Blood of the Underworld (46 page)

H
aern dragged the unconscious Bloodcraft through the alleys, knowing it would only be a matter of time before the city guard arrived to investigate the noise and chaos that had been their battle. And despite his trust for Antonil, Haern didn’t want the city guard to be the ones to discover the name he sought. No, he wanted that for himself. Whoever it was had made it personal in attacking the Eschaton, and he’d deal with it personally in return.

At last he reached a nice, secluded spot tucked against the outer wall of the city. There’d be no patrols, and anyone who heard screams would be wise enough to keep the matter to themselves. Haern propped the man against the wall, then opened up his red coat to see the rows of leather loops for holding knives, half of them empty. Removing the rest, Haern cut strips of the coat into lengths, then bound the man’s hands and feet. The throwing daggers he left in a pile nearby, having every intention of using them if the need presented itself. Ready, he started slapping the man’s face and pinching his nose to disrupt his breathing. It took a bit, but at last he awoke, gasping for air.

“Where the fuck am I?” the man asked.

Haern drew a saber and smacked him across the face with the flat side.

“I’m asking the questions,” he said. “Let’s start with your name.”

“Percy,” the man said. “And that’s the only question you get an answer to.”

Haern grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head against the wall.

“For your sake, I’d hope not,” he said.

Percy grinned at him despite the blood that dripped down his neck.

“You think you can frighten me?” he asked. “You got Veldaren fooled, but you won’t be fooling us. You’re nothing.”

“Us?” Haern asked. “There’s no ‘us,’ not anymore. The rest of your group is dead. You’re the last.”

This seemed to shake him a little, but not much. Percy bit his tongue, then turned and spat.

“Fine,” he said. “Not much point protecting anyone if what you say is true. What is it you want?”

“Who hired you to kill us? I want a name, and where to find him?”

Percy shook his head.

“Can’t do it. If I’m to have any chance as a mercenary after this, it can’t be with the reputation of a snitch. Bad enough a bunch of pussies like you beat us.”

“A mercenary?” Haern asked, leaning in closer. “You think I’ll let you live?”

“If you don’t, what reason I have to talk?”

In answer, Haern grabbed one of the throwing knives and jammed it into Percy’s leg. Percy winced, but held down his scream.

“You think you can break me?” he asked after gathering his strength. “I don’t think it’s in you. Too soft.”

A second knife, an inch higher up the leg. This time Percy did scream, but not for long.

“You,” he said, laughing despite being out of breath. “You think this will work? I’ll bleed out too quick. Don’t have much...” he winced as Haern jammed in a third, “...practice at this, do you?”

“Tell me his name,” Haern said, grabbing Percy by the shirt and pulling him close. He’d frightened others before, often with just the intensity in his eyes, but this man seemed to be close bedfellows with pain and fear.

“You try to act the monster,” Percy said, spitting in Haern’s face. “But I grew up with monsters. I know who they are, how to smell ‘em. You’re not a monster. Thren is. Carson was. But you?” Another laugh. “You’ve killed so many, Watcher, yet you’ve somehow prevented it from changing you. Why? You think it makes you a better pers...”

Haern jammed his saber into Percy’s stomach, then twisted it. The moment he removed the blade, blood would gush out, along with intestines.

“Now...” Percy said, slumping against the wall. “Now that’s the monster. Were you hiding it, Watcher? How...quaint...”

“Tell me where,” Haern said.

“His name’s Laerek,” Percy said. “A priest. He’ll be...”

He launched into a coughing fit, each cough weaker than the last. His skin was turning pale. Haern felt sick in his stomach realizing how far he’d gone. The man might die before giving him more than a name, all because he’d lost control. All because he’d wanted, for whatever reason, to prove that he could be the monster Percy doubted he could be.

“Down on Songbird,” Percy said. “He’s...at...shop...”

More coughing. His eyes had turned glassy. Too much blood lost, Haern knew.

“Damn it,” he whispered. “Tell me where, quickly!”

Percy shook his head.

“Pull out the sword,” he said. “And go look for yourself.”

Haern yanked it free. Blood gushed out, and as it did, Percy’s body began convulsing in his last death throes. Haern watched, feeling strangely guilty for the act. At last, when all life was gone, he sheathed his sabers and then ran. Songbird ran for about a mile. There were only so many shops on it, but it’d take a lot of time to search them all. Still, time he had, at least to try.

Starting at the southern edge of the road, he followed it north, his mind racing. Why would a priest hire the Bloodcrafts to kill the Eschaton? That a priest of Karak would want them dead wasn’t much of a stretch, and Tarlak tended to be meddlesome when it came to their darker affairs, but there had to have been some specific reason.

As Haern ran, he checked each shop, those of bakers, jewelers, smiths, makers of cloth and wool. Most were dark, and their doors locked. Feeling his desperation grow, he continued on, until he heard a man scream from an alley behind him. Spinning about, Haern rushed into it, only to come to a halt.

Thren Felhorn was there, swords drawn. Laying at his feet was a priest wearing the black robes of Karak. So far, he was alive, but his face was covered with blood. Haern realized why when Thren tossed the man’s severed ear onto his chest.

“I said talk,” Thren told him.

“Laerek,” Hearn said, grabbing his father’s attention. “This man is Laerek, isn’t it?”

Thren looked up, and his expression was one Haern could not read. Was it anger, or amusement?

“It is,” Thren said. “Do ghosts have business with him as well?”

So far he’d made no overtly threatening actions, but he still held his swords, which was enough to make him incredibly dangerous. Haern slowly stepped into the alley with his weapons drawn.

“I’m no ghost, and no dead man, despite what rumors you might have heard,” Haern said, making sure his hood was pulled low to hide his face in its magical shadows. “This man hired mercenaries to kill me and my friends. I want to know why.”

Laerek refused to look his way. He was a thin man with a long nose, and now missing an ear. Thren kicked him once, blasting the air from his lungs.

“It seems you’ve been messing with very dangerous people,” Thren told the priest before turning back to Haern. “This man sent the Suns after my guild. I’d appreciate knowing why as well.”

Laerek rolled onto his back and pressed against the nearby wall.

“Karak be my strength,” he prayed. “Not pain, nor death, nor threats of this world...”

Thren kicked him in the teeth to stop the prayer.

“Karak will not help you,” Thren said, kneeling before him. “And you will feel pain, so much pain, before your death. If you want to do something useful with your words, then talk. The more you talk, the less you suffer.”

Haern watched as Thren grabbed Laerek’s hand, took his shortsword, and slowly sliced into the tendons of his wrist. Laerek let out a cry, yet as Haern watched, he felt no pity, no remorse. Instead he felt himself back as a child, watching his father cutting off the hand of a man that had cheated them. Despite the passing of time, Thren was still in charge, still holding the lives of others in his hands. Haern knew he should object. He’d spent his whole childhood rebelling against everything Thren had taught him. Yet this priest had played with all their lives. Everyone Haern knew and loved would be dead if he’d had his way. And so he watched the blood drip to the ground and hardened his heart against it. Had he not just thrust his own blade into the belly of another, all for a name?

“Start talking,” Thren said as he continued to saw. He kept his fist clenching down against the veins so he’d not bleed out. His sword reached bone, and its sharp edge began to pry into the joint. “Why the Suns? Why did you have to send Grayson after me after all these years?”

“I didn’t!” Laerek cried. “The Suns were willing, that’s all I know!”

“Then why the Widow?”

Haern crossed his arms and frowned. The Widow? Laerek was behind that, as well?

“He’s just a spoiled, wealthy brat,” Laerek said. “By Karak, please, it hurts...”

“Who is it?” pressed Thren.

“Stephen Connington,” said Zusa from the rooftops, drawing their attention her way. Death was in her eyes, and her gaze frightened Haern more than Thren’s. “He was the Widow, your little puppet. Let me guess, priest...you told him Thren killed his father, not the Watcher?”

Laerek’s skin was already pale, but it somehow turned paler. Thren pulled away his sword, put the bloody tip against his throat.

“You claimed I killed Leon?” he asked. “I’d have gladly done so, but I wasn’t given the privilege. The Watcher here took that from me. So why? What has my guild done to you?”

“Alyssa, as well,” Zusa said, leaping to the ground with daggers drawn. “You tried to have her killed. I can’t forgive you, not for that.”

Laerek’s eyes bounced between all three of them, and he saw no comfort in any, no signs he might live. Closing them, he began praying again, until Thren shoved his shortsword between his lips. The priest’s clattering teeth rattled against the steel. Thren leaned close, and Haern saw how easily his gaze broke the man, so much easier than it had been against Percy.

“Why?” Thren asked. “We’re all here, now tell us why.”

“I only follow orders,” Laerek said when Thren withdrew the blade. Tears ran down his face. “I’m a messenger, just a messenger.”

“Messenger for whom?” asked Haern.

Laerek looked at them all. For a brief moment he paused, as if afraid to say, but his will was weak.

“He’s a powerful priest,” Laerek said. “His name is Luther. He sends me his orders by letter from the Stronghold, and I carry them out. That’s all I know.”

“Luther?” Thren asked, and he looked to the other two. Both shook their heads, not recognizing the name.

“I swear it’s true!” Laerek insisted, seeing their doubt.

“One more question,” Zusa said, moving closer. Thren stepped away, and bowed as if he were a gentlemen making way for a lady. Zusa knelt before Laerek, and glanced down at her daggers.

“You blinded my beloved,” she said, looking up at him. “I hope you burn for an eternity.”

Her dagger thrust into his throat, twisted, and then tore out, taking flesh and blood with it. Laerek flailed at her with shaking hands, but she held him as she watched him die. When at last he went still, Zusa stood and spat on his corpse.

“I thought you had a question,” Haern said.

Zusa looked to him and shrugged.

“I lied.”

Haern didn’t know what to say, but meanwhile Thren laughed and laughed.

Epilogue

N
o one had slept the rest of the night in the Connington mansion. Guards rushed about, suddenly without anyone in charge, and each one nervous about what the death of Stephen meant to them. Lord Gandrem assumed control with ease, settling into a role he’d known his entire life. Zusa respected him, yet feared him, as well, for every time she looked she saw Melody there at his side, his hand in hers.

Zusa walked down the hallway, glaring at any guard who looked twice at her. Morning had come, yet the tension remained. It’d been a long couple years establishing Leon’s heir. With no remaining sons, illegitimate or otherwise, it’d be a terrible squabble among the scattered remnants of the Connington family. She felt anger in the guards directed at her, guards who had been treated and paid well, all potentially ending by her single thrust of a dagger through their master’s eye.

Alyssa lay on her bed, Nathaniel at her side, when Zusa stepped into the bedroom.

“Is all well?” she asked. Nathaniel glanced up at her, and she saw the exhaustion in his eyes, which were bloodshot and wet with tears. Zusa smiled at him, wishing she could lend him strength...not that she had much left to lend.