Page 23 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

Malfas reeled back in his chair, clutching at his heart. “Betrayed! Betrayed on all sides!”

Maxie cleared his throat and said politely, “I find it very interesting that the god of booze and chaos would choose to communicate through a club.”

Oh, now that was interesting. Ezlan wasn’t one of the most well-known constellations. Not like Mineas or Rasoi. Ezlan was widely known among brewers as their patron god. Most people focused on Edur, god of wine, spirits, and just about anything that could make a person drunk. He was honored in nearly every tavern and celebration. It was a custom to set aside the first mug of wine or mead for Edur at the start of the party for his blessing.

What was even more interesting was that few knew Ezlan was also the deity of chaos. In fact, Fenric hadn’t even known that before meeting Malfas, and he had been given a more comprehensive religious education than most.

Which meant Maxie was highly educated in religion to know this information off the top of his head.

Seriously, who was this kid?

Shaking the thought off, Fenric picked up the tale. “I was the last one to join. In fact, we connected because of a job. I’d taken one but had no idea how to get there, as it was on the Maveem Steps—you know where that is?”

“I do,” Maxie answered promptly. “The very northern part of the continent, on the western edge.”

“Right. So I had to get up there, but I needed a pirate crew, in essence. Someone who wasn’t on the right side of the law. I saw Rain’s ship in port, a couple of skeletons swabbing the deck, and thought to myself, Perfect. If a necromancer’s on board, these guys can’t be legit.”

Rain laughed, though it was more a cackle, really. “I do appreciate a skeleton crew!”

Malfas joined him in laughter and high-fived him for the well-timed pun.

Fenric just rolled his eyes and kept going. “So, I bought the guys a round of beers and asked if I could hire them to get me up there and take me back. They promptly said yes. That should have been my first sign they’re all idiots, as they should have asked more questions.”

Belstrom snorted as he lifted his tankard to his mouth. “We were wretchedly broke and desperate for work.”

“Oh, now you tell me.” Fenric, remembering the fiasco of their first job together, felt there was not enough alcohol in his glass. “Anyway, despite the many problems that followed, we hit a good rhythm toward the end and pulled off the job successfully. How, I’m not sure. But they were so happy with me, they asked if I’d do another job with them, and I—riding the high of a successfully completed job—stupidly said yes. So, we did another job, and it was somehow even more of a fiasco than the last one.”

“But it was successful,” Malfas pointed out.

“Don’t get me started. I still haven’t forgiven you for throwing me off a building.”

Malfas threw up his hands. “What? You’re a cat and can land on your feet!”

Fenric smacked the table and leaned toward Malfas across from him. “Ever try to shapeshift midair? No? Then shut your trap.”

Malfas snickered and devoured the rest of his muffin, eyes dancing.

Pure mischief, that one.

Maxie’s eyes grew round with wonder. “Fen, you can shapeshift? I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone who could. It’s a rare gift, correct?”

“It is, and I can. Er, to a limited degree. I can’t do every creature, and I can’t do people. I have about six animals in my repertoire. Anyway, somehow I ended up joining their party, and to be honest, despite living through it, I can’t explain why. Then, of course, I dug you up.”

Maxie’s smile was beautiful in its simple happiness. “I am ever so glad for that. I hope to be a villain like all of you.”

“One of the truly critical first steps to becoming a dastardly villain is to improve your execrative vocabulary so that it can achieve a more desultorious way of speaking to your foes,” Belstrom told him with a pat on the shoulder. “Your most recent attempts have not flowed off the tongue in a natural manner.”

Rain stared down the table at Fenric and the others, his face scrunched up in question. “Huh?”

“He said Puppy needs to practice swearing,” Hapi supplied.

“Ah. True, true.” Rain nodded. “Your poisoning is coming along nicely. The swearing still needs work.” Of course, as a pirate, Rain took swearing very seriously.

“Oh, is that my starting line? I’ve been practicing all week!” Maxie sat up straighter and touched a bit of ragged cloth to his pursed lips as if he were dabbing away a bit of grease with a piece of fine linen. “What I mean is, bollocks! I’ll bloody swear more, you sister-kissing bastards.”

Laughter erupted around the table and Fenric groaned. Terrible. Absolutely terrible. It was just a reminder that they were corrupting such an innocent soul. Then again, being innocent was never a good thing, not in their world. Better to toughen Maxie up. Turn him from puppy to wolf and give him a much better chance of surviving.

“Still needs work, but we’ll get you there,” Rain promised.