The Mercenary's Bounty

by Kristen Banet

  Now, there was no other way. They were going to end this game with this Elvasi once and for all. He couldn’t have Mave. His men couldn’t have her. Not if Bryn had anything to say about it.

  “You okay? Seem distracted.” Nevyn slid up beside him.

  “I have been.” He couldn’t stop his gaze from finding her, only a few feet away, tying her horse up next to Matesh’s. “Too distracted.”

  “Oh.” Nevyn didn’t seem surprised, but he did seem very curious, looking between him and Mave. “Bryn, you want to talk about this?”

  He stepped closer to his friend to keep his voice down and spoke in Andena, so she had very little chance to hear him. “What’s there to talk about? We’re on a mission. I’m not her type. I’ll get over it eventually.”

  “Sure.” Nevyn didn’t sound too convinced. He kept to Andena as well, knowing Bryn’s idea. “How do you know you aren’t her type?”

  “Look at…” He gestured very slyly at Matesh. “He’s massive, and she obviously loves it. He’s the biggest male here. I’m the smallest. Plus, I’m another fucking prior gladiator. I’ll never keep her happy like he does.”

  “Uh huh.” The asshole began to smile. “We’ve been friends for a very long time, Bryn. If you hold yourself back, I’ll fucking gut you. Varon won’t stop me, either.” He nodded to his partner, the smile never leaving. Varon looked up and grinned.

  Bryn knew he would get no support from them.

  “So what would you have me do? Try and get fucking tossed aside?” Bryn didn’t particularly like that idea. He would rather be as close to her as possible without the risk of being hurt. He’d never really gone after a female, never wanted the attachment. Now he did, but he knew it would never work.

  “I think you should try, and if she offers, don’t say no.” Nevyn shrugged. “How do you know she isn’t feeling something herself? You two spend a lot of time together, and Matesh seems like he’s not bothered by you at all, even after that incident on the ship.”

  “Matesh talked to me.” He hadn’t told the couple yet. “About it…back in Namur…”

  “And you didn’t say anything to us?” Nevyn’s jaw dropped. “Really? Matesh is fine, or he wants you to back off? Explain.”

  “You two are old gossips,” he muttered, shaking his head. He should have known they would want in his business like this. He should have brushed Nevyn off from the start. “He said I could try for mayara. He wouldn’t stop me.”

  “Then try!” Nevyn smacked his arm hard enough that the smack drew attention.

  “You two, get over here and stop whispering. We’ve got work to do.” Alchan waved them closer. Bryn was grateful for it, even if he knew the hit would bruise. Nevyn glared at him as they walked closer and stopped in the ring.

  Bryn knew his friend wanted him happy, but with Mave? Was he crazy? And it wasn’t that he wasn’t trying. He was, but he had no hope of succeeding. It was a fact for him. He would always be a friend she could talk to, no matter what that almost kiss meant.

  Now he needed to somehow stop thinking about her. They had to run this mission as smoothly as possible. They needed a strong showing to show that the mess in the Empire was only the beginning. If they were going to be hunted, they could and would fight back.

  And he would never let them have Mave back.

  “You and Luykas have a plan, I’m guessing.” Kian crossed his arms. He was a no-nonsense man when it came to missions, even when Nevyn wanted to keep joking around. The dichotomy of the two was something to witness, as Nevyn went to his side and leaned on him, grinning. Between the two of them, they had hundreds, maybe even thousands of successful missions, supported by Varon from a distance.

  “Of course?” Luykas was looking fairly insulted by the comment. “Come on, Kian.”

  “Bryn, you’re going in as scout. Keep your head down, take out a few stragglers and get into position for Mave and Matesh to follow you. You three will be the kill squad. Go after the merchant and put him down. It’s time to end it on that front. The Elvasi need a new fucking ringleader.” Alchan pointed between the three of them. “Then meet us in the warehouse.”

  “The good stuff,” Nevyn commented lightly.

  “Yeah, the supplies. This is the full intent of the mission. On the eastern side of the estate, the man has a warehouse where the hunters gear up, getting food and supplies, then go out to capture our people. We’ve hit smaller ones. This is easy. The rest of us will go in and steal carts and horses first. We’ll load up and defend it. Kill any Elvasi you come across, unless it seems excessive. No servants, women, or children. You know the rules.”

  “We ride out together or not at all,” Luykas continued where Alchan left off. “Dead or alive, every single one of us is going to leave. This place is three times the size of our normal side jobs. We weren’t hired to do this. This isn’t a bounty like we normally hunt. This is personal. Because of that, I want you all to keep your heads on straight and don’t get caught up in trying to die for it.”

  “Side job?” Mave piped up, looking around, hoping for an explanation.

  “We normally squeeze hits on the Elvasi in between other jobs or when work is dried up,” Bryn answered, wanting to be the one who gave her what she wanted. “This is our more helpful work for the Andinna as a whole, since we’ll give out much of this to the village and other smaller ones down in the mountains.”

  “Okay.” Mave seemed appeased and went back to watching their leaders, content again.

  “We’ll get back to that, probably in the spring.” Alchan dismissed the discussion with that, getting back on the task of their current job. “Bryn, send the signal when you’re in position. You know how?”

  Bryn pulled the small stick from his pocket. Luykas made it with sorcery, and Bryn wasn’t sure how it worked. He stopped questioning the strange things Luykas could do. “Crack it and it glows. Hold it up from the position, Varon will be able to see it.”

  “Exactly. Once we see that signal, we move. It means Bryn found a clear path to the objective for Mave and Matesh. The warehouse is easier. We’re not going to be particularly quiet, which should be plenty of distraction for you three.” Alchan waved him off. “Go get to work, Bryn. Stay safe.”

  Others said the same as he put away the signal stick and adjusted his belt. He pulled his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face. He’d given Mave some partial answers. It covered his white teeth in the dark, obscured him. He knew how to keep his wings in tight enough to slide in places where others couldn’t.

  He hadn’t always intended to be the sneaky one of the Company, but it was a role that suited him. He once lived like this, creeping around to keep himself safe. The darkness of the docks became his safe place when he needed to get out of his captivity and stretch his legs, but he had to avoid everyone when he did that.

  It went hand in hand with the job he now had.

  He slipped away from the group and towards the sprawling estate. A few fields of crops were around, specialty spices that the owner sent back to the Empire with new slaves and other goods from Olost. The scent was rich in his nose as he ducked down far enough that the crops went over his head. He found the trails workers used, not wanting to brush against the plants and create any rustling that could draw attention to himself.

  He couldn’t let this get personal. He knew Luykas’ words had wisdom, but damned if he didn’t feel this was personal. They tried to take the Company down and leave with Mave. They had set up an ambush right outside their home.

  Sure, the Company had been planning to raid here beforehand, but the Elvasi hadn’t known that. They had thought the Company would be weak from the trouble in the Empire. They had thought it would be easy, probably, going after several Andinna who had been on the road for too long, tired and ready for home.

  The Ivory Shadows were always ready for a fight. It was time to show them that again. The Elvasi had obviously forgotten who they were messing with.

  Bryn drew closer, passing
the warehouse without a concern. He could hear some of the guards talking. “The ambush the guys set up? We still haven’t heard back. Figured that would have gone down by now.”

  “Who knows? The Andinna probably got sidetracked. They’ll come back with the bitch and get fucking rich. I’m not testing the fucking Company. Catching a wanderer brings in better money, in my opinion. More of them than one female who has a fucking small army with her.”

  Bryn snorted. They didn’t even know about the state of their ambush yet. It had only been ten, maybe eleven days before. There was a chance any who did succeed in running were taking their sweet time trying to get back. But, it confirmed one suspicion: the Elvasi hunters that had attacked them on the road were funded by this guy.

  He continued on to the main building, the mansion where the merchant was always holed up, protected by dozens of Elvasi who were in his employ. He wasn’t the only rich shit Elvasi in Olost, but he was the most influential. Centuries of back and forth led to this. They had ignored this one for too long, that was certain. As the Company lost members, they were slowly losing this invisible war against men like him.

  Time to change that.

  Bryn found one guard in his way that needed to be dealt with. Silently, he made his way behind the guard and came up, slitting his throat before any fight could be made. He pulled the guard deep into the shadow of the mansion, hiding him in some bushes. Next, he waited. There would be another, and he still needed to keep moving.

  The next guard was a walking patrol, like Bryn figured. He tried to break Bryn’s initial hold, but surprise was on the Andinna’s side. He wasn’t able to get his blade up fast enough, so opted to jerk the head of the Elvasi. A quick snap and it was over. He dragged the body and dumped it with the other. He had to keep moving now that those two were out of the way.

  Finally, he entered the mansion, jumping through an easy window. He marked the wooden frame with a few gashes, knowing Matesh would understand. After that, he threw his knife into the back of the first Elvasi he saw, a hunter wearing leathers, a net rolled at his hip. He grabbed his dagger and wiped it off on his breeches, smiling. Another silent kill.

  He left the room, not caring what it was or what he could possibly steal from it. Other nights, he would have grabbed something valuable to sell later, earn some extra income, but tonight, he just wanted this man. Bryn didn’t even know the merchant’s name. Alchan and Luykas probably did, but it wasn’t something he cared about. He just wanted to see the Elvasi bleed.

  He snuck into another room just down the hallway, one that had a perfect view of the grove. He could have come into this one originally, but he liked the roundabout way because he could mentally route escape paths. He would meet Matesh and Mave in the hallway.

  He broke the stick and put it on the window frame. The glow grew to a brightness he hadn’t expected, an eerie green in the red night. He saw one grow in the grove, probably held by Luykas.

  The others were now moving. He just needed to wait.

  38

  Mave

  “Let’s move out,” Alchan ordered as the green glow sat in the window of the mansion in the distance. “Before any guards get too curious. Luykas, toss that so Bryn knows to hide his.”

  Luykas did as he was asked without a word. Mave watched their glowing stick disappear into the dark woods, still dying with curiosity as to how it worked.

  Beyond that, she had one thing on her mind nearly constantly: why they were doing this.

  She watched the larger group fall out first, trotting out of the grove with a few of their horses and the three draft horses they brought as pack animals. She had a feeling they would be seen coming. The only thing that group had in their favor was that the estate was lightly guarded, with very few wandering guards. If they could be killed fast enough, it could be a while before an alarm was given.

  She pulled her right-hand blade, looking to Matesh. “Are you ready?” she asked softly.

  “Always.” He didn’t unsheathe his long sword as they started moving. They needed to get to Bryn. As they made their way out of the grove and into the fields, her mind was still puzzling over the ‘why’ of the mission. Mat didn’t notice her distraction, which she was thankful for, but in the end, she decided to voice her concerns.

  “Does the Company normally do this sort of mission?”

  “Yeah. We’ve had skirmishes with the Elvasi before, just never like that ambush. This is just a bigger scale.” He didn’t seem concerned by her obvious worry or at all. “What’s on your mind?”

  “We’re here because of me,” she said softly as they moved through the crops.

  “We’re here because we need the supplies. And yeah, we’re here because if we let them continue to get stronger, they’ll come after you harder.” Mat leaned close to her, stopping her. They now just stood together, hidden as they crouched out of sight. “Mave, if it had been anyone else, we would have done this. We’re the Ivory Shadows. We go after bounties, but we also help the free Andinna. If someone from our village was captured, we would try to grab them before they were taken out of Olost. We take supplies back to them, because we find very little trade with anyone, since the mountains are safe for our people.” He gave her a smirk, that arrogant one. “Are you worried?”

  “No. Not about any of us. I just don’t…” She was feeling insecure, but she wasn’t sure how to pinpoint the source of the emotion. It felt like the mission was tied up in her, how they came after the Company because she was with them. If any of them got hurt, she knew she would blame herself. They can’t get hurt. I would never be able to look them in the eyes again.

  “Would it help if I reminded you that most of the Company is only doing the raid? They’re letting us go after the grudge match and kill this guy. He might not even be the one behind the attack on us, just our best bet.” Mat continued to smirk. “It’s not all about you, ilanra.”

  “Ilanra?” She used the distraction of a new word to ignore the small slight he just gave her. He was right. It wasn’t all about her. That was what she had to remember.

  “Beloved.” He kissed her cheek. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “I’m not the one who stopped us. You could have answered while we walked.” She growled as he straightened up and started walking away from her. She followed after him, still feeling snarly. “I didn’t think it was all about me, but the fact that Alchan and Luykas agreed with me…” She wasn’t used to it. She wasn’t used to this idea of being part of a group where her words had such weight. It was one thing in the pits, when she agreed to ally with Mat and Rain. She knew everything then. They had to rely on her. This was different. She felt like a respected member of the group.

  “Luykas was going to have the same idea as you - you know that, right? He probably already did. He let you give it to the group as a sign that he agreed with it and had come to the same conclusion.” Matesh raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ve known him for a thousand years. He does that for all of us, to help build our confidence and make us feel more important than just Alchan’s guard or foot soldiers. We’re the Company and we do things together.”

  She wanted to disagree, but gave Mat a snort of agreement. It made sense, remembering how Luykas behaved while they talked and the other males argued. She didn’t like it, though. She didn’t need to be coddled and treated like that, whether it was something he did for everyone or not. And she knew Matesh tacked that on to make her feel better.

  They slid past the warehouse, hearing the other males swiftly take out guards inside. Mat led her to the side of the mansion, cursing as he tripped over something in the bushes along the side.

  “Damn, Bryn. Kill enough people?” He was looking down, frowning.

  She drew closer, seeing the two dead Elvasi, and grinned. “Not nearly enough. He probably could have killed more.”

  “Of course you would think that,” he said, chuckling softly. He pointed at a nearby window and nudged her to keep following. “He left us a sign.” His f
ingers landed on a couple of gashes in the wood of the window seal.

  “This isn’t the window he used, though. It can’t see the grove, blocked by the warehouse.” Why would Bryn enter here?

  “Doesn’t matter. This is where he entered. Makes sense. The window is just big enough for us to fit. Well, for me to fit. You should be fine.” He pushed it up to open it and waved her to go.

  She did so without argument, sliding in the tight fit, even for her. She had no idea how Bryn did it, or how Mat would.

  As Matesh fought to get in, she found the dead Elvasi in the room.

  “He got one in here too,” she remarked casually. “Knife to the back.”

  “He’s like that.” Mat groaned and finally made it through. He closed the window, sighing. “Let’s go find him.”

  She walked out of the room first, hoping they saw him soon. She didn’t like the idea that he was hiding in the mansion by himself with so many Elvasi around. She didn’t want to think about the risks he was taking just so that she could get some blood tonight.

  He stepped out of a room further down the hall and leaned on the wall, smiling.

  She immediately relaxed just a little. “Glad to see you’re safe,” she said. “Now where do we go?”

  “If my old recon on this place is still good, up the main staircase-”

  “Andinna in the warehouse! We’re being raided!” an Elvasi screamed from another area of the mansion.

  “Are they by the main door?” Mat asked softly.

  “Yeah. Come in here. We’ll hide out for a minute.” Bryn opened the door to the real meeting point and they followed him in. “That’s good. The Company can handle anything these Elvasi throw at them. Should leave less resistance for us.” They could all hear the stomping and shouting of the Elvasi as they rushed out of the building.

  “So where’s his office? Briefing on the road said up the main staircase, somewhere on the second floor.”