The Dragon Men (33 page)

“Thank you.” His voice stayed carefully neutral. “Who's your employer, if you please?”

“He is a person who hires people like me so he does not need to give his name.” Sofiya straightened her thick cloak. It must have been stifling in the heat of the tavern, but she showed no signs of sweating. “You usually kill clockworkers for no money at all, so I would have thought the prospect of having some would be an encouragement, no?”

“I just like to know what's going on,” Thad replied.

“Darkness, despair, death,” Dante squawked. “Darkness.”

Sofiya ignored him. “I will tell you. There is a castle ruin approximately half a day's horseback travel south of Vilnius. A clockworker who calls himself Mr. Havoc has moved into it, fortified it, and made it his own. He is quite brilliant, as all clockworkers are.” She paused to sip from her red glass. Was it wine? She had expensive tastes. “He has already managed many dreadful experiments with machines and men. The village nearby is quite terrified of him, but they lack the weaponry to assault his little fortress.”

“And you want me to go in there and kill him,” Thad finished.

“You are very forthright for such a handsome Englishman,” Sofiya said. “But I have already said that my employer does not care if you kill Mr. Havoc or not. He wants you to deliver a particular machine Mr. Havoc has created.”

“Is that so?” Thad took another pull from his beer mug. The drink was only of middling quality, but it was beer and not
gira.
“Why doesn't your employer simply wait him out? The clockwork plague will kill this Mr. Havoc of yours in a couple of years, three at the absolute most.”

“No. My employer needs the invention now. But I see you are reluctant.” She gathered up the purse and made to rise. “I will find someone else, then. Good day, Mr. Sharpe.”

He caught her wrist. The skin was smooth. “I didn't say I wouldn't do it, Miss Ekk. I'm just suspicious of strange circumstances and a secretive employer.”

“The circumstances are this: you have the chance to rid the world of another clockworker, and make a great deal of money in the bargain by delivering one of his inventions to my employer. Will you do it?”

Dante bit the candle in half. “Done, done, done.”

“Done,” Thad said.

“Excellent. The invention is a spider the size of a small trunk. It has ten legs instead of the usual eight, and it has copper markings all over it. You will know it the moment you see it. I would approach the castle from the west. Our employer has information that says the west wall of the castle has an old doorway overgrown with ivy. The castle's defenses are also weaker in that direction, which is lucky for you—us. That door will get you through the castle wall and into the ruins. After that, you are quite alone.”

“I'm never alone if I have Dante,” Thad replied without a trace of irony.

Sofiya got to her feet. “I have a horse waiting in the back, and a basket of food. The moon is full tonight, so you can see. Take the main road south, then turn west when you reach the village of Juodsilai. The ruins are there. The horse is fast and should reach the castle an hour or two before dawn.”

“What, you want me to leave now? In the middle of the night?”

“Must you make extensive preparations?”

“No.”

“Do you intend to attack Mr. Havoc during daylight, when he can see you coming?”

“No.”

She took him by the arm and hauled him toward the back door. “Then we go now, Mr. Sharpe.”

“Wait a moment.” He came up short. “We?”

“I will come with you, of course.” A grim smile crossed Sofiya's face. “I am suspicious as well.”