James felt rough hands grab him by his arm and roll him over.

"Grab the bag of gold. There should also be another bag with some items in it," a male voice said.

James groaned as he struggled to open his eyes.

"Get up, James. You have to get up," Rocko shouted at him.

"Shit, he is still alive. Hit him again!" another male voice hissed.

"How the hell is still alive," the first voice growled.

James got an eye open as a cudgel descended towards his head. He barely got an arm up in time to block most of the impact, but the blow did break his arm.

"Again," the second voice cried out in alarm.

"James, Shadow Step up the rafter," Rocko shouted. "You have to get away from them."

James looked up and saw the two men standing over him. One of them was a beefy man in leather armour bringing the cudgel for a second swing. The other was a thin young man with long oily hair. Above them, James focused on the rafters and cast Shadow Step, disappearing from in front of them.

The cudgel smashed into the warehouse floor with a resounding crash and a loud crack, "Shit, where did he go?" the tough called out.

The young man pivoted around, looking everywhere but up for their missing target, "We need to get out of here."

James was hanging from the rafters with both hands. He didn't land property and had rolled off the rafter, but his Stealth Skill was high enough to muff any noise. Once hanging there, he activated Shadow Meld and disappeared into the shadows completely. He had to close his eyes to control the sense of vertigo and nausea threatening to consume him.

The two robbers ran to the back of the building and made their way through a back room. The large tough was carrying a large sack filled with Enchanted items that James was there to pick up and a large bag filled with 500 gold coins. Once they were gone, James used Shadow Step again to land beside Sasha and checked on him. Sadly, his throat had been cut, and he was no longer pumping blood.

James heard a sound from behind and whirled around in a crouch. Guard number two, also known as George, was standing there, pointing a crossbow at him.

"Wasn't me," James stated.

'Not my call," George replied.

James tried again, "There were two of them. They ran out the back. They had the bag from Sasha and the bag of coins from me."

George nodded, "Gage, Roberts, go check the back room. Be careful. Snakebite, check on Sasha." A man with scars on half his face came from around the crates and headed for Sasha, making sure not to get between George and James.

"Mind if I sit down? I got whacked the head and am still feeling a little dizzy," James asked.

"Sure. Sit with your legs crossed in front of you and your arms to either side. You move, I shoot," George stated.

James sat down and took a deep breath, "Sounds fair."

Snakebite checked Sasha but shook his head, "He's dead."

One of the men came up to George from the back room, "We found a hole in the back wall. We are calling for help. Also, the old man is on his way."

George nodded, "Okay. Keep a lookout. Snakebite, tie him up. Sorry Master James, but we have rules. I am already brushing the edge of the rules by not shooting you dead already."

"I appreciate that," James said sardonically.

"James, you should be healing yourself," Rocko suggested.

'No. It makes me look complicit if I tell them my side of the story and have no wounds on me. I can heal myself afterwards,' James sent Rocko.

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"This whole relationship with this family has been wrong from the start. The first time you meet them, you get stabbed. Then there was the botched assassination attempt on you. Then the attempt to take over the guild. And now this. You're lucky to be alive." Rocko ranted.

James tried to calm Rocko, 'I think you are overreacting.'

"Am I?" Rocko asked.

James was expecting Ferdinand to show up, but Jones made an appearance. He spoke with George first and then approached James. James was a little put out that he didn't remove the bindings before starting to talk.

Jones squatted down next to James, "What happened."

James told him the full version, including a description of the two men.

"His forearms broke," Snakebite stated from the other side of Sasha's body, "I noticed when I tied him up."

"Also got two bumps on my head," James added.

Jones reached out and felt James' head. His hair was matted with blood. James winced when Jones probed the two bloody lumps.

Jones stood and looked over at Snakebite, "Untie him." Then turned back to James, "You can heal yourself now. I believe you."

James sighed in relief, "Thanks."

Jones shook his head, "The final call still belongs to the Boss. He has the final say."

James healed himself a few times to deal with the arm and the lumps on his head. "Any idea who did this?" he asked.

"That's Guild business," Jones admonished, "But ya, I do. I hope I'm wrong. Let's go back to the house. You can get cleaned up there."

Snakebite offered his hand to James and helped him to stand. George had left after Jones arrived, and Sasha was still lying on the floor.

"What about him?" James asked, nodding towards Sasha.

"That's Guild business too. But we take care of our own," Jones explained.

James just nodded and followed Jones out of the warehouse.

----------------------------------------

It took some doing, but James convinced Jones to walk into a dark forest with him so he could pick up the gear he hid under some leaves.

"This is a stupid place to leave thousands of gold worth of gear," Jones stated for the third time.

"Not much choice," James explained.

"You can always leave the items in your room at the house. It is one of the reasons why it is there," Jones offered.

"I don't want to traipse from the house to town a couple of times a day. It is only about 30 minutes to the town from here. From the house, it is more than an hour of walking," James tried to explain.

"Then take a horse or a carriage. Both of those are available at the house," Jones suggested.

"And how am I supposed to change appearances if I am riding in a carriage or horse?" James asked.

"Do what everyone else does. Leave the horse or carriage at an inn. It costs you a silver at most. Then do what you need to do," Jones suggested.

James shook his head, "Having a fixed location that you are forced to return to is a prime location to be ambushed."

Jones chuckled as they continued to the road where their carriage waited, "Paranoid much?"

James looked over at Rocko and smiled, "Let's see, the first time I showed up at your house, I was stabbed and almost killed with poison. I had someone break into my room and try to kill me. Twice. And now, someone ambushed me at the warehouse. If I didn't know better, being associated with your guild is dangerous to my health."

Jones laughed, "You got me there, but if I were to turn the table on you. Since you arrived, there have been two attempts on the guild master's life, two break-ins to his home and an attack on one of his operations. A skeptical man might become suspicious."

James looked over at Jones, "Ya, because it has been my lifelong goal to be the leader of an assassin's guild, to sweep the guild master's daughter off her feet and best the guild master's guards in swordplay. All while winning the Challenge. Easy as pie."

"Easy as pie?" Jones asked. "What is that supposed to mean."

"No idea. The point is, I have bigger things on my plate than your guild." James replied.

Jones sat down across from James and closed the carriage door. After a moment, he rapped on the door three times to let the driver know they were ready.

"I need more training," James started. "I am hoping I may be able to hire you to train me."

Jones considered, "I thought you said there were only nine months left in the Challenge."

James rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. Very funny. I am glad your swordplay is better than your wit."

Jones expressed mock anger, "Hey now. I will have you know my wife appreciates my wit." Then with a broad grin, he continued, "And my swordplay."

James groaned, "The torture."

Jones settled and spoke quieter, "Seriously now. Is everything okay on the Challenge front?"

James considered the answer, "I am currently ranked at just better than 700. I don't know how many are still alive, but I don't think I am doing as well as I should. I have been told that the real bottleneck is at level 20. Once I get to level 21, I should see a large improvement in my Rank."

Jones nodded, "Good. I will help as I can, but I have a primary responsibility to the Boss. I suspect he won't mind me working with you as long as it is at the house. I will speak about it when we return."

"Thanks," James said with a breath of relief, "I was worried I might not be able to get your help."

Jones just gave a toothy grin, "James, you're like family. Speaking of which. The funeral for Alexandro is for tomorrow. Juan Carlos is already with the rest of the family."

"Juan Carlos? Is that Veronika's brother?" James asked.

Jones responded by nodding, "There are also a few out-of-town relatives who were too stingy to rent rooms at a hotel and decided to freeload off Ferdinand. I was told you would be in attendance."

James nodded, "Yes. I did promise Veronika I would be there. How are they spinning his death?"

"Spinning?" Jones asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What are they telling people? How did Alexandro die?" James clarified.

Jones nodded in understanding, "fell down some stairs."

"And got decapitated?" James inquired.

"We have some very nasty stairs."