The Jinxed Pirate (Graylands Book 2)

by M. Walsh

  That was irrelevant. What mattered was Bane’s Gauntlet was gone.

  Lord Karvax—a tall, imposing man with pale flesh and a long, black robe—surveyed the carnage and deduced what had occurred in this little valley. The thieves who had stolen the Gauntlet were going to exchange it for gold, but the troll had been drawn to it and killed them. It then took the Gauntlet to its dwelling—Karvax could sense the essence of its power lingering there. Someone killed the troll after.

  And that someone likely had the Gauntlet now.

  Karvax’s five companions, dressed in similar robes, gathered around. Mistress Zee stepped forward and asked, “What now, my lord?”

  “The Gauntlet was here,” he replied. “I still feel it. Don’t you?”

  His followers agreed in unison. The power of the Gauntlet was a potent thing, charged with the Black. Its energy wasn’t just in the cave—it was in the air itself. No matter who had it, they could sniff out its trail. It took time, but after it was stolen by those brigands sent from Gain, Karvax and his followers had tracked it to this valley.

  They would find it again.

  And make the one who took it suffer.

  30

  Dust & Shade’s Carnival arrived outside Madoc in the night. The convoy, Lily discovered, was pushed along by the collective magick of the tribe. The lack of horses wasn’t a surprise—no animal would want to be anywhere near a creature of the Black—but she hadn’t expected them to utilize an unnatural means of travel so openly.

  Dust assured her this added a sense of mystery and excitement to the traveling carnival. This was also why they preferred to arrive in towns and set up their tents, rides, and trailers in the night. The people would wake to find a grand carnival had miraculously appeared from seemingly nowhere.

  “It’s all part of the show,” he said.

  Flint, Coal, Ashe, Tinder, and a handful of others did much of the heavy lifting. They erected most of the tents and arranged the rides which consisted of a wheel, carousal, swing, and a massive slide. A front entrance was set up where guests could purchase entry. Although there was no fence built around the carnival, Lily suspected the reavers had their own means of ensuring people didn’t sneak in.

  Games were set up where guests could win prizes. A handful of reavers dressed as clowns. There were fire-breathers, jugglers, and acrobats. Shade had her fortune-telling station. Dust was the central barker, wearing a bright red coat with an impressive top hat. Altogether, she counted about thirty reavers in the tribe.

  She hadn’t grown closer to them. Some were more accommodating, and there was definite curiosity about the succubus-orc hybrid in their midst, but she was still an outsider. Shade hadn’t warmed to her, and she wondered if there might be a clash between the two reaver leaders.

  Lily spent most of their travel to Madoc in Dust’s caravan. He granted her as much privacy as she desired and wouldn’t push the question of whether she was going to stay with them or not. When the sun rose on the newly erected carnival, she was no closer to making a decision.

  Madoc was a humble village located on the outskirts of Graylands’ northern mountain range. It was a rocky area of hills, valleys, and thick forest. There was a central main street of cobblestone and numerous small houses built around it. There was little farming, and the town seemed to thrive in lumber and fur trade.

  The simple houses and tall mountains surrounding the horizon gave Madoc a picturesque beauty. With the summer, the children of Madoc welcomed the carnival with glee and wonder. By early noon, Dust & Shade had garnered an impressive crowd.

  Lily kept to herself, staying close to Dust’s caravan. She would see him walking the grounds, shouting out the attractions available. He would wipe sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, even though—Lily could see—he wasn’t sweating. All around her, the people of Madoc came and went, playing the various games, winning prizes, watching the shows, and going on the rides.

  Witnessing the carnival in action, she had to marvel at how well set up the tribe was. Most reavers, from what little she knew of them, dwelled in underground hives where they would use their glamour to lure unsuspecting travelers. Some were said to be capable of looking into their prey’s minds and exploiting their fears or desires. Most lulled their victims into a docile state, making it easier to feed.

  In that regard, she considered this tribe’s choice of cover to be rather ingenious. Despite her distaste for the feeding on innocent people, she had to admit it was a clever means of luring in prey and playing on their desires. And by the time anyone got suspicious, they would be packed up and on their way.

  Although impressed by the reavers’ efficient operation, watching them pose as entertainers and performers made her uncomfortable. When the people slept that night, the reavers would drift into the village to feed. It was unsettling to know she had become part of some macabre spook story—and that she was on the side of the monsters.

  Her gaze drifted to Shade’s caravan, which was parked next to Dust’s. Shade was dressed in an eye-catching black gown with a large hat and veil obscuring her face. It gave her a suitably eerie look as the fortune-teller.

  A young girl, looking like she was eleven or twelve, approached Shade’s trailer and, after some talk, was led inside. Shade shut the door behind her, and Lily felt a sudden chill.

  “Are you part of the carnival?”

  Snapping out of her thoughts, she found a young boy standing before her. He appeared to be no older than seven, with dark, groomed hair, and dressed in nice clothing. He stared at her wide-eyed and with a large lollipop.

  “Am I what..?” she asked.

  “Are you part of the carnival?” he repeated. “What do you do?”

  “Oh, um, no,” she said. “I don’t … not really.”

  He looked disappointed and said, “Oh.”

  “Um … sorry,” she said, shrugging. The boy continued staring at her, almost as if he was in awe. “So,” she said. “Are you enjoying the carnival?”

  “Yes,” he said, nodding. “I came here with my dad. I went on the carousal and I won this lollipop.”

  “At the same time? That’s impressive.” Upon seeing the confusion that inspired, she added, “That was a joke.”

  The boy laughed—a little too hard, Lily thought, considering she didn’t think her joke was that funny. Although she didn’t mind his presence, she was curious why he was so interested in her and not his friends.

  He looked toward the crowd, as if someone caught his attention, and said, “I have to go.” He started walking, but stopped to say, “You should be. Part of the carnival, I mean. You’re pretty.”

  The boy ran to the far end of the carnival where a group of people had gathered around a tall man with similar dark hair and nice clothes. She assumed he was the boy’s father, and although she couldn’t make out anything said, she was still able to hear his booming voice over the carnival noise.

  He was shaking hands with Dust and the people around him and greeting everyone with a broad smile. Everyone seemed interested in his actions, and she guessed him an important person in Madoc.

  She thought little of it, but looking at his forced smile as he moved from person to person, she sensed something hidden in his heart.

  Shade’s trailer opened, and the girl emerged. Upon seeing her, Lily felt her stomach sink. The girl shambled out, looking pale, sickly, and dazed. Lily watched her drift across the fairground, eventually reaching an adult who appeared to be her father. His face turned grave, and they left the carnival.

  Anger took hold in a sudden wave. She knew what the reavers were. She accepted what they would do to the people of Madoc. But to see it happen right in front of her, in broad daylight, and to a child … her fists clenched tight and teeth gritted. Fury came over her and, although she didn’t notice, people walking by her were struck by a feeling of dread without knowing why.

  She went to the trailer and stormed inside. She slammed the door shut behind her and found Shade sitting at her
table, looking indifferent and irked by her presence.

  “What do you want?” Shade asked.

  Lily held her tongue, trying to decide how she would proceed. The urge to attack—the orc temper—was strong, but she remained in control.

  “That was a child,” she growled.

  “And..?”

  “How could you do that to a child? And in broad daylight?”

  “Relax,” Shade said, unable to hide the condescension in her voice. “The girl remembers nothing. She and her parents will assume she’s ill. They won’t suspect a thing.” Shade paused, her face turning to a contemptuous sneer. “We do do most of our feeding at night, but I indulge myself from time to time—as is my right.”

  “But a child..?”

  “Children are best for feeding,” Shade said, as though stating simple fact. “They’re young and energetic. They’ve so much to spare.”

  Lily didn’t respond, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists even tighter.

  “How is any of this your business?” Shade said. “Who are you to walk into my tribe and tell me how and when to feed?”

  “That was a child …”

  “You keep saying that like it means something. Child, adult … what does it matter? They’re our prey. Nothing more.”

  Lily couldn’t contain her anger. With a hiss, her hand shot out and snatched Shade by her throat. The reaver had only a moment to gasp in shock before she was slammed against the wall. She clutched at Lily’s hand, hissing and growling, but she couldn’t free herself from the grip.

  “You listen to me,” Lily said, her crimson eyes burning bright red. “If I ever catch you feeding on a child again … if you ever feed on these people in my presence … I will rip your damned heart out. Do you hear me?”

  Shade gasped and choked. Fury burned in her eyes—turning to a piercing shade of yellow. In her anger, Shade’s human form flickered and Lily glimpsed the creature hidden beneath the glamour.

  Without bothering to wait for an answer, she released her and Shade crumbled to floor, coughing and growling. She took a step back, prepared for the reaver to attack, but Shade only glared at her with venom and hate.

  “Dust will hear of this,” Shade choked. “You hear me, you succubus whore? You think you can walk into my tribe and give me orders?!”

  “You’ve been warned,” said Lily, leaving the caravan. Behind her, Shade hissed threats and curses.

  31

  Unlike the rest of Seba, the Tombs were a steady grid of blocks and numbered streets filled with plain, dark buildings of varying height. The area had an eerie calm about it that was heightened by the still night. The sky was clear, but starless and looked a dark shade of green. A fat, glowing moon shined over the city like a spotlight.

  Acting as a border to the Tombs was a canal known as the Goblin’s Vein. It cut through the western side of Seba and led to a waterfall off the plateau. Krutch stood on the concrete bridge that would take him across the canal and into the Tombs. He listened to the water flow beneath him and felt his stomach churn.

  “This is it. If we keep going, there’s no turning back,” said Arkady, voicing Krutch’s thoughts without realizing. “I still think this is a bad move, boss. How do we know Elliot isn’t setting us up?”

  “What difference does it make?” Audra asked.

  “I just think it’s odd the guy gets upset the boss is screwing around,” he said. “But then tells him where and when Clock and Gash are having their secret meeting.”

  “It is suspicious,” she said. “But we went over this already: there’s nothing Elliot could be scheming that works against Lee. Worst case scenario, he’s trying to stir conflict between us and Clock.”

  “And we want that?”

  “What we want is Clock and everyone else to be afraid of Lee. We want them to know Krutch Leeroy can’t be predicted or controlled.”

  Arkady frowned and shook his head. “I can’t like it,” he said. “What do you think, boss?”

  Krutch looked at them, and he felt uncomfortable being regarded as the leader. But he pushed it aside. He needed to be that guy.

  “Okay, first,” he said, “we’re here to find out what Clock is doing in the Tombs. If Elliot’s set a trap for us and we get caught … yeah, that lets them know we’re unpredictable and all that. More importantly, Clock needs me for whatever reason, so he won’t do anything against me. And worse comes to worst, I’ll just rat out Elliot and say he told me to come.”

  Audra grinned and gave him a quick kiss. Since their lunch the other day, she had been all for anything that would take Clock down. She wouldn’t explain what it was about him that offended her, but Krutch could see Sebastian Clock had touched a nerve.

  “Trust me,” she said, turning to Arkady, who still didn’t look convinced. “If you had seen this guy … watched the way he lives … you’d be right beside us. Sebastian Clock is the most loathsome, pretentious, sanctimonious piece of shit I’ve ever met. He is everything that is wrong with this world.”

  Arkady cocked an eyebrow at her. “Hey, I’m not denying he’s … um, all those words,” he said. “All I’ve been saying is, if we take him on, let’s do it right. And I don’t think snooping around whatever he’s doing in the Tombs is it.”

  Audra turned to Krutch, frowning. “Come on, Arkady,” he said. “What’s the worst that could happen? Besides, is there anything keeping us here? If things turn sour, let’s just blow town.” He patted Arkady on the shoulder and added, “As long as you’ve known me, have I done anything that would suggest I have a problem jumping ship at the first sign of trouble?”

  “And at the very least,” said Audra. “We can wreck Clock’s shit on the way out.”

  Arkady thought it over. With a smirk, he said, “All right, boss. Let’s do this.”

  With that, they crossed the Goblin’s Vein.

  Krutch didn’t know why the area was known as the Tombs. Arkady suspected it was a holdover from when Roderick Bane used the plateau as a base. But sneaking around the tight, narrow streets flanked by imposing structures, he could see why the name stuck. There were no signs of life anywhere.

  The tall stone and brick buildings stood dark and silent. Most were plain rectangles, though some had arched roofs that resembled devil horns. Many buildings were connected with stone bridges above the streets. What windows that weren’t boarded up revealed darkened stained-glass windows.

  They made their way up Avenue F until reaching Ninth Street. Two blocks down, they saw Building 237. Like most of the Tombs, it was a basic rectangle of stone with darkened windows. The only difference was the carriage parked in front and the dim light coming from a single window.

  “That’s it,” Krutch whispered, ducking down. “I think that’s Gash’s carriage. They’re already here.”

  “Why are you whispering?” Audra asked.

  “If there are any guards, I expect they’d be in this area if nowhere else.”

  “The boss is right,” said Arkady. “Bet you anything there are at least a few Wraiths lurking around that place.”

  “What do we do if we find one?” she asked. “Do we kill him?”

  “No,” Krutch said. “We don’t want that kind of trouble. Knock them out if you can. We move extra careful.”

  Arkady nodded and went ahead. Audra said nothing and followed. Krutch waited, took a deep breath, and then started toward Building 237 as well. There was a part of him that warned to turn away—that whatever was in there was not worth the risk. But he ignored it.

  It was time to act like a real pirate.

  * * *

  Krutch and his partners weren’t the only prowlers lurking around the Tombs that night. Katrina Lamont and Scifer Olc followed Jonathon Gash’s carriage to Building 237 from the east and were there before Krutch.

  After her encounter with Sebastian Clock, Katrina decided she wanted to be ahead of the curve for once and set about learning as much about Seba and its players as she could. With Scifer’s help, she
found Clock was the top man and Gash, the number two. Clock ran industry and got a piece of everything, Gash was in slave trading and owned the Brute Squad, and it was an open secret they were rivals for power.

  The night before they would venture into the Tombs, they met in their inn’s bar to discuss how to proceed.

  “The problem,” Scifer said, lighting a cigarette. “is even if the Last Vigorian is your boy, he is a slave. Therefore he’s owned, if not by Gash himself, then someone you’ll have to go through Gash to reach.” He paused to light another cigarette. “That means you’re counting on the generosity of a man who, by all accounts, is a real hard-case.”

  Katrina nodded and accepted the second cigarette. “And even if he’s willing to part with Jagger,” she said, taking a drag. “It won’t be cheap.”

  “There is that, too.”

  “What really worries me is Clock presented himself to me,” she said. “For whatever reason, I have his attention. I don’t know what he wants, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s more reason to finish my business here as soon as possible.”

  “There is a solution,” Scifer said. “Go straight to Gash and make him set your boy free.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that?” she asked. “I could find out where Gash lives, but I bet it’s like a fortress and guarded like one.”

  “What if I told you he’ll be out in the open tomorrow night? Isolated, minimal guard.”

  She said nothing.

  “He’s meeting Sebastian Clock in the Tombs tomorrow. It’s supposed to be secret, so he’s not going with a legion of guards. You’ve seen the Tombs during the day—they’re even more deserted at night. Plenty of opportunities.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I hear things,” he said, finishing his cigarette. “If you know when to listen.”

  Katrina sighed and shook her head, reminded again she didn’t entirely trust Scifer Olc. “Say you’re right,” she said. “So what? I get the drop on him, and then what..?”