Page 49 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

A little whimper snuck through the room and Fenric made the mistake of looking down at Maxie and those damn eyes of his. He groaned. “We can also check out the finfolk situation. Maybe help the people…if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Thank you, Fenric. I always knew you would make the noble choice.”

Fenric sat on the roof, listening to some raucous laugher echo down the street. He’d figured out how they’d managed to rent this house so cheaply—it was on a street filled with taverns and brothels, just a bit down from the docks. There wasn’t much of a quiet time of day for this area, and the landlord must have quickly learned he wasn’t going to get any reputable renters. The best he could hope for was anyone who paid the rent and didn’t burn the place down.

But a bit of noise didn’t bother their group, and they were frightening enough to scare away anyone who might be looking to stir up some trouble.

Well, all of them except for Maxie, and he wasn’t allowed to wander through Björnkill alone. At least, not until he proved he could manage to not get himself killed, buried, or kidnapped.

Sitting alone under the stars, Fenric withdrew his mother’s sapphire necklace from his pocket, letting the beautiful gem catch and reflect the moonlight. It felt like a lifetime since he’d last seen it. Fenric traced his thumb across the expertly cut jewel set in a swirl of delicate gold.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get even this much back,” he murmured to his mother. “I’m sure you enjoyed watching me pummel Lance’s face.” His lips twisted slightly into a dark grin. “Don’t worry. Next time I see him, the fucker is going to die. They all will. And I’ll get back every last thing they stole from us.”

He slid the necklace over his calloused fingers, relieved to find it hadn’t been damaged while in the care of others. The sapphire necklace had been one of his mother’s favorites. She’d worn it almost daily, while the brooch had been saved for the winter holidays to go with her furs.

“Are you disappointed in me?” His voice grew thick as his gaze returned to the sapphire. “The heroes weren’t anything like we believed them to be. I know you wanted me to do good in the world and to save people, but it’s been a full-time job just saving myself. Besides, I’m not seeing much in this world worth saving.”

A soft knock tumbled out from his open bedroom window, and he heard the door creak open. “Fenric?” Maxie called.

Fenric lifted his tear-filled eyes to the heavens as he let out a strangled huff. “Very funny.” It wouldn’t have surprised him at all if his mother, with her quirky sense of humor, had sent Maxie into his path with the goal of saving her son.

After clearing his throat, roughly wiping his eyes, and shoving the necklace into his pocket, Fenric replied, “Out here!”

Maxie’s quick footsteps echoed under Fenric, and his curly-topped head popped out the open window. His wide eyes found Fenric in a flash. “What are you doing out here?”

“The house is stuffy. There’s a nice breeze out here.” Not to mention more privacy. Or there had been up until now.

“May I join you?”

“If you can do it without breaking your neck.” Maxie scoffed, but Fenric held up a finger. “Fall and kill yourself, and I’ll allow Hapi to raise you from the dead, but you’ll be kicked out of E.V.I.L.”

Maxie narrowed his eyes at Fenric in an adorable glare, as if he were trying to figure out whether Fenric was being serious or teasing him. In the end, Maxie clenched his jaw and stuck a foot out the window. There was a narrow bit of room he could shimmy along to get to the bigger part of the slope where Fenric was seated.

Fenric bit down on the inside of his cheek as he watched Maxie carefully shuffle, shimmy, and inch along until he was just about to Fenric. Unfortunately, one of the wooden tiles gave way under his foot. His arms windmilled at his sides as he attempted to steady himself, even as he leaned awkwardly toward the edge of the roof.

With an amused huff, Fenric grabbed the front of Maxie’s shirt, jerked him forward, and spun him so he landed on his ass right next to Fen.

“You just naturally attract trouble,” Fenric grumbled.

“Thank you for saving my life yet again,” Maxie said with a bright smile that could chase away anyone’s dour mood. Even Fenric’s.

“Did you come out here for a reason or were you just looking to cool off?” Though their rental house was quite nice and spacious, it seemed to lack for windows. It also didn’t help that, due to their location, the air blowing in any open window smelled like a mix of stale ale and dead fish. While the smell still permeated in the air, sitting on the roof under the stars was a far better option.

“I wanted to tell you that while you and Belstrom were out looking for work, I accompanied Hapi and Malfas to the market. They taught me all about the different and interesting ingredients they use in their spells. I was surprised by the amount of overlap between the two. One would think the ingredients a warlock used would be completely different than what a necromancer would use.”

Fenric smiled faintly, warmed by Maxie’s bubbly enthusiasm. He didn’t give two shits about magic. He couldn’t entirely explain his own magical ability, but that didn’t stop him from using it.

“Oh! And they got me this!” Maxie shifted and leaned back, digging a small book out of the pocket of his trousers. “It’s a journal. Hapi explained that since he and Malfas have only a surface-level understanding of alchemy, they can only teach me so much. It is my job to make notes on all the things I’ve learned about my skills. But Hapi said my journal will be the foundation to building my own grimoire. Can you imagine? I could one day write an alchemy grimoire filled with all kinds of poisons.”

Fenric tapped the dark brown leather a couple of times with his index finger. “When you’re writing your grimoire, how about including a section on cures to your poisons as well? Might save us from having to raise the dead every time.”

Maxie giggled, his fingers tightening on the journal. “Oh yes! I will definitely include cures when I discover them, but I won’t share them with my enemies. They must suffer from my poisons.”

“Good. Have you made any notes yet?”

Maxie flipped open the book to reveal several pages of incredibly neat writing, more proof, in Fenric’s mind, that Maxie came from a noble family. Though, a scholar might have perfect penmanship as well.

“I haven’t written much. Just the results of my various cooking attempts all ending in death. But I clearly documented every step I took and at what point the person fell dead. In the case of Belstrom and the apples, I hadn’t even gotten to cooking them yet.” Maxie slowly closed the book, his shoulders slumping. “Hapi has decided we have to pause our experiments. We need to design a series of tests that will clearly pinpoint where my magic turns everything to poison. He says we also need to find a beginner’s alchemy instruction book.”