Page 58 of The Fury She Holds
“We have business to settle. Where can we find her?” The visitor’s smooth voice held no inflection. It oozed over Tal’s ears, and she wondered if the sound carried a spell with it.
“Hells if I know. She got away. She had a buddy with her, a red swordsman.”
Tal’s gaze shot to the right, and her eyes locked with Faron’s. He rolled his eyes and mouthed, “It’s maroon.”
Tal swallowed her laughter and widened her eyes at him. Silently, she responded, “This is serious!” which earned her another eye roll.
The emotionless voice interrupted their silent conversation. “Can you describe either of them?”
“Yeah. He wore red. She wore black. Both pains in my ass.” Heatedly, he added, “Cut off two of my fingers!”
With a tilt of his head, Faron shrugged his shoulders, as if to say “He deserved it.”
She shook her head at him, but a grim satisfaction settled in her chest.
“Anything else?” the voice asked. The disconcerting lack of emotion confirmed an apparition stood inside. Tal scanned the street but saw no sign of a mage.
“She was piss drunk. I reckon she was coming from Gale’s.”
Tal swore silently. If the mage could draw any conclusions, they only had to wait at the tavern to find her. She’d have to start stocking up on ales to bring back to the tunnels.
“And you? Do you have anything to add?”
Even without seeing who the apparition addressed, she instantly recognized the short, stocky man’s voice. It grated on her ears and made her want to clear her own throat. “She could fight,” he ground out.
“Thank you for the information. It has been most… interesting.” The metallic thud of coins falling onto the wooden table interrupted the conversation. “As promised.”
Footsteps sounded, and Tal realized they were exposed. They only had a moment before the guest reached the door. She dove into Faron who, at the same time, grabbed her and launched the two of them around the corner of the house, turning as they went. He landed on top of her, and they stared at each other. Tal prayed to the gods they wouldn’t be noticed even with their feet sticking out past the side of the house. The door opened and closed. She held her breath and focused on Faron’s determined expression, as if he willed them to become invisible.
Finally, the crackling of footsteps on the gravel street faded. The entangled pair breathed a sigh of relief. Tal’s thoughts returned to the woods when Faron didn’t move. Instead, he quirked his lips.
“We really must stop meeting like this. It’s not good for my reputation,” he whispered.
Tal rolled her eyes. Faron’s breath caressed her face, sending chills throughout her body. She felt herself blush. It should have been too dark to see the pink color of her cheeks, but his smile grew larger.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the fearsome bounty hunter has grown shy,” he added.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your dagger is digging into me,” she whispered back.
“Are you sure that’s my dagger?”
Tal scoffed and pushed him off her. A large shadow fell by her head, and Carrick crouched beside them.
“Not to interrupt, but are we still going after the two lowlifes who live here, or are we going to let them disappear?”
Tal jumped to her feet and swore at the sight of her two targets sauntering down the street. “How did they get by us?!” she hissed.
“You looked a little distracted.” Carrick’s response was short, clipped. While he’d gotten used to Tal’s drunken carelessness long ago, alcohol had no part in her more recent mistakes.
She glared at Faron and wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. “Don’t look at me like that.” She smacked his arm. “Come on. We’re going after them.” She stalked in the direction the criminals disappeared without waiting for her companions.
They caught up to her, each at her shoulder. She eyed the rooftops to her left and saw Egan’s form leaping from building to building as he overtook the trio.
She gazed down the street and knew the men’s destination. They were beef-witted louts with unexpected coin. They were likely headed to the nearest shady tavern. While they wasted their reward on a few pints, Talwyn would convince Carrick and Faron to drag the bastards to the kiln.Forget the chair this time.I'll let them try to fight back.
“Eddard’s following the apparition.” Carrick tried to get her attention. “We should wait until he’s confirmed the mage’s location before we take action.”
She stopped in the middle of the street and rounded on Carrick. “You want me to just let them go? Do you know what they tried to do to me?” The logical part of her brain abandonedher. She told herself torturing them was a means to gain information, but her fury demanded revenge.
