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“She isn’t here. I should have listened to you and gone west instead of wasting my time in Obsidian.”
“On that, we agree.”
Violet’s hands prickled, damp with sweat as rain rolled down her cheeks, tasting salty on her lips. Her breaths sped up, and for a moment, the only noise around them was the distant yapping of a dog.
Then chaos broke loose.
The building behind her rocked with a spell gone awry, and static traveled with the raindrops that fell heavier upon them. Her hair stood up on end as a scream of agony reverberated against the wall.
Was that Gavin? She scowled and peeked over the edge of the balcony again—to see him withdraw his bloodstained blade and pull away from the two men that crowded him. This was her fault. Violet was the reason he was being cornered in this grimy alleyway, with a laceration on his brow and betrayed by someone he’d trusted.
Her gaze traveled to Julius just as he removed a silver bar from his coat’s pocket. It extended into a long staff that snapped together, catching the gray light of the rainy sky. He jumped toward Gavin, and the tip of the weapon hissed through the air, barely missing his face.
Gavin hopped back. Despite his agility, he wasn’t fast enough to duck Julius’ next attack, not when a spell hit his side at the same moment. The metal caught him in the gut, and he fell to the ground with a silent cry.
Violet clawed at her own legs, using her own pain to subdue the scream that wanted to tear from her lips. She watched in horror as Gavin tried to get up, his arms sinking deep into a puddle of mud just as a blast of energy lassoed around his neck and tightened from the back.
His hands rose to the thick cords of the magic-canceling rope, and he thrashed about as another spell hit him full force. It came from a bounty hunter with a short stature and terracotta skin. The third man who wasn’t torturing Gavin at the moment was kneeling beside his companion who lay dead in the alley.
Julius strolled around the place, kicking over another crate full of animal droppings. It spilled all over the ground in a large, smelly pile.
He must think she was hiding inside them. Tears pricked at Violet’s eyes and rolled down her face as she pressed against the façade of the building, Gavin’s words echoing through her mind.
I would never forgive myself if he hurt you.
Let me do this for you.
I wish I’d done that sooner.
“Where in God’s name is she, Gavin?” Julius snarled. The loud pounding of fists hitting flesh made her flinch. The grunt of pain that came after tore at her heart.
Her anger bubbled over, harsh, demanding, and all-consuming. Tears streamed down the mess of her face. She took a calming breath before peering at what was happening below and immediately regretted her choice.
“I. Don’t. Know,” Gavin answered, and Julius’ staff met his skull with a crack. Gavin’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. She pressed both hands to her open mouth, muting the scream that almost broke free.
The short bounty hunter caught Gavin before he toppled onto the filth on the ground. His body slumped with a dead weight, and the wavy curtain of his hair hid his face from her. “Should I slit his throat now?”
“No.” Julius walked around and kicked over the next crate, cursing when he only found it filled with more of the same. “I don’t need witnesses that can link me to Gavin’s death. I wasn’t expecting the boy to disobey me and come here.”
Violet might have believed he was remorseful if he hadn’t been the one to crack Gavin’s skull with his steel weapon. She tightened her grip around the pommel of her own knife.
“Then what? I doubt hitting him on the head will make him forget this,” the other, red-haired bounty hunter grunted. “Besides, he killed Tierre.”
“Then celebrate. You get to split Tierre’s reward amongst yourselves,” Julius commanded, just like she’d thought he would. Behind the mask of a nice man there was only a monster. “Gavin is coming to the commissary with us. He knows something, and I need that to find my prize. You take Tierre’s body outside the city and burn him where he can’t be found. Dispose of the uniform somewhere else.”
Julius walked to the last crate and raised his hand. A ray of gray light spiraled from it, colliding with the container. Feces and wood rained over the alleyway.
“The bitch isn’t in Scoria.” The short man spat on the ground. Julius peered around the alley with a deepening sneer. His icy eyes slipped over the balcony—and missed her.
Blind bastard.
“Oswald, I thought you were smarter than that.” Julius resumed his usual jovial tone that masked his jab at the other man. “This boy is hiding her whereabouts, but not for long. You’ll find that I’m quite persuasive with people. They give me the information I want.”
She watched them as they dragged Gavin out of the alley, his boots pulling the mud into the street in two trails. His head tilted to the side with the motion, and she spotted his slack jaw and the blood that trickled down his temple.
He would have demanded that she leave town if he were awake. Violet had never considered herself someone with a death wish, nor a hero hiding behind a scowl. Following these cocks would mean a low chance of success.
And yet, her mind and heart demanded that she do something. Maybe she was an idiot after all.
