The Wolf's Bounty

by K. T. Harding

  “Why didn’t they attack?” she asked.

  “Who knows? You’ll have to be careful from now on, though. You made a powerful enemy yesterday, Raleigh.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make trouble for you.”

  “Make trouble for me?” He snorted. “You didn’t make trouble for me I didn’t already have. You saved my bacon. It’s you I’m worried about. Besides, I hated Rekworth. He was a menace. The world is better off without him.”

  She glanced down the tunnel. “Well, what do we do now?”

  He struck a match. He took a lantern from the wall. “Now....we go down it.”

  She crouched to follow him. “Have you been down here before?”

  “Hundreds of times. You’ll see.”

  Chapter 10

  The tunnel plunged into the Earth much farther than Raleigh expected. At certain points, the ceiling sank so low they had to crawl on hands and knees. Bishop held the lantern in front of him and never stopped pushing forward.

  Raleigh could only trust him. He knew what he was doing. He warned her off and she chose to come anyway. She couldn’t exactly shrink from the danger now.

  She didn’t shrink from the danger. She only shrank from not knowing what she would face. Once she confronted some life-threatening enemy, she could relax and fight. She was good at that.

  At last, Bishop stopped and stood upright. He blew out the lantern. Raleigh got up next to him and looked around at the biggest underground cavern she ever saw. Come to think of it, she never saw any underground cavern before, but she never imagined anything as big as this. The whole town of Perdue could fit in here.

  A shaft in the ceiling let a faint glimmer of light angle into the darkness. Vines and creepers hung around the opening, and the rustle of wings fluttered back and forth across the shaft. Stone steps carved into the rock led down from the opening in which Bishop and Raleigh stood. The steps ended at the shore of an enormous crystallization blue lake. The light coming from overhead danced on the ripples in a smooth line to the far shore.

  Raleigh’s eyes popped out of her head at what she saw. “What is this place?”

  “This is Hinterland,” he replied. “At least, this is one of the many entrances to it.”

  Beyond the lake, a massive castle of black stone rose toward the ceiling. Solid rock surrounded it on both sides, and its front surface blended into the cave wall. Lights shone from its many windows, and the sound of music and laughing voices echoed across the water. The dancing silhouettes of people moved back and forth in the windows.

  Raleigh caught her breath. “Look at that!”

  Bishop set the lantern against the wall where no one could see it. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re on our way to a hidden black market. If they don’t have the twen there, I know someone who may be able to give us a clue to its whereabouts.”

  She started forward. “It must be a big market if it takes up that whole castle.”

  “It’s not in the castle.”

  Raleigh’s head shot up. “It’s not?”

  “Whatever you do, don’t go to the castle. It’s a trap for unwanted visitors to the market. If you don’t know how to get to the market, you wind up at the castle and that’s the end of you.”

  “So what’s in the castle?”

  “How should I know?”

  He led the way down the steps, but Raleigh stopped in her tracks when they came to the water’s edge. Fluorescent eels shimmered below the surface and sent green rivulets flashing over the surface. Bishop put out one foot.

  “Wait!” Raleigh cried.

  His foot fell and struck a black stone protruding from the water. “It’s perfectly safe as long as you don’t fall in. If you hit the water, you’ll be dead long before you drown.”

  She shivered, but he already started across the lake. He tripped from one stepping stone to another. They shone so deep black against the surface you couldn’t see them until the very moment you almost set your foot on them. Raleigh braced herself and followed on an unerring line toward the castle on the far side.

  She found herself counting the stones in her mind. One, two, three...On the ninth stone, Bishop stopped and turned. “This is where we turn off.”

  “Turn off? Turn off to where?”

  “Turn left at the ninth stone.”

  He put out his foot and took a step, straight into that deadly water. The eels flickered all around him. Her heart stopped, but when he stepped out into the water, his heel hit something hard. He shifted his weight and took another step. One more time, something just below the surface caught him and supported him.

  Raleigh took her place at the ninth stone. She closed her eyes and put out her foot. Bishop didn’t die, so maybe she would be all right, too. She put her weight on her leg, and her heel made a clunking sound against the water. Her eyes snapped open. She was standing on something solid just beneath the surface.

  She stared down at her foot, and dozens of crystalline forms shot away from her foot in all directions. She picked it up, and they melted into the surface. When she stepped down, they reformed to support her weight.

  Bishop’s voice echoed from far ahead. “Come along, Raleigh. Don’t dilly-dally.”

  She hurried after him. Every time she took a step, the water crystallized underfoot. The solid crystal formed under her foot and vaporized when she moved on. She caught up with Bishop and found him standing at the entrance to another tunnel cutting into the rock.

  He frowned at her. “Are you finished?”

  “Sorry,” she panted. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Get yourself together,” he snapped. “We’re about to enter the market.”

  She squared her shoulders, and he ducked into the tunnel. They didn’t have to crouch this time. Bishop strode a few paces down the tunnel and emerged into a large room bright with lamps on the walls. It was empty except for a single door against the far wall and the most unusual woman Raleigh ever saw standing in front of it.

  Heavy make-up set off her beautiful face, but slithering snakes whipped all around her head. A goat’s cloven hooves protruded from her ankles where her feet should have been, and another long snake slithered out from behind her back. Its tail attached to her back where a tail would have been.

  She wore a tight corset that shoved her full breasts straight out from her chest. A blood-red jewel hung from her neck in the center of her deep cleavage. Ribbons and lace decorated her bodice, and precious stones dripped off every finger. She held a leather bull whip coiled in one hand, and when her full lips pouted open, fangs protruded from her mouth.

  Bishop walked right up to her. “Good evening, Esmeralda.”

  She pressed her bust against his chest and ran her free hand up and down his coat lapel. She batted her long eyelashes in his face and purred through her lips. “Where have you been all these long, weary months, Bishop? Don’t you know how much I’ve missed you? How could you leave a girl so lonely and pining for you?”

  He gritted his teeth and did his best to avoid looking at her. “I missed you, too, Esmeralda. What’s the entry fee tonight?”

  She bent her knees and slithered up his body to rub herself against him. She lowered her voice to a throaty rumble. “You know there’s never any entry fee for you, Bishop. Just give me a kiss and go right in.”

  He turned his head aside. “I wouldn’t want to take advantage of our relationship. If anybody found out you gave me special treatment....”

  She cut him off by cracking her bull whip to one side. “If anybody found out I gave you special treatment, I would handle them myself. If you want to go into the market, it’s up to me to let you in.”

  He waved toward Raleigh. “I’m bringing my new apprentice with me.”

  Esmeralda turned her burning eyes on Raleigh. “Your new apprentice, huh? Well, she is a delightful specimen, isn’t she? Since when do you bring apprentices here?”

  Bishop growled under
his breath. “Mind your manners, Esmeralda. She’s under my protection.”

  “Under your protection!” Esmeralda burst out laughing. “Well, that’s a pretty picture, I should say! Under your protection! Ha! Your apprentices never last long enough to tell anybody anything about the market, anyway.”

  “Are you going to let us in or not?” he snarled.

  She turned back toward him. She sidled up to him and raked her long fingernails up both his thighs. “One kiss, and you can go in. That’s all it will cost you. Just one kiss for old times’ sake.”

  Bishop grimaced, but he darted one hand behind her back and planted his lips on her mouth. He gave her a powerful kiss and even stuck his tongue between her teeth. He yanked off just as fast. Esmeralda gasped. Then she smiled and licked her lips. She squeezed up his thighs to his crotch. “Mmm-mmm. You’ve still got it, Bishop. You can still turn the girls on like no one else.”

  He shot her a wicked grin. “You can still kiss the way you used to, too, Esmeralda. Now can we go in?”

  She chuckled and backed up to the door. She turned the handle and threw it open. “Sure. Go right on it. I’ll see you both later.”

  Bishop and Raleigh stepped through the door, and Esmeralda slammed it shut behind them. Raleigh cast a sidelong glance at Bishop. “Did you know that woman from somewhere?”

  He shrugged. “Just a passing acquaintance.”

  “Curious. It sure looked like you two knew each other pretty well.”

  Bishop didn’t reply. He passed the back of his hand across his mouth and started forward. Raleigh stumbled after him, but she couldn’t stop gaping at everything around her on all sides. A cavern even more massive than the first surrounded them. Raleigh couldn’t see the ceiling, but sparkling lights winked in the darkness high above. “Are those the stars up there?”

  Bishop didn’t look. “They’re glow worms on the underside of the roof. They light this place up so we can see.”

  Raleigh almost fell behind in the crush of bodies covering the cavern floor. Thousands of people packed the place—at least, some of them looked sort of like people. Some looked nothing like people, but she had no time to examine them. She had to hurry to keep up with Bishop.

  He wound his way through stalls loaded with herbs, books, food—everything. She couldn’t recognize half the stuff for sale in that market. She passed a stall full of birds in cages—chickens, ducks, geese, ravens, doves. In front of her eyes, the vendor snatched a cock out of one of the cages and yanked its head clean off before handing it still flopping and bloody to his customer.

  Swords, shields, cutlasses, armor and bows and arrows hung from another stall. At another, a man mixed potions. He poured one liquid into another and scrutinized the results before pouring it into a glass bottle.

  On their way through the market, they passed a man titling back in a rickety chair. He dropped his chair and jumped up when he spotted Bishop. He jumped into Bishop’s path and started walking backward to keep up with him. He nattered in Bishop’s face so fast Raleigh could barely understand him. “Two week job, fifty thousand, leave next Tuesday from Charleston.”

  Bishop shook his head. “I’m already on a job that pays three times that. Get somebody else.”

  “Won’t disappoint you, easy money, no danger....”

  Bishop shook his head and pressed on his way. The man shrugged and went back to his seat. Raleigh fought her way to Bishop’s side. “What was that man talking about? What did he want you to do?”

  “He’s a mercenary. He’s got a job, and he wants me to go with him. I don’t blame him, either. When they start saying easy money, no danger, you know it’s a suicide mission.”

  Chapter 11

  He stopped in front of a different stall. Raleigh tried to distinguish what the place sold, but she didn’t see anything. She saw only an empty tent with four walls and a fabric roof. She couldn’t even see a vendor.

  Bishop stood outside waiting. He didn’t look around at the rest of the market. He kept his eagle eyes trained on that tent to the exclusion of everything else.

  Raleigh inched closer to him. “What are we doing here?”

  At that moment, a creature came out of the tent. She couldn’t really call him a man. He was really little more than a blob of flesh—a blob of putrid, rotten flesh covered with weeping boils. The head welded directly to the body with no neck. The thing wore an immaculate tuxedo with a bow tie around the top, but it didn’t look right on the rest of the creature.

  Its eyes rolled in their sockets, and drool slobbered from its misshapen lips. Its ragged, moldy teeth jabbed out at odd angles and made its lips even more uneven than ever. The pock-marked face leered up at Bishop. “To what do we owe the honor of your esteemed presence this evening? I heard you killed Rekworth. That’ll make the wolves howl, won’t it?” The thing let out the most disgusting laugh Raleigh ever heard.

  “Cut it out, Soto,” Bishop snapped. “I didn’t come here to be congratulated by you about Rekworth. I’m here to find out about the twen.”

  “The twen!” Soto chortled. “You came here to find out about the twen. Well, I hope you brought plenty of money. They’re not cheap, the twen, you know. Forty million, and that’s including the cage to keep it in, but the food will cost you even more.”

  “I don’t want to buy one,” Bishop shot back. “You’re trafficking in them. I know you are, so cough it up. Who’s the client?”

  Soto rolled his eyes the other way. “Who’s the client! Listen to this guy! He marches in here and starts asking who’s the client!”

  Soto caught sight of Raleigh standing there. He wobbled over to her and fixed his boggle eyes on her. “Hey, baby. Come on back to my place. I’ll make it worth your while. Huh? Are you wet right now? I know how to treat a lady. What do you say?”

  The biggest tongue Raleigh ever laid eyes on slithered out of his mouth. He slobbered and slapped it in the air in front of her hips while his eyes winked up at her.

  Bishop’s arm shot out. He shoved Soto back and planted his legs between the little creature and Raleigh. “Get away from her!”

  Soto laughed again. “He he he! Okay, okay. I can see she belongs to you. I was just trying to be polite.”

  “You can be polite by talking about the twen. Where did you send it?”

  “You know I couldn’t tell you that, Bishop,” Soto replied. “I couldn’t tell you that if you paid me a hundred virgins just like her. You know the integrity of my business means more than anything to me.”

  “The integrity of your business!” Bishop scoffed. “That’s the best joke I’ve heard all day. You caught the twen. Knowing you, you probably have a fleet fishing for them off the Faroe Islands right now. Either way, you brought it back here. You landed it at Charleston, so the client must be someone local. How am I doing so far?”

  Soto shifted from one foot to the other. “Not too bad, not too bad. If you know that much, you don’t really need me to tell you anything else, but just because I like you so much, I’ll throw you a bone. I don’t really know who the client was. I passed the twen anonymously. That’s the best I can tell you.”

  Bishop frowned. “You better not be playing me, Soto, or you know I could make your life very unpleasant.”

  Soto ambled up to him. “When are you gonna come and work for me, Bishop? When are you gonna quit this knight-in-shining-armor gig and come and make some real money? You want to hunt bounty and slay monsters? I can give you all the work you want. Bring your tart with you. I don’t care. We can share her, you and me. You take the front and I’ll take the back.”

  Bishop turned away. “I’ll be back, Soto. I’ll find out who you sold the twen to, and I’ll bust your fishing fleet wide open.”

  Raleigh cast one glance back at Soto before Bishop disappeared in the crowd. “What did you threaten him for? He said he doesn’t know who bought the twen.”

  “He’s a liar,” Bishop barked. “You heard what he said. The integrity of his business means more
than anything. He would say or do anything to protect his client’s anonymity. He knows very well who he sold the twen to. He’s lying to block me from finding out who it was.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “For all I know, it was him who bought the twen.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “The twen produce a very rare and valuable bile salt. Unscrupulous people harvest it for certain healing medicines. They keep twen in hidden laboratories. They operate on the twen every six months or so. They take out maybe a teaspoon of the salt and stitch the twen back up.”

  Raleigh almost stopped in her tracks. “Are you serious? Do they really go to all that expense?”

  “They would do that and a lot more. The salt is ten times more valuable than the twen themselves. They keep dozens of twen in these labs—maybe even hundreds of them. Soto knows all about it. That’s how he makes his money—supplying the labs with twen. The surgery breaks down the twen’s health so they don’t live long. That’s why they have to keep getting new ones.”

  “But you said the twen were rare in the oceans. How can they keep harvesting them and still maintain the population?”

  “They can’t. These labs experiment with captive breeding, too, but to date they have not succeeded in breeding a twen in captivity.”

  “So where are we going now?”

  “We have to leave. There’s nothing more we can do here.”

  Raleigh looked around the crowded market. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to explore this place. Intermixed with cows, birds, giraffes, lions in cages, monkeys performing to music, ula’ree crowded into pens, and even bears manacled to posts, she saw all kinds of creatures she never knew existed. She couldn’t take them all in fast enough when keeping Bishop in sight demanded her constant attention.

  People stranger than the creatures moved everywhere through the market. They argued, haggled, discussed, gesticulated, fought, drank, and laughed, but they all moved aside when they saw Bishop approaching. The tide parted before him at an unseen command. No one dared touch him, let alone accost him. His presence permeated the market, and he wove his way through the mass of seething bodies on a straight line for the entrance.