If her father, a kind man she knew as Tyndareus, was the god of the underworld, Maniodes, it would explain so much, but a bitter taste rose in her throat.
Clenching her hands against the trembling she waited for Phaos’s answer.
The hawk just blinked and shook his head again.
“But I saw him,” Pen protested. “I know it was him!”
The hawk opened his massive wings and took off. He gained air, then curved around a few buildings, vanishing from sight.
Dread and anger almost made her shatter the glass as she slammed it shut.
The gods were fucking with her, and she needed to know why.
Chapter Thirty Two
Raisa
Raisa watched Tetrides with her arms folded and back straight. He was slumped against the wall of the blacksmith’s shop, looking out of the alley’s mouth. From the outside, he would have been hidden in shadow, but Raisa was behind him now in the alley.
Mindful of the scattered garbage and broken pottery at her feet she crept up to him. Once she was in arm’s reach, and he still hadn’t sensed her, she struck.
One hand darted out to cover his mouth and drag him deeper into the alley. He gave a muffled grunt, but Raisa silenced him with a fist to the stomach.
He doubled over, and Raisa hooked her leg behind his, shoving him back.
Tetrides fell back, dry heaving into a pile of rotten lettuce.
“Why are you watching us?” Raisa demanded over him. “You’re lucky it’s just me and not the pack.”
He coughed again, and glared daggers at her.
Facing him again, she realized that he hadn’t shaved in days. A small detail, but she taught herself to read the appearance of someone. Body language could provide more context and clues than the spoken word, and for a job like hers, it could mean someone’s life.
Arus had been her only blind spot.
Tetrides was clearly mourning him.
Keeping his heated gaze on her, he stood. Raisa let him, keeping a good distance between them.
“I was … hoping to join the Wolves,” he said with clipped words.
“Bullshit,” she spat.
“Arus was an idiot, yes,” he shot right back. “I get why you’d mistrust me, but if he’d stayed with the Wolves, he could be alive now. I don’t … I don’t have anything to go back to.”
He glanced to the ground, and Raisa hated how sad he looked. It instantly reminded her of Arus’s sad eyes, which he only pulled when he really wanted something.
“You and Arus must have other family or friends,” Raisa suggested.
She didn’t expect any sympathy for the man, but he was pained, and not by her sneaking up on him. Arus was a master at manipulation, and his brother could have picked up a few tricks too. She tried to stifle the empathy.
“Family disowned us both when we turned to piracy,” he stated. “Other pirates and thieves don’t exactly make the best companions, always looking out for themselves.”
“So, what?” Raisa asked. “You want to join a band of assassins for the companionship?”
“I may have admired how you and that brute worked together, even that young girl when she played messenger to fetch you,” he confessed shrugging.
Her blood boiled at the mention of Drivas. He had been watching her.
“I want to join,” he tried again, “because Arus was stupid enough to leave you. To … honor him in a way.”
“That’s a strange way of honoring your brother,” Raisa commented.
“We’ll, I’m not going to finish his business and go after the queen,” he scoffed. “That would be suicide.”
“Why take so long to ask?” she said. “I’ve seen you stalking this hideout for days.”
“Honestly,” he said pushing pale hair out of his eyes, “I didn’t know how to broach the subject. You’re an intimidating woman, but strong, and even exciting if I may say so. I can see what Arus—”
“Don’t,” she cut him off. “Arus only saw a means to take leadership from me. You are not joining us. So, stop stalking us and leave this city. I have several contacts and the means to track anyone. If I don’t have news of you gone by the morning, I will send my Wolves.”
“Including that young one?” he asked not bothered by her rage. His voice smoothed out, that sense of sadness slipping.
The heat in her blood took over, and when she blinked next, Tetrides was against the wall. Her fists balled into his tunic, pinning him there.
“You leave her be,” she growled.
“She’s Arus’s daughter, isn’t she?”
The white rage died into a cold dread.
“And you are her ma,” Tetrides smiled, but there was no joy in it. “I only suspected that part, but you did mention you and Arus were lovers. I’d recognize his eyes anywhere. I just want to meet my niece. That’s really why I want to join.”
“No,” her voice barely rose over a whisper. “Arus was vile, and I will not have her mixing with anyone from that side of her family.”
“Just because Arus was awful, doesn’t mean I am,” he said.
She expected him to push her away, since she had him stuck to the wall, but he didn’t.
“I get not trusting me right away,” he continued, “but you can’t deny your daughter half of her identity.”
“She makes her own,” Raisa scoffed. “You will stay away from her.”
Tetrides fell silent, and she saw the frustration in his eyes, but there was something else. An extra glimmer of knowledge he couldn’t hide well.
“I also know you’re the one who caught Arus,” he said slowly. “I was lucky enough to sit next to a woman in a bar who knew most of it. The rest just took some asking around.”
The dread solidified to ice in her gut, making her want to vomit.
This was exactly the same leaps of logic Arus would make, only this one was right.
“What woman?” she asked.
“What does that matter?” he asked, honest surprise lit in his eyes now.
“Who was she?” Raisa barked, dreading the answer.
“I don’t know. She was small, had purple hair. She was nice actually, even paid for my drink.”
Pen.
Raisa almost did vomit then. She had no idea why Pen would pay for his drink, but it was probably just to shut him up.
“I don’t hold it against you,” Tetrides said, though anger singed his words. “I mean, I’m pissed, but that’s on him for reaching too high. Can you let go of me, by the way?”
It took a lot of concentration to uncurl her fingers and step away. Forcing herself to breathe slowly, she kept a hand by her knife regardless.
“I just want to meet her,” he said. “I won’t say anything about Arus to her, but I just want to see my niece. I don’t have any family left.”
“No,” Raisa said again. “I won’t let you anywhere near her, and you are going to leave us all be.”
Raisa turned her back on him, making for the alley’s exit. She kept expecting him to reach for her, or even grab the sword at his hip, but he didn’t. She almost wished he had. That would have been easier to handle than his next words.
“You can’t watch her all the time, and I will find her to tell her everything about her daddy. Unless you let me into the Wolves.”
Chapter Thirty Three
Pen
The sun was setting by the time Pen and Palamedes rounded the last corner to the Lion’s Den.
The streets were practically deserted. While she was usually annoyed by the thick constant flow of people before, now she almost missed it. The people of Stymphalia were terrified of the Fang, and the coming night didn’t help with that. Pen felt it crawling into her bones.
She had the added bonus of her own personal stalker too. She wondered if he was growing paranoid as well, or what he thought of Palamedes at her side.
The stalker, she couldn’t quite think of him as her father right now, given Phaos’s visit, must have known he was the rea
son Palamedes left in the first place. Phaos has certainly known about Palamedes anyway.
Pen was very much aware of Palamedes’s presence as well. They hadn’t spoken on the walk, but she glanced up to him now and then. She’d even caught him watching her in the same manner.
It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though, and she was a little surprised. They had the same goal in mind now, as opposed to him just following the Blood Warrior. Palamedes understood the pressure of the situation, and Pen was glad for that.
She did wonder if he would have preferred to talk. He tried before, when they left Kression, but now he didn’t say a thing.
Pen hoped he wasn’t afraid to try to spark a conversation now. She had no idea how to, so they walked quietly until the Lion’s Den came into view.
“I have a contact here,” Pen said breaking the silence. “He’s a prostitute too, so he might know the victim.”
“And this is the one … with one of the other women before?” Palamedes asked.
“Adrienne, yes.”
He stopped, eyeing the three story Den across the street now.
“You talked to him before?” he asked, brows knitting together.
“Yes, I just said that,” Pen said.
“But you’re sure he’s not the Fang?” he asked, keeping his voice low as though Mellas could hear him inside.
“He was terrified when I brought it up before, and thought the Fang might go after him next.”
“He could have been acting well.”
“I know, which is why I’d like to surprise him, and be a little more direct.”
“Oh,” he blinked taken aback. “You really were just going to waltz in and interrogate him?”
“What did you think we were going to do?” Pen asked. “You agreed that we should come here to see him.”
“I thought we’d find the man in charge first, set up some private room to talk.”
“I don’t want there to be a chance of him running or informing anyone else. I’m fairly sure it’s not him, but a scare tactic would solidify that, and we’ll gain some intel either way.”
“So, when were you going to share that part of the plan?” he asked, annoyed now.
“I’ll be sure to tell you next time,” Pen sighed. “I’m not used to sharing plans. Come on.”
She left him on the sidewalk and crossed the cobblestone road herself.
“Wait, what if he’s … working?” Palamedes asked catching up.
He was.
“What are you doing here?!” Mellas shouted as he yanked his trousers back on.
The woman he’d been pleasuring stayed on the bed, rearranging her rich skirts and looking mortified.
“I have to talk to you about the Fang again,” Pen said. “There was another body last night.”
“What?!” The woman shot up from the bed then, staring at Mellas horrified.
“I just need to talk to him,” Pen said trying to calm her. “If you could wait outside.”
She scoffed and practically ran from the room, slamming the door. Her feet pounding on the stairs were not quiet.
“Great,” Mellas said throwing up a hand. “Now she thinks I was going to kill her. Thanks for that.”
Pen cursed quietly, then said, “I didn’t mean for that, but I couldn’t risk you slipping away.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“The latest dead woman worked here. Do you know a tall, thin woman with black hair?”
Mellas sighed, still peeved, but thought for a moment before his face fell.
“Philomenae hasn’t come in tonight,” he said. “She has a house a few streets from here, with her daughter.”
“How old is her daughter?” Pen asked distracted.
“Six, I think.”
Pen felt like she was kicked in the chest. She prayed the girl had other family with her.
“When did you see Philomenae last?” she asked, trying to stay on task.
“What the fuck is going on in there?” a new gruff voice shouted.
The frantic and angry pounding at the door pulled her attention away from Mellas, but not before she caught the concern and fear fall over his face at the new voice.
Palamedes, meanwhile, was leaning on the door, stood now, surprised by the vibrations.
“Who is that?” he hissed in earnest, to not be overheard.
“Uh …” Pen had no answer.
“That’s Thyestes,” Mellas said. “The owner. Let him in, or I’ll get in shit.”
Mellas didn’t bother keeping his voice down, and Pen guessed he wanted that loyalty to be heard.
Palamedes glanced to Pen, but before she could respond, he unlatched the door and opened it.
Three more men burst into the room practically shoving Pen into the corner next to Mellas and blocking Palamedes from the door. The two bald men were clearly bodyguards, and the third had to be the owner.
He was a stocky man with a gut under his apron and blond hair tied back. Pen recognized him from the kitchen when she passed through before.
“You two better pay well if you’re staying,” he barked.
“Wait, that is not why we’re here,” Palamedes said.
Thyestes just assumed they were here for sex. She tried to not show embarrassment, or glance at Palamedes, but she wanted to punch this new man.
“Then why, in the name of Nyx, are you here?” Thyestes demanded to Palamedes. “Because you scared off an actual paying customer.”
“If it helps, I did make sure she paid before we started,” Mellas chimed in.
“Good, so you two can go, then.”
“Do you know a woman named Philomenae?” Pen asked trying to regain control of the conversation. “She was killed by the Fang last night.”
“What does that have to do with my whores?”
“Because Philomenae was one of your whores, and one of the other victims slept with another of your whores,” she barked back, pointing at Mellas.
Thyestes glared at Mellas.
“I didn’t do it!” Mellas backed further into his corner, terrified under his boss’s gaze. “Tell him I didn’t.”
He swatted Pen’s arm to get her attention.
“He didn’t,” Pen said to Thyestes. “I just needed information from him on Philomenae.”
“Shit, I’m going to have to hire another whore. You know, they’re not that easy to find.”
“That’s what you’re worried about here?!” Pen shouted.
She marched closer to him. One of the bodyguards stuck his arm between them, but he didn’t look too concerned.
Pen would give him something to be fucking concerned about.
“A woman is dead, and you’re just worried about your own coin purse?”
Keeping her hand low and her sleeve down, Pen drew from the small open scratches on her wrist.
A new hand gripped over that spot making her flinch, but he held firm. Palamedes had taken hold of her arm and broken her concentration on the blood. He must’ve guessed what she was doing and received confirmation as he felt the smear under her clothes.
Her heart pounded too hard as she saw him glance to her sleeve and back, no doubt feeling the blood seep through her sleeve now. To her surprise, he kept his composure.
“We’ll be going,” he said to Thyestes.
“What? No,” Pen seethed.
“We’ve gathered all the information we need,” Palamedes continued. “If you would move from the door, we’ll head out.”
“Aye, you better,” Thyestes said stepping out of their way. His bodyguards followed. “And I’d teach that lass better manners if I were you.”
Pen lunged at him again, just to hit that smug look off his face, but Palamedes still held her.
“The Fang could be here, you dumb shit,” Pen shouted as Palamedes pulled her down the stairs.
Several people, customers and employees, were staring at her. Every inch of her recoiled at the eyes, but it was her own damn fault that time.
She spotted Zenous, the bartender, watching them too, wide-eyed and scared.
“Put a muzzle on her while you’re at it,” Thyestes laughed.
“Enough of that!” Palamedes let go of her wrist then.
Rounding on Thyestes himself before the bodyguards could get in the way, Palamedes got in his face.
“If you have that little regard for women’s lives, you should not be running this place,” he growled. “We will come back with guards to shut it down if we have to. With the queen’s authority, we’re able to do whatever needs to be done to catch this killer. If this Den is even remotely connected to him, we will find out.”
Pen stood there, watching the encounter between the two, and loving the dread fall over Thyestes’s face.
Palamedes backed away and turned to her, anger in his eyes now, and gestured to the door.
Still seething from her own emotions, plus the embarrassment of causing a scene, Pen took his lead and left the Lion’s Den.
Palamedes followed quickly, slamming the door shut behind him.
“What were you thinking?” he hissed when they rounded the corner and were out of earshot from anyone. He raised his hand, showing the small streak of blood over his fingers. “You were making something.”
“I was just going to scare him,” Pen defended. “That prick didn’t care about Philomenae or Mellas, it seemed.”
“That doesn’t mean you attack him!”
“I said scare, though with his talk of manners and muzzles, I wanted to kick his teeth in.”
“So did I,” Palamedes said after a forced breath. “Next time, though, we go with guards.”
“Fine,” Pen said. “Thanks for terrifying him with that threat by the way.”
“He nearly shit his pants. I could smell it.”
Pen couldn’t stop the laughter from taking over, and she was glad for it, for a while.
Chapter Thirty Four
Raisa
“So, you’re just letting this guy into the Wolves?” Kaya questioned. “What are his skills, his background, can he even hold a secret?”
“He’s from the Eastern Island with a knack for sailing and piracy,” Raisa answered, leaning with her hands on her desk.
Grief of the Undying (The Ichorian Epics Book 3) Page 19
