Page 16 of The Last Syphon

“Two of your favourite things.” Felix chuckled humourlessly. He took the rat off the stick and started using his blade to cut off the meat. “Your life will never be the same.”

“I know.” And she was fine with that. It wasn’t as if her life was all that great to start with. “How did you go, melting down the gold?”

Felix sighed. “Could have been better. Fucking Boltix took over half as payment.”

“He what?”

“Yep. Said that since it was Arelian gold, he was taking a bigger risk, and a bigger risk deserved a bigger cut.”

That fucking bastard.

He knew damn well there was hardly any risk involved. Once the gold was melted down, it was virtually unrecognisable. He was the only one within a hundred miles who was willing to melt down and reforge stolen gold, though, so he could charge whatever the fuck he wanted, and he knew that.

“We’ll have to do another job to make our payment to Gideon.” Felix’s lips pursed in thought. “I’ve heard rumours of a village on the edge of the Borderlands. They apparently have a few things that could fetch a hefty price.”

Inara narrowed her eyes. “What’s the catch?” There had to be a catch. Otherwise, they would have hit it already.

“Well…It’s to the south⁠—”

“The south?” She shook her head. “No.”

“Inara, listen⁠—”

“No, Felix. We don’t go south. We never go south. You know that. It’s too dangerous.”

“You just said danger is one of your favourite things!”

“Not that kind of danger! You know what’s south.”

He exhaled. “Yeah, I know, but we’re running out of options here, Inara. We’ve taken everything worth hitting in the Borderlands. Our only options are venturing further into Arelia, going east to the mountains, which we both know is a death sentence, or moving south. Each has its own risks.”

Yeah. They did. All bloody crap.

“We don’t have a choice. The water is only going to last another few days, if that. We need more gold,” he finished.

Anger rose in her chest. He was right. Without Gideon, the water stream would go dry. The village wouldn’t survive without that water.

“Well, everyone is just going to have to pitch in for this one. Going south is out of the question. Once this payment is made, I’ll figure something out for the next one.”

“That’s not going to go over well,” he sang under his breath.

“They’ll just have to deal with it. Or die of dehydration. It’s their choice.”

Sometimes, the responsibility that weighed heavily on Inara’s shoulders really pissed her off. She wasn’t sure how it had happened. How she and Felix became the providers for Deadhaven. Maybe it was because no one else gave a shit about it.

Before they had stepped up, things ran rampant in the village. It was an everyone for themselves kind of mentality, and the death count was high because of it. People would stab their neighbours for a slice of bread. A cup of water. The clothes on their back. It was pure chaos.

Something had to be done. Someone had to step up and take control of the village. Enforce rules. Laws. Control.

She and Felix had done that.

They went out every day and put their lives on the line to provide Deadhaven with what it needed. They organised the deal with Gideon to get a steady stream of water. They did odd jobs here and there for other villages in the Borderlands for payment. They’d created a semi-organised settlement—semi-organised being the keyword because there was still thievery within the village. It couldn’t be helped. It was just who they were. But it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it used to be.

They were responsible for keeping the village afloat, and there were days when she hated it, despised the responsibility she had not asked for. People looked to them to fix their problems. To make their lives better. To keep them alive.

And they did it…because no one else was going to.

Soft laughter and music drifted up from the centre of the village. From the spot in front of their house, Inara could see the flames from the torches, see the shadows of the other villagers as they danced around the fire pit.