Page 101 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Forty-One

I let myself wallow another day, holing up in my hotel room with good food and a lot of wine. I didn't even have to fetch the food and wine. I simply pulled a cord, someone came to my door, I told them what I wanted, and they brought it to me. Being rich was spectacular. But there was only so much wallowing I could do. I'm just not that guy.

Despite the ache in my chest that hadn't lessened one single bit, I got up the next morning, showered, dressed, and pulled the cord to request that breakfast be delivered to my room. I'd gotten lucky with Greven, but I wasn't about to risk showing my face in that restaurant again. After breakfast, I went downstairs, and the doorman hailed a carriage for me. The driver looked surprised when I told him to take me to the east docks.

“That's a bad part of Mhavenna, Sir,” he said.

“Yes, I'm aware. Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine.” I climbed into the carriage.

“It's your funeral,” he muttered as he closed the door.

I chuckled to myself, wondering what he'd say if I told him I'd been born in the Broken. He probably would have kicked me out of the carriage.

Since it was still early, I went to the Lu-Ken first. There was very little activity on the main deck when I arrived, some of the sailors smoking their first pipe of the day with a cup of coffee while others lazed in the sun. The Neraky loved to sunbathe. When I boarded, no one stirred beyond waving a greeting at me.

“He's in his quarters,” one of them called out.

“Thanks.” I waved and headed to the captain's cabin. I knew better than to barge in unannounced, especially at that time of day, so I knocked and waited.

After several minutes, a gruff, “What the fuck d'ya want?” came through the door.

“Teng, it's Lock.”

“Lock? Shit. Give us a minute.”

Us. Right. I moved back and flattened myself against the wall. A few minutes later, the door opened and three women slipped past me—an Argaiv and two humans—all smiles, pretty perfume, and fluttering fabric. They pulled their cloaks tight around themselves and hurried up to the deck. And not a single one of them was a whore. Teng was magical with the ladies. Three was a slow night.

“All clear?” I asked as I poked my head around the door.

Teng was stretching and yawning in bed, still on his back amid the rumpled sheets. “Yeah. Shout for some coffee, will ya?”

I leaned out into the hallway again. “Coffee!” Then I shut the door and went to sit at the small dining table. “I left him.”

Teng jerked upright. “What did you say?”

“Fuck, Teng. I think I was set up.”

He closed his eyes, rubbed at them, then climbed out of bed naked. Although Teng had a beautiful body, I looked away; you don't ogle your friends. He stumbled over to a pile of clothes, found his pants, and pulled them on. Then he fell into the seat across from me.

“Could you please start at the beginning, then work your way to the middle before getting to the end? You know, as a normal person does.”

“Sorry.” I grimaced. “I'm a little fucked up right now.”

“No shit. It's too soon for me to have anything on Crushei, so I hope you weren't expecting—”

“No, I just needed a friend. And I have another job for you.” I pulled out Taroc's remaining gold coin. “Here, you can have this now.”

“Lock.” His expression went concerned, but Teng will always be a pirate before anything else, and his hand automatically took the coin and pocketed it. “What happened?”

I told him everything, in order, as requested. “I need you to ask around the docks and find out if anyone saw the guy who assaulted me.”

“It happened on the docks?”

“No, but nearby. Hursa Lane.”

“Shit, they waited until you were just out of sight of the ship.

I nodded. “It's gotta be one of Taroc's courtiers or maybe even a soldier. I wouldn't put it past Captain Vettan. In fact, he was smirking at me when he escorted me out of the palace, looking really fucking pleased with himself.”

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