Demonbane (Book 4)

by Ben Cassidy

  Joseph sat up in his chair. “What do you mean eliminate Bronwyn?”

  “I mean kill her.” Kendril snapped.

  Maklavir looked up at the ceiling. “I just love the magic of Candle Ice. Such a joyous time of year.”

  “We can’t kill her,” Joseph protested.

  “We can, and we will. But not until after we’ve questioned her. She may be the only one who knows where the Soulbinder is.” He nodded towards the door. “In the meantime we have to assume that Dutraad and all the house guards are in the know, and on her side. We move fast and quietly. If we play out cards right, we’ll have the Soulbinder by midnight.”

  “And if not,” Maklavir said, “we’ll all be hanged as thieves and kidnappers.”

  For a moment no one spoke. From outside the door of the room came the muffled sounds of the Candle Ice celebration. Snowflakes lashed mercilessly against the window.

  “We’re in this up to our neck,” Kendril said at last. “There’s no going back now. If any of you want out, this is the time. There’s no telling what the rest of this night will bring.”

  Joseph stood. Fire glinted in his eyes. “We all knew what we were signing up for when we came here. We’ll see this through. All the way.”

  Kara stood as well. “In that case,” she said with a smile, “I’m going to have to ask you boys to leave.”

  They all stared at her.

  The redhead pointed to the sparkling white dress laid out on the bed. “I have to change,” she said.

  “This will do.” Kendril looked around the inside of the stables, lit only by a lantern that rested on the edge of an empty stall. “Lillette said we were the only ones sleeping out here, didn’t she?”

  Joseph nodded. He rubbed his hands briskly together against the cold. “It’s far enough away from the main house, and I haven’t seen anyone but Tomas and us come out here tonight.” He stole a glance over his shoulder at the town house that loomed in the snowy darkness behind them. He gave Kendril a weighty look. “I mean it, Kendril. I know the Soulbinder is important, and I know that Bronwyn knows where it is, but I won’t be party to any torture.”

  “I doubt it will come to that,” Kendril said. He ran a hand along the edge of a stall. “We’ll need to grab Bronwyn quickly, then bring her out here without anyone seeing us. Did you bring that herbal bag of yours?”

  Joseph nodded towards the open stable door. “In the baggage compartment of the carriage. All things considered, I thought it would be good to have along.”

  “Anything that might help us?”

  The grizzled scout considered for a moment. “Xoma scent packs a powerful kick. I’ve got a flask of it in my bag. It’s fast, too. Soak some on a cloth, put it over her face and she’ll be out in seconds.”

  “Good. As much as I’d love to bash her over the head, we can’t risk killing her. Not yet, anyway.” He tilted his head towards Joseph. “You’ve had this Xoma scent on you the whole time and never thought of using it stop Maklavir’s prattling for five minutes?”

  “Oh, believe me, I thought about it.” Joseph looked out into the yard again, squinting to see through the falling snow. “Most people are staying inside, even the servants. No one wants to be out in this cold. I think if we’re careful, we should be able to get Bronwyn out here without anyone noticing us.”

  “Good.” Kendril tapped his hand anxiously against the side of the stall. “We need to find Tomas. He should be back by now. We’ll have him keep watch and make sure the coast is clear. You and I will grab Bronwyn.”

  “So I guess now we’re adding kidnapping to our list of offenses?” Joseph’s flash of a smile quickly disappeared. “Kendril, are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?”

  The Ghostwalker turned to the door. “It has to.”

  “You look absolutely beautiful, Kara.”

  The redhead blushed. “Thank you, Maklavir. You look very dapper yourself.”

  The diplomat turned, offering his arm to the girl. “I miss the goatee, though. It adds a bit of mystery. I feel so naked without it.”

  She linked arms with him, and the two began the walk down the hallway towards the main hall. The glowglobes had been turned off throughout the house, replaced with the sparkling glitter of crystal-sleeved candles. Music drifted in from the open hall doors.

  Kara subconsciously tightened her hold on Maklavir’s arm.

  “You’ll do fine,” Maklavir said with a supportive smile. “Just stick to the slow waltzes.”

  “What about you?” Kara said as they approached the doors.

  “I’ve been dancing ever since I was a lad,” Maklavir chuckled. “I’m sure I’ll do fine.”

  “I didn’t mean that,” Kara said in a hushed tone as they approached the noise of the hall. “I mean Bronwyn, or Brionne, or whatever her name is.”

  Maklavir hesitated for a moment. “I’ll manage,” he said at last. “I admit, though, there’s something about her—”

  They stepped into the main hall. The dances had already begun. The women were a forest of white dresses, dancing and twirling amidst their partners.

  Kara took a breath. She squeezed Maklavir’s arm tightly.

  “Kara,” came Dutraad’s voice. The baron stepped up to them. “How lovely to see you again. I was afraid you had retired for the evening.”

  The thief gave a girlish giggle. “Why, Dutraad, the night is still too young for that.”

  “Tell that to my wife,” the baron mumbled under his breath. He extended an arm. “I would be honored if you would give me this dance.” He glanced up at Maklavir. “With your permission, of course, Maklavir.”

  The diplomat gave a cool smile. “But of course.”

  Kara took the baron’s hand with a smile. “Lead on, Dutraad. I hope that you are as good a dancer as you are a host.”

  The man smiled, then led Kara out onto the cleared area in the middle of the massive hall.

  Maklavir straightened his shirt. He cast his glance around the crowded room until he spotted the perfectly-formed figure of Bronwyn in her low-cut dress.

  “Right,” he breathed, forcing a smile onto his face. “Here we go—”

  Giggling, Dutraad and Kara crashed through the door into the darkened bedroom. The baron turned and shut the door behind them.

  Kara melted back against one of the wooden columns of the huge four-poster bed that occupied the center of the room, her hand splayed across her bosom. “But Dutraad,” she protested feebly, “what about your guests?”

  “Forget them,” he said, moving towards the beautiful woman. “They’ll be fine.” He took Kara in his arms and plastered her mouth with kiss after kiss.

  “But your wife—” Kara managed between kisses. “Won’t she—?”

  “She’s in the master bedroom, down the hall,” Dutraad proclaimed with a smile. “She won’t bother us, Kara dear, I promise.” He bent down and kissed the side of her neck with wild abandon.

  Kara glanced around the darkened bedroom, noticing the bookshelves and large desk against the wall. “This isn’t your bedroom?”

  “My private room. Now, please, Kara—”

  “I don’t know, Dutraad,” Kara said shyly. She pushed the eager man back a step with both hands. “What about Maklavir? If he finds us—”

  “He won’t,” the baron said with more than a hint of impatience in his voice. “He didn’t see us leave. I have men posted on the stairs. No one will interrupt us, Kara, I assure you.”

  “Good,” she said with a smile. “That’s what I was hoping you would say.”

  Dutraad pulled the girl to him and bent in for another kiss.

  Kara put a finger over his lips. “Please, Dutraad,” she laughed. “Perhaps some wine first?”

  The baron grinned lasciviously. “Wine it is, Kara dear.”

  “What in the Third Fire is keeping Maklavir?” Kendril shifted uncomfortably behind the billiards table.

  Joseph squatted beside him. He risked a glance over the top of the tab
le. The doorway of the dark room was still silent and empty. “Don’t know. We have to give him a little time, Kendril.”

  “We don’t have all night,” the Ghostwalker grumbled. He glanced back at his friend in the darkness. “You have that Xoma scent?”

  Joseph lifted a small silver flask in his hand, and a thick cloth in the other.

  The music from the dance in the main hall sounded dully through the walls of the room.

  “Good.” Kendril peered at the door to the room again as if willing it to open. “We’ll have to move fast when she comes in. I’ll hold her, you knock her out with the scent. We can’t let her scream.”

  “With all the drunken aristocrats around the place, I doubt anyone would even notice,” Joseph commented.

  “All the same,” Kendril replied gruffly. He peeked out again at the closed door to the room. “I really hate this.”

  “What?” asked Joseph in surprise.

  “Relying on Maklavir,” Kendril said through clenched teeth.

  “It appears that your wife has abandoned you, Mr. Maklavir.” Bronwyn ran a hand seductively along the diplomat’s arm and smiled. “I think I saw her leave with Baron Dutraad.”

  Maklavir took a sip of the wine glass he held. His gaze stayed on the dancers that dominated the center of the hall. “I believe she did.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  Maklavir looked over at Bronwyn. He tried to keep his face neutral. “If my benefactor finds my wife to be diverting company, that can only be beneficial to me. Wouldn’t you agree, Brionne?”

  Bronwyn’s amber eyes twinkled mischievously. “Not all men are as…forward thinking as you are, Mr. Maklavir.”

  “Please, just Maklavir. And I tend to find that a man in my position must quickly dispense with any…romantic notions he might have.”

  Bronwyn took a step back. She gave the diplomat an admiring glance. “I may have underestimated you, Maklavir.”

  The man gave a thin smile. “Yes, I get that a lot.”

  She moved close again, and linked her arm through his. “Well, if your wife is going to be occupied by Baron Dutraad for some time, perhaps we—”

  Maklavir felt the heat of her body pushed up against him, and tried to keep his eyes off the swell of her breasts. He felt strangely dizzy, intoxicated. He couldn’t think straight. His hand began to clutch the glass he held so tight he thought it might shatter.

  For one blinding moment he thought of telling her everything, giving the game up and all this silly nonsense about the Soulbinder and everything related to it.

  He was here. He had finally returned. This was Valmingaard, his home, and all these wealthy, arrogant nobles were his kin. He had finally come in from the cold.

  Maklavir closed his eyes. To the Void with Kendril, he thought viciously. Why should he give everything up, everything that he had wanted for so long and that was now at his very fingertips? What had Kendril ever done for him?

  He opened his eyes again and stood staring at the dancers.

  His heart was torn inside of him.

  Kara was undoubtedly upstairs with Dutraad right now. Joseph and Kendril were in the billiards room. Tomas was outside by the stables.

  They were all depending on what Maklavir would say in the next thirty seconds.

  Bronwyn snuggled a bit closer.

  The rest of the room seemed to fade away into a blur of light and noise.

  “Maklavir--?”

  Oh, well, he thought bitterly. Easy come, easy go.

  He turned to her with a smile. “You know, I think some company might be nice after all. This hall is so crowded. Perhaps we could find someplace a little more…private?”

  Bronwyn crossed in front of him, a sly smile on her face. “You move quickly, Maklavir.”

  “Too fast for you, Brionne?”

  She stroked a hand across his chest. “I didn’t say that.”

  Maklavir took a nonchalant sip of his wine. He took one last look at the crowded room of chattering, happy nobles. “The billiards room, perhaps?”

  “I know where it is.” Bronwyn leaned in close. “Shall we go?”

  “I can’t be seen leaving with you,” Maklavir said briskly. He glanced around the room. “I’m afraid I have a bit of a…reputation that would be unwise to reinforce. You understand.”

  Bronwyn gave a coquettish tilt of her head. “Of course.”

  “Shall we meet there in, say, five minutes?”

  “I’ll count each second,” Bronwyn said breathlessly.

  Maklavir smiled. “As will I, Brionne.” He turned and gave his red cape a twirl.

  He moved quickly through the crowd of party guests, swimming through the vast sea towards the main hall’s exit.

  And stopped.

  Maklavir turned to look over his shoulder. He caught one last sight of the life he was leaving behind.

  Then he stepped up to the door.

  “Let me, Dutraad.” Kara crossed over to the side table and plucked the bottle of wine out of the baron’s hands. “You just make yourself comfortable.”

  “Whatever you say, my lady,” the baron said with a leering grin. He flopped onto the bed.

  Kara deftly undid the cork, then turned to the two crystal glasses that rested on the silver tray. “I think I’m beginning to like Candle Ice.”

  “Yes,” said Dutraad as his eyes roamed up and down her appealing figure. “It’s always been one of my favorite times of year.”

  She poured the wine into the two glasses, then shoved the cork back into the bottle. “I think I’ve already had too much to drink tonight. I’m a little unsteady.”

  Dutraad gave a wolfish smile. “I’m sure one more glass won’t hurt, my dear.”

  Kara turned, a full wine glass in each hand. “No, I’m sure it won’t.” She extended one towards the baron. “To your health, my lord.”

  He got up and took the glass, then clinked it gently against the one in her hand.

  “To both our health.”

  The door to the billiards room opened. The hinges groaned softly in the darkness.

  Kendril tensed. He gave a curt wave to Joseph.

  The scout nodded. He poured a healthy dose of the Xoma scent onto the thick cloth in his hand.

  Kendril looked carefully around the edge of the billiards table leg.

  Bronwyn was in the room.

  The door shut softly, closing out the sounds of laughter and music from the main hall.

  Kendril shifted noiselessly, his body ready to pounce forward at a moment’s notice. His stomach tightened the way it always did before action.

  There was a soft scrape as a match was lit. A moment later a candle flickered to life. The room was filled with its soft glow.

  Kendril tried to still his breathing. It sounded impossibly loud in his ears. Couldn’t Bronwyn hear it?

  The beautiful woman stood by the door for a long moment. She set the candle down on a table by the door.

  “Really, Kendril,” she said with a long-suffering sigh, “aren’t you at least going to come out and say hello?”

  Chapter 3

  Dutraad drained the glass, then set it down on the side table. “A fine body.”

  Kara sipped contemplatively at her own wine. “It certainly has.”

  He grinned, and stepped closer to the young woman. “I wasn’t talking about the wine.”

  She took a step back. “Really, Dutraad, I don’t think—”

  “Playing hard to get, eh? I certainly like a girl who—” Dutraad lurched to one side, suddenly dizzy. He frowned and put one hand to his head. “Uh. I don’t feel very—”

  Kara backed against a nearby bookshelf, watching the man closely. “You look like you’ve had too much to drink, my lord. Perhaps you should lie down.”

  “No,” he said with a wave of his hand. He wobbled, almost falling over. “I don’t…know why…I’m—”

  Dutraad pitched forward and fell hard onto the floor.

  Kara let out the breat
h she had been holding in, then set down her glass on the shelf behind her.

  “Because I drugged your wine.”

  Kendril stood up.

  Bronwyn looked at him, her eyes sparkling. “It is you, Kendril. I almost didn’t recognize you without that gloomy cloak you’re always wearing. When Nadine told me about the Ghostwalker here in town, well, somehow I just knew.”

  Kendril glared at her, silent.

  Bronwyn cocked her head. “Surely you know Nadine? The two of you have met, I believe. She told me all about you. Have you been following me all the way from Llewyllan?” She clucked her tongue. “Really, Kendril, I love attention from a handsome man as much as the next girl, but that’s just sad.”

  Joseph rose from cover as well, looking over at Kendril in confusion.

  The Ghostwalker didn’t move.

  Bronwyn gazed indifferently at Joseph. “Oh, how sweet, Kendril, you’ve brought a friend with you.” She looked at the cloth in Joseph’s hand. “What was your grand plan, then? Kidnap me? Force me to tell you where the Soulbinder is?” She leaned forward. “That is what you’re after, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right,” said Kendril in a dangerously quiet voice. “We know what you and Dutraad have been up to.”

  Bronwyn wagged one delicate finger in the air. “You’re fishing, Kendril.” She gave a heavy sigh. “Still no smarter than before, I see. You’ve walked into the middle of the spider’s web with no way out. I’m honestly not sure whether to admire your sheer courage or be astounded at your complete stupidity.”

  Kendril took a step forward. His face was hard. “Where’s the Soulbinder, Bronwyn?”

  The witch shook her head. “You still don’t get it, Kendril.” She paused, a fiendish smile on her face. “You and your friends won’t be leaving this house alive.”