35. Lirion
This was hardly the first time Lirion had collaborated with a group to get something done, but he could say it was the first time he’d done so with confidence.
Normally, he had an exit plan in his back pocket in case the group fumbled or deserted him.
For quite possibly the first time in history, he didn’t have a backup plan. He’d felt no need to come up with one.
Somehow, he knew for a fact this group wouldn’t abandon him. At the very least, he knew Fenric wouldn’t. Fenric had layered several safeguards into this plan just to ensure Lirion’s safety, which spoke volumes in and of itself.
Fenric had been gone nearly the entirety of yesterday, scouting out the villa.
He’d only returned to The Greasy Gull a few hours before sunset to give a final report on everything he’d seen and heard.
He’d also turned over a uniform for Maxie to use—after Malfas used his magic to make some alterations so it fit properly.
Shortly after sunset, Lirion, Hapi, and Maxie snuck close to the villa before splitting up.
A sharp wind set the torches to wildly flickering, while lanterns swung about on hooks, sending shadows lurching and lunging.
Cloaks snapped, but Lirion barely felt the chill in the air.
His heart raced and his blood thrummed with excitement.
They’d planned for Maxie to set out in his new uniform with a worn cloth bag slung over his shoulder. Inside, it held only a container of the coffee he’d made. Lirion had coached him for hours on how to talk to other servants and even the guards, and the young man was a natural.
Yet, Lirion’s stomach still tightened as he watched from a distance as Maxie flawlessly slipped into a line of night-shift servants heading through the side gate.
With an eager smile, he struck up a conversation with another young man.
In the blink of an eye, they were through the gates, the guards not even giving him a second glance.
A large raven flew down from a perch near the wall and soared to the villa, following Maxie’s every step, darting through patches of moonlight before becoming lost to the shadows again.
Lirion hadn’t been there to see Fenric shift, but he knew the bird was his thief. Sneaky man.
Fenric was instrumental during this part, sending messages back even though he was in bird form, relaying all he could see.
Lirion was rather impressed he had multiple shapeshifting forms. Those who had the skill could usually only manage one, maybe two, but from Fenric’s cagey manner, Lirion knew he had more.
Once Maxie disappeared into the villa, Lirion felt his body clench, his breathing growing shallow.
Fenric had planned to find a way into the building through an open door or window, so he was supposed to have eyes on Maxie, but for now, the young man was largely on his own as he went to the kitchen and put the coffee into some proper crockery.
It was hard to gauge how long that would take.
Five minutes? Ten? Twenty? Lirion was convinced an hour had trickled by, but soon enough, a smiling Maxie crossed the back lawn from the villa, a tray awkwardly held in front of him with clay mugs of steaming coffee.
“We forgot to teach him how to hold a tray with one hand,” Hapi murmured as soon as he spotted him.
“Trust me, that’s the least of our concerns. He’s convincing enough. We just need them to drink the coffee.”
Hapi and Lirion moved closer to the gate, sticking to the shadows cast by the flickering torches, carefully avoiding the watchful gaze of the guards, who actually weren’t very alert.
They all wore the same bright green and gold uniform—different from the Baza city watch and Count Pierres’s own family colors.
“Good evening, sirs. Would you like some coffee?” Maxie greeted.
His smile was broad and friendly, but Lirion swore he could see a wicked glint in the young man’s eyes.
They might be just guards, but they had to know what was happening in the villa.
From Maxie’s point of view, that made them just as culpable.
“Gods above, yes,” Guard One replied, reaching for the cup offered.
“So, this side is black, the other side has two sugars and cream in it.”
Guard Two reached for the other side of the tray. “I guess they took pity on us tonight by offering coffee. You hitting all the guards?”
“I am,” Maxie answered with his winning smile. “I’m going to move on so they don’t get cold coffee. Enjoy your shift, gentlemen.”
Maxie disappeared along the wall to approach more guards patrolling the area. He was not to approach the main gate. Dead guards there would definitely catch someone’s attention too early.
Lirion and Hapi stayed right where they were, at the head of the street and just around the corner, monitoring things. Maxie’s poison would take a few minutes to work—they’d tested the reaction time earlier with a voluntold Malfas.
The second the guards dropped, Hapi moved with alacrity. The necromancer’s long legs ate up the ground and he got to the gates within a minute flat. Lirion had to scramble to keep up with him.
Both guards looked rather worse for wear, their eyes bloodshot and glassy from death, but there were no obvious rashes or anything on the skin.
Hapi put a hand on both of their chests, muttering something, and while Lirion had no affinity for necrotic magic, he could still sense it.
The hair on his arms rose and a shiver went over his skin, a feeling that doubled down when the two guards slowly stood again.
Their movements were smooth enough, but something about it was unnatural.
Or perhaps Lirion thought so because he knew them to be zombies.
Hapi turned to him and nodded. He’d instructed Lirion earlier on what to do at this point, so Lirion followed those instructions to the letter.
“I am your master,” he informed the zombies. “You will obey my instructions.”
A second, two, then Hapi released his hands from their chests. “Done. I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m going to meet up with Puppy before heading toward the dock to find Malfas and Bel.”
“Good. Get him out of here.” Maxie was too attractive for his own good, especially this close to powerful people without morals.
These people didn’t have any regard for others, and Maxie would be a very tempting target, especially walking around alone.
Lirion had complete faith that if someone tried to lay a hand on Maxie, Hapi would turn them into the drooling undead.
Was it wrong to hope for an encounter? The more people here who faced consequences, the happier Lirion would be.
Focus, Lirion, focus. Aria was inside and needed him.
He kept his lyre close to his chest, which it nearly covered. From what Hapi had told him, some rudimentary intelligence lingered in zombies, so he could give them orders they could sort of figure out on their own.
“Escort me inside,” he instructed.
Grunts, and they started shuffling away.
Okay, good, Hapi apparently knew what he was doing. Well, Lirion had seen the skelebabies in action, so he’d known that anyway.
Fenric was still nearby, flying overhead, monitoring things from the air.
He’d flown back outside when Maxie appeared with the coffee.
Lirion felt better about having him close.
The zombies would fight for him, but they weren’t tough opponents to defeat.
Zombies were cannon fodder, to put it simply.
He scanned the place as he walked. It appeared to be a very lavish vacation villa, no matter what angle you looked at it from.
Three stories tall, limestone walls, expensive gilding around the windows and doors, fancy landscaping around the base of the house.
Even as he walked up the gravel driveway, he could hear the sound of laughter—someone was braying like a jackass—and smell the alcohol. The party was in full swing already.
Knowing how vile some of the people inside were, his stomach churned. Aria was in there. He could feel it in his gut. But she wouldn’t be for much longer, on that he would swear.
The zombie guards shuffled right along, and they entered through a side door.
The side entrance led into a servant’s hallway, which wasn’t at all deserted, but no one paid him any mind.
He had two guards and was dressed like a musician.
In this chaotic place, he fit right in. Holding the lyre in his hand was genius on his part; it was the perfect excuse without anyone even needing to ask his purpose.
They kept walking him inside and Lirion’s eyes were peeled.
Aria, Aria, where was Aria?
The hallway grew larger and more extravagantly decorated the closer they got to the main area.
Torches shifted over to elegant candelabras and even a few magic orbs that glowed a sickening pink, like watered-down blood.
Lust and joy permeated the air, threatening to create a cloud in his own mind, but thankfully he’d feasted on Fenric prior to starting their rescue mission.
He was a very well-fed incubus. He could still taste Fen’s cool energy lingering on his tongue. This nightmare couldn’t tempt him.
Lirion didn’t want to go to the main area, not if Aria was in a private room somewhere. He stopped the zombies, looking about to make sure no one was in earshot. No one was.
“I’m looking for my sister. A girl with the same hair color as mine. Where would she be?”