Skulduggery 2

by Logan Jacobs

  “He likes pretty things,” I agreed. “He did seem to take a liking to you.”

  “Ehhh,” she laughed, “most men do. I wrap them around my little finger.”

  I almost asked her why she never acted flirtatious with Wade, but then I stopped myself from speaking. Her relationship with my love was strange at best, and strained at worse. It was obvious she was completely in love with him, of course she was, but that was probably why she had problems fluttering her eyelids at him in the way she just did with the count.

  Penny liked to play games, but only if it wasn’t for real.

  “You have to meet with him again?” Penny asked after I hadn’t spoken for a few dozen seconds.

  “I do, and it’s not one I’m looking forward to.”

  “Why?” she asked and cleared her throat. “I mean, why ‘ah you not looking forward to meeting with him. Don’t you work for him every day? Is he trying something on you?”

  “No,” I chuckled. “He’s looked a bunch, but you are right. He’s forcing himself. I think you know I do all his book keeping.”

  “Yeah, the numbers and stuff,” Penny said. “You are smart, and uhhh pretty, and--”

  “He’s just kind of dumb,” I interrupted her since she was starting to stumble over her words. “I’ve been managing all the operations, too, but he is spending the money too fast, and--”

  “Shit,” Penny sighed. “How long have you been doing this?”

  “Too long,” I said with a faint smile. “I’m glad I stuck it out though, or else I wouldn’t have met you all.”

  “You mean, Wade.” Penny smirked as we stopped just outside the stable’s door.

  “Of course … ” I admitted and brushed a dark strand of my hair aside, “but I really do mean you and Dar, too.”

  “Hmph.” Penny held her smirk as she reached for the door. “Yeah, let’s not flatter Wade too much. He’s probably listening to this as we speak.”

  Penny opened the door just wide enough for us to slip through.

  “We’ll need to lock this up if no one is inside,” I said as I stood over an imprint of Wade’s body left in the pile of hay he slept in. Azure was still curled up where Wade’s head would’ve been, and a small puff of smoke left his blue nose when he huffed in his dreams.

  “Dar is gone, too,” Penny noted as she leaned over the stall.

  “No surprise,” I said and spotted the only bag of yeast we had left near the vat.

  “I think they mentioned something about meeting one of our old … ehhh friends. I guess you could call him a friend.” Penny shrugged and meandered back over to Azure.

  “Wasn’t that last night, though?” I asked and could feel my heart beat faster in my chest.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Penny sighed as she bent down to pet the dragon. “They’re big boys … well, Wade is at least, they’ll be fine.”

  “I hope so,” I breathed.

  I never knew what to expect after Wade was arrested by the elves. Part of me thought he was arrested again. I hated to think that way, but it was just the reality of what we were doing.

  “They will be,” Penny reassured me with a smile. “They probably just crashed at the guild with the intern.”

  “Did you know him?” I asked.

  “Selius?” Penny questioned as she knelt next to the dragon.

  “Yeah, the intern guy,” I said while I glanced around at the supplies and took note.

  “Nah, not too much,” Penny said and cooed to the dragon. “He was a nice kid, but that’s about all I know of him.”

  “Besides the yeast, and some more water, did we need anything else as far as you know?” I asked. If I’d learned anything in business, it was that you can’t predict what’s going to happen too often, especially when a company was young, so I figured it would be a good idea to carry extra grain and water just in case we needed it.

  Penny’s lips moved from side to side as she thought.

  “Maybe we can order some more grain just to be safe.” She shrugged. “Are you doing a run soon?”

  “Yeah, but I’ll wait to confirm with Wade and then divvy up the responsibilities,” I said as I rolled the yeast bag closed since it had unfurled on top.

  “Just let me know if you need me to do anything in the meantime.” Penny stood and moved to the door.

  “Where you off to?” I glanced behind my shoulder at the pretty redhead as I counted the bags of grain we had.

  “I need to keep my thieving skills sharpened,” she said as she tapped her leather satchel on her side. “Good luck with your meeting.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Hey, Penny?”

  “Ya?” she asked as she paused at the door and looked over her shoulder at me.

  “I liked spending time with you,” I said with a soft smile.

  “Ahhh,” she chuckled. “You smell nice and aren’t trying to fuck me. Ya are alright. See ya later.”

  Then she gave me a quick wave and walked out the door.

  I was glad to have spent time with Penny. We’d make a great team together, and I hoped we’d be able to figure out how to share Wade.

  I finished up my inventory work and took one more look at the painting on the table. The image itself was grotesque and disturbing, but the linework and technique were incredible. How something so violent could be beautiful at the same time puzzled me.

  “Where would an elven noble even get this?” I pondered aloud. “Maybe that’s where we can find the next chest?”

  I traced my finger from one of the elves in the image to a human who absorbed a magic blast. If this battle did take place, then it must’ve only lasted a few minutes. Elven magic was hard to defend against. Not that I knew anything about it, but the human body was only capable of so much, and the elves were powerful.

  After studying the painting, I glanced over to the chest where Wade kept the magic keys.

  “They must’ve left in a hurry,” I muttered. The thought of having these keys, and this painting, out in the open made me nervous.

  The fact that these keys even connected with Wade was astounding to me. I wanted to ask him a ton of questions, but I also didn’t want to bog him down with my silly musings.

  As much as I wanted to study the image more, I needed to have that meeting with the count. I knew Wade was counting on me, too.

  So, I made my way back over to the theatre and walked in the backdoor.

  “Cim, you gonna be at practice?” Ashlin asked as she ran up to me in the hallway.

  “After my meeting with the count, I’ll be there.” I smiled and moved her along.

  “See you down at the stage,” she said as she twirled down the hall.

  I went up the stairs, back to my room, and grabbed my notebook. I needed the count to see these numbers. I’d been telling him, and he’d even written them down, but he needed to finally understand the gravity of the situation the theatre had found itself in.

  Once I had my notes, I walked back down and past the cafeteria.

  I still hadn’t eaten, but the count’s doors were opened, and so was this opportunity. So, I took a deep breath and walked into his office that smelled of tea.

  “There she is,” the count said without looking up from the document he read on his desk. “Where is the redhead you were with?”

  “She had to leave,” I said flatly.

  “But you’ll bring her back?” he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows. “I’d love to add her to the show.”

  “Do you have time to talk now?” I ignored his comment.

  “That’s up to you,” he sighed dramatically. “Do you finally have time to fit me into your schedule? You are always so busy with your friends.”

  “Looks that way doesn’t it?” I said as I ignored my flash of anger and sat down in the plush black chair across from him. The lanterns were lit now all around the circular wall that was one massive bookshelf filled books from all over the world.

  Did he ever read them?

  I’d put some coin
down on that he hasn’t even touched them since he put them on the shelf. My hunch was he used them to make himself appear much smarter than he was, and it actually worked a lot of the time.

  “So, I assume you saw our numbers for the previous week?” I asked since he still hadn’t looked up from whatever he was reading.

  “Mmm-hmm … ” He stroked his mustache with his pinky and finally moved his eyes to me. “Your friend, is she human?”

  “My friend?” I asked even though I guessed who he was talking about.

  “Perry?” He closed his eyes as he tried to remember.

  “Penny,” I said with an arched eyebrow. “She’s human as far as I know. Now, I’d like to discuss the--“

  “Is she looking for a companion?” the count cut me off and leaned forward on his desk with one arm.

  I could smell the herbal tea he always drank waft in the air when he moved. He drank so much of the stuff he’d probably bleed it out if he was stabbed.

  “A companion? ” I sighed and narrowed my eyes. “No, she’s taken.”

  I’d never been happier to say that.

  “That’s too bad,” the count said as his eyes dropped back to the document on his desk. “I’m growing tired of whores, but I have a rule about sleeping with my employees. Just never turns out well.”

  I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry to hear your dick is bored, but we really should discuss the matters at hand.”

  “And those matters are?” he asked with his eyes raised to mine again.

  “These,” I said before I flipped open my notebook and showed him how much money we’d made the past month compared with all of our expenses.

  He sat quietly as his dark eyes moved across the pages.

  “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I prodded and leaned with my arm against the desk.

  “All I’m seeing are a bunch of numbers on a page,” he sighed and brought his hand to his head. “This is why I have you do all this stuff, Cimarra. I need to do the important things.”

  “Kieran … “ I reached over and tapped the notebook with my finger, “these aren’t just numbers. These are the theatre’s death sentence.”

  “I don’t see it that way.” He shook his head.

  “You need to start seeing it that way, or we’ll all be on the streets by next month,” I said as I leaned back in the chair.

  “You exaggerate,” he huffed and rolled his eyes.

  “No,” I sighed. “Look at this figure, and then this one. See this over here? That’s our revenue run rate and our expense run rate. See how I wrote these numbers here in red ink? Red is bad. Red is very bad. There is a lot of red on these pages.”

  The count followed my finger as I spoke, and I felt a sparkle of hope in my stomach. He actually seemed to be paying attention for once.

  “Can we se--” he began.

  “We’ve sold everything we can without selling the entire show,” I cut him off and leaned forward again. “Do you understand?”

  “There has to be … ” He dropped his face into his hands and groaned. “What’s our way out of this? I’ve entrusted you to figure this out. You’ve let me down!”

  “No,” I snapped as I flipped to another page. “Look at the numbers here. This is itemized operating expenses. See this question mark here?”

  “What is that?” he asked.

  “That’s my category for your ‘pocket change’ that you say you need to take every month.”

  “But I need that!” he cried out. “I need to have fun, you know? It’s just so much work running the show everyday. You wouldn’t understand, being a simple woman and all.”

  “No, I guess I wouldn’t understand,” I said flatly, “but the numbers are what they are. We are at the point where we need an influx investment to get out of the hole.”

  “How could you let it get this bad?” he whined. “This was your job, and you should have told me soo--”

  “Don’t you dare,” I snapped at him. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for months, and you didn’t want to listen.”

  “Then you just need to fix it,” he sighed as he put his face back into his hands. “Just make it all be--”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing?” I tapped the notebook in front of him. “I’m talking to you right now because I have a plan.”

  “So, what do we do?” the chubby man asked, and his voice was muffled in his hands.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear from you,” I sighed and grabbed my notebook from his desk. “I was--”

  “Do you remember when you first joined the theatre?” he cut me off as he slowly lifted his face from his hands. “How exciting the show was?”

  “I do.” I forced a smile and nodded. What he didn’t realize was I hated every second of my life during that time. How he had taken a liking to Penny was what I had to endure back then. It was a weird infatuation, where he followed me around for all hours of the day telling me over and over how beautiful I was, but yet we could never be together because of how he needed to be my boss and not my lover. Yet, I saw his eyes drift to every young boy who worked in our show. The count was a wonderful performer, but he’d always had deep seeded sexual issues.

  “We had elephants, levitators, mind readers, magical creatures, and then … ” he pointed a finger at me, “you were the cherry on top of the masterpiece.”

  “Thank you, but we are no long--” I paused since he wasn’t listening.

  His face was lost in a daydream of the olden days again, and I sighed lightly as he leaned back in his chair.

  “That was just recently. You should have seen it when I first opened! The cloud candies, chocolates, and fizz pops flowed freely back then.” A broad grin formed on the count’s chubby face, and his eyes drifted upward. “My theatre was like no other theatre in the realm. You should’ve seen the look on the faces of dwarves, humans, and any other creature this forsaken city had when they found out a human man ran it.”

  “How long ago was that now?” I asked as I felt an idea began to form in my mind.

  “Oh, decades ago,” he replied and waved a hand. “So, you see? Tell me there’s a way. There has to be a way.”

  I let the silence build in the room as his hope-filled face began to vanish.

  “There’s a way,” I finally said, and his face shone with life again, “but it’s not going to be easy for you.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked as the joy in his expression faded.

  “I have someone interested in buying--” I stopped and swallowed as he stood up from his chair.

  “No!” He pointed a finger down at me. “Haven’t you been listening? Don’t you remember? This is not some game, Cimarra.”

  “Here me out,” I said and held my ground.

  “I’m not selling!” He raised his hands to his side. “And who exactly do you know that’s interested?”

  “I didn’t say anything about selling,” I breathed. “He wants to schedule a meeting with you as soon as possible to--”

  “Steal my heart!” his booming shout echoed down the hall.

  “To save the theatre and just talk,” I said as I watched him sink back into his chair. “This is the only way.”

  Silence filled the room as his eyes searched around him for any kind of answer that made him happy.

  “Are you sure?” he finally asked with a sigh, and his eyes glistened.

  I nodded firmly. “I am.”

  “Who is he?” the count asked, and then his eyes widened. “Is it Vazmet? Is that why the old dwarf bastard came to--”

  “It’s Wade,” I said calmly.

  “What?” he scoffed. “Your man-toy? How does he have money? He’s just a human.”

  “You and I are but humans,” I pointed out, “but Wade is something more. Trust me. He wants to help. Will you listen?”

  “Ahhhh … ” The count’s eyes narrowed as he turned his red chair around and stared at the multi-colored wall of books. “I suppose it won’t hurt any.”

  A
broad grin stretched across my face.

  Chapter 14

  We were on top of the roof for what felt like an eternity. We needed to be careful, though. There were still elves sniffing around the streets below us.

  “How long do you think we’ll have to wait for?” Dar whispered as he sat up and leaned against the ledge of the roof.

  “As soon as the pointy ears change shifts with the day elves,” I said as I watched the morning sun appear over the horizon. “Might be twenty hours.”

  “Wade … ” Dar paused, and even though I couldn’t see him, I could sense a smile on his face. “I killed two elves.”

  He snorted as he tried to keep in a laugh.

  “With a bottle of whiskey, too,” I chuckled as quietly as I could.

  Then I gripped my own mouth to be quiet as whistles started to blow around the entire district. More elves stomped below us speaking their native tongue, but their tone was different than usual, so I put my finger up to my lips and looked at Dar.

  “Continue to search the area, whoever it was couldn’t have gone far,” an elven voice echoed from across the street. “We must find the murderers at all costs. They have shamed our kind for the last time.”

  “They won’t find us will they?” Dar whispered in my ear.

  “They have no idea who to even look for,” I said as I wiped my hand that was stained blue from the elf’s blood.

  “They would probably look for somethin’ like that,” Dar chuckled as he pointed to my hand.

  We hushed as more steps echoed underneath us.

  “We have gotten word to the Capital City,” the elven voice panted. “The day elves know of the situation and will continue the search with us.”

  “Ah, nothing more beautiful when politics unite the cause,” another elven voice said as the steps moved on.

  “Shit,” Dar grunted beside me.

  “Nothing worse than united elves,” I said. “So be it. We can still wait them out from up here.”

  “We didn’t leave a trail or anything behind, right?” Dar breathed. “These night fuckers are incredible trackers.”

  “I know,” I said as I thought about where we just ran from. “We didn’t leave any evidence.”