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The man shifts in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. His eyes dart around the room.
“It’s gone. All of it’s gone,” he shouts. “I sold them already. Made a pretty coin off of it, too. The lord had some good stuff,” he says, boasting about his crimes.
A haughty smile slowly spreads across his face, and I fight back a groan. He leans back in his chair.
“But I have information for you. If you let me go, I’ll tell you what I know,” he declares, trying to bargain with us.
“What kind of information could you offer us that we don’t already know?” Nyx says crossing his arms on his chest.
The man stares up into the black mass that is Asher with the confidence of a person not looking death in the face.
“Information about the Lux guards that are going to be at your doorstep within a week,” he says.
My eyes flash to Nyx, who’s just as shocked by this news as I am. We have several spies in Lux and within Brightwick, but none have mentioned anything about Lux guards coming to Umbra.
“Why?” The word is a snarl from Asher.
The man stiffens in his chair and gulps, hard.
“To get back the amulet you stole from King Leopold,” he answers with hesitation.
“We stole nothing from King Leopold or Lux,” Nyx says, his voice filled with irritation.
Besides our spies, none of my people have been to Lux since I left almost two months ago. We’ve been too busy negotiating new trade agreements because of the drought to even bother taking any quests until now.
“That’s not what King Leopold and General Kincaid said,” he quickly replies.
The shadows creep closer to the man and he stills. No one crosses the Umbra Brutus without the innate fear the darkness will consume them.
“And why would we do that?” Asher asks as shadows stretch across the floor.
The man shrugs.
“That’s what I was hoping you would tell me. Information like that is a goldmine!” he answers with excitement.
He’s trying to capitalize on this opportunity. Petty games for weak criminals.
“Like I said, we have stolen nothing from that man,” Nyx says, irritation clear in his tone.
A genuine questioning look flashes across the man’s face.
“Then who did? Because they are blaming you. They are saying your theft has angered Astra, which is why she isn’t providing any rain. And that you’ve not responded to their pleas to return the amulet, which is why they are sending guards to Umbra,” he says, clearly struggling with the conflicting information.
A chasm opens in my stomach. Theo. His men are being sent to their deaths because their king thinks we took something from him. They won’t survive our beasts, and I have no way of stopping them.
Panic rushes over me, and I fight to keep my composure. We need to get out of here and figure out how to stop them from sending guards to Umbra.
Shadows slither along the floor toward the man, wind up his legs, and wrap around his face. He thrashes in the chair, but it’s no use. Even if he weren’t tied to it, the shadows wouldn’t let him move from the chair.
I reach into my pocket, pulling out a vial of rowanberry, and for a brief second my heart breaks again for having used it on Theo. The shadows grasp the man’s mouth and pry it open for me. He screams, as if anyone can help him. He screams louder as I pour the contents down his throat. He doesn’t realize that we are sparing him in return for the information he’s given us. The shadows cover his mouth and nose, forcing him to down the liquid.
“Did you just poison me?” he shouts after the shadows recoil themselves from his face.
“No, but you will wish we did,” Hiram says nonchalantly.
“Take anything of value as payment for the items he stole from the lord,” Asher commands to the crew.
Mischievous smiles spread across their faces, and I fight back a laugh as they ransack the house searching for things to take with us.
