Page 63 of Kept to Kill
‘There are three of them.’
Mal, sharpening his knife on a whetting stone in the corner, choked. ‘Three?’ he asked incredulously.
‘Three men who lead many more. Enough to be a problem for us if they join the king’s forces,’ Quin snapped, breaking off as the door opened quietly and Lily entered, dressed in the typical garb of a young woman of the city.
Her dress was a light green with white embroidered flowers along the collar, and her long hair was plaited down her back. She looked quaint and as innocent and beguiling as Bastian knew her to be. All their eyes roamed over her.
‘Well, at least you no longer look out of place,’ Quin commented, sounding bored and looking away from her.
Bastian almost laughed aloud as he noticed the bulge in Quin’s breeches that he tried to hide. Quin wasn’t as unmoved by her as he claimed. Bastian hoped that perhaps that would stay Quin’s hand the next time he meted out a punishment to her. Discipline was a necessary evil in a unit and within the Army, but regardless of the Army’s views on such things, Bastian wasn’t sure he could stand the sight of Lily under the belt again.
Even Mal, with his passion for it, would not stand for it either. He seemed to only relish hurting her when she also enjoyed it, which, for a man with his reputation, Bastian found unusual. Gods, the man went on killing sprees. He murdered without conscience or thought whenever the mood took him, yet he seemed protective of Lily – and of him, now he thought on it. Perhaps he now saw Bastian and Lily as he saw Quin, that they were all indeed one unit – solid when their bonds with each other were strong.
Quin ushered Lily in and Bastian took her a goblet of water. She accepted it from him with a small smile before sitting down and looking at Quin expectantly.
She didn’t speak and neither did Quin. He seemed to be at a loss for words now that she was here.
‘When will I be needed?’ she finally asked quietly, despondently, and Bastian watched Quin cringe almost imperceptibly at her tone.
‘Tomorrow,’ he answered, finding his voice. ‘Three men.’
‘If we cut off the heads of the snake, won’t they just grow back?’ Bastian interjected.
‘There are no others fit to take their places, so I’m told.’
‘Who are they?’
‘Dangerous men who want to make trouble for the Army.’
‘And you need me because of the city’s wards so that it doesn’t look like they were assassinated by you,’ Lily guessed.
She was clever, Bastian thought. Quin underestimated her.
His Brother walked to the window looking out over the small garden at the back of the property. ‘Yes.’
‘And there are …’ She faltered before a look of determination came over her features. ‘There are just three of them?’
‘Only three.’ Quin looked back at Lily, quietly surveying her. ‘These are not good men, Lily.’
‘Neither are you,’ she fired back, and even Mal seemed surprised at the vehemence in her tone.
‘I don’t string people up and burn them alive,’ he growled. ‘Mal can take you to the northern wall and show you what they have caused, if that would make it easier for you to do what must be done.’
‘You would do anything if you were paid to do it,’ she countered.
‘There are three men,’ he said again, his voice hard. ‘You need to kill them. There is a celebration tomorrow night in the city. All three will be in attendance. You’ll be disguised as a courtesan to gain entrance.’
Lily choked on her water at his words and he smirked.
‘I’ll be dressed as what?’ she asked at the same time as Bastian and Mal exclaimed, ‘She’ll be dressed as a what?’
‘What do courtesans wear?’ she inquired faintly after a moment.
‘Not enough,’ Bastian said dryly, his eyes narrowing on Quin. ‘What if someone touches her unexpectedly?’ He turned to her. ‘How many can you kill at once?’
‘I— I don’t know. Three was the most I ever— the day I was brought to the camp … and afterwards, I was ill for days.’
‘Don’t like this,’ Mal hissed while continuing to sharpen his knife.
