Queen of Thieves Box Set

by Andy Peloquin

  Ilanna screamed at the closing door, a wordless sound of rage and fury as useless as her struggles to break free of the ropes holding her bound. The thugs had tied her up with a skill any sailor would envy. The rope didn't even creak as she strained with every shred of strength, but the loops around her wrists and ankles pulled tighter with every movement. She ceased her efforts with a heaving, sobbing gasp, pain stabbing into her shoulders and hips.

  Her mind raced. What now? Rhynd had taken her tools, her dagger, everything of value. She had no way out.

  She slumped beneath the burden of defeat. Rhynd had known she was coming. Of course he had. And he'd known how she would get in. The fact that he'd imprisoned her in the room with the rooftop hatch proved it. He was mocking her.

  And there wasn't a damned thing she could do about it. Her only hope lay dead a few paces away. This was one predicament she couldn't get out of.

  Worst of all, she would never have vengeance. Against the Bloody Hand—and Rhynd, in particular—for burning down her home, for killing Ria and Kodyn, and for the horror they had unleashed upon Praamis. Against the traitor for their role in the destruction of the Night Guild and the death of Master Hawk, Prynn, and the others. Against Duke Phonnis for his efforts to destroy them. All of them deserved to suffer for their actions. So long as Rhynd held her captive, they would go unpunished.

  But what could she do? Bound by ropes, surrounded by men who would gladly kill her, destined for a painful end in Voramis, she had no hope for her future.

  The thought of her death no longer held terror. Rhynd had promised the First would inflict all manner of pain and torment upon her. So be it. The suffering would end. In the Long Keeper's arms, she would be reunited with Kodyn, Ria, Ethen, Denber, Master Hawk. Her mother and Baby Rose. Everyone she had lost would be waiting for her.

  I will die. Acceptance brought a semblance of peace. At least the pain will be over.

  She'd lived such a long life filled with so much pain. The pain of losing her mother and baby sister, of losing the only friends she'd ever had. The pain of watching her house burn to the ground and knowing she'd failed to rescue her son. The pain of guilt, guilt over all the deaths that had resulted from her actions. Soon enough, the Long Keeper would wash away all pain.

  She relaxed in her bonds. Her struggle was over. Rhynd could do his worst; she wouldn't fight. The priests of Kiro the Master, god above all, taught that the spirit lived on long after the mortal body turned to dust. The Bloody Hand could harm her flesh but never touch her soul. She would cling to her hope of a better hereafter through whatever torment they inflicted on her.

  Closing her eyes, she allowed her mind to drift. Memories flashed before her eyes: moments spent in the garden, playing with Kodyn and learning to dance the Kim'ware from Ria; days laughing with Denber and the twins, striving to match Ethen's skills with the sling; seeing the genuine concern in Master Hawk's eyes; the rush of triumph as she conquered the Black Spire and fled Lord Auslan's vault.

  Serenity washed over her. A smile touched her lips.

  The quiet rattling of the door handle snapped her out of her happy recollections. Every muscle tensed. Had Rhynd returned?

  The figure that appeared in the doorway was shorter and far slimmer than Rhynd. He carried no lamp, but crept through the darkness toward her without a sound. With a furtive glance over his shoulder, the man slithered toward her.

  A thread of hope pierced the veil of Ilanna's despair. She would recognize Allon's strong shoulders, narrow waist, and strong jawline anywhere.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  "Allon?" Ilanna resisted the urge to shout. Her chest tightened at the sight of the Hound.

  Allon held a finger to his lips. "Hold on." He slipped back to the door and pressed it shut without a sound. "Didn't think I'd let you rot here, did you?"

  "How?" Ilanna hissed.

  "I wriggled my hands free of my bonds an hour ago," the Hound said, "but I knew I had to bide my time. Now that Rhynd and his men have left—"

  "No, how did you know I was here?"

  Allon's teeth shone in the faint light. "I'd recognize your voice anywhere, Ilanna."

  Ilanna swallowed the emotion surging within her. "Is Rhynd--?"

  "Gone," Allon said. "And half his crew with him."

  "How many?"

  The Hound's face scrunched up in contemplation. "Four, I think. They kept me blindfolded, so all I could do was count the footsteps."

  "And the others?" she asked. "Darreth, Joost, Ves, Errik?"

  "Alive," Allon said, "at least as far as I know. I heard the bastards beating on someone in the room next to mine, but I don't know who."

  "Errik, I think." Ilanna gritted her teeth. "You should see his face."

  "You've seen him?" Allon sounded surprised.

  "I managed to get into his room before they caught me."

  "Damn it!" Allon cursed. "They were waiting for you, weren't they?"

  "Yes." Ilanna's fists clenched. "They knew I was coming in through the roof. Right in this very room."

  Allon's sharp intake of breath came from near the wall. "What?"

  "Above my head. A roof hatch, locked from the outside." The loop around her right wrist tugged, and she hissed at the strain on her shoulder. "Easy!"

  "Sorry," Allon mumbled. "These knots aren't making it easy."

  Ilanna wished for the knife Rhynd had taken from her. All the easier to cut the ropes, and his throat, with.

  Allon spoke from behind her. "Please tell me you have reinforcements about to storm the warehouse and rescue us."

  Ilanna snorted. "We're it. The Duke rounded up the rest of the Night Guild. Only Bryden and a few Serpents escaped."

  "Good. We could use a few Serpents right now."

  Ilanna shook her head. "They're dead," she said, thrusting a chin at the corpses Rhynd had dumped in the corner.

  Allon's breath hissed again. "Damn it!" The tugging on the rope continued, and Allon growled a steady stream of curses.

  "Did you hear where Rhynd went?" she asked.

  "Why?" Confusion filled Allon's voice.

  "Because we can't let him leave the city alive. Not him, not any one of his men. We can't let them take back the secrets of the Guild tunnels."

  "What the frozen hell are we supposed to do about it?" Allon's voice grew angry. "We'll be lucky just to get out of here alive."

  The rope holding Ilanna's right arm fell slack, and she groaned as the tension on her shoulder loosened.

  "We have to deal with him, Allon," she said, her voice firm. "It's the only way the Night Guild survives this."

  "The Night Guild is gone, Ilanna." The Hound's words came out tight, clipped. "They were gone the moment the Duke's men invaded our home." The moment you brought them, the words went unsaid.

  "It's not over yet, Allon." Ilanna winced at the pain in her left shoulder. "There's still a chance we can stop the Duke from executing them. But for that to happen, we need to get out of here."

  "What's the point?" Allon spoke in a harsh tone. "Too many have died. There's no coming back from this."

  Anger flared in Ilanna's chest. "That's not true, Allon! Enough survived. There is a chance the Night Guild can be rebuilt."

  "You don't even want that." The tension on her left arm relaxed. "You got what you wanted. You got our help to get out of the Guild. You were going to leave it all behind."

  Ilanna heard the "leave me behind" in his voice. "That doesn't mean I want to watch everyone I've ever known die. It's within my power to stop them from being executed—I'm damn well going to try."

  He stepped aside. "Then go."

  Ilanna's left leg buckled, and she bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a scream. Her hip, injured in the fall from the Black Spire, hadn't healed properly, and Rhynd's torture had torn something. Excruciating pain scorched her pelvis.

  "Get out before Rhynd returns," Allon insisted. "You have time to run and save the others."

  "Not without Errik, D
arreth, and the others. I came here to get all of you out." She had lost everyone else—the people she had come to save were all she had left in the world.

  "It's too dangerous," Allon insisted. "There's no way you can get past all four of the thugs below. Errik and the others are chained. Unless you've got a pair of lockpicks on you—"

  "Rhynd took them from me." Ilanna clenched her jaw and forced herself to stand despite the fire in her hip. "Maybe he left them someplace we can find them."

  Sarcasm thickened Allon's voice. "Yeah, on the table where his men are playing cards. No way we can get them without alerting the guards."

  "Then we kill them." The words came out quiet, calm, determined.

  "Please, Ilanna, that's insane. There's no way we can—"

  Ilanna froze as a quiet moan sounded from near the door. Thick cloth rustled, and something metallic scraped over the wooden floor.

  Ilanna's heart leapt. "V-Verum?"

  The Serpent hissed. "Keeper's teeth!" More rustling, and another weak groan. "Ilanna?"

  "It's me," she said, kneeling beside him. "Allon's here, too."

  Verum looked up at her. "Where are we?"

  "The Bloody Hand captured us. Killed Leo. They must have thought you were dead."

  The Serpent groaned. "The way my everything's pounding, they're not far wrong."

  Ilanna chuckled. "Pain's a good thing, Verum. It means you're still alive."

  "Some comfort that is," Verum growled. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to lie here a few minutes and—"

  "No time," Ilanna spoke quickly. An inkling of a plan began to form in her mind. A dangerous idea, but one that could work. "Anything broken?"

  "A few ribs and fingers," Verum said. "But I've been hurt worse sparring."

  Ilanna ignored Allon's quiet snort. "Think you're up for a fight?"

  "Are you serious?" Allon's voice rose to a dangerous volume. "There's no way we're going to take on the Bloody Hand!"

  "There are three of us, and four of them, right?" She didn't wait for Allon's confirmation. "We have a chance."

  "Not without weapons," Allon said, a stubborn set to his jaw. "Verum's injured, and neither you nor I are in any shape to fight."

  "We don't have a choice, Allon." Ilanna swallowed hard. Now wasn't the time to unleash her anger on the Hound. She needed to save it for dealing with Rhynd. "We also don't have a lot of time. Rhynd and the others could be back at any moment."

  "What've you got in mind?" Verum asked. "Nothing suicidal, I hope."

  * * *

  "Hey, pig-fuckers!" Ilanna's shout echoed through the warehouse. She stood at the top of the stairs, arms folded. "What's a girl got to do to get a decent meal around here?"

  The four Bloody Hand thugs jumped and whirled toward her.

  "Bloody hell!" One man's eyes went wide. "How'd she--?"

  "Get her!" another shouted.

  The four men charged up the staircase toward the second floor where she waited. When they drew within a few paces of her, she turned and sprinted toward the staircase leading up the third floor. She took the stairs two at a time, teeth gritted against the pain in her hip. She had no time for weakness.

  "Stop her!" a thug shouted. "Don't let her reach that roof hatch!"

  Ilanna grinned. They knew full well they had no chance of catching her once she reached the Hawk's Highway. She skidded to a halt inside the room where Rhynd had imprisoned her and reached for the noose she had left there.

  A cry of shock and pain echoed in the warehouse, followed a moment later by the thumping of a heavy body hitting the stairs. Ilanna dashed from the room just in time to see the two foremost thugs clotheslined by the rope Verum suddenly pulled taut. Before they could recover, Ilanna darted toward the nearest, cast the loop around his neck, and leapt from the railing.

  She plummeted toward the hard stone floor below, then the rope pulled tight with the eerie snap of bone. She winced at the pain in her arms and swung toward the second floor. Her grip on the rope loosened as she landed on the wooden planking. She didn't wait to watch the body plummet toward the ground behind her, but sprinted toward the nearest thug.

  The man was still picking himself up when Allon, who had hidden beneath the stairs to yank his feet from beneath him, reached him. The thump of the Hound's knee slamming into the thug's face sent a shiver down her spine. The Voramian's wail of pain cut off with a gagging cry.

  Ilanna leapt past the kneeling man and raced toward the staircase. At the top, Verum struggled to break free of the encircling arms of a Voramian. Another thug still stood halfway up, eyes wide and filled with uncertainty. Ilanna charged up the stairs and drove her fist up between the man's legs, into his groin. He groaned, his breath hissing through his teeth. She dodged his fumbling hands and punched at his throat. Her knuckles rebounded off his chin.

  Sucking in a gasp of pain, Ilanna retreated down the staircase. The Voramian stumbled after her, fury mingling with the pain etched in the lines of his face. "You bitch!" he roared. "You'll pay for—"

  Ilanna leapt over the railing of the staircase a heartbeat before a flying body collided into the thug. The two Voramians clattered down the stairs to land in a groaning, bleeding heap at Allon's feet. Allon stamped down hard on one's wrist as Ilanna drove her heel into the other's throat. Their efforts to protect themselves only added to Ilanna's rage. Over and over, she pounded them with her feet and fists. Blood flew, the men cried out, and then all was silent. Still she beat at them. She wouldn't stop until they were dead.

  "I think you got them." Verum stood doubled over at the top of the stairs, wheezing, leaning on the railing for support.

  "Now what?" Allon panted.

  "Now we free the others," she said without hesitation.

  Allon protested. "But their chains—"

  "Can be opened with that set of lockpicks." Ilanna pointed to the leather case sitting on the card table. She darted down the stairs. "Allon, check the doors. Errik's in the first one, but we need to find the other three. Verum, check the bodies for weapons."

  The sound of rattling door handles echoed behind her as she scooped up the lockpicks and her pouch. She cast around in vain for the tin hawk. Rhynd's instructions to his thug to burn it echoed in her mind. She bit down on a surge of anger. The bastard had taken the only thing left of her son, but she didn't have time for emotions. Her life and that of her crew depended on her.

  Racing up the stairs, she burst into the room where Errik lay chained and set to work on the padlock holding the collar around his neck.

  "Ilanna?" Errik sounded so weak.

  "Lie still, and I'll have this damned thing off you in a moment."

  "You need…to go." Errik tried to push her away. "Rhynd will…"

  "Rhynd is gone. And we'll be out of here before he returns, if only you'd stop moving around." Sweat trickled down her brow as she twisted the tension wrench. The lock clicked open and the collar fell away.

  "Verum!" she called out. "Get in here!"

  Long seconds passed before the Serpent shuffled into the room. He was gasping, his face pallid and a hand pressed to his ribs. He looked a heartbeat from collapse.

  "Here, help Errik." Between the two of them, they should manage to remain upright. "I'm going to check on the others."

  "No!" Errik called after her. "Get out of here."

  She turned back to him. "Not without you and the others. So shut up and let Verum help you before you get us both killed."

  Allon stood in front of a room two doors down. "This one."

  Ilanna set to work on the four-pin lock. The ache in her shoulders grew with every heartbeat, but she gritted her teeth against the pain. She pushed open the door and ran to the figure huddled against the wall. Joost still breathed, but he lay unconscious. A moment of work and the collar around his neck snapped open.

  Allon was already inside the next room, crouching over the unmoving form of Veslund. The burly Fox had endured far worse than either Errik or Joost. Blood dripped from hi
s mouth, nose, and ears. His breath came in wet, ragged gurgles. Ilanna didn't need Tyman's expertise to know the Fox had a punctured lung. He wouldn't survive being moved.

  She bowed her head. I'm sorry, Ves. He had died because of her.

  "Ilanna!" Allon's call snapped her from her moment of sorrow. "I found Darreth."

  Ilanna patted Veslund's head and darted out of the room. Allon pointed to the last door before the descending staircase. "He's in here."

  "Did you say Ilanna?" The wooden door muffled the voice, but Ilanna recognized Darreth's precise diction.

  "I'm going to get you out of here, Darreth. Just hold on." She knelt before the door, but the pain in her shoulders set her hands trembling.

  Allon reached for the lockpicks. "Here, let me."

  With reluctance, Ilanna passed them to him. As Allon set to work on the lock, Ilanna studied her pathetic crew. Verum and Errik clung to each other for support. Joost sat leaning against the banister, his eyes glazed and unfocused. Her hips, shoulders, knees, and elbows ached. If Rhynd came back now, they were in serious trouble.

  A metallic ping sounded, and Allon cursed. "Damn it!"

  Ilanna's heart sank. The last tension wrench had snapped, the end still stuck in the lock. No way they could get the lock open now. But if they tried to break down the door, the noise could draw attention. She couldn't risk the Praamian Guard finding them. Right now, they were as much the enemy as the Bloody Hand.

  She cast around. What now? Her mind raced, but she could find no solution. If she didn't hurry--

  The door opened, and Rhynd and his four thugs strode into the warehouse. She had run out of time.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Ilanna had a single moment to decide what to do. She could escape through the roof hatch and Rhynd would never catch her on the Hawk's Highway. But her crew would never make it out. Errik and Verum could barely stand; Joost still sat dazed and half-conscious. And Allon…

  Had disappeared? She glanced around and saw no sign of the Hound. She stood alone, facing Rhynd and his four thugs.