Weapon of Vengeance (Weapon of Flesh Trilogy) (20 page)

“Ruffians?  In this neighborhood?”  His wife’s face
paled.  “What’s this city coming to?”

“I ask that question every day, my dear.”  Norwood
shook off his dire thoughts and turned to her.  “Now what is that luscious
aroma coming from the kitchen?  Did you have dinner catered by a master chef
again?”

“Did I…”  She blinked at him, taken aback by the
change in subject.  “Oh, stop it!  Come eat before it gets cold.”

“Of course, my dear.”  Norwood hurried to comply. 
The only thing more daunting than being attacked by one assassin and rescued by
another was his wife’s potato-cabbage stew gone cold.

W
ith all the comings and goings lately, the neighbors
will think Lad’s quite the socialite
.

Mya mounted the steps to his house, diligently
practicing her lady-like stride and feeling silly in her new dress.  She planned
a foray into Hightown after the meeting, and wasn’t about to go all the way
back to the
Cockerel
to change.  The dress was more comfortable than her
old one, thanks to Bemrin’s tailor, but the light blue color clashed with her
red hair. 
Never trust a journeyman Hunter to pick out a dress for you
.

“Miss Mya.”  Dee met her at the door.  He didn’t
comment on the color of her dress, which was very politic of him, not to
mention healthy.  “The others are already in the study.”

“Thank you, Dee.”  She lowered her voice.  “I know Lad
didn’t take the news about Patino well.  How is he doing?”

Dee’s look of startlement took her aback.  Then she
remembered how closely he had kept her confidences when he was her assistant. 
His loyalty was to Lad now. 

“Never mind.  It’s not my business.”  She started
past him.  “Forget I asked.”

Dee held out a hand to forestall her passage and
lowered his voice to a bare whisper.  “Please, Miss Mya, I know you’re
worried.  He…didn’t sleep at all last night, and he didn’t want breakfast this
morning.  Something’s really got him worked up.”

“Thank you.”  The look on Dee’s face told her that
she wasn’t the only one who cared about Lad.  Mya followed him down the hall,
deep in thought.  She hoped one of the other masters had good news.  Her
Hunters had made no progress tracking Kiesha.

Dee opened the door to the study, and she found
herself in the company of the other masters and Lad.  Thankfully, Hensen wasn’t
here.  She’s been surprised to see the master thief sipping tea at Lad’s table
the previous morning, and felt no small amount of relief that he hadn’t been
tortured. 
But why was only Sereth in on the interrogation
?  Maybe she’d
just have to ask Sereth.

“Mya, sit down.”  Lad paced like a caged wolf, his
bloodshot eyes darting around the room at every turn.  “We’ve got a lot to
discuss.”

“Yes, Master.”  She settled onto the divan and said
casually, “Oh, Dee, would you bring in something to eat?  I missed breakfast
putting on this ridiculous outfit.”

Dee raised his eyebrows at her request, then his
eyes lit in understanding, and he nodded.  “Of course, Miss Mya.”  He ducked
out of the room.

“You need a lady’s maid, Mya.”  Bemrin brushed his
silk brocade jacket with a practiced gesture.  “I find my valet indispensable.”

“The
last
thing I need is a—”

“Talk about your servants some other time,” Lad
ordered, his eyes raking over them all.  “I met the man who killed Baron Patino
last night.”

That brought them all up short.

“The
man
?”  Mya gaped at Lad in surprise. 
How had he discovered the killer when all her Hunters and Bemrin’s Inquisitors
couldn’t?  “I thought Kiesha killed him.”

“We were wrong about that.”  Lad resumed pacing.

“So, he really
was
murdered?”  Bemrin’s brows
arched skeptically.  “All my people were able to get from the Royal Guard was
that Patino died of natural causes.”

“I have my own informant, and if he says that Patino
was murdered, then he was murdered.”

He went to Norwood again
!  Mya wasn’t really surprised.

“How did you find him?” Jingles asked.  “And more to
the point, where is he now?”

“I didn’t find him.  He tried to kill my informant,
and I had to intervene.”

That’s not good
, Mya thought.  If an assassin
was desperate enough to try to take out the captain of the Royal Guard, things
had just stepped up a notch.

Lad stopped pacing and faced them.  “That was right
after my informant told me that Patino was killed with magic, by a priest.”

“A
priest
?” Sereth asked with a furrowed
brow.

“Yes.  And the attacker last night certainly wielded
magic.”  Lad paused as the door opened.

Dee entered in a cloud of heavenly aromas, and
placed a huge tray of pastries and blackbrew on the table.

Lad’s eyes lingered a moment on the repast before he
began pacing again.  “Evidently, this man can kill with a touch.  Patino died
without a mark on him.  As to where he is now; before I could take him, he
vanished in a puff of…something like smoke.”

As the masters muttered oaths of surprise and
consternation, Mya poured herself a cup of blackbrew, generously buttered a
scone, and began to eat.  Bemrin also served himself.  The others evidently
weren’t hungry.  Mya wasn’t hungry either, but she did her best to look as if
she was enjoying every bite.

“Smoke, Master?”  Enola worried her lip and shook
her head.  “Did it smell of brimstone?”

“It didn’t smell of anything, come to think of it,
and it dissipated as soon as he vanished.  Why?”

“Creatures of the Nine Hells generally leave behind
bad smells or burns.  A powerful priest might summon such a creature do his
killing for him, though I think they tend toward violence, and would certainly
leave marks on the corpse, if they even
left
the corpse.”  She wagged a
wrinkled finger.  “On the other hand, a specter or ethereal devourer can kill
with a touch, but they’re incorporeal.”

“He didn’t leave any trace behind, and seemed
corporeal enough when I broke his arm,” Lad said.

“So, Kiesha did
not
kill Baron Patino.  This…man
did.”  Bemrin’s lips pursed.

Hensen must have loved that, someone
to take the blame off Kiesha
. 
Mya washed the last bite of scone down with blackbrew, and took another
pastry.  “Dee, these are absolutely delicious!” she stage-whispered.

Lad glared at the interruption, stared a moment at
the cheese pastry in her hand, then continued.  “It fits the facts.  What
doesn’t fit is who in the Nine Hells this assassin is, and what happened to
Kiesha.”

“Maybe he killed her, too.”  If pity had been
butter, Sereth’s comment wouldn’t have dampened a single slice of toast.

“We’ve found no body, but…” Bemrin shrugged.

“Bodies can be made to disappear.”  Jingles twitched
his wrist, his silver bracelet chiming.  “Ask any catfish or alligator
downriver.”

“He wasn’t concerned about disposing of Patino’s
body.”  Mya glanced at the others.  “And I’ve had Hunters watching the docks
day and night.  No bodies have been dumped in the river.”

“There’s a big difference between slipping a dagger
between a thief’s ribs and pushing her into the river, and hauling a baron’s
corpse out of a house in Hightown.”  Jingles grabbed a muffin and took a huge
bite.

“Did you get a good look at him, Master?”  Bemrin
nibbled his pastry and sipped blackbrew.

“No.”  Lad strode to the table and snatched up a
scone almost as if the delicacy had offended him.  Mya cheered inwardly as he
took a bite.  Her ploy had worked; she’d tricked him into eating something.  
“He wore a cloak with a deep hood.  I saw his hands and caught a glimpse of his
chin.”

“But he looked human.”

“Yes.”  Lad took another bite and nodded,
considering Enola’s question.  “Yes, he seemed human.  And his voice sounded
perfectly normal.”

“He spoke?”  Bemrin’s eyebrows arched again.  “What
did he say?”

“I asked him who he was, and he said, ‘The right
hand of death.’”  Lad swept the masters with his gaze.  “Does that mean
anything to anyone?”

It didn’t to Mya, and she shook her head with the
others.

“Sounds like he was just trying to scare you,
Master.”  Sereth shrugged.

“That’s what I thought.”

“I can certainly research that phrase, Master.” 
Bemrin put his cup down and finished his pastry.  “It might be a title of some
sort.”

“Do that.  And ask around the temples about death
cults or priestly assassins.”  Lad wolfed down the last of his pastry and
resumed pacing.  “Any more ideas?”

“If this man can pop in and out like a fart on the
breeze and kill with a touch, I think we need to beef up security.”  Jingles
looked concerned.  “Especially around you, Master.  He could pop in while you’re
sleeping and…well, off you.”

“The thought
had
crossed my mind.”  Lad
folded his arms and glowered.  “Increased security’s not a bad idea.  The same
goes for the rest of you as well.  Everyone should have bodyguards watching day
and night, even when we’re sleeping.  If this man tried to kill my informant
just because he was asking questions about Patino, he might decide to take us
all out for the same reason.”

Mya cringed at the thought of having someone
standing in her bedroom while she slept.  In fact, she didn’t want anyone in
her apartment at all.  She looked to Enola.  “You think this man can just pop
in anywhere?”

“Magic can accomplish amazing things,” Enola
admitted.  “I’m no expert on transposition spells, but I can ask some
questions.”

“Do that, but be careful.”  Lad snatched up another
scone, and Mya stifled a smile.  “Also, Enola, since you’re the only one among
us who has any real experience with magic, find out what kind of spell might
have killed Patino.”

“Necromancy, maybe.”  Enola chewed her lip.  “I’ll
check on it.”

“Jingles, assign four of your best Enforcers to each
of the masters, and myself as well.  Two will be awake and guarding us every
hour of every day.”  His eyes pinned them each in turn.  “Is that clear?”

While the others simply nodded and agreed, Mya
looked at Lad skeptically.  “
Every
hour?”

He stared at her for a moment, and understanding
dawned in his eyes.  No one else knew of Mya’s tattoos, and she wanted to keep
it that way.  “Barring bathing and such, of course, but someone needs to watch
the room while you sleep.”

“I guess I won’t be
sleeping
much, then.”

Bemrin and Jingles chuckled.

“If the assassin can travel with magic, he could be
anywhere.  Locks and doors won’t keep anyone safe.”  Lad finished the last of
his scone.  “What I want most is to find Kiesha, preferably alive.  Hensen has
given us some more ideas about where she might hide, and I want them all
checked.  Dee has a list.  I also want everyone to start thinking about who
would benefit by Patino’s death, who would order Keisha to murder my wife, and
why.”

“Yes, Master,” they all said.

Mya jerked her head toward Bemrin as she said,
“We’re still looking into Patino’s associations.  I don’t trust Hensen’s
report, since Kiesha was in charge of the investigation.”

“She’s absolutely right.”  Bemrin nodded in
agreement.  “I don’t think we should trust
anything
Hensen told us.”

“Then get out there and gather the facts yourself. 
Add any affiliations with cults or churches to your search of Patino’s
associations.  If he was killed by a priest, maybe there’s some connection. 
I’ve got someone looking into his past, but it’ll take time.”  Lad looked to
Bemrin.  “Try not to bring the Royal Guard down on us this time.”

“I’ll be more discreet in my inquiries, Master.” 
Bemrin bowed his head in subservience.  Maybe he was learning a little
humility.

“Do that.”  Lad swept the room with his gaze once
again.  “If there’s nothing else, get to work.”

Mya lingered to let the other masters leave first,
finishing her pastry before following.  Lad had already begun pacing again, but
there was another pastry missing from the tray.  She smiled. 
Well, at least
I got him to eat something
.