Chapter 9
“You act like you’re not afraid of anything.” I shove a branch out of the way, catching up to Thane. We’ve been walking for nearly half an hour now, weaving through the forest and crossing through fields of dirt.
“I’m not,” he says back.
“I don’t believe that. Everyone’s afraid of something. Are you not scared of dying? Actually, I don’t even know why I bother asking. You look like the type to invite trouble instead of running away from it.”
He turns his head a fraction of an inch. I can’t see his entire face, but I do see a lifted eyebrow. “Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?”
I shrug. “My sister likes to say so occasionally.”
“Well, she’s right.”
I roll my eyes, falling into step beside him. He takes long strides and moves at a rapid pace. Seeing as he’s nearly twice my height, I damn near break a sweat trying to keep up.
He finally slows down to tug his mask up, covering half of his features as we approach rusty arched iron gates built into black brick walls.
“Oh, no.” A guard standing at the gate in red buffers widens his stance and plants his hand on the handle of a sheathed sword at his waist. “The fuck do you want?”
My pulse quickens as my eyes swing from the guard to a bored-looking Thane.
“Let me through, Chaun.”
“And why would I do that after what you did during your last visit?” Chaun steps forward, and another man emerges from a line of trees to our left, gripping the pommel of his weapon, too.
Oh, gods. I’m never going to make it to Elphar at this rate. I probably won’t even live to see the end of the day with Thane swinging his dick around at every stop.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” Thane replies. “I’m here to buy a horse. Now let me through.”
“Thing is, Valkor, Garyn is still pissed at you.” Valkor?
So that’s his last name. Or maybe it’s his first and he goes by the last?
I don’t know. “Do you know how long it took to clean up the card tables after you left? They were covered in velvet, and blood was everywhere, you piece of shit. We had to replace over half of them and bury those men.”
Thane offers a shrug. “My condolences.” He strides toward Chaun as he sticks out his hand. Thane drops several gold coins into Chaun’s palm.
Chaun makes sure the other guard isn’t looking before counting them. With an annoyed exhale, he shifts backward. “Go through the back gate. But I’m warning you now, don’t let Garyn catch you. You get a horse and get the fuck out.” He bobs his head at the other man. “Take them ’round.”
The other guard leads the way, skirting the perimeter of the brick wall until a smaller gate appears. It creaks on the hinges as the guard unlocks the doors. I follow Thane closely, ignoring the stranger’s obvious annoyance.
Redclaw isn’t really a town, more like a small settlement.
The dirt streets ahead are bustling with bodies.
Copious treetops hang over the brick walls, as if they’re proud to keep this place a secret.
The sky is hard to make out, so it appears darker here than outside the gates.
Shabby huts line either side of the street, and as we pass through, a few people peep out of their windows.
I grip the strap of my rucksack tighter as I notice a group of men standing near a tavern, smoking brimsticks. Ahead of us, in the heart of the village, is a half-circle of dirt-stained pavilions.
Merchants stand outside of them, shouting prices as we pass, insisting that we step in to look at what they’re offering. Most of them smile and wave. Oh, no. I’m not falling for it this time. I keep a good pace with Thane as he remains intent on finding a horse.
Finally, we arrive at a stable made of tin walls and worn wooden beams. A man with a massive, wide-brimmed hat sits in an enclosed booth built in front of it, chewing disgustingly on a mouthful of seeds.
When he catches sight of Thane, he spits to the side and sighs. “Shit. Not you again.”
“Yes. Me again.” Thane stops short of his booth, waiting for him to come out.
He’s a short man, ruddy with a pot belly. His bones pop and crack as he climbs off the stool, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth to clear the seed shells. “What happened to your last horse?”
“Sold it.”
“You don’t get attached to anything, do you?” Big Hat asks, cracking a grin.
Thane doesn’t smile. Instead, he gestures to the stables and says, “Best horse you have.”
“That’ll be a pretty coin,” Big Hat replies.
Thane digs into his pocket, producing a handful of coins. He shoves them into Big Hat’s hand and demands, “Horse. Now.”
“All right, all right. Take it easy, killer.” The man takes off after counting the coins and enters one of the stables with a chuckle.
Okay, first Chaun mentions blood on velvet tables and buried men, now Big Hat is calling him killer? I start to ask Thane what he means by that until someone else’s voice overpowers mine.
“I know that’s not who I think it is!” a booming voice calls from behind us.
I whirl around while Thane inhales and exhales slowly like he’s been expecting this man but had hopes of dodging him.
“Garyn.” Thane finally turns to face the person wearing a red vest and matching gambler hat.
His skin is purplish-brown, and he has thick, silvery-white braids that stop at his shoulders.
He wears a black eyepatch over his left eye, but his right eye is alarming.
The pupil is large and seems to absorb the color of his iris.
People who have eyes like theirs do the nastiest kind of drugs.
Kopa is the worst of them because it’s created with beastial blood and makes mortals feel invincible, like they have speed, flight, or can climb walls, too.
And maybe they can. I don’t know for sure.
Analla spoke about kopa all the time, but only to serve as a warning for me to never, ever do it.
That creepy eye of Garyn’s swoops toward me. He flashes what I assume is meant to be a charming smile. I step back as Thane shifts forward, partially blocking me from Garyn’s view.
“We’re getting a horse and leaving,” Thane tells him.
Garyn keeps that twisted grin plastered on his face, fixing his attention on Thane again. “What? No fight in you today?”
“No time,” says Thane.
“Right, yeah.” Garyn sniffs as Big Hat returns from the stables guiding a black horse with a silky ivory mane by the reins.
“But see”—Garyn waves a finger—“I don’t think I should just let you leave.
Last time, you ripped through my tavern, and I lost eight good men.
You disappear for weeks and now you’re back, prancing through my territory and buying horses like you own the place. ”
Thane tilts his head. “Horses in Redclaw are the cheapest. Plus, I figured your people would need the coin after what happened during my last visit—you know, the one you all so eagerly keep bringing up in conversation?”
Garyn’s smile vanishes, and he works his jaw, inching closer to us. I ball my hands into fists, and my nails bite into my palms as I back away. More men line up behind Garyn, each one more menacing than the next.
“Maliek’s been looking for you. Did you know that?” Garyn runs his tongue over his yellow-stained teeth.
I don’t miss the way Thane curls his hand into a tight fist at the mention of this Maliek.
Garyn notices as well and sneers. “So how about this,” he says, waving that same annoying finger. “You pay me for destroying my tables and killing my men, and I won’t tell Maliek I saw you here.”
Thane’s silence is deafening as he gives Garyn a lethal stare. Then he scans the men gathering behind Garyn. There has to be at least a dozen of them. Each one holds a weapon of some kind. Seeing the blades, axes, and hatchets twists my stomach into knots.
“Maybe you should just pay him,” I suggest. Surely, he has enough coin for it. I’ve given him a full pouch—and if he doesn’t, I have some to spare, too. Not many gold coins, but it’s still something.
“Get on the horse,” Thane orders me without taking his eyes off Garyn.
“What?”
“Get on the fucking horse, Quinlocke.” Hearing him say my last name causes a spiral in my belly…and not a bad one, despite the knots of dread that are developing. It’s good to know he remembers part of my name, at least.
I turn for the horse to do as I’m told, swinging a leg over its bare back. Only then do I realize Big Hat is no longer around.
Shit. That can’t be good.
“Come on now, Valkor! Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be!” Garyn bellows after a haughty laugh.
“It can be simple if you fuck off and let us walk through those gates with my horse,” Thane shoots back.
“Without my retribution?” Garyn makes a tsk tsk noise. “Not happening and you know it. I suggest you cough up the coin now before you lose a few limbs and, if I’m lucky, an eye.”
Thane squares his shoulders and deepens his defensive stance. “Let’s be honest with ourselves, Garyn. We all know that after today, you’ll be telling everyone you went blind because of me.”
A shadow runs over Garyn’s face, his skin tightening behind the eyepatch.
“Well, if you want it that way, I hope you make it to the Crystal Realm, though one of Xaimur’s hells seems more fitting for a fucked-up soul like yours.
” The men behind Garyn swarm me and Thane with tight grips around their weapons.
Garyn snaps his fingers. “Kill him and bring that pretty girl to me.”
“What?” I shriek. What in the shadows do I have to do with any of this?
I give Thane a death glare, waiting for him to do something. He doesn’t budge.
Why is he just standing there? Why isn’t he trying to get us out of here?
“Oh, Orvena.” I grip the reins to guide the horse away from him, ready to gallop to the gates and take off because fuck this. I am not about to die because of some man’s ego.
A battle cry erupts, and one of Garyn’s henchmen rushes forward with an ax in the air, taking a swing at Thane.
Thane dodges it with ease, and a dagger materializes in his hand.
He stabs the man in the chest, twists him around to slice his throat, then kicks him into another man charging his way.
He performs all of this in movements faster than I can blink.
I back away on the horse, searching for a way out. The only exit I can spot is the gates we snuck through. I start for them as more men swarm Thane, but someone yanks me backward by the rucksack before I can get anywhere and slams me to the ground.
The horse whinnies and wastes no time clomping away as the breath whooshes out of my lungs. I cough as a man appears above me with a hatchet in hand. He swings down, but I roll out of the way just in time and hop to my feet.
“Come on, pretty girl,” he taunts, licking his lips. “I won’t hurt you if you make this easy.”
“Uh, Thane!” I call.
Just as quickly as I say his name, a dagger whizzes through the air and jams straight into hatchet man’s temple. Well, damn. I guess he is worth the coin.
When the man drops to his knees, the dagger is magically snatched back out and returned to Thane. Blood dribbles from a hole in hatchet man’s head before he collapses. If this had been performed during target practice and not on an actual mortal, I’d find it pretty damn impressive.
I put my attention on Thane again. He fights off every man using one hand to slice and stab and the other to blast incomers away with gold whorls.
Each strike is done with perfect precision.
Not a single slip or fall happens. No one can land a punch or even a finger on him.
If a sword swings his way, he ducks or dodges it and then retaliates.
Honestly, he isn’t even breaking a sweat. He makes it look easy with how relaxed he is, yet every blow is vicious and deadly. Every move practiced, premeditated.
Too good with his magic.
Too good with his swords and daggers. Not like The Divine soldiers but more like a natural killer. Like a…
He spins and blocks another attacker with his blade as he shoots a whorl of magic from his hand. I squint, unable to breathe as I watch the golden trails of his power dissipate, leaving behind black wisps in their wake.
It’s now the reality of what I’m facing hits me like a ton of stone.
The way Thane effortlessly fights, swinging his blades in the air, decapitating and stabbing men through the heart. Using magical daggers for those he can’t quite reach and then signaling them back just to finish them off.
When we first met at the Tilted Crystal, he struck fear into every heart.
He jumps off dangerously high roofs and lands without a sound.
Threatens to behead vicious skrellins.
Blood on velvet tables.
Men having to be buried because of him.
Take it easy, killer.
And the black shadows clinging to his magic.
Thane is no ordinary sorcerer wearing a mask and buffers.
He’s a sorcerer conjuring darker magic to kill.
He’s a shadow assassin.