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“The Life Maiden is in Perth.”
“Where?” I growled.
“We don’t know. We just know there are more births and faster healing on that side of the realm. There have been no other signs. Your father… he imprisoned people for years to get them to talk. No one knows a thing.”
“That’s not enough, Regulas. Enjoy the rest of your miserable years.”
I spun on his scream, just in time to see Drexel’s henchmen closing in, surrounding us.
“Oh, godsdamn it. Does he breed stupidity over there, or is this just a special occasion?” I pulled several tiny blades from the leather bandolier strapped across my chest.
Hollis yanked his sword free, his old body moving gracefully into a fighter’s position. I thought he’d only brought it to intimidate, but I was wrong. Clearly, the old man had more stories to tell.
Still, this was not a battle I wanted or needed. Three days had passed since I lit the Maestro’s stage on fire, and I regretted nothing. There was a difference between surviving and living, and the more time I spent at the Syndicate house, the more those two things felt very separate. Requiem wasn’t a world built for people to live, only survive by whatever means necessary. We had grit and were selfish on our best days, but I would not condemn Hollis to Drexel’s punishments if I could help it.
One of the men closest to the door lit a cigarette, the bright cherry casting his face in orange. “Going somewhere, Maiden?”
“You see? That’s the problem. You know who I am and yet your little balls tell you to stand there unafraid.”
“You can’t touch us,” another said, shifting in toward Regulas behind us. “The boss says you’re in debt to him now.”
“Hate to break it to you, boys, but your boss is a liar. Now… I’ve always been generous. Ask my friend, Regulas over here if you don’t believe me. So, I’m going to give you two options. One, sit back down at your seat, and I’ll have the barkeep send a round over on me. Or two, you’re all going to be lying on this floor in a pile of blood and piss within three minutes. Your choice.”
They exchanged glances amongst themselves until the one at the door spoke again. “Well now, I think you’ve misunderstood our meaning is all. Me and the boys were just coming to make sure you didn’t need our help. Isn’t that right, boys?”
They mumbled their agreements, and Hollis’s shoulders sank in relief. Within minutes, we were outside and headed back to the carriage we’d stolen from Drexel’s hoard.
“Okay, Hollis?”
“Got my blood pumping.” He patted my leg before snapping the reins. “You did the right thing, Little Dove.”
“With the Maestro’s men?”
He chuckled. “Well, that, too. But I meant Regulas. He’s always been a snake.”
“How do you know him?”
“I don’t, really. Of him is more like it. Awful, awful man.”
“You knew that’s who I was hunting. Why’d you come if you hated him?”
He shared a sly smile. “I wondered if he’d changed. And if not… I was hoping you’d make him bleed.”
“I had no idea you were so vengeful.”
“Anyone who talks to my girl that way… he deserves what he gets.”
I laid my head on his shoulder as we carried on. “Thanks for always having my back, Old Man.”
Chapter 40
Another night of tossing and turning in a borrowed bed in a house that had slowly become home carried me through the majority of the next hours. It wasn’t until the moon had trekked so far across the sky I could no longer see it that I fell asleep. But, when I opened my eyes, Death stood on the threshold of his court with a lethal smile, heavy iron gates framing his ominous figure.
“Do you avoid sleep to avoid your master, my Deyanira?”
I’d never given much thought to how he’d claimed me until now.
He strode gracefully forward, pinching my cheeks with his firm hand while leaning in to whisper, “Will you live eternity in this silence? Once you are called to join me? Do you forget that you already broke your vow of silence just before you delivered your father’s fateful end?”
