Lisa Shearin - Raine Benares 01 (32 page)

“Spending
the Mal’Salin gold you earned last night?” I asked.

“Last
night was just business, nothing personal.”

“Piaras
Rivalin was beaten and we were both kidnapped.” I stepped in closer to Ocnus
than I wanted to be. For people like him, intimidation and proximity went hand
in hand. It was crude, but it worked. “Last night was everything personal.”

Ocnus
managed to shake his head. “You don’t understand.”

“I
think I do. Word has it that Sarad Nukpana is looking for you.”

Ocnus
tried a smile, but it just came off looking queasy. “He gave me the night off.”

Phaelan
sighed regretfully, though I knew he didn’t regret one thing he was prepared to
do. “Ocnus, you really need to work on your lying. You’ve been here less than
an hour, and you’ve finished off five pints all by yourself. Even one of your
guard dogs was hard pressed to keep pace.”

The
pudgy sorcerer looked around wildly.

“They
found something else to do,” I told him. “You might see them later.”

“I
think you’re having a bad night,” Phaelan surmised, “and you’re trying to drink
yourself into a better one. It doesn’t work that way. Trust me, I know.”

“I
don’t think you have the night off,” I told Ocnus. “I think you’ve run away
from home.”

Phaelan
adjusted his grip. “You running away from home, Ocnus?”

The
sorcerer squirmed a little and squeaked.

“I
think that’s a ‘yes’,” I said.

“Your
Mal’Salin friends wouldn’t get within a mile of this dump,” Phaelan said. “We
think that’s why you’re here. You must have done something extra naughty to put
an entire city between you. Care to share with us?”

I
leaned in close. “I’ll settle for where the Saghred is. Since Chigaru Mal’Salin
already paid you the fifty tenari you were going to charge me, I’ll just take
the information.”

Ocnus’s
eyes flickered to my chest. He suspected the beacon was there, at least that’s
what I told myself. If I let myself think otherwise, Ocnus wouldn’t be in any
condition to tell me anything. One of my fists flexed involuntarily. Then again
he didn’t need all his teeth to talk.

“The
Saghred has always belonged to the Mal’Salins,” Ocnus managed. Phaelan hadn’t
lightened the pressure on his neck, but I could hear a faint note of smugness.
The smugness of someone pleased with a job well done.

“Which
one? King Sathrik or Prince Chigaru?”

Ocnus
squirmed some more.

“Yeah,
I thought so. That has to be a problem for you, especially considering that the
king brought Sarad Nukpana along on his little goodwill trip. Psychos don’t
have much of a sense of humor when it comes to being double-crossed.”

“Professionally
speaking, there’s nothing wrong with having two clients vying for the same
prize,” Phaelan noted. “But it’s risky, and takes a certain level of skill to
get away with their money and your life. Ocnus here just isn’t that gifted.”

I
narrowed my eyes and twisted the corner of my mouth into what I’d been told was
a smile that promised many bad things. Considering the anger I had bubbling
just beneath the surface, I didn’t have to try very hard to look mean. I slowly
drew my favorite dagger for good measure. It was thin and slightly curved.
Ocnus had heard what I had done with it last year. Little of it was actually
true. When it came to maintaining a reputation, facts were fleeting, but you
could ride a rumor for years. It wasn’t facts that had Ocnus shaking in his
puddle.

“And
I don’t think you’re much of a risk taker,” I said, fighting back several
violent urges. Phaelan looked similarly challenged. “I think you know where the
Saghred is. So does Sarad Nukpana. You can tell us here, or we can go somewhere
quiet and we’ll ask you again, and we’ll keep asking until you tell us. It’s
entirely up to you.”

“Nukpana
won’t allow this,” Ocnus squeaked around Phaelan’s arm.

Phaelan
chuckled. “You actually
want
him to know? You’re crazier than he is. If
you don’t tell her everything, either I’ll kill you, or she can put that
filleting knife of hers to good use. And as long as we have you, Nukpana will
think you talked. Either way, your night’s going to go from bad to worse unless
you tell us where the Saghred is.”

Ocnus’s
ferret eyes darted to me. There was a crack in his bravado, but I could tell it
wasn’t ready to open. Not yet. I was tired of standing in a stinking alley, and
I knew just the thing to turn that crack into a chasm.

I had
no intention of using the knife, so I put it away. But I kept the smile. I knew
just the thing to get Ocnus into a conversational mood. Ocnus worked for the
Mal’Salin family, but he also feared them, with plenty of good reasons. The
royal family’s closets were packed with skeletons, but one skeleton in
particular pushed Ocnus’s panic button.

My
grin broadened. Not all Mal’Salins were in the Goblin District tonight, and one
of them owed me big time.

“Ocnus,
there’s someone I want you to meet.”

Tam
just looked at me. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“Sarad
Nukpana wants the Saghred. I want my life back. Ocnus knows where the Saghred
is. Need I say more?”

We
were in the storeroom at Sirens. Phaelan was back on the
Fortune.
After
delivering Ocnus into Tam’s clutches, he considered his work with me for the
evening done. Chivalry wasn’t dead, but sometimes when it got around Phaelan it
took a nap.

Mychael
Eiliesor was in the next room. Since the plan was to let Ocnus go after we had
the information we wanted, the Guardian chose to lie low. Ocnus hadn’t seen
him, and Eiliesor wanted to keep it that way. Mainly he didn’t want Ocnus
running around with the knowledge that at this moment, Mermeia was positively
teaming with Guardians who were after the same thing as the Mal’Salin family
and Sarad Nukpana.

I
knew Tam kept a spell around the storeroom to make it soundproof. I suspected
it was used as an interrogation room almost as often as it stored glasses and
tablecloths, but I really didn’t want to know the details. Ocnus was inside the
room and couldn’t hear us.

“You
set me up,” Tam accused.

There
was a lot of that going around.

“Turnabout’s
fair play,” I told him.

“You’re
not going to let me forget about Rahimat, are you?”

“Should
I? Your nephew’s up to his pointy ears in dumping me and Piaras at Chigaru
Mal’Salin’s feet, and you tell me I should let it go?”

“I
didn’t have a thing to do with that, and you know it.” He smiled slowly.
“Besides, you like me too much to stay mad.”

There
wasn’t much by means of contrition in that smile, but this was Tam we were
talking about. Besides, it was true. I did believe him, and Tam was way too
charming to stay mad at for long. Since he was right, I did the only thing I
could do. I changed the subject.

“Markus’s
dockside safehouses are all occupied at the moment, so this was the most
convenient place to bring him. Will you help me or not?”

Tam
glanced at Ocnus through a gap left intentionally in the door boards. He opened
his mouth to say something, then stopped. He shook his head and laughed softly.

“I
don’t have to say how much you’ll owe me for this.”

“I
owe you nothing. You owe me for last night.”

“It
wasn’t my fault.”

“It
was your house. You didn’t have to let A’Zahra Nuru and her princeling stay
there with his closest, most heavily armed friends.”

Tam
almost looked sheepish. “Actually, I did. Refusal would have been, how shall I
say, difficult for me.”

Tam
obviously didn’t want to expound on that, not to mention, I didn’t have the
time.

“Help
me get Ocnus to talk and I’ll set you up with the best spirits distributor in
Greypoint.”

The
goblin’s dark eyes flickered in interest.

“She
keeps Markus Sevelien’s cellar stocked.”

That
got Tam’s attention.

“We’ll
discuss the details later,” I added. “Ocnus first. Fine wines later.”

Tam
glanced at the little sorcerer and took a deep breath. I didn’t blame him. I
wouldn’t want to breathe Ocnus’s air either.

“The
things I do for my customers.”

I
smiled, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “And your
friends.”

“Them,
too,” he whispered. His breath was warm against my cheek—and his hands even
warmer on my waist.

His
lips found the tip of my ear, then his tongue made the discovery. I discovered
I only had one breath, and it wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was I. One of
Tam’s hands encircled my waist, pulling me tight against him. I tried
unsuccessfully to remember why I was here. The question flittered around my
head in search of an answer. Oh yeah, Ocnus. If that didn’t dampen Tam’s ardor,
nothing would.

“Ocnus.”
It came out on what little breath I could spare.

“Mmmm?”
Tam’s lips were busy working their way south, and his free hand was doing
likewise.

I
tried to point to the interrogation room, but my fingers had somehow tangled
themselves in Tam’s hair. Traitors.

“Ocnus.”
I said with only slightly more insistence.

“Let
him get his own girl,” Tam murmured. Then he kissed me, a devastating meeting
of lips and warm breath, topped off with just a nibble of fang, all guaranteed
to liquefy the knees of any woman. I didn’t need the Saghred’s help to know
what Tam wanted to do next.

With
Mychael Eiliesor in the next room.

I
found my breath, inhaled half of Tam’s, and pushed myself away.

“Mychael’s
in the next room,” I managed.

His
hold tightened. “He can get his own girl, too.”

I
raised a warning finger. “That’s not what we’re here for.” I swallowed and
tried for more air. It just came out as a gasp.

Tam
slid smooth fingers beneath my chin, tilting my face up to his. “Plans can
change.” The sly grin on his lips had worked its way north to his dark eyes,
eyes that had somehow gotten even darker.

“Perhaps.”
I swallowed again, hard. “Later.”

Tam
reluctantly released me, but took his sweet time doing it. I stepped back and
straightened my shirt—and tried to do the same to my thoughts. Prying and
kicking them all out of the gutter they’d fallen into wasn’t easy, but I
managed.

Tam
and I stepped into the storeroom. From Ocnus’s expression when he saw Tam, I
knew this was going to be easy and a little enjoyable. I felt a twinge of guilt
about the last part, but the thought of Piaras’s bruised face, along with fire
pixies, giant leeches, and Magh’Sceadu—and that Ocnus had played a direct role
in causing it all—was enough to make it go away.

“Since
you don’t want to speak to me, I thought you might like to talk to Primaru
Nathrach.” I paused meaningfully. “You’re aware of his relation to the
Mal’Salin family, in addition to his previous position as the late queen’s
chief shaman.” I didn’t ask it as a question. Ocnus knew who Tam used to be
even better than I did—or wanted to.

Ocnus’s
nod was punctuated by a squeak. So much for confirmation of Tam’s past
activities, or at least his reputation.

“He’s
also a good friend of mine.”

“A
very good friend,” Tam added, his voice low and smooth—and completely devoid of
mercy. It spoke volumes about what he would be willing to do, and it promised
torments beyond Ocnus’s feeble imagination. It gave me the creeps. I could only
imagine what it was doing to Ocnus.

I
turned to leave the room. “Just let me know if you need anything,” I told Tam
cheerfully.

The
goblin nodded slowly, his face expressionless. I fought back a shiver. Could I
pick my friends, or what?

Ocnus’s
worst fear about the Mal’Salin family centered squarely on what they did to
servants who had displeased them. They ate them. Of course this wasn’t true.
Well, at least not anymore. But when it came to maintaining prejudice, or a
reputation, a little rumor went a long way. Especially if the rumor involved
rotisserie cooking. The rumored antics of the Mal’Salin family multiplied those
fears a hundred fold.

“Wait!”
Ocnus’s voice was thin, shrill, and appropriately terrified.

Now
we were getting somewhere.

Once
Ocnus started talking, there was no shutting him up. His double-dealings had
multiplied into a veritable web of intrigue. I knew greed could make you
stupid, and I thought I’d seen and heard it all, but Ocnus’s antics appalled
even me.

Sarad
Nukpana wanted the beacon, and an expendable human thief to get it for him.
Ocnus had never liked Quentin, so he topped Ocnus’s list of expendables. Once
Chigaru got wind of what his brother and Nukpana were after, he wanted in, too.
At this point, things got sticky for Ocnus. He couldn’t refuse Sarad Nukpana’s
order without exposing his dealings with Chigaru Mal’Salin. Ocnus knew the
double fee he stood to collect wouldn’t do him much good if he were dead, and
he was desperate to shift the blame. He told Sarad Nukpana that Quentin was
going to double-cross him and fence the beacon through Simon Stocken. It
sounded like Stocken hadn’t died quietly, naming Ocnus as the main source of
Nukpana’s inconvenience. Then there was last night. Ocnus had been watching
Piaras and told Chigaru’s retainers exactly where to find him. Then he sent the
letter to me at Sirens. So the entire evening in which Piaras and I were nearly
killed on numerous occasions had been orchestrated by the quivering mass of
goblin seated not five feet from my clenched and eager fists. I heard a growl.
I think it was me.