By Grace Alone (The Death Dealer Book 2) (14 page)

“Everyone is so damned high and mighty today, but you’re all a bunch of lowborn scum! You
and
the damned Guard! No wonder none of you ever rise out of the muck!” The tunnel cleared away and everything came into focus. If Grace could have stopped the thought from leaving her lips, she would have. Barely an hour earlier she had called these people friends, and now all of a sudden they were scum?

Marcus grabbed Grace’s wrist roughly; digging his nails in as he dragged her through the angry crowd. The thieves snarled at her and someone even threw an apple core at her; hitting her cheek and leaving a cool mark on her face. He practically kicked the door to the tavern open in his haste to get her out into the street, and then he threw her down into the dirt and went back inside, slamming the door behind him with a loud thud. The sun emerged from behind the clouds and its rays beat steadily down on her, seeming to throw her in a spotlight of doubt.

Grace sat scared and ashamed in the dirt. She saw that her wrist had a few light cuts from Marcus’s nails. It was already turning red and could well be bruised soon, but she was lucky that was the only punishment. She had lived in Glenbard for over a year and had never before looked down on the people she socialized with. Some madness must have taken over. She beat her fist into the dirt out of frustration.

It wasn’t long before the door reopened and Jack came out. The red in her cheeks deepened with the realization that he’d seen her public shame. He squatted down and lifted her chin up.

“Are you hurt?”

“Not really.” Jack had once been a proud knight. If anyone could understand her position, it would be him. He made a vow to live by a code of honor and chivalry, and losing that honor would be a mighty blow to anyone. The only difference was that no one here knew Jack was a former knight. At least he had the good sense to change his name.
Sense
. She was always so short on it when she needed it most.

“Let’s get you home. You can collect your things from Marcus’s another day.”

“What about Kay?”

“I bought her off and she’s leaving tomorrow morning. Though she did see your little tantrum just now and is enjoying a laugh.”

Jack stood and helped Grace up. “I didn’t mean it, Jack. They’re my friends. I’m just so mad at how everyone is acting!” She thought about how Marcus asked her to bring Adam in so he could be sacrificed, and then about Thom asking her to bring down Harris at the Emerald, knowing Jack was there. “They abused my friendship.”

Jack steadied Grace as they walked. “Don’t think about it.”

“And Nathaniel.” She had known what he was up to from the beginning. His actions shouldn’t have been a shock, but they were. “How could he let Jim be taken away? He knew it was wrong, yet he wouldn’t do anything to help.”

“A man with such strong convictions and ideals is always trouble. He may care for you, but those beliefs will always come first.”

“What am I going to do?”

“The same thing you were going to do the last time I saw you. I’m going to help you with it, too. Rest up now, and I’ll come see you tonight.”

“Will you see if Ridley will talk to me?”

Jack nodded. Ridley had her feelings hurt easily, so chances were she wouldn’t want to speak with Grace for a long while. Still, Grace had to try. “Everything will turn out, Grace. You’ll see.”

Grace pulled up short as her lodging came into view, seeing Sergeant Moore pacing out front with a droopy bunch of flowers.

Jack quietly removed his arm from hers. “I’ll be back tonight,” he said, and then turned back the way they had come and walked on.

Grace, fueled by a renewed fury at Nathaniel, marched up to him; ready for a fight. Seeing her determined face, Nathaniel held up the little blue and white flowers as a peace offering. He knew if he allowed her to speak first, he’d receive a vicious tongue-lashing and possibly a similar one with her fists.

“I went to the Serenity Place guardhouse to see if I could do something for Jim. They moved him out of the cells and into the upper rooms, the ones we reserve for the merchants who can afford it. I used my own coin to get him out of the filth and muck.” Nathaniel’s eyes pleaded for her to say something, to wipe the sour look off her face, or even to just take the flowers.

“He shouldn’t even be there.”

“I know, I know, but I can’t free him. I did what I could.” Grace tried to breeze past him, but Nathaniel kept putting himself in her path. “Your friends know what they can do to free Jim.”

Friends? That was laugh. “No one knows where Harris is.” Except for Jack, that is. She needed to find Harris soon to put an end to the madness.

“I’m sorry, Grace. I really am.” Even though she had no reason to disbelieve him, they were still on opposite sides of an ever-expanding triangle.

The Guild, the Guard, and the Death Dealer were all working against each other. She might once have called on Nathaniel for aid, but now she understood he was bound to his precious rules. He wouldn’t move outside those parameters.

“I told you not to call on me until Jim was released.”

Nathaniel looked pained as he put the flowers in her hand. She took them silently and fumbled around with them. “I can’t free him. I have a duty to the city and to my fellow guards. Jim won’t go to trial, at least.”

“He’s just a piece to be played. You could have arrested anyone, but you took the man everyone trusted.”

“You said you wanted King’s justice.”

She flung the flowers in his face and stormed off. She was done with the conversation. She went into Mistress Fisher’s lodging and locked herself in her room.

Flopping down on the bed, she took stock of what was happening. This had been a simple matter at the start! Stay out of Guild trouble but don’t break the oath to Marcus. All Grace had to do was keep her head down and be quiet. Then Thom had asked one favor. If she had just stayed away from the Emerald that night, she could have gone on being ignorant. Now Marcus was mad with her, the Guard was fuming over the Guild, and she was mad at everyone. Harris Atkins was the only one who truly deserved a trial for his crime. Grace suddenly thought of putting him down like a lame horse. It would certainly spare the city of dealing with the backlash if someone else did it. Why was the fool even hanging around Glenbard? He should have fled as soon as Adam died.

“Grace!” Nathaniel yelled up from the street. “Please come back down!”

Grace knew she was acting like a child. It was unbecoming of her, but she could not find the fortitude to go down. Instead, she opened the shutters and looked down on the street where Nathaniel stood with flowers strewn about him.

“I’m sorry,” he called up.

A sigh escaped without Grace meaning for it to. Mistress Fisher allowed guests into the house between sunrise and sunset, and there were still a few hours left before she would throw those who didn’t pay out into the street.

“Come up,” Grace finally said, and let Nathaniel in when he knocked on her door. “I’m sorry for making a scene.”

“I didn’t want them to take him in, Grace. We just want Harris to pay for what he did. And if this is how it has to be...” he let his thought trail off.

Grace shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be this way, Nathaniel. You and Marcus want the same thing.”

“Marcus doesn’t want to cooperate, and it’s time the Thieves’ Guild gave up the reins of power in this city anyway.”

“You wouldn’t have ever bothered if a Lane man was killed or if Taylor killed Harris. No one would have. Without Marcus, no one could afford the bribes to keep the Guard around.”

“You don’t know anything about the Guard!” She had hit Nathaniel where it hurt most; his pride in his work and comrades. He wanted a virtuous city, where only the good and uncorrupted served. Looking on as the naïve sergeant steadfastly clung to his values, Grace saw in a flash how much Glenbard had changed her.

When she first arrived in the city, she had almost tried to take on the Guild herself. She was so willing to die for what she saw as just and right, but not anymore. She agreed to help Thom at the Emerald because she didn’t want to be an oath breaker, but she wanted just as badly to find Harris. She was tired of the same circular arguments.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you would have questioned your mates as intently if Taylor had killed Harris. Tell me you would have brought them before the magistrate.” When Nathaniel didn’t say anything, she had her answer. “I have been a fool,” she said, mostly to herself.

“Grace,” Nathaniel pleaded, “you can’t possibly understand. Taylor
served
this city. He didn’t just rob from it.”

“He demanded bribes from those who couldn’t afford them. He didn’t truly serve anyone around here. The Lane is better off without him.” Grace wanted to regret her words, but she didn’t. Taylor was a bully and a cheat. He didn’t deserve death, but he certainly wasn’t suited to be called a protector of the peace.

“No wonder Marcus threw you out and Mad Dog Anders left. Yours is a cold heart,” Nathaniel retorted icily and slammed the door as he left. Below her, Mistress Fisher banged on the ceiling. Grace was suddenly itching for a fight.

Twelve

It was no use waiting for Jack to return. With her blood boiling and her fingers craving a weapon, Grace went to him. His lodging was in the heart of the Lane in a rundown boarding house with part of the roof caved in on the east side. Grace had the feeling Jack squatted in the place, as no one else seemed to inhabit it.

His room was cramped with a musty old bedroll and a sack as his only possessions. The fishy smelling room Grace rented was as fine as the King’s castle in Ursana by comparison.

“I believe you have lost me in your plan,” Jack said after she explained herself to him. On the walk from her home to his, she had hastily formulated a plan. The look on Jack’s face reflected how ill-formed it was.

“I want to escort Harris to Ciro’s temple, where he can seek sanctuary,” Grace quietly laid out her plan for Jack as he listened with confused interest.

“Why ask him to take the robes of a priest? And who will sponsor him? You?” He sat on his bedroll, knees to his chest, like a child listening to a story.

“No one will violate Ciro’s law and kill a man who has sought sanctuary. He cannot stay there forever, because after a year and a day he can be turned out and sanctuary will no longer save him. But if Harris repents and takes the robes of a priest, he can survive. He can live to atone for the crimes he’s committed.
We
can sponsor him.”

“Little chick, where will you and I get the coin to pay his fees? I used what little I had to pay Kay off, while you were cast out with nothing. If he was a woman he could sell his womb and produce a god’s child, but he is very much a man. Why the interest in saving him at all? He killed a man in cold blood.”

“I don’t want Marcus
or
Ericson to win. Arresting Jim, demanding Harris’s return…it all goes deeper than the death of a single guard. Marcus won’t let one of his own be tortured, and Ericson won’t let Marcus sweep the problem under the rug now that he has a champion in Nathaniel.”

“And you think Harris becoming a priest will ease tensions?”

Grace stopped her pacing. “It’ll halt the escalation of events for a while.”

“I don’t think you see the folly here. You said yourself it all runs deeper than Taylor and Harris. If this doesn’t test the breaking point, something else will. I know you want to, but you can’t fix this.”

“I can stem the tides for a little while.”

“You’ve always been earnest in your endeavors, I have to give you credit for that. It is endearing and annoying at the same time. Are you doing this to atone for past sins?” She shrugged and took up her pacing again. “Well, meet me tonight outside the Emerald. We’ll see if you can’t talk some sense into Harris Atkins.”

Grace’s face suddenly went white. “What’s wrong now?” Jack questioned.

“I left all my things at Marcus’s.”

“And?”

“And I have some very important things in my bag.”

~*~*~

Marcus could throw a fit and stomp his feet all he liked, but Ridley knew Grace didn’t have a vicious bone in her body. She’d heard the comment about them living in the muck, but why deny what was true? It was hard to hear, but Ridley was able to push down the feelings of anger. She had uttered a few choice comments about Grace’s upbringing before, yet the former noblewoman was always so polite. So proper. So annoying. However, she was still a friend. Ridley certainly understood the need to vent.

Down in the kitchen, Marcus cursed about Grace to Thom while Ridley went upstairs to get out of the way and to grab Grace’s bag. She’d return it once Marcus left the house again. He had tried to forbid her from consorting with Grace, but he was just being a silly old fool.

“The blasted woman takes up with a guard and then decides we’re just a bunch of street rats? Doesn’t she realize the protection I’ve given her this past year?” Thom’s response was lost in the roar of Marcus’s tirade.

Ridley rolled her eyes. By the sounds of things, it would be a while before she could leave. She picked up Grace’s bag from the floor. Grace had nice clothes, and she was only a little shorter than Ridley. Where was the harm in borrowing a dress?

She upended the bag and let the contents spill out on the floor. A brown dress, black trousers, and a black shirt made out of a strange black cloth. Ridley grabbed the black cloth, trying to figure out what it was. She flattened it out on the floor and noticed two holes.

“Oh dear.” Ridley tried to shake the answer from her head.

The Death Dealer was a hero by all accounts; a brave man who saved people from the clutches of the wicked. He was a giant, willing to work with the Thieves' Guild for peace and prosperity among the inhabitants of Rogue’s Lane. He even had a secret pact with Marcus. He was most certainly
not
Grace Hilren. Proper, well-brought up Grace Hilren. The same Grace who knew how to use a sword and dagger.

And Marcus knew. Thom knew. How many others knew what was happening? And why was everyone always trying to keep information from her? She stuffed the clothes back into the bag. Marcus’s anger be damned. She had business that needed tending to.

~*~*~

Ridley barreled into Grace’s little room without a knock or a word to announce herself. Without a sound, she threw the executioner’s hood into Grace’s face. Grace had just enough time to react before Ridley started to shout.

Seeing the anger and hurt in Ridley’s eyes, she moved quickly to stop a tantrum; throwing all her weight into tackling Ridley. Grace pinned her arms with her knees and put both hands over Ridley’s mouth. Under her weight, the Princess of Thieves tried to scream and flail about until her face turned bright red. Grace wasn’t sure if it was from fury or lack of air.

“Don’t scream! No one can know!” Grace whispered, counted to ten, and released her hold on Ridley’s mouth. She kept Ridley pinned to the floor, though.

“Get off me!”

“No.”

“You lied to me, you filthy wretch! I should—”

Grace clapped her hands down again. “If you tell
anyone
about me, I’ll be gutted like a pig. Marcus only knew because he guessed, and I don’t have a clue as to how he managed that. Obviously, Thom would then know. Donald knows because he grew up alongside me in Arganis. Jack knows because Donald foolishly told him. That’s four people who know, and already four too many.” Her voice was a haggard whisper, as Mistress Fisher was probably listening carefully after the sounds of a fight drifted downstairs.

Ridley said something and struggled against Grace. Counting aloud to ten again, Grace let her hands off her friend’s mouth. “And why couldn’t you have let one more person in on it?”

“You’re a braggart, Ridley; pure and simple. You would want the prestige of knowing the secret and then wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from bragging about it.”

It was a long standing goal of Ridley’s to unmask the Dealer. Everyone on the Lane knew it. If Ridley had known, she would have gone around town shouting at the top of her voice that she’d finally done it. To actually know the Death Dealer, to stand up at the Angel and say, “I know who the hero is!” –
that
was a prize.

“I can’t believe you! We’re friends! I’d never sell a friend out!” Ridley replied indignantly.

Grace lowered her eyes. It was too late now to decide if Ridley might have been trusted. “I am truly sorry.” She tried to convince herself she was, but deep down she had never wanted her friend to know. “And we
are
friends. A bit of cloth doesn’t change any of that.”

Ridley growled and hissed like a cat. “And now what? Marcus needs you and you decide to desert him? You desert the Lane? You take up with Sergeant Moore?”

“It’s not like that.”

Ridley struggled again and Grace finally relented and got up. She reached out a hand to help Ridley, but her friend wouldn’t take it. “Please don’t be mad. What is happening now is beyond me, and it’s something I want no part in. It has nothing to do with my friends on the Lane.”

“It has everything to do with us! Go on and keep your damn secrets!” Grace was afraid Ridley would scream out her secret then and there. Below them Mistress Fisher banged on her ceiling, but Ridley said nothing else. She simply stormed out of the room in a huff.

Grace stood there in her room, stupefied for a few minutes. Slowly the feelings of doubt crept in. Ridley had always been loyal, if sometimes a bit flighty, and Grace couldn’t believe she would willingly bring harm her way. But she had been so hurt and angry, and there would always be concerns that Ridley would brag about knowing the secrets of the Death Dealer. If Ridley revealed what she knew, the consequences would be dire.

~*~*~

Outside the lodging, Jack caught a fleeing Ridley by the arm. “Trouble?”

“You knew all along about—”

Jack gently put a finger to her lips. “And now you do, too?” Ridley nodded. “And where are you rushing off to with that information?”

This gave Ridley pause for a moment. “Why shouldn’t I tell everyone I meet?” she growled through closed lips.

When Grace was just angry at the thieves, it was easy enough for Ridley to forgive. She wasn’t one of them, so she didn’t understand. This was something entirely different, though. This was a piece of herself she had kept hidden away. Ridley might have been a powerful ally had she known. The Princess of Thieves always did right by her friends, and she used to count Grace among them.

“If you are so intent on hating the Death Dealer, just remember who saved your life last summer.”

In her blinding rage, Ridley had forgotten about that event. The Death Dealer – Grace – was the one who rescued her and Marcus from Mac. It could easily have ended in her death and the death of Grace, but she did it anyway.

Jack removed his finger from her lips. “You would do well to remember that.” People around them were slowing their gaits and watching. They’d probably heard the Death Dealer’s name invoked and were now endlessly interested. A few even shared whispered conversations, but their eyes never left Ridley and Jack.

“Does no one in this city want for entertainment?” Ridley said, her angry glare fixing on those nearest. The man and woman turned their faces away and tried to pretend they weren’t eavesdropping.

It was better to give them something to talk about. The rumors that Thom was the Death Dealer had mostly subsided, so they needed new speculation. Ridley tried to think of something to say, tried to think of someone else to put up as the Death Dealer.

Jack sighed, remarking, “The Death Dealer made off with some coin of the Guild’s. Can you imagine?”

Tongues immediately started wagging. Jack crossed his arms over his chest nonchalantly and watched the rumor begin to spread.

Ridley huffed, “Why’d you do that? It makes the Guild looked weak and ill-guarded.”

“Better they spread that than the truth. Now maybe fools will look for lost Guild gold and ignore other goings-on in the streets. Now, let’s get back to where you are rushing off to…?”

Ridley sighed audibly, making her annoyance known. “I suppose it’s a harsh way to pay back a true kindness by saying anything. But no one trusted me! I never would have outright told.”

“No, but you’d have told everyone you knew who it was. And because you’re so close to her, people would eventually start guessing. Your friend didn’t tell
anyone
, so it’s not like you were intentionally kept out by her.”

“Marcus could have told me.”

“Then direct your anger at him. Can I trust you now to keep your mouth shut?” Ridley nodded her acquiescence. “Go on home and calm down. And when you have, go back and see Grace.”

~*~*~

The midnight hour was called, though Grace hadn’t been home for some time. She left Mistress Fisher’s lodging before the doors were locked and went to Jack’s lodging, bag of tricks with her. She’d slept on his dirty bedroll after he went to the Emerald for the night, and now it was time to get up and meet him.

Jack worked the alley door at the Emerald. According to him, from his position he could see into a number of windows if a candle or two was lit. He had seen Harris lurking around in one for several nights. Having no stake in either the Thieves’ Guild or the Guard, he hadn’t spoken of the discovery to anyone. This information would give Grace an advantage, but first, she’d have to go to the Emerald and wait. If they couldn’t confirm Harris was in the room, she couldn’t very well burst in.

With any luck she would be able to grab Harris and spirit him away to the temple district with little to no fuss. Chances were Marcus trailed her, and Sergeant Moore trailed Marcus now that he’d reappeared. If she couldn’t nab Harris tonight, his hiding place would be given away. If he wasn’t caught, it wasn’t in her favor that he’d pick another spot so close to the Emerald and Jack’s watch. Though the man had neglected to flee thus far, it proved intelligence wasn’t his strong suit. Maybe he would find another place close to the tavern.

Outside the Emerald, Jack smoked his pipe. She unsheathed her sword, letting light from the lamp above the door reflect off the blade. Jack caught this and nodded, and then turned his eyes upwards to the rooms around them. Grace crouched down to wait for his signal. Sound was muffled under the hood, so Grace hoped the signal would come soon. Lying in wait wasn’t something she was fond of since her sense of hearing was dampened. She rarely sat still, and more often than not she just trolled around, looking for trouble. However, this was not a time she could rush in and out. The only choice she had was to wait.