine that he would ever work for anyone else, even for the Syndicate.”
“Is he a threat?”
Beside my foot, Peter’s hand curled into a fist. So he wasn’t sleeping at all.
“No,” I lied. “He’s just a boy who got mixed up into some trouble. We ought to let him go.”
Peter’s hand relaxed.
“You’re asking me to turn a blind eye to a lot,” Marta said.
“No, we’re asking you to recognize the opportunities in front of you,” I told her promptly.
“With Elvin as the Employer, you’re gaining access to the inner workings of the entire Syndicate without any pushback from us.
Roderick’s operation is gone with his death; you won’t have to deal with that any longer.
Now, you control not only the Nightsworn, but the Syndicate as well, and you know that Elvin will follow your orders. ”
Nora nodded. “And everyone here will testify that Roderick was the Employer.”
“Very well,” Marta said, straightening up. “You have yourself a deal.”
Elvin shot me a smug look. “Does this mean I get to assign Gil bounties?”
“Never in a thousand years. I just quit a few minutes ago,” I told him.
Elvin jutted out his jaw in the most obnoxious way. “What if I say I won’t let you? I’m the Employer now.”
I gave a light chop to his throat so he gagged and spluttered. “Try it. I can take you in a fight any time, day or night, and you wouldn’t even be a challenge. I suggest you hide behind paperwork like Ambrose so no one finds out who the Employer really is.”
“What about you, then?” Elvin asked Lochlan. I was pleased to see how some of the color left his face and he was rubbing his throat.
“I plan to follow Jillian around until I can earn her forgiveness. I did arrest her and throw her into prison.”
“I’m still mad about that,” I told him with raised eyebrows. “I’m not ready to give complete forgiveness quite yet.”
Lochlan flashed a grin my way. “That’s okay; I’m patient. I’ll just keep following you around until I wear you down. I don’t let prizes get away that easily. It may take some time, but I may even convince you to marry me one day.”
Heat crept up to warm my cheeks. “Slow down there,” I laughed. “I don’t do well when I’m rushed and I feel like we need to redo a lot of our conversations.”
Lochlan slipped his hand into mine. “Then I won’t rush you. I want us to know everything about each other.”
I couldn’t prevent my fingers from curling around his. Curse it all, I’d never stop falling for this bandit.
Marta placed a hand on Elvin’s shoulder and steered him out of the house. “I’ll connect with you soon,” she called to Nora. “We’ll get all the details worked out.”
Nora raised a hand in farewell, and once Marta and Elvin left with the Nightsworn, she turned to Papa. “Can you help me with him?” She nodded at Peter. “I don’t know much about him but I know enough not to want him around.”
“We can use the cart and take him over to the town physician,” Papa suggested. He glanced at me and Lochlan. “Will you two be all right to stay here for a bit? Just to keep an eye on everything until we get back.”
I opened my mouth, about to say that Peter could stay here since Lochlan was a healer, then realized how desperately I wanted to keep Lochlan’s hand wrapped around mine.
As much as I wanted to talk to Nora and Papa, I wasn’t opposed to a few minutes alone with Lochlan, either. So I closed my mouth again and nodded.
Once Papa and Nora left, carrying Peter between them, Lochlan’s fingers pulsed around mine. “So you don’t entirely hate me after all?” His crooked smile was back in place, and I discovered that I found it attractive again. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”