AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I realized that he wouldn’t like my story very much. It sounded like a lie and a pretty silly one at that. If my brain was working, I would have tried coming up with something better, but all I thought about was how strong he was and how confident he sounded when he promised to kill me.
“My name’s Emma Rochester. I’m an indentured servant in Conii’s employment.” The words came tumbling out of my lips, an unstoppable babble. “I heard you asking about information in the bar, and I thought it might have something to do with her framing some Vinduthi because you’re a Vinduthi, and she said she did that. And so I followed you because I’m looking into the same thing, and I want to know…”
His finger on my lips stopped me. “Wait a second. So you’re a servant.”
“Yes.”
The narrowing of his eyes didn’t exactly seem like he trusted me. I didn’t blame him. “But you just decided that you wanted to figure out a crime that your owner did.”
“Pretty much.”
“And then you heard me talk to someone else about it and decided to follow me into an alley alone.”
“That’s right.”
I didn’t even believe myself, and I was the one who did it.
This was never going to work. My chest tightened. If I was lucky, he’d kill me quickly. Vinduthi were known for being brutal and by the scars on this one, it didn’t seem like he was the exception.
“Sounds legitimate,” he finally said. “In the future, never do any of that again. But I can definitely use someone like you.”
“Wait, you believe me?” I replied, stunned.
“Sure, I believe you,” he said. “Anyone who planned something would have come up with a better story than that.”
“T-thank you,” I stuttered and leaned down to pick up the bottles. “I’ll just grab these and be out of your way. I’m so sorry for bothering you.”
“Now, wait a second,” he said, and I froze again. “I said that I could use someone like you. You work inside the compound, right?”
My poor brain scrambled to catch up.
“That’s right. Mostly I do the cleaning and serve meals. Run errands for the chef.”
He tapped my nose lightly. “Well, that’s just perfect. Good news. My name’s Tazhr. You work for me now.”
I stared at him. “I… I do?”
“And Conii, too. But also me. I’d offer you three times your salary, but for an indentured servant, that’s still nothing.”
“That’s okay.” I glanced at the opening of the alley, but it was way too far to run.He’d be on top of me in a second if I run.“What do you need me to do?”
He smiled, revealing his sharp fangs. “Nothing too much. I need you to copy everything on Conii’s computer and get it to me.”
“Her computer?” I said. I knew enough about computers that I could do it if I could find a datastick and enough time in her office. But the office was one of the few places I was never supposed to go. Besides, if I got caught with a datastick on me, Conii would know immediately what I was up to.
“Yup,” he answered. “Get me everything on it. Can you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I might get caught.”
“Well, don’t,” he snapped. “And don’t tell anyone about this. Especially not Conii. Because whatever she can do to make your life miserable if she catches you, I’ll do a lot worse if you betray me.”
The way he said it was the same way he seemed to make every threat. He wasn’t trying to frighten me, just inform me of a fact. There was no way to doubt someone who talked about hurting you with that kind of confidence.
But… I wanted to find evidence of her crimes, right? Sherlock Holmes would take advantage of this unexpected ally, I was sure.
“I won’t betray you,” I promised. “I’m just scared that I’ll get caught.”
“Well, being scared’s no good,” he said. “Being scared makes you freeze up. It’ll get you killed.”
