“We’re not going to torture her or anything, right?” Aaron asked.
Albert, Griffin, and Kiara exchanged incredulous looks. Aaron wasn’t sure if it was because they thought the answer was obvious or because he’d signaled objection with the question. He was once more reminded of how little he knew about this secret world and tried not to let embarrassment eat at him.
Thankfully, Albert put him at ease with his usual candor. “Why the hell would we torture her?”
“Uh, you know… because it’s enhanced interrogation or whatever they called it?”
“Even if you set aside the morality of it, torture is next to useless if you hope to get any kind of useful information,” Kiara said.
Griffin put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “It’s not the kind of thing the Drakon generally does, as far as I know, and the Order of the Eye probably has more reliable methods, anyways.”
“What’s the Order of the Eye?”
“A faction of the Drakon,” Griffin replied.
Albert knelt down beside the incapacitated woman, giving her a cursory examination.
“If we want to question her before the Eye shows up, we’ll need to use a restorative,” he said.
“A restorative?” Griffin complained. “Really?”
The smaller man shrugged. “It’ll be worth the expense if we can find out who’s after us or how they tracked us. Especially since the Eye will probably take forever to get anything concrete.”
“It might be better to let the people trained in interrogation and investigation handle it,” Griffin replied. “Plus, we’re not likely to get anywhere without getting fed a line of bullshit.”
“You were all gung ho for this a few seconds ago,” Albert pointed out.
Kiara considered both men, then said, “I’m with Albert; let’s see if she’s willing to talk.”
Griffin reached into his dimensional storage, but paused. “Unless you have any objections,” he said, turning to Aaron.
Aaron was taken aback by the question.
He was new to this whole drakus thing, new to a world with magic in it, and relatively new to organized violence and warfare. The trio of protectors had been clear that they wouldn’t defer to his whims when it came to doing their job, so why the hell was Griffin asking for his opinion?
It was possible Griffin was really against using this restorative thing — presumably something like a healing potion that would help with blood loss — because of the cost. However, since neither Albert nor Kiara raised an issue with Griffin asking for Aaron’s input, they must not have thought it was a way to find someone on his side.
Then again, if I’m supposed to be the Glorious Eternal Leader of the Great Democratic Dragon’s Republic, this could be the kind of decision that’ll get foisted off on me? Aaron thought. Like maybe he’d need my approval to write this off as a dragon business expense?
As long as Aaron was present in the dingy parking garage when the decision had to be made, anyway. In either case, he knew what he wanted to get out of this interrogation and valued the chance at information more than a handful of coins.
“It’s our asses on the line, right? No reason we shouldn’t see if we can get a little information that might help keep us safe,” Aaron said. “But let’s, uh, let’s remember we’re not trying to pull a Cheney, okay?”
That earned a round of smirks from the other drakus, but they were grim and serious for all that. The four of them turned their attention to the pallid woman laying against the rear wall. Griffin retrieved a small metal tube from his storage, no bigger than a battery, and dispensed a single, tiny capsule from it. He sighed as he looked at the miniscule bit of magic.
“This will get her up and talking,” he said. “Then, we’ll see what we will see.”
Griffin knelt beside the woman, now devoid of her shining breastplate, and pulled her jaw down with his thumb. He leaned in and placed the small capsule in her mouth.
“That’s a restorative?” Aaron asked.
Griffin nodded. “They used to make potions of restoration but they were risky because it was so easy to take too much. The pills provide a solid form that lets them add detection, monitoring, and limiting enchantments, that way you don’t wind up with too much blood or an extra eye or something.”
It would be awful enough turning into Violet Beauregarde who was strawberry- instead of blueberry-themed, but an extra eye? Where would it even grow? Aaron shivered at the thought.
The woman on the ground stiffened with a gasp, color flooding back into her features, and her eyes shot open. She struggled against the thin chain loosely binding her wrists , but quickly realized it was fruitless and went still. Then she coolly took stock of her situation.
“The rest of the team?” she asked, giving no indication she was especially concerned.
“Alive, except the cowboy,” Griffin said. “He saved your life, put a potion on your wounds before doing anything else.”
Their captive took it in stride, nodding. “More than I’d have expected, honestly. I’m guessing you gave me a restorative in hopes of getting some information out of me?”
“That’s the idea,” the big man said, placing a hand on her shoulder. His body language wasn’t exactly threatening, but it sure as hell was comforting, either.
The magus gave no indication she read the contact either way. “I assume there’s a bribe on offer? Drakus have a famous preference for handling this sort of thing with civility instead of violence.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“We’re not averse to violence when it’s needed,” Albert muttered, loudly enough to be heard.
Kiara took a step forward. “The intrigue people will want to talk to you in depth and they’ll probably offer significant compensation. We’re not the intrigue people; we’re just delvers, for fuck’s sake. We’ve been accosted twice in one day and we’d like some damned idea of why.”
“That’s fair,” the magus said, adjusting herself to be more comfortable against the wall. “I can give you the brass tacks version, then, and we’ll call it a sample.”
“Works for me,” Kiara said. Griffin grunted in agreement.
The woman shrugged. “The cowboy, as you call him, is some kind of recruiter for one of those proper magi societies. One of the ones with all the traditions and the robes and the Latin? He hired us for muscle. Word is lots of big fancy mage orders have been doing the same.”
“Why do so many magi need muscle so badly?” Kiara asked.
“To find some drakus who’s new in town, at least that’s what they told my crew. I have no idea why they have a hard on for one of your people, but you know how the big, traditional magic orders are about dragons.”
Albert snorted from the door. “So we’re getting jumped because we have a delving trainee? That’s so fucked up.”
Kiara frowned down at the woman. “So your job was not just to murder this new drakus the magi are after, but any new drakus in town?”
“Assuming we got the wrong guy here, it looks like that was their plan, yes,” the woman blithely replied.
“So hit squads ignoring the First Pillar and playing fast and loose with the Third; is that what we can expect in the city until whatever this is about blows over?” Albert sneered.
The magi shrugged. “I don’t know how widespread or long-term this whole thing is, but I doubt it’ll go away after a day or two. The orders have a major hair up their asses over this new dragon.”
“Well, shit,” Kiara grunted. “Okay, next question — how did you track us from the subway?”
“We didn’t. The cowboy got word you might be traveling through Ekwiyakink so we stationed ourselves at the Theatre District gatehouse. It’s practically a street fair in there, so it was easy to loiter and keep an eye out for people matching the description we had.”
“Now the big question — did you pass word along to anyone that you picked up our trail?”
Kiara was the one who asked the question, but everyone was suddenly intensely focused on the recovering magi on the floor. Even Aaron knew the answer to this question could complicate their day even more.
“No,” the sorceress said. “Cowboy wanted to, but we convinced him we could handle it.” She paused for a moment, considering, then added. “We didn’t want to share the payout.”
Albert rubbed the stubble on his chin. “How do we know she’s not lying?”
“Because she has no reason to,” Aaron said. When everyone turned their attention to him, he elaborated. “If there’s backup on the way and she says there isn’t, we’re likely to kill her at the first sign of her buddies. If no one’s coming and she says they are, we might kill her so we can move faster and don’t have to worry about being identified or flanked if they get her and the others free.”
Kiara gave Aaron the side-eye and she wasn’t the only one in that little closet subjecting him to a shrewd appraisal. Still, no one raised an objection to his reasoning, so they turned back to the captive sorceress.
Kiara fixed the magus with an earnest stare. “Okay, well… I can’t make any guarantees about what the political types will do with you and your crew, but if they wind up cutting you loose, I’d appreciate it if you spread the word to all the other little murder crews that the four of us are just delvers and not involved in all that bullshit.”
“I really don’t want to have to go to Connecticut for a dungeon with training wheels,” Albert sighed.
“Sure,” the sorceress agreed. “I mean, you didn’t execute us just for seeing your faces or whatever and I got the impression you dragons would go above and beyond for whoever this new snake is. Seems pretty clear that my crew got the wrong guy. I can’t promise anyone will listen, though.”
“I hope they do, for their sakes,” Griffin said, still kneeling next to the magus with a hand on her shoulder. “We’re delvers, we’re used to dungeons. When shit leaps out of the darkness, our first impulse is to kill it. I’d rather not wind up with the Vigiles sticking their noses up our asses because we responded to a hit squad like they’re monsters.”
The woman nodded. She bit her lip for a moment then seemed to reach a decision. “I know this is probably pressing my luck, but is there any chance my gear will be returned?”
Kiara rolled her eyes. “We’ll ask them to offer you a chance to ransom it back if they decide to let you go. I can’t promise anything.”
“Your stuff is ours by right, but we’re not looking to contribute to grudges or blood feuds or any of that stupid crap,” Albert said. “Hopefully the big wigs will see it as a gesture of good will.”
“If they decide to let you go,” Griffin added.
The squeal of tires on concrete echoed, announcing the imminent arrival of their extraction team. Two SUVs and a van pulled up seconds later, completely blocking the lane Albert had cordoned off with orange cones. Several people in paramilitary gear stepped out of the vehicles. Well, an archaic and weird paramilitary because they were light on firearms and long on swords, shields, and wands.
The three prisoners and their gear were quickly loaded into the vehicles. Albert use the time to gather the cones up and return them to the maintenance closet.
A member of the cadre of grim-faced drakus from the extraction team approached Aaron and his guardians after everything was stowed in their sedans and SUVs. Although they’d secured the scene and the captives, she kept her weapon in hand.
“We have a vehicle ready to take you four, as well,” she said.
“We should be okay to get back on our own,” Kiara replied. “We had a little chat with the magi you’ve got in there and don’t believe they passed on our location.”
The drakus woman frowned. “Should be and will be are two very different things. I’d feel more comfortable if you rode with us.”
“I understand and appreciate your concern, but part of our strategy is passing ourselves — and our charge — off as delvers,” Kiara said. “If someone happened to spot us, we might face another ambush. If, on the other hand, anyone found out we had been escorted by a strike team from the Order of the Flame, that’d pretty much blow our cover out of the water.”
For a moment, it looked like the drakus was going to argue further, but she looked over at Aaron and seemed to think better of it.
“Fine,” she acquiesced, “but I’ve got people from the Star and the Night on the perimeter; I’m going to put a tail on you so you’ll at least have some extra coverage, alright?”
Kiara nodded and that settled the matter, only leaving the question of what to do with the cowboy’s decapitated body.
Again, the extraction team offered to handle it for them, but Albert waved them off with an assurance he had it well in hand. With nothing more to do on their end, the SUVs full of grim-faced drakus drove off, leaving them in the parking garage.
“Let’s dispose of a body,” Albert said with a malevolent grin.