Will and the lord stared at each other for a good while. Normally, he wouldn’t have pushed it. But now that he had already taken a hard stance, it kind of came out on its own.
Brimstone’s menacing, dark-eyed glare was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was munching his way through a glazed bun at the same time. “I wasn’t making a request,” he pointed out, sticky crumbs falling out of his mouth and finding homes in the folds of his robe.
“I know, my lord, but…” Will spread his arms in a ‘my hands are tied’ kind of gesture. “It’s still a no.”
The two of them resumed glaring until Will’s eyes hurt. He had the fire in his eyes, too. It wasn’t fair.
Brimstone looked like he was ready to murder somebody. More than usual.
Then, with a dismissive shrug, he said: “Well, whatever. It’s a free country.”
It most certainly wasn’t, but Will felt no need to point out the obvious.
The lord’s attention turned to his food. He sure could put it away. Figuring that the audience was over, Will made to stand up. Brimstone held up a big finger, and Will froze, then sank back down.
“One last thing, Alchemist,” he added.
He forgot my name again, didn’t he? Will swallowed an ill-advised bout of laughter.
“I know you ran with that scout, Pigeon, a while ago.” It sounded vaguely like an accusation.
I should hope you know that, considering you’re the one who hooked me up with her. “That’s right, my lord. What about her?”
“Anything strange about her?”
Will couldn’t tell if he knew something, or if that was just his usual paranoia flaring up. Regardless, the lie came easily. “I’m not quite sure what you mean, my lord. She was a good tracker. Nice enough. Made it sound like she’s on good terms with Lady Winter. Anything odd, though? Not that I remember.”
Brimstone gave a grunt that did not offer any indication whether he believed Will or not. “If you see her again, or if she contacts you somehow, you will inform me about it.”
Will inclined his head in that not-quite-bow he was perfecting. “Yes, my lord.”
“And, Alchemist? This one isn’t optional.”
“Yes, my lord.” He scratched at the handprint scar on the side of his head. He could not forget the feeling of his skin burning. The scar tissue was still numb.
Satisfied, Brimstone shooed them off like a pair of stray dogs. Shiver accompanied them outside to get them their money, and Rags materialized behind them the moment they exited the doors, escorting them out of the compound without a word.
Shiver took them down to the banking district in Cliffside, the narrow street of buildings hewn from stone that clung to the inside of the river canyon. They took into one establishment advertised as ‘Offices of Smith, Smith, and Jacobs’. Even a whole world over, bankers had held onto their unmatched talent at sounding like pompous jackasses.
“You’re very lucky,” Shiver said while he waited for a sleepy banker to procure the funds. Still, the Scribe did not meet their eyes. “Very lucky that he was feeling charitable.” He sounded as terrified as Will felt.
“I know,” Will replied. “But hey, it all worked out.”
Right on cue, the banker thumped a little wooden chest down on the desk and counted bills into it. Fifty thousand. A lot of money. Will did not think he had ever seen so many graces in one place before.
“Indeed,” Shiver said in his nasally squeak of a voice. The banker snapped the box shut, handed it to Shiver, and shiver passed it right along to Will, who gave the box a cursory check before approving it with a nod.
Business concluded, Brimstone’s money man abruptly left with only a passing farewell, in a rush to return to his master. Maybe the lord considered tardiness an indicator of treasonous intent.
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“I could have taken the job, you know,” Bee said once they were alone, walking along Cliffside, seagulls screaming on their left over the docks. “Better than getting you in trouble.
Will sighed. “You really couldn’t have. I don’t know if you realize this, but guards don’t actually do a whole lot. Stand around picking their noses and gawking at girls. They’re certainly not out fighting all day. Not only would it stunt your leveling, but you would go insane inside a day with all that nothing. And it would leave you too tied up to participate in any future capers I might cook up. And, while Brimstone treats his guards better than most of his subjects, they’re still not out of harm’s way, mostly because prolonged proximity to that man is inherently bad for one’s health. You saw Shiver, poor fellow. Shellshocked.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Point taken.” She hit him with a sidelong glance, smirked. “To be fair, I did like that you stood up for me. Groveling never looked so sexy.”
He winked. “That’s me, baby. Number one sycophant.”
“Ooh yeah, keep saying big words at me.”
They laughed. Then they stopped laughing, because they realized at once that the false bantering had actually got them quite in the mood, and realized a moment later that it was mutual through the bond.
“Inn?” Will asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Bee was already setting off at her crushingly brisk walking pace. “Let’s go.”
* * *
The next day, after a proper romp and a nice, long, restful sleep at the Rosy Drake, they returned to the house with Oatmeal and Loony in tow. Evidently, Nix had moved out of her room. She looked like she was about to shoot smoke out of her ears over it, or start throwing demonic curses around, but she’d done it, and was currently sulking in the kitchen, munching on burning coals from the fireplace. Her version of stress eating.
Will got everyone around so he could split up the shares from the wretcher job. Five shares. 10 000 each. He had originally only intended to pay Oatmeal half a share, but it turned into a nice even number this way, and the kid had done better than expected, on the whole. Not great, to be fair, especially the thing about the stealing, but he seemed to have shaped up a little since.
The chimps had gotten into his happy puffs, evidently. Working overtime to smoke everyone out of the house. Number One was the worst of them, lighting a fresh cigarette off the old one the moment he ran towards the butt. He had nothing to lose, and no one was going to gripe with him over it. He was letting loose. He wore a big, dazed, tired grin, slumped back in a chair like a person.
Loony eyed the money being passed around with fiery hunger. Will smiled. Greed could be a good motivator. He told her as much, and that they would begin training to turn her useful soon. She looked pleased.
“And for you, my good Wesley,” Will said as he handed the lad his money, “our job here is done, so you can set out from here if you’d like. Find your own fortune.”
Oatmeal looked around at everyone with a sheepish smile, head low between his shoulders. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stick around.”
“Good lad. As you might have already gathered, you’ll be bunking up with Loony. Hope that’s all right with the two of you.”
Loony spared a glance at Oatmeal. Appraising. Maybe just a slight hint of disgust. But she nodded.
“No problem with me, boss,” Oatmeal chirped. Maybe a little too happily. He could at least try to keep his intentions subtle.
“Excellent. Guess you’ll be cooking for six from now on, eh Nix?”
The demoness glared at him across the room. “Fuck yourself.” She shoved another flaming nugget in her mouth, crunched down on it. Wisps of smoke did actually come out of her nostrils. Amazing. Mongrel should get her to try out for the circus. Not that there were any circuses in Sheerhome.
The fresh funds had everyone in a good mood that night. They played cards, broke out a couple bottles of good booze.
Ten thousand graces was certainly not life-changing money for Will, but he did not feel the need to point that out. His payday still lay on the horizon. Oh, it would be sweet. If Brimstone didn’t decide to cook him from the inside just for the fun of it.
“So, hey, boss, what’s next then?” Oatmeal asked deep into the night, leaned so far across the table he was practically laying on it, blinking slowly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I totally want to rest up for a minute, but what happens after that?”
Will managed a twitchy, drunken grin. “Already thought of a place to blow all that money, did you?”
The lad snickered mischievously. “Maybe.”
“Well, we won’t be raiding a dragon’s hoard or Lady Winter’s underwear drawer anytime soon.” Bee smacked the back of his head, not hard, but he tipped over anyway, smacking his forehead off the table and coming up rubbing it. “I’m going to spend the next month, or two, or three, whipping you all into shape.”
Oatmeal groaned. He did not see the point in training, as though he thought he was already perfect by every conceivable measurement. Will did not deign to tell him that there would be studying, too.
Bee picked it up in his head. She went pale and froze with a mug halfway to her face, lips pursed for drinking. She shot Will a desperate look.
He could not help a devilish grin. Oh yes, Miss worthy. You will be receiving a proper education as well.
No sex that night. At least she didn’t kick him out of bed. He probably wouldn’t have had the manual dexterity to crawl back up again.