Moon's Artifice (33 page)

‘One old man,’ Narin confirmed, stars bursting before his eyes as he nodded.

‘I like those odds.’

Narin forced himself to grin, feeling saliva and blood dribble from his mouth as he did so.

‘You’re all going to die,’ he whispered.

The Dragon’s smile at last went away. ‘What was that ? You want more of the pain ? Fair enough.’

‘Where is it ?’

The Investigator turned, eyes widening as he recognised Lawbringer Rhe. There was blood on the Investigator’s face, smeared trails running from a shallow cut at his thinning hairline and dirt on his cheek. More blood stained his sleeves, hands and jacket – more than could have come from such a wound.

‘In there,’ said the man, ‘I think.’

Rhe’s cold eyes fixed on the Investigator. ‘You think ? Are there other exits ?’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t know, but I was trying to …’ He gestured helplessly behind him. Beside a water-trough lay the body of another Investigator, a woman and younger than her colleague. Her chest had been carved open by some brutal weapon, that much was obvious.

‘You stopped to help her,’ Rhe said levelly. The man flinched and bit down on his lip. There was no hint of praise or condemnation in Rhe’s voice, but as he returned his attention to the building ahead it was clear he would have not done the same.

‘What’s your name ?’

‘Me ?’ The man swallowed, gaze still on his younger charge. He was a paunchy man in his forties – many Investigators were never raised to Lawbringer status but were experienced enough to train others. She would have been his responsibility. ‘Investigator Fenin, sir.’

‘What happened here ?’

‘I … I don’t know.’ Fenin ran a hand over his face, trying to clear the sweat and dirt but only managing to make it worse. ‘Demons, demons in the city.’

‘There’s word of sickness.’

Fenin nodded and pointed to the houses behind, cramped rooms set around a fenced yard. They were in the north of the city, in one of the poorer parts of the Imperial-controlled Arbold Warrant.

Rhe crossed over to the entrance to the nearest yard. The air was almost silent, none of the usual bustle or chatter one expected from a street like this. As he entered, a face bobbed up at the window, a local woman with tears streaking her face.

‘They won’t wake,’ she whispered, clearly in shock. Rhe approached her and she stumbled back, away from the window. His view of inside was clear enough to confirm his fears. Three figures lay on the low bed, two shifting feebly and pawing at the blanket draped over them all.

‘Fever ?’

The woman shrank back from his question, but nodded eventually. ‘They’re burning up, that demon’s brought a curse with it.’

‘How quickly has it come on ?’

‘I saw them last night – ate with them !’ He could hear the pleading in her voice, her desperation and fear.

Rhe didn’t respond. He cast around the room, noting the table in the centre and the discarded clothes beside the bed. ‘They were able to dress this morning,’ he stated. ‘One fetched water and there’s smoked fish out on the table.’

‘I went to their neighbours, to fetch help,’ the woman moaned. ‘They’re sick too. That’s when I saw it, the demon !’

‘Stay with them,’ Rhe ordered, ‘bar the windows and doors – make them drink if you can.’

‘Where are you going ?’

He ignored her and returned to the Investigator out in the street. Fenin hadn’t moved from beside his dead colleague.

‘Get up,’ Rhe said, as he passed the man.

Without waiting to see if Fenin followed, Rhe went to the building indicated by the Investigator earlier. It was down an alley between two stone walls – a half-open doorway that looked like a workshop from where he was. As he came closer there was a flicker of light inside and his hand went to the hilt of one pistol. Reminded of Kesh’s account, he moved more cautiously as he approached the door – ready to draw and fire, but he saw nothing more as he got to the door.

A glance behind told him Fenin was following, stave in hand, but he stopped at a gesture from Rhe. The Lawbringer slipped his own stave from behind his back, holding it in his left hand to deflect any blows, and stepped around the door to look inside the workshop. All appeared in order as he adjusted to the gloom within. He could see a pair of tables with tools neatly arranged on top, the goods of a leatherworker on display. He noticed an upturned chair before the hearth, then a figure crouched at a pallet half hidden by the brick chimney and workbench.

Rhe took a step closer, trying to make the figure out, but as he did it suddenly rose and turned. The air of the workshop crackled with darting light and he glimpsed a long body and slender limbs lit up by the staccato bursts – some sort of dark, patterned hide and a hairless, misshapen head. The demon darted forward and Rhe brought his pistol up on instinct – firing with unerring accuracy at the demon’s chest.

The room seemed to explode with light and Rhe reeled from the blinding flash. There was a screech from the demon, but it was impossible to tell if the sound was one of rage or pain. Rhe dropped his gun and drew the second, retreating from the doorway with his stave held straight out as he struggled to clear his vision.

Nothing attacked him. There was no sound at all from inside the workshop so Rhe advanced cautiously. Clearly this wasn’t some goshe assassin, but demons did not risk the daylight – he had never heard of such a thing in all his years, quite aside from the coincidence of a demon attack just as the goshe were being investigated.

Do the goshe have their own pet demons ?

Rhe put the thought from his mind and darted around the door once more, pistol levelled. The workshop was empty. He entered, gun still at the ready, and saw the room led around a corner where another door was situated. He advanced towards it but stopped in the middle of the room, noticing something on the floor where the demon had been standing just a few moments ago.

Rhe crouched and picked a piece up. The workshop had been recently swept so the debris stood out. It was dark brown in colour and unlike anything he’d seen before. Certainly not clothing or armour, it felt light in his hand and looked more like an oversized reptile scale, but the broken edges showed ragged strata like a fraying fingernail. More worryingly, amid the remaining pieces he saw the crushed remnants of his bullet. Whatever the plate was, his pistol hadn’t penetrated it.

Rhe stood and retrieved his first pistol. Clearly the bullet had hurt or frightened it at the very least and the creature had eyes and a mouth like any other. He would just need to find a vulnerable spot and a second shot might prove invaluable. The gun loaded, he set out in pursuit.

‘It’s been too long,’ Kesh said, jumping up from her seat. ‘They’ve got him.’

Enchei nodded as he looked again out of the half-closed shutter. ‘You’re right.’

‘So we’re just going to sit here ?’

The tattooist scowled. ‘No. It’s time to find some help.’

He rose and went to the cupboard at the back of the room, then hesitated and glanced at his two guests. The three of them were in his room on the first floor of a non-descript tavern a few streets away from where they’d escaped Coldcliffs. It was a typical rented room ; few furnishings or possessions on view, just a table, two chairs and a bed with a battered clothes trunk pushed up beside it. Just the sight of it had made Kesh’s heart ache for her boarding-house home, and the little sister who’d never be cleaning a room like this ever again.

‘Well ?’ Kesh demanded. ‘What now ?

Enchei shook his head. ‘Remember, I don’t know either of you and I ain’t one to share my secrets easily.’

‘Should we leave ?’

‘No – and keep away from the window. Last thing we need’s one of them getting lucky and seeing you look out.’

He opened the cupboard and surveyed what was inside. Kesh went to look over his shoulder and made a puzzled sound. A few shirts and trousers hung there, a small bag and heavy pair of boots slung carelessly on the floor.

‘How’s any of that going to help ?’

Enchei pointed to the bed where she’d been sitting. ‘Sit back down ; I just got something to do.’

‘Something you don’t want us to see ?’ Kesh turned to Irato, who was perched on the trunk, behind the open cupboard door.

‘Something I don’t want you to see,’ Enchei confirmed. ‘And something you don’t want to investigate yourself.’

‘Why not ?’ Kesh said as she complied and sat back down, the door obscuring her view.

‘Because I’ve booby-trapped it. You don’t want to die horribly, keep well clear of the cupboard.’

He moved forward until he was half-inside then reached out to run his hand down the right-hand wall. Kesh and Irato both instinctively leaned forward as they heard a click and something thump down inside the wall.

‘A false panel ?’

Enchei paused. ‘You’re pretty inquisitive for someone who’s got caught up in a dangerous conspiracy.’

‘Can you blame me ? What I don’t know has almost got me killed a few times this Ascendancy – I’m not exactly trusting of anyone’s secrets.’

‘Well, keep clear of mine,’ Enchei growled. There was a grating sound and a slight grunt of effort as he pushed something back. ‘Right, you two stay here. I’ve just got to …’

Kesh was already up and halfway to the cupboard. ‘Oh no, we’re going with you. It’s our lives on the line too, remember ?’

He didn’t respond for a moment, just stared at the blank back of the cupboard until seeming to come to a decision. ‘Fine, but you don’t tell anyone what you see here – understand ? Once this is all over, looks like I’m moving home anyway.’

‘Because we’ve seen your cupboard ?’ Kesh said. ‘Most be one hell of a secret compartment.’

Enchei didn’t respond, he just gestured for her to go inside. Kesh peered forward at the space where the right-hand wall had been and saw a narrow corridor, barely big enough for all three of them to fit in.

‘A hiding place ?’

The walls were bare brick, the ceiling and floor thin boards of wood that were warped with age. To her surprise it was relatively clean and free from cobwebs ; smelling faintly of dust and the oily tang of metal.

‘There’s a door at the end.
Do not
open it until I’ve shut this up behind us, okay ?’

She nodded and entered the tight space, Irato following wordlessly behind. ‘What would happen ?’

‘I told you, you’d die. We’d all die in fact, so just wait until I say.’

They did as they were told and eased themselves inside, waiting for Enchei to pull the cupboard door shut again and replace the cupboard wall panel. Once he’d done so, the hidden corridor was plunged into darkness and Kesh felt her heart quicken. She could feel Irato at her side and the big fighter’s presence was suddenly oppressive in such a confined space.

He can see in the dark,
she thought to herself,
they both can. He could kill me now and I’d never even see it coming.

Kesh swallowed her apprehension. After all this, she wasn’t going to let herself succumb to foolish thoughts – there was more than enough to fear outside on the city streets without her imagining more.

‘Now what ?’ she said in a quiet voice.

‘Reach out your right hand,’ Enchei said from somewhere past Irato. ‘There’s a door latch at waist-height. Lift it and hold it up a moment, then open the door.’

She did as instructed, her heartbeat sounding loud in her chest as she held her breath. As the door opened and light once more enveloped her, she breathed out with relief and stepped out into the room beyond.

Kesh looked around. It wasn’t much different to the room she’d been in, just bigger and a little more comfortably furnished. ‘This is your secret ?’ she said sceptically, ‘a few rugs and a bigger bed ?’

She nudged the rug with her toe. It was of decent quality, an intricate geometric pattern woven into it, but hardly anything remarkable. Crossing the room she went to the window, remembering to keep to one side, and tried to look out. The glass was dirty and covered in dust, but only on the outside, she realised as she wiped a finger down it. Also, the mullions were not wood as one would expect, but iron.

‘They’re bars,’ Kesh said in surprise, ‘you’ve made yourself a safe little cage here.’

Enchei grunted as he entered and closed the door behind him. ‘Something like that,’ he said cryptically.

Rolling back the rug he revealed a trapdoor in the floor and hauled on the iron ring set into it. Beneath there was a set of stairs leading down into the room below – the light similarly dimmed by a caking of dust on the windows, Kesh guessed.

‘These rooms are both yours ? How can you afford them ?’

‘I own the tavern,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Or rather, I helped the owner buy it and he’s getting rich because of it. He knows to keep well clear of my part.’

‘What’s behind it, then ?’ Kesh frowned as she tried to remember, but she’d rarely been this way and not noticed anything much when she had.

‘An empty shop-front. The innkeeper uses it for storage.’

They all went down into the lower room and the first thing Kesh noticed was the lack of stairs. The floor was all wooden boards without rugs covering them, but she could see no doors or any other way to access the empty shop below.

‘How do you get down ?’

‘You don’t – I removed the stair myself. There’s no way up if anyone breaks in below.’

The room looked like it was also just a storage place. Even in his secret life Enchei wasn’t much for comforts, Kesh realised. A pair of large, iron-bound cupboards dominated the room, while at the back there was a strange sort of brick outcrop covered with wood that served as a worktable. On it she saw the sceptre the goshe had used to drain the light from Narin’s rooms, now half-disassembled with metal pieces lined neatly up and glass fragments set to one side.

‘Have you worked out what that is ?’ she asked, pointing at the sceptre.

‘I knew already, soon as I saw it,’ he replied, waving Irato over to the table and pointing at the far end. ‘Help me lift this and put it on the floor.’

‘So what is it ?’

Enchei stopped. ‘A device for blanking out all the light in the room – a pretty crude one too, but it tells us something about how skilled these goshe are.’