by Devyn Jayse
"Haven't done much harm? You've murdered close to a dozen women!"
"As long as you're not hurt, what's a few women of the night?" Another elegant shrug. "Besides, they agreed to it."
"Agreed to die?"
"Yes, I gave them an option, and they always chose the second."
"What was the first?" I couldn't help asking.
"That I could maim them and see how much pain they withstood."
"That's not a choice." I stared at him, aghast. The doctor was insane.
"It was an alternative given to them, and they always chose death. They would still be alive if they had selected it." Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "Except for the first, I'm afraid."
"What happened with the first?"
"She asked for pain, but I mistook how deep the blade would burrow into her organs, and she bled out, poor soul. That helped me with my measurements for the next time someone chose the first option, but no one ever did. I had no way of verifying whether I had gotten the measurement right this time."
"You're crazy," I whispered.
"You mistake me my dear. I'm a physician. We have to run our experiments in order to continue learning. Without experience, where would new knowledge come from?"
"You don't have to kill people to learn."
"On the contrary, I've realized that I should have done this a long time ago. The things I've learned about living bodies don't compare to what I've learned as a body meets death."
"That knowledge isn't going to help you in a cell."
Doctor Reddington threw back his head and laughed. "You really think they would throw me in a cell, with all the knowledge I have at my fingertips?" He raised them, showing me. "These hands can perform miracles. No one's going to keep me in a cell when I can help them through their diseases, cutting them away from them and giving them a second chance at life."
"They would take life at the expense of all the deaths you've caused?"
"My dear, have you already forgotten the way of the court? Surely you haven't been in the Blights that long."
"No, I came here after you'd already started your murder spree."
"I would much rather you called it my learning journey."
I blinked at him. He was crazy.
He studied me. "I almost didn't recognize you the first time you bumped into me. It was the new short hair that threw me. I couldn't stop wondering why you looked so familiar. Then I asked about you, and they gave me a name, Dare, and I knew it was you, Darelynn."
"When did I bump into you?" I asked him with a frown. I hadn't seen him.
"A few days ago. You were walking down the street with a young girl. A brute of a man was following you. You don't remember? A pity. I was sure you had recognized me. It excited me to know that someone who knew me had seen me."
Realization dawned on me--he was the man I'd thought was a pickpocket, the rude one who didn't apologize for bumping into me.
"That's why I left you that girl as a message," he continued.
"What girl?" My heart sank.
"Tara."
"What? Why? What kind of message was killing her?"
He clasped his hands together. "I heard her be rude to you at Miss Ruby's. She called you scrawny. I thought she needed to be punished."
A sick feeling rushed through me. Tara had died because of a perceived slight he thought she paid me. That felt almost as bad as if I had killed her myself.
"You were there that night?" I asked.
"Of course. I'm one of Miss Ruby's best clients. So much so that the other girls felt comfortable when I offered to walk them home. They trusted the good doctor with all their health concerns. Why wouldn't they trust me with their lives?"
He moved toward me.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I warned him. "Stay there."
He sat down and leaned back in the chair. "You haven't yet asked after Gwendolynn."
"I don't want to know."
"Come now, you don't want to know how your only sister is doing with her pregnancy? I will tell you that she may be facing complications. I'm about to suggest that she be confined to her bed."
"Don't you dare harm her," I hissed at him.
"Harm her? I would never." He raised his hands. "How could I, with the king and queen watching over me? Not to mention the prince."
"Everything I have been doing has been in order to help your sister when her time comes."
"By slicing and stabbing women, you're helping my sister?" I repeated incredulously.
"Well, not just your sister. I am helping all my patients by becoming a better physician."
"By murdering women?"
"Haven't you been listening, Darelynn? I hadn't been murdering them. They have consented to their deaths. They had given up their bodies for my learning journey."
"What have you learned?"
"The education I've gained from those women has been invaluable. There is such a difference between observing a dead body and seeing a living body become still. I've already told you how I've learned now which organ not to pierce to avoid a fatal blow."
A question came to my mind. "How did you make them keep still as you killed them?"
Doctor Reddington smiled. "Ah, I knew you would pay attention to the small details. I use a potent substance. I dab it on a cloth and make them breathe it in. It renders them unconscious enough that the cuts I inflict don't even wake them."
I stared at him, horrified to my bones. Those women had been alive as he used his blades on them, and he wasn't expressing any remorse.
"Would you like me to show you the substance? I have it right here." He reached a hand into his coat.
"Stop right there! Don't move!" I ordered him, drawing my sword.
He froze, both of his eyebrows raised. "Do you expect me to use it on you here?"
That's exactly what I feared. My eyes darted to the doorway. I had told the innkeeper not to disturb us. Who knows how long he planned on doing that?
"Don't be silly, Darelynn. If I had wanted to use the substance on you, I would have already put it on cloth and put it against your nose the second you walked into the room. I came here to apologize, not to kill you."
I realized then he expected to walk out of the inn without anyone stopping him. I couldn't let that happen, but I couldn't risk him getting that substance on me and rendering me helpless.
"Take your hand out of your coat."
He listened to me, taking out his hand slowly and raising it toward me to show me that it was empty.
That's when I charged at him.
28
I charged so suddenly that he didn't have a chance to react. I jumped on him without thinking it through. The chair he was sitting on tumbled backward from the force, and we both met the ground. I groaned as my leg collided with the chair leg.
I hit his head with the hilt of my blade. That bought me a little time as he reeled from the blow.
As quickly as I could, I opened his coat and reached into his pocket. Realizing what I was after, he struggled, but I managed to withdraw the substance within.
With one hand holding the stoppered vial and another holding my sword, I clobbered his head with the hilt again, and I unstoppered the vial, using my teeth. I dropped the contents on his face while trying to stay as far away from the substance as possible. He jerked his face, trying to avoid contact, but he couldn't. The liquid drenched his face, droplets falling into his nose.
His eyes fluttered and then shut. His body went limp as his struggles abruptly stopped.
I untangled myself from him, getting to my feet, and stared down at his still body. I wondered if I had killed him. I didn't know how much of the substance was enough to render a victim unconscious. I stared at the vial in my hand, which I had practically emptied in its entirety.
The door burst open as the innkeeper barged into the room. Blaze and Ragum were at his back, their faces fierce.
The innkeeper gaped at the prone figure on the ground. He twisted h
is hands together, looking back and forth from me to the unconscious man. "I know you said you weren't to be disturbed, but I heard the sounds."
"And he couldn't keep us out of the room after that," Blaze continued, striding toward me. His eyes looked me up and down in deep concern. "Are you all right?"
"Yes." My leg throbbed.
He glanced down at the doctor. "Is he the one?"
"Yes." I winced as I realized my hand wasn't feeling much better than my leg. It felt as though I had used it instead of my sword hilt to clobber the doctor in the head.
Blaze shared a look with Ragum.
"Kindly leave until we call for you," Ragum ordered the distressed innkeeper.
Biting his lip, the innkeeper left without another word.
Blaze waited until the door was closed to yell, "Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind?"
Startled, I took a step back. "What?"
"Why were you meeting with a known killer?"
I got angry. "I didn't know I was meeting with him. I thought it was Garren."
Blaze's eyes narrowed. "Why is Garren visiting you at the inn?"
"Why wouldn't he?"
"We came to see how you were feeling since you didn't come to the tavern," Ragum interjected. "The innkeeper told us you were not to be disturbed, but when we heard sounds of a struggle, we made an exception."
"Why was the killer visiting you here?" Blaze asked.
"Because I know him."
Both of their eyes turned hard. "You knew all along?"
I shook my head. "I just found out today. At Oscar's."
"How?" Blaze demanded.
"I figured it out from the deliveries. My attacker today took out an unusual weapon. It was a weapon similar to one I had seen at The Fortune before."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I wasn't sure. It was just a guess."
"Why didn't you mention the weapon to me earlier?" Ragum asked.
"I forgot about it until I was at Oscar's." That was the truth. I had been too shaken after the attack. My mind hadn't been able to think straight again until I reached The Fortune.
"Well, in either case, we have him now." Blaze stared down at the man. Ragum left the room.
"You can't kill him." I turned to Blaze.
"You want to offer mercy to the man who offered none to his victims?" he asked, both his eyebrows raised.
"It's not mercy. It's just a request."
Despite everything he had done, the doctor might still have been the only one in the kingdom with the skills needed if my sister needed help. I couldn't risk it.
"Who is he?" Blaze demanded as Ragum returned to the room.
I looked over at Doctor Reddington and back at Blaze.
"You can't kill him."
Blaze tilted his head, calculating. "Is he worth coin?"
I nodded.
"How much?"
"How much do you want?"
I winced, realizing I shouldn't have said that. Blaze and Ragum's eyebrows nearly flew off their heads. They both turned and looked at the unconscious man.
"I see," Blaze said. His eyes grew shrewd. "We'll send a message up to the guards. They can forward it to the relevant people."
"No," I said quickly. News of Doctor Reddington's actions couldn't spread.
"No?" Blaze raised an eyebrow. "You know a better way?"
"I can get in touch with Garren. Let him deal with the exchange."
Blaze was thoughtful. "You would trust him with this?"
"Yes. He's the best man for this job. He'll know who to deliver the message to, and they will be willing to pay. Trust me."
Blaze considered for a breath then nodded. "So be it. Send a message to your... friend."
Two men entered the room. They lifted the doctor and took rope out and tied his arms. They dragged him out of the room as I watched. I wondered where they were taking him.
"Ragum, go with her. Make sure her message is sent. I'll be at the tavern," Blaze ordered.
I had no choice but to head out and send a message to Garren.
29
With a brief stop at the front in order to write Garren's note, Ragum and I made our way to the Honeycomb Inn. Alice looked askance at Ragum as I gave her a message to deliver to Garren. She took it and promised it would be sent immediately.
"How long do you think it will take for your friend to receive the message?" Ragum asked as we left town, heading back to the tavern.
"I'm not sure. It may need some time for it to get to the castle and for him to make his way here. That is if he's at the castle to start with," I said. My body was aching, and I couldn't wait to sit down. I didn't care how long I waited if I could rest.
Ragum nodded. "We have time."
By the time we reached the tavern, Ragum had to give me his arm because my leg was hurting so badly. Blaze raised an eyebrow when he saw us walk in like that. When he realized the problem was my leg, he gave up his seat and forced me down. Then he called Hazel to get some cloth with hot water.
"That's not going to help," I grumbled.
He ignored me and proceeded to fuss as if I were a child. I glared at him throughout his ministrations as Ragum sat there in silence.
By the time Garren showed up, the time was late, and the tavern was nearly empty. I was in a foul temper from Blaze's ongoing ministrations. Ragum's expression was absolutely blank.
"Finally," I snapped at Garren as he slid into a seat.
He blinked at me, startled. His eyes traveled down to the hot cloth on my leg.
"I got here as quickly as I could, considering." He replied in a mild tone that did nothing for my temper.
"You made quick time," Blaze observed.
"I always do when the message is from Dare," Garren said matter-of-factly.
"Still could have been faster," I muttered.
"I had to get the money together," he added. As if to prove it, he took out a purse and placed it on the table. It made a heavy clink as it hit the tabletop. "Where is he?"
"He's in a safe place. Did you have a means to transport him?"
Garren nodded. "There are men outside as well. They'll be taking him."
"Guards?"
"Of a sort," Garren said.
"What's going to happen to him?" Blaze asked. "He killed many women."
"He'll be punished for that."
"He should be executed," Ragum said, surprising Blaze.
"No one would pay to see a man executed," Garren replied.
"He nearly killed Dare. Did you know that?" Ragum continued, surprising me that time. "Twice."
"Once," I protested.
"Still one time too many," Blaze murmured.
Garren glanced at me. "Thankfully, he did not."
"Ragum, take his men to the location."
"I'll come with you to let them know to go with you," Garren said, getting up from his chair. He followed Ragum out the door.
"Hazel, get Dare one more hot cloth," Blaze ordered as Hazel passed our table.
She ignored the drunken customers she had been walking toward and rushed into the kitchen. The men yelled, but Blaze glared at them, and they subsided.
"Would you stop that?" I hissed at him.
"Stop what?"
"Stop fussing. I'm fine."
"You nearly died today."
"But I didn't."
"But you nearly did."
"But I'm fine. Stop fussing before I stab you."
Blaze glowered at me. "Fine, enjoy your pain."
By the time Garren returned to the table, Blaze and I were sitting in charged silence. He looked back and forth between the two of us and then at the hot cloth cooling on the table. He said nothing as he slid back into his seat. He took back the purse and pushed it toward Blaze.
Blaze picked up the purse. He felt the weight and raised an eyebrow. "Seems to be a little more than we agreed on?"
"Something extra for not killing him," Garren replied.
"That was Dare's doing, n
ot mine," Blaze admitted.
"Then give her the share for it."
Blaze nodded. He asked again, "What's going to happen to him?"
"He'll be held in a cell. He has a set of skills no one else in the kingdom has. That makes him valuable."
Blaze looked between me and Garren. "Will either of you say who he is now?"
I clenched my teeth together, still annoyed at his fussing. I refused to tell him.
"I know you are capable of keeping secrets. This is one that I trust you'll keep for the reasons you'll soon understand. I'm telling you so that you know why he will not face execution." Garren lowered his voice. "The man you've handed over to me is Doctor Rufus Reddington, the king's physician."
Blaze let out a low whistle. "I should have asked for more coin."
"I doubt you would have received it. Even with his skills, he's a risk now. Can we trust him to go near his patients with what he's done?" Garren asked.
"You don't until you get truly desperate," Blaze said.
Garren nodded.
"Let's hope he's in for a long stay in his cell," I muttered.
Garren got up to leave, and I got up with him.
"You're not leaving," Blaze said.
I showed him my teeth. "I'm walking Garren to the door."
"What's going on between you two?" Garren asked as we walked away. Then he shook his head. "Wait, no, I don't want to know the answer to that."
"He's overbearing and insufferable."
"Are you together?" Garren asked as we got to the door.
"What, no! I just told you he's overbearing and insufferable!"
Garren studied my face, searching for something. "If you say so. Now, why did you want to walk me out?"
"What will happen to him? Truly?" I asked him.
"Same as I told Blaze. He'll see the inside of a cell until the day he's needed."
"But what about my sister?"
"What about her?" He frowned.
"The doctor said she's having a difficult pregnancy and that he's the only one who can help. He claimed that's why he went around the Blights murdering those women. What's wrong with my sister that he's doing that?"
Garren looked at me. "I haven't heard that Gwen's having a harder time than most. I'll look into it. But whatever I find out, it will probably something that I can't share with you."
