"Ahh, ahh, ahh," a voice said behind me. I turned my head and saw three more men step into the street. They were still a good twenty feet away from me, but the man on the right held a long rifle, and he casually raised the sight up to his face.
Shit.
Disappointment filled my stomach, along with a chilling splash of fear. I just needed a guard patrol to walk by and I'd be saved, but I was beginning to suspect that Ash had this planned from the start.
"The miners live in my world, Anelia. They aren't touched by the sun, or the Priestesses." Ash sighed. "Let's solve our differences civilly."
"I'm not sure that is possible. You tried to kill me at the shipyard."
Even if I shot the rifleman, one of the other three assassins would shoot me before I could get away. Did Ash have this planned? I doubted he could have known I was following him. He must have been on the way to this part of the city, and his men set up the ambush ad hoc.
"I'll let you live today if you'll unlock my cuffs." Ash shook his hands behind his back, and I heard the victory in his deep voice.
I still hesitated. My only leverage was the gun, and the bullet that I could put through Ash's head before the other men shot me. If I took his cuffs off, then I would be relying on the word of a murdering criminal.
There was some unspoken signal, and the four men drew back the hammers of their guns in a single motion. Ash's body tensed against my arm, and I guessed that the big man was preparing for his men to act on his order.
"I'll give you something else besides your life. Maybe that will sweeten the deal? I don't particularly want to kill you now."
"You had no hesitation at the shipyard," I said. My heart was beating in my chest, and the edges of my vision darkened with the effects of adrenaline.
"That was before I spoke with you, Anelia. You might not realize this, but we are on the same side." Ash made another attempt to look over his shoulder at me, but I kept my leverage on his arm so that he couldn't turn.
"I doubt that," I said through my tight jaw. Shit, I saw no way out of this mess. I'd lose any advantage if I released Ash.
"You didn't ask me about the gift. I am looking for the same murderer you are. I have some leads. I'll give them to you. You can investigate. You'll find the murderer and close the case. The man committing the acts is a danger to everyone in Petrasada, and he needs to be brought to justice."
"I currently have a murderer in custody who is a danger to everyone in Petrasada, and he only needs to be dragged another two hundred yards." I was conscious of the gunmen's weapons aimed at me.
"I'm not a danger to Petrasada, Anelia. There is more going on here than you realize," Ash whispered. "Let me go. I'll give you these leads, and you can catch this murderer. Then you can come after me again. Let's deal. I need your help, and you need mine."
"I don't need your help," I said.
"But you do. I doubt you have any leads that point to the murderer. Maybe you've got a list of names you are investigating, but I can promise you that they are the wrong people. You will not find the murderer there, and you might end up dead."
I debated the man's words and glanced between the gunmen. What were my options? He wouldn't give me more than a few seconds to decide, and I realized that my best option was taking the murderer at his word. It was probably the last mistake I would make in my short career, but I felt that my other choice would end in certain death.
"Fine. I will remove your cuffs." I seethed as I spoke the words and reached for the keys on my belt.
"Good decision," Ash said as I unlocked the metal around his wrists.
"I'm already regretting it," I sighed when the cuffs fell away from his hands.
"You won't." Ash nodded to his men. "Lower your guns, friends. The Potentia and I have reached an agreement." The gunmen slowly followed their boss' instructions, and Ash turned around to face me for the first time.
He was handsome, much more attractive than I would have thought, and if he had come up to me in a tavern, it probably would have made my heart flutter with nervousness. Ash's hair was a darker brown than mine, and his bangs fell over his eyes a bit. The eyes were strange looking. They were a light brown, and they almost looked yellow like a cat's. His cheekbones were high and rounded, and his mouth formed a full smile that revealed perfectly set teeth. The man's skin was a rich tan color, which I thought was strange because I had tailed him from the mines.
We stared at each other for a few moments, and then he reached his hand out toward me with his palm facing the sky.
"Can I have my pistol back, please?" he asked with a careful smile.
I still had the weapon pointed at him, and the decorated gun was my last piece of leverage in the situation. The surrounding men had lowered their weapons, but, they could shoot me as soon as I handed the pistol back to Ash.
But I had already decided to agree with him.
I uncocked the hammer and set the pistol in his palm. He lowered it away from me carefully and then holstered the weapon at his right hip without looking. It was a practiced movement, and I wondered how skilled the handsome man was with the weapon.
He's a murderer, not a handsome man, I reminded myself.
"Can I have my dagger back as well? It is a simple tool, but it was a gift that I would hate to part with."
I pulled the naked blade from my belt, flipped it in my hand, and placed the hilt on his palm. He nodded at me as he sheathed the weapon.
"Don't look so sour, Anelia," his mouth twisted into a charming smirk.
"You said you had leads for me?" I spat at him. I needed to control this situation somehow.
"Yes, let's speak inside the tavern." He pointed behind me to the building we had passed a few moments ago.
"No, we'll speak out here in the street."
"I can't do that, Anelia. Your guards will exit the nest in the next few moments. I want to give you these names. I want you to find the murderer, but we'll each have questions for each other. It is best to talk over a drink," he smiled slightly at me.
I didn't answer for a second as I pondered the man's request. He could very well shoot me inside the tavern, but then there would be numerous witnesses. There had been a few citizens walking around the street, but most of them had stayed clear of our conflict.
Maybe I should just count myself lucky and escape now, but then I would be back where I started with the list of names I took from Aetius Colo's ledger. Perhaps Ash would give me a name that was also on the list could help guide me to the next suspect.
"Let's make it quick," I said as I gestured toward the tavern. "After you?"
"Excellent. I'll ask my men to give us some privacy."
I followed Ash to the tavern door and walked in after him. I had never been in the place before, and it was larger than I expected. Most of the patrons were craftsmen; blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, or one of the other classes of workers that were higher up the social ladder from miners, ranchers, and farmers. A lute player sang in the corner of the large room, and a group of four men danced beside the bard.
Ash pointed at a table in the back of the tavern, and we slid along the adobe wall to get there. Most of the attention in the pub was focused on the dancing men, and the only two people who seemed to realize that a Potentia had entered were the barkeeper and one of the serving maids.
"You can sit with your back to the wall," Ash offered when we reached the table in the corner. It was made of rough bamboo and covered with a sticky layer of beer.
The wall behind the chair he gestured to was thick adobe. Perhaps I was being paranoid, but I half expected this entire tavern invitation to be an elaborate trap. I took the seat with my back against the clay brick and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Sorry, I will clean the table. I didn't expect a Potentia to come in." One of the serving girls was blushing furiously and used a damp cloth to clean the sticky beer from the bamboo surface.
"That is fine," Ash said. "Can you bring us two beers?"
; "Water," I corrected.
"Of course," the girl nodded to me and retreated to the bar.
"What did you hear at my uncle's shop?" he asked. The bar was loud, and I had to read his lips to understand his question.
"Are you going to give me those leads?" I ignored his question.
"You are pretty when you are angry," he said as he smiled at me.
The words caught me completely off guard, and I stared at the handsome man while I thought about what to say next.
"You are pretty when you aren't angry, of course, but when your eyes narrow and your lips set in that line, I feel as though I should continue to anger you." His eyes lingered on my lips, and I fought against the chaotic spin of emotions in my stomach. He was trying to shake my focus, and I wouldn't let him.
The girl came back with a large glass of beer for each of us and an extra water mug for me. Ash raised his beer in my direction with a smirk on his face and then took a deep gulp.
"I'm going to be pissing blood for a few weeks," he said after he set the beer down on the table.
"Yet you are drinking beer. Are you going to give me those leads?" I asked again.
"Are you going to drink your beer?"
"I am on duty, and you are a criminal that tried to kill me. I am not drinking with you."
"That is a good point. I apologize for attempting to shoot you with buckshot."
"How can you use magic?" I asked over the cheers of the crowd.
"Ahh," he said as he picked up his beer and took another drink of the yellowish liquid. "Maybe you should ask why no one else can use magic?"
"You are trying to anger me."
"I already explained my reasons why I would do that." He raised an eyebrow and smiled at me.
"I am going to leave if you don't stop," I said. I still felt tense in my shoulders, and I was beyond angry that the man had escaped me, but I had to admit that I was interested in the leads that he offered about the murders.
I could easily catch Ash again. I knew his face now, and every nest would have a sketch of him within a day. There would be nowhere he could hide.
"Ahhh, very well," he sighed. "Take out your notebook. You'll want to write these down."
I pulled out my pencil and the pad I used for writing. Then I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He was taking another swig of his beer, and the glass was only a quarter full.
"Balabus Cotin is a refuse collector. He works in the lower thirties. I do not know where he lives, but he often visits a tavern called the Blue Swill on the twenty-first level."
"I know of the place," I said.
"Calter Montigar is a beer and moonshine seller for Restina."
"The brewers?" I asked.
"Yes. He works in your nest's territory," Ash said.
"Are these just the names of your criminal enemies?" I asked as I shook my head.
"There are two more I suspect. Would you like their names?" He raised both of his eyebrows, and his mouth curled into a smile that somehow made my pulse quicken.
"Fine," I answered.
"Fontyane Veer is a guard in your nest. Do you know him?"
"No, but I am really having trouble believing you now. I doubt a guard is committing these murders. Especially one from my nest."
"The last one I suspect is Marcel Jocar. He is a city tax collector." Ash took the last gulp of his beer after he spoke and then set the glass on the table.
"I'll humor you for a moment and ask why you think one of these four men is responsible for the serial murders in the city."
"Each of them had dealings with the slain," Ash answered with a shrug. The barmaid came to take away his glass, and she set another full one in front of him. The attractive man thanked her before he turned his strange gold eyes back to me.
"What kind of dealings? You didn't answer my earlier question about these men being your enemies."
"Potentia often use informants, correct?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"They are people who you could arrest, but you keep them out away from the Priestess' eyes so that they can pass you info on bigger fish. You'll take their info and investigate it to see if it is true or not. This is what I am passing to you."
"Except informants are normally guilty of petty crimes, not murder and the attempted murder of a Potentia," I glanced at the written names again and committed them to memory.
"I've given you a gift, Anelia. You can use it if you want to, or you can continue to hunt me. One activity will result in you finding the serial murderer, the other will only result in you chasing shadows for the rest of your career," Ash said.
"I doubt it. I know how to find you."
"Oh?"
"Yes, your uncle. Or so you called him."
"So you heard our conversation. I suspected as much." Ash smiled and took the first drink from his second glass of beer.
"Why did you suspect as much?"
"You didn't seem surprised when I knew your name. The only reason for that would be if you had followed me from the mine. How did you find me there?"
"How do you know magic?" I kicked back the question I had asked earlier.
"I already gave you the answer."
"That wasn't satisfactory. Men can't use magic."
"Perhaps we can talk about it again over drinks," Ash said as he stood up from his chair. "I hate to leave you unsatisfied."
"Sit back down, I still have questions for you," I ordered as I tried to fight the heat that came to my cheeks.
This man is a criminal, Anelia. Keep yourself in check.
"We'll talk again after you find the killer." Ash smiled at me.
"I will arrest you, Ash."
"Investigate those names first. Then you can come looking for me," he said as he pushed his chair under the table.
"I know your face. By tomorrow, every nest will have an illustration of you, and the guards will search for you. You can't hide from me."
"Maybe I don't want to hide from you? You know where my uncle is. Once you find the murderer, then you can meet me there. I'll let you arrest me then. That is, if you are still interested in arresting me." Ash gave me another smirk.
"I will be--"
"I have work to do, Anelia. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'm going to walk out the door. Sit here, finish your beer, and then you can exit."
"So your men can take up position to shoot me?"
"No, so I can escape you without getting the city guards involved. I just went through a lot of trouble to hand over those leads. As I said before, I'm no longer interested in killing you. I am more interested in you finding the murderer." He tossed a few coins onto the table, and then his gold eyes met mine. "I can't force you to do or not do your job, but if you put out an alert to arrest me, then you won't have a chance to question me. I'll be killed in the next few days, and you'll never have the answers to the questions you are looking for."
"What are you hinting at? Why would you be killed?"
"Think about it, perhaps while you recite your Potentia oath?"
We stared at each other for a few more moments. Then he nodded at me before he turned to walk out of the tavern.
My emotions spun in my stomach, and I tried to fight them with my brain. These leads were probably phony. I was letting Ash get away, and I wasn't doing my job as a Potentia.
Unless these leads were legitimate and one of these four men was the killer. If that was the case, then I would be able to arrest them and put an end to these murders. I could always catch Ash at a later date. Petrasada was a massive city, but the handsome man wouldn't be able to hide forever. I would bring him to justice eventually.
I waited for a minute after he left, and then I walked out of the tavern and into the streets. They were mostly empty since citizens were still in the middle of their meal time. My Alula changed into wings as soon as I stepped into the street, and I launched myself high into the bright sky.
I didn't see Ash or his gunmen anywhere, so I turned toward the location of
the Blue Swill tavern and began my flight.
Chapter 13
The flight took me five minutes, and I used the time to review the clues of the case. There were six victims so far; seven if I counted Garon at the shipyard. Four were killed in the last few months before I took my Potentia oath. Rafa Manas was a tavern owner, and moonshine maker. Aetius Colo was a glass maker and had noted in his hidden ledger that he had dealings with Manas, as well as Garon Mitus, who was also now dead. The ledger also pointed to a Pruet Carna, a Damara Trillion, a Laramae A, and a man named Dust. Ash had also mentioned that the man I'd killed at the shipyard was named Othoro.
There had to be a pattern that I couldn't discern. I didn't know who Pruet Carna, Damara Trillion, and Laramae A. were, but I guessed that Dust was the same kind of criminal element as Ash, or at least, Ash had seemed to speak of the man with familiarity at the blacksmith's shop.
The obvious similarity was that Rafa, Aetius, and Garon were owners. They ran businesses, and the only connection I saw beyond that was that the other men shared a connection with Rafa. I thought about the four men killed in the months before I took office. I wasn't intimately familiar with the details of their cases, but I had read through each report three times.
Quentin Eamat owned a leather shop. He specialized in building carrying cases and backpacks. He was the first to be murdered. His throat had been torn open by teeth, and his arms had been chewed on as if by some animal. His assistant had been questioned, but the man had an alibi, and the report said he was distraught with grief.
Valteera Royar was the second victim. She'd had her right arm ripped from her torso and had bled out on the floor of her craft room. The woman was an artisan pot maker and was apparently well known in the middle levels of Petrasada for her craftsmanship.
Tronique Ballator was a bronze and brass smith. The woman was known for her detailed metal oil lamps, moonshine flasks, and distillery equipment. She was small of build, and the report said she had been strangled. Ballator had two assistants, but they were both with their families at the time of their master's murder. Her murder occurred the night before the last Moon Night, and her death caused the riots that led to the slaying of my sisters. Hundreds of citizens were taken into custody, and over twenty were executed.
Wings of Justice (City of Light Book 1) Page 12