Page 57 of The Fury She Holds
His widened smile came as a surprise. “My day just got even better.”
Talwyn, Carrick, and Egan met up with Faron and Eddard the following night outside Gale’s tavern. Instead of his typical maroon suit, Faron wore fitted brown pants and an oversized, hooded black cowl that made him appear even larger, almost sinister. Tal eyed his new attire appreciatively and received a knowing smirk in return.
“I thought you might like tonight’s look. My leather suit got a tear,” he explained.
Tal nodded. She willed herself not to be distracted.
Sybil had warned them she could see something unexpected but couldn’t identify the finer details. She and Rainier were off searching for more clues into the mages. Carrick had insisted on coming, and Egan, while less insistent, wanted to help.
Eddard must have heard Tal asking how Faron found the men. “I grew up a few streets over. When Faron described them, I knew.”
Tal’s steps faltered. She noticed Carrick and Egan hesitate as well. “You grew up here?”
Eddard nodded and pointed east toward the water. “Just over there. I joined the guard when I lost my mother and sister. There was no one left for me here. I thought the guard would give me the chance to see the other kingdoms.”
“I’m sorry about your family,” Tal said after a pause.
He shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’ve made my peace.”
Eddard often hung around when Tal spent time with Daire. His blissful disposition always grated on Tal’s nerves. Now, she wondered if his eternal optimism actually masked the horrors he’d faced as a child.
“Anyway, these guys always caused trouble as I grew up—always picking on women and children. I found them in the same house they’ve always lived in.”
Tal eyed the building in front of her, a short walk from where she’d been attacked. It looked much like any other house at the docks, wedged between similar buildings on either side. They were in the belly of the residential area, where Pochette’s men and the rest of the disreputable poor lived. All the buildings along both sides of the street sat in varying degrees of disarray. And, though Tal had grown accustomed to the stinking smell of garbage and stagnant water, it was especially rancid in this part of town.
They crouched on the roof across the street, debating a way in when Faron relayed the information he’d gathered. The two men were in one of the lesser gangs, though they had such low rank it wasn’t worth noting. Around the docks, they went by the names Badger and Gully, with Badger being the stockier man and Gully the taller one. It was during Faron’s explanation that company arrived. The sight of the cloaked figure sent a wave of unease through the group. She twisted and hissed at Faron, “Did you know anything about this?”
Faron returned her gaze, stunned.
“There’s been no communication between them and the mages, I swear.” Egan’s tone turned apologetic.
“Dammit, we’re not prepared for this.” Tal’s inner thoughts warred over giving up on her revenge scheme tonight or risking a battle with a mage.
“Well, we were waiting for this.” Egan seemed too eager to engage their enemy.
Eddard’s middle finger tapped nervously on his knee. “Are we changing the plan then? No torture?”
Carrick shifted. “I say we follow, see where the mage hides during the day, attack him, then come back tomorrow for yourmarks.” Carrick’s plan did not surprise her, but Tal had set her mind on action with minimal risk. She wasn’t willing to let the two men walk away again.
“We can’t engage the mages here, and I don’t like the idea of going after them without Sybil’s input. We could be walking into a trap.” She watched the door open, and sure enough, one of her attackers, Badger, stood in the opening. Fire burned in her chest. She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath to calm the fury making its way to the surface. By the time the cloaked figure entered the building and the door shut behind them, her magic had calmed within its cage.
Faron chimed in, “Or we listen, Ed follows the newcomer when he leaves but doesn’t engage, and we stay. You still get revenge. Ed can get back to us when he finds the mages.”
“Two birds, one stone. I like it.” Eddard’s childlike smile returned.
“Works for me. I’ll take the first floor.” Tal couldn’t wait any longer. She hopped down from the roof onto a windowsill and into the side alley.
Faron followed behind her, close enough that the skin on her neck prickled.
Together, they ran across the street, crouching below an open window to the left of the front door. She pressed her back to the side of the house and craned her neck to peer inside. Two shadows crossed in her periphery. She jerked her attention in time to see Carrick and Egan find new vantage points on adjacent rooftops. Eddard remained across the street.
Every now and then a door slammed. Someone yelled at a nearby tavern. However, Tal’s focus remained on the conversation inside the house and Faron’s quiet breathing beside her.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen her. I wanna see the money.” The man’s voice set Tal on edge. Memories of that night flashed in hermind, and she recognized the voice of Gully, the taller one. She stared at the ground in front of her and focused her hearing. Beside her, Faron had gone still. “We heard you were payin’ Amos, and now he’s in the wind. I wanna know what’s in it for me.”
A jostled coin purse responded to Gully’s demands. The scene of Pochette and the apparition in the alley came to mind. If an apparition instead of a mage stood inside, its maker would be nearby. Was he watching them right now? She realized too late that she ran into this situation without enough thought.
“What’s so special about her anyway?”
