He hesitated. “I heard something you may want to hear.”
“Please tell me it’s good news. I’m not sure I can bear any more unpleasantness.”
He leaned in to whisper as if not wanting Jamie to overhear. “It’s your champion and Isabel. They were spotted just up the street.”
“Isabel?” Jamie blurted.
“Hush, dear,” Claudia said. “Rochus, are you certain?”
“Yes, my queen. They were making a scene. Isabel was getting some of the tourists’ attention and leading them somewhere.”
“What on earth for?”
“I wasn’t able to hear. But they can’t have gone far. They could be the ones the city watch was chasing. I’ll alert the guard captain.”
“No, wait. Is the carriage close?”
“My lady?”
“My carriage. Don’t make me repeat myself. Bring it here. We’re going to find my champion and see if he might be ready to help serve our needs. It seems he’s once again found a wayward path, and he might just prove to be a solution to our theater problem.”
Rochus went to summon the carriage.
She patted Jamie’s arm, her mood suddenly improving. Digger and Isabel were out and in play sooner than she would have expected. And this upstart theater production? Here she saw an opportunity. As always, Diregloom could be managed with the right combination of tough love and a firm hand, which only she could finesse.
“Jamie, my dear, you’ve been so good to have with me tonight. I know it’s late and you need your rest. But I was thinking you’d like to join me for one final detour before we retire back to the castle.”
“Anything, Aunt Claudia.”
“But you’ll find this delightful. Because it involves your sweetheart.”
He was too stunned to speak.
“No need to be coy with me about Isabel. Don’t you think I know all about the two of you and your forbidden love? I would never be one to stand in the way of two hearts separated and trying to find their way back to one another. It’s time for you to have your reunion. I have a good suspicion on where she might be. It’s time for us to see her.”
Claudia saw in his face all the complex emotions of love and hope. At that moment he would do anything for her.
Perfect.
As her driver brought the carriage to them, she allowed Jamie to help her up the step. Then she told the driver their destination.
Chapter Twenty-One
“IT is him.”
The eager-eyed tourist had a sword on either side of his belt and kept pawing at Digger, half leaning and full-on leering. He wore a pointy pink hat with a sparkling ribbon that dangled in front of his red nose. When he spoke, Digger felt spittle land on his cheek.
Digger forcibly repressed the urge to drive his fist into the man’s face.
He and Isabel had some twenty eager escorts, half of whom were stumbling drunk. Their group left the waterfront and the sounds of the searching guards behind them. While the watch searched the casinos and bars and alleyways, he and Isabel were hidden in the center of the group of revelers that moved up the middle of the boulevard. But though they were making their escape, bringing so many to the Dragon and Rose would blossom into a new set of problems.
“What was it like killing so many purebloods?” the eager man asked.
Another reveler with a braided beard scoffed. “No one really died in the games. You think the duke would allow the queen to risk purebloods in actual battle?”
“You’re an idiot,” a dark woman with white lipstick said. “My stepdad was in the audience. Heard the crunch of bones and saw the blood.”
“Is that true?” the eager man asked. “Was it real or fake?”
Digger kept his head down and marched.
Isabel was walking backward and she beckoned the group to follow. “It was as real as the moon, the ocean, and the cobblestones beneath your feet. Our champion will tell you all about it when we make it to the Dragon and Rose.”
But the eager man wasn’t finished. “Did you really kill a pureblood?”
“Yes,” Digger snapped. “Several. If I remember right, the last one looked a bit like you.”
The man scrunched his face as if thinking. He almost tripped and used Digger to steady himself, nearly pulling him down.
A woman with a pink wig and a pole with a lantern took Digger’s arm. “I heard Lord Angel killed a couple nobles during the contest. Shocking! Slew them both outright. You were so brave to fight a lout like him.”
“That’s daft,” the bearded man said. “The duke would have stormed the island if any of this happened as you fools believe.”
The eager man waved him away. “You’re the fool. It’s anything goes here. The queen does what she wills. The fel walk free and can murder us in the games. And with a pocketful of coin, you can buy whatever you want in Diregloom.”
The woman with the white lipstick laughed. “Last I checked you were broke.”
The others laughed too. Isabel laughed.
Digger didn’t.
The waterfront was well behind them as they passed into the darker streets of the Temperance District. Digger found himself searching rooftops and scanning alleyways, letting his keen sight peer into the darkness. But the lanterns the revelers were carrying kept spoiling his night vision. The group was moving too slow. Their utility as a ruse was spent, but now they knew where he wanted to go.
What had Isabel been thinking telling them about the bar?
The eager man hanging on Digger tried to drag him towards a dead streetlight. “Have to piss.”
Digger shook both his escorts loose as he caught up to Isabel. “This is taking too long.”
“Like you said, there’s going to be more guards out everywhere. Work with me here.”
“We were promised stories,” the bearded man said.
He dropped a heavy arm around Digger’s shoulder and Digger was crushed in a chummy headlock. Digger grasped one of the man’s thumbs and twisted. The bearded man cried out and fell to his knees as Digger freed himself from the man’s grip.
“Ah! Ah! Let go! You’re breaking it!”
“See? See?” the eager man said as he snapped his pants closed and hurried to catch up. “He is the real deal!”
There was a series of hoots and claps. Several revelers pounded on Digger’s back. Then he caught sight of a guard following along with them. Digger hadn’t noticed him approach. He hadn’t been there when they had left the waterfront.
Digger got the bearded man standing and pushed him along, keeping the guard in sight.
“So where’s this dive bar you’re taking us to?” the eager man asked.
Isabel made a grand gesture directing their attention up the street. “My lords and ladies, we’re almost there.”
The front door of the Dragon and Rose was still barred from the inside. Without any front windows there was no way to tell if there were any lights on. Surely by this hour Monty would have retired.
The guard remained at the rear of their procession.
Digger left the group behind and headed into the alley.
He’d get in, let the pureblood revelers enter, and then find his brother and they’d make their escape.
He considered which pier he might go to for a boat and pilot. Things were about to heat up for him and his kind in the city. The disaster that had been unfolding on the mainland over the past couple of years was now to sweep over Diregloom like a tide. There was no way the queen of Loom Island would stop it. Whatever game the murderer was playing would have to go on without him.
More challenging would be convincing Monty to leave. Digger had failed before. But these were new circumstances. Lady Sofia could come with them, if she was willing. But Digger wasn’t going to accept no as an answer.
Dancing candlelight twinkled inside Lady Sofia’s apartment above the kitchen. The cellar below was quiet and dark. The alley appeared empty.
Digger found the bar’s back door unlocked. He enter
ed and found a lamp on one table still burning. One of the iron chandeliers had several candles still lit and there was light in the kitchen.
“Monty? Sprat? Anyone here? We have company.”
A pot clattered.
“Hello?”
A fist started pounding at the front door. The voice of the eager man cried, “Come on, already!”
Digger went to unlock it and the tourists flowed inside.
“Bit of a dump,” the bearded man said.
Isabel took the lamp from the table and began to light a few lanterns. “Do not speak of the Dragon and Rose in anything but reverent tones. This is where the catacomb champion slakes his thirst. You’re all guests here. This place is special. Sacred, even. These wooden walls have seen more blood and heard more secrets than any of the waterfront’s fashionable cantinas with their fresh coats of paint and their honeyed cocktails. Is that what you want? A fancy purple drink and a finger sandwich? Or would you rather have a mug of ale in a storied hall where you can hear tales from the mouth of the fel who survived Queen Claudia’s catacombs?”
“Do you have bubbly wine?” the eager man asked.
She moved behind the bar. “I’ll take your drink orders here. Coin only, no scrip. Hope you like, uh, beer.”
Isabel began to fill mugs from the tapped keg. The tourists began to settle in at the bar and around the closest tables. More than a few of them were watching Digger. The watchman remained at the door, keeping it from closing.
“How about a pint?” Digger offered.
The guard peered outside and then stepped in. The sheriff grabbed the door before it could close and entered behind the guard. He removed his green hat and took in a breath as he surveyed the bar.
“Ah, back here again. This place is shaping up. Still needs work, though. Quite a crowd for so late in the evening. I was afraid I’d be barging in, but I can see you haven’t closed.”
“This is a private party.”
“Is it, now? With all that’s happening in Diregloom, it would be remiss of the watch to not provide security for so many visiting nobles, especially in such a quiet part of the city. Perhaps you heard, but there were another two murders, including a guard. Why, the bodies were discovered in this very district, both lying in a grave keeper’s cart similar to yours.”
“There’s a dozen carts like mine.”
“Yes, I know. But that reduces the number of possible suspects, doesn’t it? That’s why I came straight here to find you. Because you manage to be at the center of so many recent predicaments. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind. I brought a few extra guards with me. Now that you’re here, I’ve stationed them in front and back. I’d hate to have anything happen while we spoke.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
DIGGER STOOD HIS GROUND as the sheriff approached. “You want to talk. So talk.”
The man was a head shorter and of slight build but he met Digger’s gaze with a bemused expression. He pulled a handkerchief from a jacket pocket and dabbed his nose.
When he asked his question, his voice was soft. “Where were you tonight?”
“My apartment, then here.”
“I thought you work evenings.”
“I do. But as you know last night went long, dealing with the messy crime scene you saw fit to save for me.”
“Still unsolved. But now with two new murders, the watch has turned to me for help yet again. I’ve learned never to discount my instincts. A lawman does this at his peril. I have before me a fel who is a practiced hand at combat, having proven this when we fought and then in the games. All the murder victims were killed so fast and so precisely that there was no chance to fight back. Even a fop with a sword will manage to scratch someone as he’s being slaughtered.”
“These were opium killings. Sounds like a gang problem.”
The sheriff grimaced. “To what purpose? Scaring off the competition? I don’t think so. Killing customers is bad for business even for a territory rivalry. And then this new nobleman victim from your cart.”
“It wasn’t my cart.”
“Okay, fine. The cart. While the wound was different, a throat cut with something quite sharp, like a surgeon’s scalpel, again the victim was taken by surprise. Someone knows how to move in the darkness, is quick, strong, and wields a weapon with extreme precision. No sign of any struggle once again. And this time the poor soul had a finger taken clean off.”
From the corner of his eye, Digger made out Isabel serving drinks. Isabel’s eyes were wide and she was mouthing something at him but he didn’t dare look away from the sheriff. She was pointing.
Someone emerged from the kitchen and set down a platter on the bar and another on the table.
“Do I still have your attention?” the sheriff asked.
“I’m waiting for you to get to the point.”
“You’re wondering why I’m not just arresting you if you’re a suspect. The second victim was part of the watch. A dead guard will have repercussions no matter if he was slain by pureblood or fel. The watch was chasing someone just now down at the waterfront. Seems this group of island visitors who you were escorting was just down there. The man’s neck was snapped. No other sign of a prolonged fight. He didn’t have time to cry out or draw his blade.”
“I don’t have answers for you, Sheriff.”
“And I’m loath to reach conclusions solely on circumstance. The duke didn’t send me to Loom Island to make a hasty investigation of the missing magister, but I produce results when possible. A man in my position must make calculations on the facts before him, even when they’re incomplete.”
The sheriff rested a casual hand on the butt of his cudgel. Digger still didn’t have a weapon. His shovel had been abandoned in his cart. While the bar had plates, trays, cups, and chairs, none were in reach. His hands would have to do. Yet he hesitated.
The guard behind the sheriff hadn’t drawn his sword.
Digger felt confident he could reach the man first. That would leave the sheriff at his back, but if Isabel was being vigilant, he could only hope she would throw down and help. With the guard and sheriff neutralized, they could grab Monty and escape through one of the exits and hopefully with the sheriff’s forces divided, they might prevail.
The sheriff put his handkerchief away. “Once again I find you front and center in my inquiries. But the question I can’t answer is how someone pushing a grave cart could sneak up on anyone. And while your leather boots aren’t as obnoxious as a hard-soled dandy’s loafer, our killer stalked each victim and struck them without them knowing he was approaching. Soft shoes, unlike your boots. And an inch shorter on a footprint I discovered. Tell me what I’m missing.”
“Like I told you last night, I don’t know who’s killing these people. But the answer is all around you. We were down by the waterfront. The owner of the bar’s trying to drum up business. These guests are here to meet me and listen to me brag about the catacombs. We got these seats filled and it’s making us coin. But you know what I saw while at the waterfront? Half the joints are capitalizing on the games. The queen’s got everyone’s bloodlust up. The city and citizens living under the duke have an appetite for what she’s selling, and now it’s spilling out on the street.”
“You’d have me believe this is all a random act? That some lunatic has a case of delirium and can’t wait until the next catacomb season?”
“I’ve given up trying to understand what a pureblood believes.”
The sheriff nodded as if he understood. He strolled past Digger and around the tables. The tourists were draining their first round of beer.
The bearded tourist sampled what looked like a piece of bread thrown onto a platter. He spat it out. “What is this? Dried bread with some glop? I thought this place had actual food.”
Isabel hurried over with fresh mugs. “We do, my lord. The kitchen is hard at work.” She was still giving Digger the eye. Something was wrong besides the sheriff and the city watch being there.
Digger grabb
ed a piece of bread. It appeared to be smeared with congealed fat and drippings from the roasted goat. What was Monty thinking? It didn’t seem possible that his brother would ever serve up anything so unsophisticated. And while grease and bread would be a welcome meal for many of the poorest in the city, it wasn’t a dish that would be served in the Dragon and Rose.
The sheriff glanced behind the bar where the trapdoor lay. It had also been the same spot where Digger had killed Lord Angel’s companion who had chased Isabel into the bar, starting the fiasco that had wound up getting him sent to the catacombs.
Monty emerged from the kitchen with another tray.
But it wasn’t Monty.
Broad shoulders with muscular arms, dark-green skin. An unmistakable massive scar ran from one side of the fel’s face to the other, cutting across the nose. The wound was pink and angry and hadn’t faded with time. But the face behind the scar made Digger’s breath catch.
He knew this fel.
Marcus. One of his fellow rangers from the duke’s service. They both had surrendered themselves along with their captain when the duke had ordered their troop back to their fort. Once there they had been disarmed and detained in their quarters without explanation. But Digger had escaped, having just received a letter from Monty alerting Digger to their parents’ arrest in Diregloom.
“Not the usual fare from when I was last here,” the sheriff said.
“What?” Digger asked distractedly.
“The food. I thought your brother was an accomplished chef when I saw what he had set out for your card game weeks ago.”
Marcus set down the platter on the end of the bar. He kept one arm stiff and at his side as if concealing something in his hand and up his sleeve. He lingered near the sheriff, who was oblivious. The guard at the door looked bored and likewise wasn’t paying attention.
Digger nodded in Marcus’s direction. “That’s my brother there. We had some problems with our food supplier.”
As Digger moved around the table, the overly eager tourist grabbed him. “So how about the stories we were promised?”
The Dragon and Rose Page 11