Zane Halloway: Omnibus Edition

by P. T. Hylton

  Zane didn’t like the odds, but they were about to improve.

  He didn’t travel without his crew, either.

  Zane saw Lily out of his periphery. She crouched on the second floor railing above the bar, hidden in shadow and ready to leap down onto Zane’s attackers.

  He held up a finger, indicating he wanted her to wait a moment before attacking.

  She made no reply. She didn’t have to.

  “I have no quarrel with any of you,” Zane said to the crew.

  The biggest guy, a bald man with a short dagger that looked tiny in his meaty hand, opened his mouth and bellowed, “The hell you don’t.”

  Zane saw Lily’s head swiveled toward him. The bald man had unwittingly identified himself as the leader of the remaining pirates, and thus he’d be her target.

  She leapt from the railing, throwing herself into the air and forcing her body ramrod straight.

  While she was still in the air, Zane went after the tall, lanky man next to the big, bald guy. He did it a bit more slowly than he needed to in order to make sure every eye was on him.

  Lily slammed into the big guy feet first, driving him into the ground. And, judging by the way his body contorted when he hit, he wouldn’t be getting back up for several months.

  Zane lunged toward the lanky man and threw a hard jab. He connected at just the right angle, breaking the man’s nose in a way that would be extremely painful and make it impossible for him to see more than vague shapes for the next ten minutes or so.

  The two Zane judged to be the fiercest brawlers were out of the fight. That brought the odds down to seven on two. Better. Not great—Amber Longstrain wouldn’t allow any slouches on her crew, so Zane was certain each of the remaining seven could fight—but better.

  Lily rolled to her feet and raised her sword. She met Zane’s eyes and gave a slight nod toward the north side of the room. She wanted the four on the right. Of course she did. Those looked like the toughest customers.

  Zane gave her a brief nod, but squinted, telling her with his eyes to be careful.

  He drew his own sword, gripping the strange hilt. It looked uncomfortable, but it fit his hand perfectly.

  He paused before he struck. He had a rule, a very important rule: Never kill for free. But would this be killing for free? His life was worth more than the pile of thrones he usually charged. For this killing, he and Lily would be paid not in gold, but in days, months, and years of life that would otherwise be stolen from them.

  Zane spun into motion, driving his sword into the man closest to him. The guy was short but broad. He was built like a brick wall, but Zane’s sword sliced through muscle as easily as fat. The man crumpled to the ground.

  The other two, a man and a woman, were clearly used to working together. They spread out and came at him from two angles at once, positioning themselves on his two o’clock and his ten o’clock. They both held rapiers, and they both knew their business.

  Zane was no amateur with his sword either, but there were two of them, and their blades moved in twin blurs Zane recognized as well practiced patterns. He’d known the names of those patterns once. He silently cursed himself for not keeping up with the more formal aspects of fencing. He could have worked with Lily and learned some of those two-sword attacks. They could be working together as a team now, same as this man and woman. Zane knew in his heart that if they had trained that way, they would be absolutely tearing through these pirates. Instead, they were working as two powerful but separate forces.

  But, Zane reminded himself, that was the way it had to be. Lily was his apprentice, not his partner. Assassins worked alone. He was training her to work alone, too. He’d be doing her no favors by giving her practice working with a partner. If he did his job as her mentor, she wouldn’t have a partner, and she wouldn’t need one.

  Zane decided he’d had enough of this fencing demonstration. Holding off two trained swords was a fool’s game. He had to be more efficient.

  He rolled to the side, working his way to the left so that, for a moment, the man was between Zane and the woman. He couldn’t waste this momentary advantage, so he thrust recklessly with no thought for defense. His blade sank into the man’s chest.

  Zane pulled it out and slid around the falling man.

  The female pirate was quicker. Zane had to give her credit. Her eyes flickered with emotion as she saw her partner fall dead to the ground, but only for a moment. He hadn’t expected that. He’d hoped her adrenaline would force her to be sloppy. No such luck. She raised her sword again and attacked with even more precision than before.

  One-on-one Zane allowed himself the luxury of engaging her in some swordplay. He deflected her thrusts, admiring the clean lines of her movements. Fencing was a dance, and she danced it well.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily. She was taking on two men, both a foot taller than her, and she was being pushed back.

  Zane dropped to the ground, thrust his sword into the woman’s stomach, and she fell. She’d probably live. He hoped so. But Lily needed him, so this was no time to get squeamish.

  He dashed to the left and caught the bigger of the two men with a sword to the back. Not exactly sporting, but he’d take alive over sporting any day.

  Lily flashed a glare at Zane. “I had him. If you would have given me a moment.”

  Lily’s opponent thrust, and she deflected the blow, but barely.

  “Focus,” Zane said. Now it was one-on-one, Lily versus the tall swordsman. Zane would let her finish it.

  She deflected his next thrust with a flourish. “I can fight and talk at the same time.”

  The tall man risked a quick look around, and his eyes widened as he saw he was the last pirate standing. He resumed his attack with even more vigor.

  “Are you going to finish up?” Zane asked.

  “In a minute,” Lily said. “It’s not every day I get to spar against someone who isn’t holding anything back.”

  Zane grunted. She’d been on edge lately. Ever since he hadn’t allowed her to come along on the Irving Farns job. She thought he wasn’t pushing her hard enough.

  “This isn’t sparring,” Zane said. “Never underestimate your opponent. That’s when you get hurt. Finish it.”

  The swordsman had a worried crease in his brow now, as if he was realizing he was being used as an object lesson.

  “Fine,” Lily said. She spun, dodging the man’s wildly thrusting sword and moving in close. She caught his arm in the crook of hers and twisted hard. The man’s arm broke with an audible snap. She thumped him on the head with the hilt of her sword and he crumpled to the ground.

  Zane frowned. That was the same move he’d used to take down Amber Longstrain. She was making a point. Anything he could do, she could do.

  “Are we done here?” she asked.

  Zane opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, something bit into his leg.

  He looked down and saw Amber Longstrain, a crazy smile on her face, with her hand on the handle of a knife buried in his calf.

  “Now you’ll know my pain,” she said.

  Before Zane could answer, Lily was in motion. She swung her heavy boot hard and connected with Amber’s head. Amber fell back to the floor. She was out cold.

  Lily put her sword to Amber’s throat. “Want me to kill her?”

  Zane grimaced. The pain in his calf was a dull throb, but he knew it would soon hurt much worse. “No. Never kill for free. Besides, it will just get the rest of the widows riled up.” It was sort of a game to the Longstrain widows, Zane knew. If they really wanted him dead, they could have stormed his home. They knew where he lived, after all. But they preferred to attack one crew at a time and only when they were able to catch him off guard. That didn’t happen often. Today, Zane had been sloppy and paid the price.

  “I’ll find something to bandage your leg,” Lily said.

  After they’d removed the knife and tied off the wound, they made their way the six painful blocks home. He ha
d to lean on Lily for support a few times. The pain was worse now, just as he’d suspected, but it was also spreading in ways a stab wound shouldn’t. He felt the beginnings of a fever coming on.

  “Lily,” Zane said, his voice a bit hoarse, “I’m fairly certain that knife was poisoned.”

  Her eyes went wide, but she wasn’t looking at him. He followed her gaze.

  There was a tall, white stallion tied outside their home. And a man in a crisp, blue uniform stood next to it.

  As Zane and Lily approached, the man stood ramrod straight.

  “Zane Halloway of the Ferox Society,” the man said. He had a way of talking that was as precise as his movements. Each syllable had a sharp cadence. He held out an envelope.

  Zane took it with a shaky hand and worked the flap open. He had to move under the nearest streetlamp to read it. When he did, his eyes went wide.

  “What is it?” Lily asked.

  “It’s a summons. From the king.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lily urged Moon forward, futilely trying to close the gap between her and the two men.

  It wasn’t the horse’s fault. He was a humble animal bred for farm work and maybe the occasional ride to town. He wasn’t meant to keep up with warhorses like the ones Zane and their royal escort, Faraday, rode.

  But he had to. There was no choice. Lily wasn’t going to get left behind. Not when this was her chance to meet the king.

  Maybe Moon felt his rider’s tiredness and was slowing the pace because of that. Lily was tired. It had been a long night. After receiving the royal summons and Faraday suggesting they leave immediately, it had taken some doing to convince him to wait until morning. Lily and Zane had spent the night awake in Zane’s study, inspecting the wound, cross-referencing his symptoms, trying to determine what poison Amber Longstrain had used and how to counteract it.

  It had taken all night, but they’d finally gotten it. Gurry root.

  Amber’s words made more sense now. You will know my pain.

  Gurry root killed slowly and painfully. The victim often suffered incapacitating pain for a week or more before death came. There was an antidote, and Zane had the ingredients on hand.

  The antidote stopped the progress of the poison, but it didn’t counteract all the effects. Zane wouldn’t die, but the pain in his leg would grow worse for the next week or so. He’d probably always have the occasional ache in that leg.

  “Still glad you didn’t kill her?” Lily had asked after they’d identified the poison.

  Zane hadn’t answered.

  In ideal circumstances, Zane would have taken some savven herb and simply slept until the worst of the pain was behind him. But there was Faraday to consider. Somehow Lily didn’t think a cut on the leg would be an acceptable excuse for turning down a royal summons.

  They’d been on the road three days now and their journey was nearing completion. Langton, the capital city and home of the king, was generally a four-day ride from Barnes, but Faraday was wasting no more time than was absolutely necessary outside the saddle. The breaks were few and far between. Lily had never been much of a rider, and she didn’t know how much longer she could handle this. She could barely imagine how Moon felt.

  Zane rode just ahead of her. Keeping an eye on him was one of the few things keeping her going despite the hunger and saddle sores. Her mentor kept a calm demeanor and she probably wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss if she hadn’t known him so well. He sat up a little too straight in the saddle, and the muscles in his jaw stood out a bit too far. He was in pain, and a lot of it.

  Each night, she insisted he show her the wound on his leg. He cleaned it himself, but she wanted to be sure it wasn’t infected. She didn’t trust he would say anything if it were.

  Faraday remained polite but stoic. Lily was pretty sure he didn’t know anything about Zane’s injury, but there was no way to tell with him. The man spoke only when necessary. He made Zane seem positively chatty.

  In the afternoon of the third day, the city came into sight. It was deceiving to approach a city so large. Many times during the afternoon Lily was certain it had to be less than an hour’s ride away. But by the time they reached it, the sun was setting.

  Faraday led them off the road shortly before reaching the main gate to the castle in the center of the city. He followed a thin path that curved around the outlying buildings at strange angles that seemed designed to be difficult to follow. The path led to a small door in the castle wall. Faraday dismounted and nodded for them to do the same.

  He rapped on the door, and a moment later it swung open. A man with a massive beard and a crimson uniform stepped out. He saluted Faraday and stepped to the side.

  Faraday waved them toward the door.

  “What about our horses?” Lily asked.

  The bearded man said, “Not to worry, Miss Rhodes. The horses will be taken to our stables.”

  Lily ignored the fact that the bearded man knew her name and followed Faraday and Zane into the torch-lit corridor. She watched Zane’s right leg as he walked. There was a slight limp, but it wouldn’t be noticeable if you weren’t looking for it. Probably.

  They walked through the twisting hallway for at least five minutes. Soon Lily had lost all sense of direction. Finally, when she was sure Faraday was just trying to get them lost, they came to a door. Another guard in a crimson uniform saluted and swung the door open as Faraday approached.

  They followed Faraday into a windowless room with stone walls. It was dominated by a long oak table. The chairs around the table were identical, simply designed pieces of furniture, crafted for function over style. The only exception was the chair at the head of the table. It was ever-so-slightly bigger, as if the designer had been reluctant to ruin the symmetry. There was another door at the far end of the room, behind the tallest chair.

  Faraday pointed to the two chairs on either side of the head of the table. “Have a seat. I’ll be back.”

  Without waiting for a reply, he turned and marched through the door on the far side of the room from where they’d entered.

  When the door was closed, Zane turned to Lily and spoke softly. “Lily, there’s a chance this could go very badly for us.”

  Lily asked, “Care to elaborate?”

  Zane glanced at the closed door, then back at her. “No. The less you know the better.”

  Lily started to speak, but Zane held up a hand to stop her.

  “Please,” he said. “Let me finish. We may not have much time. If they separate us, cooperate fully, whatever they ask. If they want information on me, give it to them. Don’t lie. Don’t leave anything out. Whatever they want to know. But get guarantees, understand? If they ask you to testify against me, make sure they agree to let you continue your studies with another mentor.”

  Lily’s head was spinning. What was he talking about? If this was so dangerous, why hadn’t he said anything sooner? Sure, Faraday had been watching them most of the time, but he could have brought it up when they slipped away to clean Zane’s wound each night. Or, hell, they could have talked when they were trying to find the antidote that first night back at home.

  Another thought struck Lily. Maybe there was no danger. Maybe his wound was infected after all, and this was the fever talking. Maybe Zane was in worse shape than she’d thought.

  “The king’s an honorable man,” Zane continued. “Most of them here are. Most. They’ll keep any agreement you make with them. But they aren’t stupid. You have to ask for a deal. They won’t offer it. Understand?”

  Lily wasn’t sure she did, but she nodded anyway.

  “Say it back to me,” Zane said.

  “Cooperate. Make a deal. Get guarantees.”

  “Good.”

  She bit her lip, suddenly angry. After all they’d been through, he wouldn’t give her any more details than that? And he expected her to roll over when they asked for information on him? The hell with that. There’d be no deal. Regardless of what Zane said, she wouldn’t tell them any
thing.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this on the way here?” she asked. “We could have taken Faraday. Or at least slipped away.”

  “I didn’t know,” he said. “I didn’t realize who Faraday was until we got here.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Those men we saw, the ones in the crimson uniforms, those are the king’s personal guard. They saluted Faraday.”

  “So?”

  “The King’s Guard only salute one man. The King’s Sword.”

  Lily drew in a quick breath. “No way. Why would the King’s Sword personally escort a ferox all the way from Barnes?”

  “Now you understand why I’m worried.”

  “Zane, is there something I don’t know?”

  “There are many things you don’t know.”

  At that moment the door opened and three men marched into the small room. There was Faraday and a heavy-set man Lily had never before seen. The other man, the one who walked into the room first, was unmistakable. Though she’d never seen him in person, she’d seen his image drawn on handbills and painted in portraits. If anything, he was even more handsome in real life. Though he couldn’t be more than ten years older than Lily, he was the most powerful man in the nation. King Edward.

  Zane quickly rose from his seat and dropped to one knee as the king entered. Lily hesitated. Was she supposed to kneel like Zane, or was there another expectation for women? Was she supposed to curtsy or something? Damn Zane for not preparing her better for this.

  She fell to one knee, mimicking Zane. She thought of all the times she’d felt awkward and out of place in the homes of local nobles in Barnes. They’d seemed so important. Now, in the presence of real power for the first time, she realized that all her other experiences with the rich were nothing. This was royalty.

  Edward waved toward them. “Yes, yes, please take your seats.”

  Lily waited for Zane to rise and then followed his lead. Faraday took the seat next to Zane, and the heavy-set man took the seat next to her. Zane’s eyes followed the heavy-set man with a gaze that was intense, even for him.

  “Thanks for coming,” the king said, as if they’d had a choice. “You know Faraday and Von Ridden?”