20. Lirion
Lirion held his breath and waited to see how Fenric would respond. He knew it was a long shot and Fenric would likely turn him down. It would mean a significant delay on his own job, but Lirion had to ask. Had to take the gamble.
Fenric gave nothing away. His reaction was the same as if Lirion had said he needed Fenric to accompany him across the street to purchase some ham hocks.
He didn’t frown, scoff, or laugh. The devilish rogue just continued to lounge in the chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Your emergency is your sister?”
“Yes,” Lirion replied, trying not to clench his teeth.
“Why? Tell me what’s going on first.”
Fair enough. Lirion sucked in a breath and tried to figure out where to even begin. Should he explain absolutely everything? Not feeling comfortable doing so, he mentally pared it down to the basics.
“My sister is a succubus, as you can probably guess. The way I understand things, she accepted an invite to a boat party hosted by a high-end brothel in Warón. The situation turned out to differ greatly from what she was told.”
Fenric lifted a hand to halt Lirion’s tale. He was listening and listening hard; the way his brow furrowed was a clear indication. “Is that common? For your kind to work in brothels, even just short term.”
“Yes and no. It’s tedious because you can’t choose your partners and there are rules you have to follow, but it’s also easier because we don’t have to be constantly on the hunt for a partner.
It’s the easiest way to stay fed and comfortable.
My sister is younger; I think she wanted a safe place to feed before she was meant to travel north. ”
“All right, makes sense. Go on.”
He didn’t ask if Lirion had ever worked in one.
Was he not curious? Or did he just not care?
Lirion mentally shrugged the question off and continued talking about his sister’s fate.
Yet, as the words tumbled from his lips, his voice became clogged and trembled.
“Instead, she’s been kidnapped and forced into a horrid sex ring.
I’ve been chasing after her since she failed to make our meetup in Hundager a little under two months ago.
It’s taken me this long just to figure out where she is.
I’m…not sure of all the details of the location, to be honest, and likely won’t know until we get there. ”
Fenric sat up straighter and his eyes narrowed. For the first time since Lirion had started talking, his voice hardened. “Where is she?”
Lirion pointed to the map. “Baza.”
Fenric’s frown deepened. “Quite the hike to get up there.”
“I know. That’s inherently my problem.” Lirion rubbed his forehead, the logistics threatening to give him a migraine. “How much do you know about incubi?”
“You’re incredibly handsome and the sex is off the charts. Other than that, not much,” Fenric answered promptly, a glimmer of mischief in his eye, but there was still some lingering hardness in his set jaw, making Lirion think maybe Fenric was trying to distract him from his pain.
Well, at least he had enjoyed their encounter. Lirion still felt a bit bad about being so demanding, to be honest. He was glad Fenric wasn’t the type to hold grudges.
“In order to stay healthy, I must have sex every other day. I can’t go longer than four or five days without it severely impacting my energy and strength.
” He traced a sea route. “The fastest route is, of course, this one. The problem is, I’d need someone on board the ship to feed me.
I can’t go on a week-long voyage without sex.
I’ll be little better than a pretty corpse upon arrival.
Historically, ship voyages haven’t worked out well for me.
Either no one’s comfortable having sex with me or they try to turn me into the ship’s whore. ”
“I see the problem,” Fenric murmured, eyes on the map. “The land route will work better for feeding because you can stop and have sex with a random partner as you make your way, but it’ll take closer to three weeks, barring weather and road conditions.”
“I dare not let this situation continue. I have no information on whether my sister is even alive at this point.” His voice hitched and he shoved a hand through his hair, twisting his fingers in the pink locks to the point of pain.
“These sex rings are…brutal. Most don’t survive the year.
Even for a succubus, this will be very hard for her to survive. ”
“Yeah, they’re bad.” Fenric surprised him by agreeing.
Lirion cut his eyes to Fenric as he released his hold on his hair. “You, er, have experience with them?”
Fenric gave a single sharp nod, his eyes locked on the map spread across the table. “I have experience breaking them up. Who’s in charge of this one?”
“Count Pierres.”
Lirion held his breath, praying at this point.
Count Pierres was a powerful man. Absolutely the worst of the worst, as well, known for his disregard for people and his gluttonous appetite for every vice.
Most people—sane people—avoided any contact with the man.
To make matters worse, the count was supposedly related to the royal family via some distant cousin or some other such nonsense.
It was the only thing that explained why the royal family had done absolutely nothing to squash him and his illegal activities.
At the very least, The Box should have issued some grand edict to have this man castrated and beheaded, but so far, nothing. For years, nothing.
Fenric sat back, eyes level on him. “He’s a very bad man.”
“I know,” Lirion admitted, trying to keep his voice strong.
“He basically has his own personal army.”
Yet another reason for Fenric to stay far the fuck away from this quest. “And part of his army is likely protecting the building he’s set up in. I know.”
“I now understand why you’re so desperate. It’s not just the trip up there and back you’re asking for help on. It’s getting her out.”
“I will absolutely fight at your side for your job. Sword. Magic. Whatever I can do,” Lirion swore.
He shifted to the edge of his seat, partially leaning on the table.
“I’ll keep the scales even. I’ll give every bit of help to you that you render to me.
I just can’t do this alone, and I have no one I can ask for help from. ”
“No one’s going to cross Pierres, that’s for damn sure.
Well, no one sane.” Fenric paused as if letting the enormous weight of his very fair assessment crush the last of Lirion’s hopes.
But the bastard’s full lips slowly pulled into a smile and Lirion’s heart started beating again.
“Fortunately, I live with a bunch of men who think sanity’s overrated. ”
This was news to Lirion. Fenric had people?
Really? The man who struck him as very much a lone wolf had others he relied upon?
Damn, Lirion was honestly jealous. He had always liked the idea of belonging to a group, but once his nature came out, people responded weirdly.
Usually, the dynamic of the group became so altered, he couldn’t relax or feel comfortable in it.
He didn’t dare hope for anything here, either. It was fine as long as Fenric helped him get to Aria. That was all he really needed.
Still, it was prudent to ask questions. “Will they be all right with going against Pierres?”
“Oh, sure. I have basically a full raiding party. The one good thing about Count Pierres is that he’s rich.
Save your sister. Steal some shiny goods.
Everyone will be happy.” Fenric tapped a finger on the map, indicating the sea route.
“I can also promise you the fast route. One of my party members is a pirate and has his own ship. We can safely go up this way. No charge to you, either.”
Lirion felt a shudder go through him from head to toe. Was this relief? Gratitude? Something hopeful, at the very least. “I’ll happily board. Um…about the feeding…”
“I’ll feed you.” Fenric gave him a wink and a smirk. “No hardship on my part. If you prefer to stick with just me for the voyage, I can let the group know.”
“I would honestly prefer that.” For one, Fenric was a known quantity. For another, putting a boundary down at the beginning of the voyage would prevent trouble.
With a shrug, Fenric added, “Probably for the best. Our youngest doesn’t need to be tempted by you. He’s got other things to figure out first before he gets to sex. All right, I’ll feed you. With how things are, we’ll prioritize your sister first and go directly for her.”
Lirion wrapped his fingers around his seat to keep him from throwing himself at Fenric. Everything was coming together. He finally had an answer to saving his sister, and he didn’t want to do anything to fuck it up. “Are you sure that’s all right?”
Fenric nodded as he leaned closer to the map, possibly inspecting the course they would need to take. “My job’s only been posted for a week. No one’s able to get past the fog, and few would risk trying. I think it can sit a while longer. It ain’t going anywhere.”
“You said this is personal, though?”
“So’s yours.” Fenric paused, mouth visibly searching for words.
He seemed reluctant as he spoke, while lines dug deep into his handsome face.
Pain passed through his bright gold eyes, but in the end, he shook his head, seeming to push it all down.
“I’m chasing after memories. At least your sibling is still alive.
I understand the regret of not being able to save someone you dearly love.
I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone but my mortal enemies.
It’s fine, Lirion. We’ll go for your sister first.”
Lirion squeezed his eyes shut against the burning of unshed tears and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. His entire body trembled under his relief. Whatever the man asked of him after this, he’d do with a willing attitude.
“We likely can’t leave today, correct?”
Fenric huffed a laugh and shook his head.
“Ship’s not prepped for a long haul, and there’s a storm moving in.
Bad time to launch. But go grab your gear.
Come with me for tonight. We can get the rest of my team on preparing the ship for our voyage and we can do some quick shopping for what we need.
If we’re lucky, we should be able to set sail in a day or two. ”
“And you’re absolutely sure your party will be willing to help me?”
“Of course. They live for this kind of chaos. All I have to do is tell Puppy—sorry, Maxie—we’re rescuing a fair maiden in distress and he’ll insist we help you. Soft touch, that boy. Anyway, move, move. We need to introduce you to my party and make a plan.”
Lirion was all for that. “Fold the map for me.”
“Of course.”
Lirion found the innkeeper first, paid for his stay, and then hauled ass to his room.
He threw all of his clothes and other daily items into his bag, slung his lyre and drum onto his body, and did a last sweep of the room.
Confident he had everything, he immediately left again.
His possessions were well packed, but he could do a better job repacking the bag later.
Right now, moving quickly was his priority.
He made it back downstairs in record time and found Fenric had already folded the map, which he simply handed to Lirion once he rejoined him. Lirion stuffed it into the top of the bag, fastened the ties again, and nodded.
Fenric led the way out. He paused and frowned up at the black clouds churning across the sky. The wind whipped up, pushing Lirion’s bright pink hair in front of his eyes. The storm was definitely showing signs of breaking soon.
With a huff, the thief led them through the same district near the docks. If they truly had a pirate in the group, then it would make sense for them to have rented a dock space.
“Are you taking me to the ship, then?” Lirion inquired, walking next to Fen.
“No, house. We normally rent a place when docked, just to take a break from the ship. We travel a lot by ship. Plus, some experimenting has been going on.” Fenric snapped his fingers.
“Ah, right, a word of warning. Puppy’s not really in control of his magic at this point.
We believe he’s an alchemist, but for some reason, his magic manifests as poison whenever he cooks something. ”
Lirion blinked and almost tripped over his own feet. “A poison master?”
“Well, he ain’t a master yet, but he likely will be in the future. Right now, just assume that if he’s handled the food, it’s not safe to eat. We’re still trying to get the parameters down.”
Lirion considered his words. “So, how did you discover his cooking was poisonous?”
“The hard way.”
“Did you die?”
“Yes, along with several others. Except Hapi, thankfully, who can raise people.” Fenric’s eyes cut to his. “Hope you’re good with necromancers.”
Lirion snorted. “I, of all people, know better than to judge others by stereotypes.”
“I like your attitude. Hapi gets a lot of flak just for existing, so we’re pretty protective of him.
Be nice to him and it’ll go a long way in the group.
Anyway, be careful of food around Maxie.
He’s not trying to poison anyone on purpose, but him simply making tea is an adventure, let’s put it that way. ”
“I understand and will take precautions. Um, what about the rest of your party?”
“Well, I’ll explain as I introduce you. Just take ’em in stride. They’re…a unique bunch.”
Should Lirion be worried?
Nix that. He was definitely going to worry.