Everyone walked out slowly. It was as though the second the Old Man stepped in it became the exact opposite of a train wreck, no one wanted to watch the scene anymore and they were all more than happy to be going. He had undoubtedly scared them witless. He scared me a little now too, now that I had a better idea of how powerful he was. His expression was one of anger and it made him look much older than he had appeared earlier. While it looked like Death had regained his composure somewhat, Owen was beginning to panic.
“I’d like to have a little talk with you in private.” The Old Man hissed. “You four... I’ll be with you in a second.” The two men vanished.
“Are you okay, Hope?” I asked, turning her face towards me to get a look. There was no physical damage.
“I’m fine.” She growled.
“Physically.” I said sternly. I had to put some effort into keeping her facing me, which was all the more difficult because I was trying to remain gentle. “Emotionally, I doubt it. The marks of physical abuse fade quickly enough on everyone, the emotional damage can linger for much longer.”
“I’m fine.” She answered again, quieter this time. “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure why I was beginning to care if she was fine or not. Maybe I was just raised well. If it had been any girl I’d probably do the same thing. Hope was still a girl after all. I let go of her chin and she turned away and looked back into a jewelry display blankly.
“Who was that exactly?” I asked, turning to Death.
“Did you not recognize him?” Death looked a little surprised. “That was Owen McGregor, Shaun McGregor’s brother. He was working the bar when we paid their den a visit.” I hadn’t recognized him at all. The bartender’s face hadn’t stuck in my memory, I didn’t really remember him at all other than the fact that he had disappeared after the incident.
“What did he think he was doing, pulling such a stupid move in front of all of those contractors?”
“He was probably making a stand in a place where he thought he would have support. If you have not noticed, I am not the most popular contractor. Owen must have thought no one here would stop him. He was almost right.”
“Does that mean I saved your life?” I had been the one to catch the Old Man’s attention after all.
“No, just time and energy.” Death smirked. “Although, it is unlikely anyone else will try something like that ever again, especially against me. That is certainly a feet I could not have accomplished on my own, so you do deserve some thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” It was hard not to feel smug when Death thanked you. How many times would that happen to anyone?
“Never try to fight a contractor, though. I saw the look on your face before the Old Man stepped in, and it was the face of someone who knew they were about to do something stupid. Remember that I need you alive, more or less.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Just try not to be any more dead than you already are.” Hope laughed. “I’d like you to stay more or less alive as well.” That was even less comforting in a different way
“You’re one lucky kid Albert, to be around powerful people that care for you, more or less.” The Old Man had returned. He looked tired but he had also regained some of his cheerfulness from earlier. “Now Alistair, I don’t need to remind you that this was your own fault. If you remove one leg, the rest of the table will come toppling over onto you. This is none of my business and I’d like to keep it that way. I gave Owen a new hand and let him off with a warning, he knows I won’t help you anymore.”
“I assumed you would do something along those lines, and I am sincerely grateful. I would ask no more of you than what you have already done, if that.” Death answered respectfully. The Old Man nodded in acknowledgement.
“Albert, I’d like a word with you.” He pulled me aside and put his hand on my shoulder taking me to a back alley that must have been in a completely different city judging by the ambient light.
“If this is about what I was about to do before you stepped in, I’ve already been scolded for that.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“I didn’t intend to talk to you about that, although I would advise against doing anything similar to that again. I would like to talk to you about the circumstances of your employment to Alistair.” The Old Man’s worried look genuinely confused me.
“What about it?”
“I hope you have not remained ignorant of the fact that you were tricked into your current contract.”
“Not entirely. I actually managed to pull one over on Death by contracting through Hope. I know I’m being used, but just not entirely to what end.”
“Then you know what he’s after?”
“I know, to an extent. How do you know anything about that?” Death had said that there were very few people who ever knew about the mirror. It was supposed to have been destroyed.
“I came across this,” The old man reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a shard of glass. “Whilst going about collecting items to display.” I could tell he was trying to read my reaction, but I wasn’t showing any. “You know what this does, don’t you?”
“I know, believe me. I know how dangerous it is.”
“I don’t think you do. It was supposed to be destroyed. When he realized what kind of destructive potential it had he came to me for advice and I asked him to destroy it. I told him how, and I told him that if he didn’t do it I would come and take care of it myself. Yet here it is, and here as well.” He gestured to me.
“Then why didn’t you talk to him about it?” Although judging by his now angered tone it would be more along the lines of turning him to dust rather than asking him a question.
“It is no longer his responsibility. You have the key piece now, which means you either take care of it. The mirror isn’t something you can just give away, it isn’t stable enough to just hand over, even through contract it would shatter after giving up a host. If you gave up the responsibility, you would have to die. So the matter is up to you, you will have to be the one that destroys it.” I was beginning to feel in over my head again.
“How?” Destroying it seemed like the easiest way to end my involvement, but it also felt like a sure fire way to get killed by Death.
“You have to repair it first. It can’t do anything or have anything done to it properly as it is now. Once you’ve put it back together, find me, I’ll show you what to do.”
“Okay.” I let out a deep breath. “I’ll need that piece then, won’t I?” I reached out to take the shard of glass the Old Man was still holding, but he pulled it away.
“I’m putting a stake in this matter, so I’ll hold onto it for now. When I can trust that you’ll do what needs to be done, you can have it. Until then, you should start looking for the rest of the pieces, and... I would advise you to keep as much of our conversation as you possibly can a secret. Say as little as possible to as few people as possible, including Alistair.” He dropped the shard of glass into the breast pocket of hit shirt and let out a sigh.
“Usually at the end of my parties, I allow my guests to leave with an item that captured their interest. However due to tonight’s rather abrupt ending, my guests have left empty handed.” He reached into a different pocket and searched for something. “From what I have observed there is a certain girl that is infatuated with you, I also understand that she was rather fond of this pendant.” The Old Man pulled out the silver pendant Hope had been admiring and held it out to me.
“It’s a one way relationship, and like I said before, I’ve had to resort to manipulating her to stay in any semblance of a position of power.” I struggled for a more concrete reason why I shouldn’t do what he was suggesting. “Also… she isn’t exactly my type.” I wanted to say sane, but it would have been rude. Not that it wasn’t true, but I still couldn’t find it in me to outright disgrace a woman in the eyes of a stranger. Even if it was Hope.
“Nonetheless, I would like her to have it as this was her first party. Whether she gets it from me or you makes no real difference.”
“I would rather you gave it to her then.” I objected. I didn’t want to further encourage her flirtation, granted it really was my safest method of survival.
“I have things to take care of, so sadly I won’t be able to. Besides, you might want some leverage later.” The Old Man dropped the pendant in my hand with a smile and patted me on the shoulder sending me back into the jewelry store. I tucked the pendant into my pocket before Hope could see it.
“Will our host be returning?” Death asked as he greeted me, I could hear a tinge of worry in his voice.
“He had some important business to attend to… or so he said.”
“What did he have to say then?” Being interrogated by Death did not sound enticing, but I couldn’t just tell him the truth and just get it over with. I didn’t want to be disintegrated for disobeying the Old Man seconds after being instructed by him.
“He wanted to warn me against making bad decisions as well as warn me about working with you, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before.”
“Well then, if we are all done I would like to get this moment of my own personal history behind me.” Death seemed agitated again, but I just chalked it up to being left in a friend’s house unattended. It was awkward to say the least. Somehow it was very humanizing to see him like that as he grabbed me by the shoulder and we all left.