“Really?” Alia looked sceptical.
“It’s probably our best chance of getting into the house. Even if he’s not there, and I doubt he will be, we’ll have an opportunity to get a better lead on his activities and movements.”
“It’s a bad plan.”
“We could always try setting fire to the house…”
“Let’s try breaking in then. Hmm. What about this ‘Felix’? You know him?”
“That’s why I think we got enough out of our former associate here,” Jonas said, pointing at the body.
“How so?”
“Had dealings with him in the past. I’ve operated around here before, though it was quite a few years ago now. He’s a weasel that might take a while to track down, but he’ll be worth talking to, if for nothing more than discussing these assassins he hired for us.”
“So we going to look for him now then?”
“No, burglary first. I don’t want to tip anyone off that their plan has gone awry and lose the opportunity.”
“Still think it’s a bad plan,” Alia mumbled.
*****
Clearly it had worked once, Marlen thought to himself as he looked at the unconscious man and the disturbing jar next to him on the improvised operating table. It had taken him some time to understand and control his changed eye but now he could switch between human and cat at will. Well, perhaps not physically switch the eyes, but it had the same effect. If he concentrated, he could make his right eye see very differently. It wasn’t perfect. He’d liked to have had the best of both worlds, but he had to admit that each eye had its benefits. Whilst being able to see better in the dark was certainly an advantage, loss of detail in light was something of a counterweight. It seemed, somewhat accidentally, he may have stumbled on a workable compromise, having the ability to switch at will between both types of vision, though it was apparent to others when he did so as his right pupil changed shape. Which had proven handy for intimidating people at least, though he’d never really had that much trouble on that score.
So a qualified success then, but one that needed replicating. It wasn’t worth messing around with himself again, this time he needed to be able to replicate the results in others. If it worked, it could be part of his final package of enhancements. He’d selected one of his men with poor eyesight in one eye anyway so it would be no great loss and he’d located the twin of the eye he’d used the first time in the jar. This he hoped would give him the best chance, though actually how he had succeeded at the first attempt was annoyingly something of a mystery. The pain and the blackout had clouded things and even after much reflection, he still wasn’t quite sure what had happened. Still, he’d proven it could work, it was just a case of refining his method.
He opened the jar carefully and fished out the desired eye. He looked at his test subject. The man was in reasonably good health but a recent fight had left him with a cloudy left eye. It was within Marlen’s power to fix but he hadn’t gotten around to it yet as it hadn’t proven to be an impairment so far. Now there was an opportunity not just to fix him, but enhance him. He laid his fingers on the man’s left temple, holding the cat’s eye carefully just above the damaged organ. Pulsing his magic through both hands, he pressed the eye from the cat in, as he had done before to himself. This time there was no tingle of power and he met resistance as if he was trying to push one solid object into another.
Marlen frowned. This wasn’t working the way he had expected. Or even hoped. Perhaps more power? He increased the flow of energy and tried again. The man on the table started to buck so he had to stop to settle him down. There was clearly something about what he was trying to do that the body objected to, even one as sedated as the subject on the table. He took a moment to send the man further down, to the level of a coma that people rarely woke from themselves. He lined the eye up carefully and tried again, feeding magic into both the subject and the organ as he pressed. Once again he faced resistance so he pressed harder. Suddenly both eyes gave, bursting under the pressure.
Marlen stood back, frustrated. Why hadn’t it worked this time? Was it something particular to him or had he done something wrong? He considered the possibilities. As far as he could tell, he’d taken basically the same actions as last time, even going so far as to use the same cat in case that had been a factor. Short of performing the procedure on himself again, he wasn’t sure what more he could have done to replicate the conditions of the first attempt. Perhaps it wasn’t his method then. Perhaps it was him. Maybe his own healing ability had been a factor that stopped the rejection? Or perhaps he’d misunderstood what had happened to him. When he’d felt something give, had it been his own eye bursting? Had he healed and regrown around the cat’s eye that he’d tried to introduce?
Next time he’d have to try something different.
*****
They waited for dusk then slipped out of the inn, moving as inconspicuously as possible across town. Taking great care, they snuck into Hightown, avoiding the guard patrols, and found themselves in an alley behind the yard at the back of Braxis’ house. They had spent some time observing the house and true to the plan, the guards had been dismissed and the house appeared quiet.
“I’ve broken into nicer places than this before,” Jonas said.
“Misspent youth?”
“Well, not so young. You get the idea.”
“Maybe there’s a bounty out on you I could collect then?”
“You’re not big enough to carry me.”
“I’m not sure anyone is.”
“Then I doubt anyone will be collecting on me anytime soon.”
Jonas looked at the gate. The most obvious thing to do was pick the lock, so he tried that first.
But there’d been a problem, and it had been building for a while. Lock picking required tools and dextrous hands, and where Jonas had once been gifted there, his hands now ached, and they ached ever more as the weeks and months went past. It hadn’t helped that he’d misused his hands through years of violence, and as he tried to manoeuvre the pick he found himself gritting his teeth in frustration. A sly look behind him revealed that Alia was still watching the passage and hadn’t noticed that the delay was due to him, and he intended to keep it that way.
Time for a cunning plan.
“I think you should try,” he said to Alia. “Keep you sharp.”
She nodded, keen to show her skills, and soon had the lock open.
“Well done.” When she smiled Jonas said, “You don’t get a medal for it.”
“Typical.”
They’d scouted an open window on the second floor, and soon they had a grapnel and rope attached. Alia shimmied up first, and Jonas admired the way she flowed quickly up the rope, and admired it all the more as he pulled himself up. Once he’d have done this easily, but now his back and arms ached as he forced them through. It was beginning to weigh on him, how his body was aging, and he wondered how much longer he could do this.
Morbid thoughts were put aside because he got inside, and he and Alia found themselves in an empty bedroom. They crept over to the door, listened carefully for a few minutes, lit a candle, and then Jonas cracked the wood open and looked outside. No one in the corridor, no sounds of movement from elsewhere. It sounded as if the house was completely unoccupied. That likely meant no bounty tonight but there was still work to be done. It was a simple task to leave the room, note the geography, and head to where they hoped to find an office. The doors were unlocked, and they were soon inside their first target.
By the light of candles they searched quickly, through piles of parchment filled with figures, names, items and places, and soon had enough information to prove the merchant was operating a large and productive trafficking operation. They might be bounty hunters, but it was still difficult to arrest rich local magnates without the right evidence, and the man was incriminated without end. The pair packed the documents away in backpacks.
Proof acquired, there was just one thing left to try. They
returned down the corridor and came to the master bedroom. They opened the door cautiously. Alia noted the two figures under the sheets and rushed silently towards the bed.
Jonas should have been right beside her, but he’d done this for a long time, and the bonus side to acquiring an aching body was a lot of experience. Something felt wrong. So as Alia moved, Jonas hung back in the doorway, and that was how he saw the assassin step out from behind the door to strike Alia down with a short sword.
The assassin moved fast, but Jonas was faster, surging forward and slamming a fist into the back of the man’s neck. The assassin, stunned, stumbled and his blade drooped in his hand. Jonas caught the falling figure, one hand controlling the weapon, the other arm snaking around the man’s neck. He squeezed hard, controlling the struggling man until all movement stopped, before dropping the body unceremoniously to the floor.
With a now-dead assassin at his feet, Jonas stood and gave Alia a telling look. She’d moved too quickly, been too keen, and might have been killed if she’d been alone. But she was a good student, caught his eye and looked guiltily away when cocksure youngsters normally blathered innocence. He might have been harsher, but he felt a swelling pride inside that he could still move that fast when he needed to. Life in the old man yet.
Alia had now turned to the bed, looking cross. “How did he sleep through that?”
“Take a look, I don’t think he’s sleeping.”
Alia pulled the blanket back, and saw that Jonas was right, the sleepers were just a pile of bedding and clothes.
“This was a trap then.”
“As we thought.”
Alia nodded confirmation. “So, open the window, let us in, kill us when we get in here?”
“I suspect our friend from earlier was supposed to help out.”
“So Braxis knows we’re here then?”
“Looks like it. He’s made a mistake though.”
“Oh?”
“Now we have a lot of information on his operation. A lot of documents that are valuable to him. And a contact that has had dealings with him. Someone I think we should go and talk to now.”
“What do we do with him?” Alia said, pointing at the body.
“We’d best get rid, but I’ve got an idea,” Jonas said, picking it up and slinging it across his shoulder.
*****
Trimas walked out of the shop, took a long sniff of the pie in his hand and bit into it. Oh yes, this was pork alright. They had gone to a good shop.
It was at this point he looked for his friends, and realised Zedek was almost flat against a wall and peering round the corner.
Munching away and with a face smiling in amusement, Trimas went over and slipped in behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m being careful.”
“Yes, right, good, we have talked about that.” A munch, a pause. “What are you actually being careful of?”
“Er… Thieves.”
“Thieves.”
“Yes. Definitely them.”
“What’s suddenly made you worried about them?”
“Er… The horse money.”
“Of course. Of course. So you aren’t in any way peering round that corner to avoid, say, Melisandre?”
Zedek coughed awkwardly. “No.”
“No. Right, thieves.”
“Exactly.”
“So what did Melisandre steal exactly?”
“What are you two doing?” Daeholf asked from behind them.
“He’s avoiding thieves who dress like elves.”
“And I thought you might be doing something useful like avoiding Slake.”
“Slake?” Trimas asked.
“He’s still in town. Magath is buying smoked fish…”
“The fish here is salted.”
“No, no, no. Almost all fish is salted. My village proudly smokes and that's why we charge more. Well, we should, anyway.”
“Oh right…”
“But the key point is, Magath is still here, so Slake might still be here, and he might not be happy with us.”
“Very good point,” and Trimas pulled Zedek back and assumed the same peering-round position.
“Oh God, you two are useless,” Daeholf sighed.
“Actually I’m just winding you up.”
“Well thank you, aren’t you kind.”
“I assume you have a plan.”
“We stick together and avoid bits of the city where Slake could muster a larger group.”
Zedek looked around. “Isn't that all the city?”
“Only if he really hates us.” Daeholf looked at Trimas. “He doesn’t really hate us, does he?”
“Possibly.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing!”
“Really?”
“A few jokes. He’s not got much of a sense of humour.”
“Strange how that happens. First the senate and now here.”
“That was low. I'll have you know the senate was laughing when I was thrown out of it.”
Daeholf couldn't help sniggering and Trimas came over and clapped him on the arm.
“Alright we’ll be careful. Let's go attend to business.”
“And Zedek?”
“He can walk behind us. We’ll screen him. From this woman with whom nothing happened.”
*****
“I should probably be worried about how easy you find it to hide bodies,” Alia said a short while later as Jonas emerged from the sewer some distance from Hightown.
“Things don’t always go as planned,” Jonas said, “but he might still be useful.” He pointed into the sewer.
“Eew, how?”
“More in spirit than physically. Without a body, people won’t know what happened to him.”
“So they won’t know if the trap is sprung?”
“That’s part of it,” Jonas said enigmatically.
“You enjoying this?”
“We’re getting close, I can feel it. That always makes me feel alive.”
“So we’re off to talk to Felix?”
“Yep.”
“Where do we start looking?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. It’s no accident that I chose this sewer for the body. I remembered where he operated from and with any luck, he’ll still be there.”
“Nice part of town,” Alia said, looking around at the nearby slums.
“He liked to stay unobtrusive. And with all the merchant disagreements the guard told us about, I can’t imagine he’s moved anywhere nicer.”
“Nearby then?”
“Next street.”
“Lead on.”
Jonas brushed himself down and smelled himself. He’d been careful in the sewer but it was impossible to avoid contact with the muck. Alia wrinkled her nose as they walked.
“Hey, you’re none too fresh either, it’s been a couple of days since either of us had a bath and we’ve both been active and spending far too much time hanging around corpses.”
Alia looked hurt.
“I’m sorry. Of course you smell of roses and violets.”
Alia sighed. “You’re right I suppose. We do both smell. This isn’t a very ladylike job.”
“That it isn’t.”
“And we do fit in around here now.”
“Yep.”
“You in particular.”
“You could have carried the body into the sewer…”
“You’re the muscle.”
“And you’re…?”
Alia was going to say the talent but as she’d nearly been killed this evening she stopped herself.
“The apprentice,” she said.
Jonas nodded to himself. “We’re here,” he said. "Leave this to me."
Jonas smashed the door in with one swift stamp kick.
"Subtle," Alia said.
Jonas grinned at her before disappearing through the entrance. There were a couple of crashes and a shout was quickly stifled.
Alia
followed him in, shaking her head.
The house was small with just the one main room on the ground floor. A couple of chairs were overturned and Jonas had pinned a struggling man by the throat to the opposite wall.
"You used to be able to afford a guard, Felix," Jonas said affably. "Times hard?"
The smaller man went limp. Jonas let him down.
"Yeah," Felix said. "Though I guess you knew that from the way you came crashing in."
"Never was that worried by Sef," Jonas said.
"He's dead. Job went bad a couple of months ago. Hence the reduced circumstances," Felix said, rubbing his throat. "You here to bring me in?"
"Can't imagine you're worth much," Jonas said. "And besides, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
“Given your entrance, I don’t think I’m going to like this,” Felix said, righting a chair and sitting down.
“I didn’t think you’d try this on with me, Felix. Didn’t think you had the balls,” Jonas said sternly.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Felix said, looking worried.
“You hired two assassins to kill me.”
“Wasn’t me. I didn’t even know you were in town until a moment ago.”
“Two men, ex-soldiers. One about my age, similar height to me. Face was a mess.”
Felix looked horrified. “I didn’t know it was you. The description said a pretty young girl and a big old man with a scar down his face. The scar is new and you operate alone.”
“It’s a hard business, you pick up scars. And this is my apprentice. Alia, come over and show Felix your knife. It’s time I taught you about interrogation.”
Felix turned white and eyed the door. Alia frowned, wondering why Jonas’s interrogation threat had inspired quite so much fear.
“I believe him,” she said.
“You look scared Felix,” Jonas said.
“I heard about what you did to Lorent.”
Alia raised an eyebrow.
“Story for another day,” Jonas said to her seriously. He turned back to Felix. “Say I believe you…”
“I had no idea…”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you did hire someone to kill me, intended or not. You owe me now.”
Dark Healer (An Empire Falls Book 1) Page 12
