Page 32 of Dishonor Among Thieves
I dashed up the narrow stairs, lighting the way while Neo cautiously took each step with Elgit in his arms. I put my shoulder into the hatch door and shoved with my all my strength, but it took three tries before I could budge the heavy wood. Even then I had a tough time balancing the torch, the other items, and keeping the door open.
“Let me move past,” Neo instructed, “and slam that closed behind us. Rustle the leaves and twigs to cover the door as we found it, but don’t spend too long. I’ll head for the horses.”
He wedged his way past me, the bundle in his arms unnervingly still. Just after Neo cleared the hatch door, he picked up his pace, walking quickly toward the horses. I tried to carefully close the heavy door, but with my arms full, the torch slipped from my grasp and tumbled all the way back down the stairs. I was suddenly bathed in darkness.
It was night. We were in a clearing where the vengersax, winged daggers, roamed the skies, and Neo was carrying a bleeding goblin, its flesh and sweat sending waves of scent through the dark. I scrambled to scatter some twigs and leaves on the closed hatch door then searched the horizon for the tiny torch still burning bright by the horses.
“Neo,” I cried out, “run!”
ChapterNine
The ride back to the Oderisi manor was more exhausting and chilling than my darkest nightmares on the longest of nights. While the gods must have kept the vengersax securely in their nests, they seemed to have completely abandoned Elgit. Neo insisted on holding the goblin on the slow, arduous journey. I rode beside Neo, Sara too new to me and to the manor to lead the way back. I hated to admit it, but my arm grew weary of holding the torch, the muscles tight and trembling. If we hadn’t needed it for protection, I was certain I would have dropped it a dozen times. But every sound from Neo braced my resolve to hold the light high and keep the dangers of the air away.
Elgit remained silent, but every step Sedda took seemed to cause Neo more and more distress. Whether it was simply the physical strain of holding Elgit’s bleeding body steady or the emotional drain of what we’d seen, I did not ask. Every time I looked at him, curious and concerned, he clamped his lips shut and stared straight ahead.
When we finally arrived at the manor, the relief I felt that the ride was over was short-lived. I left my horse with Neo and threw my body against the front door, pounding with what was left of my strength and praying that Antonia and Dale were awake. When the butler, her hair mussed and eyes sleepy, did finally open the door, her alarm at my state was clear.
“We have an injured…being,” I cried, too concerned that we might be overheard to admit what Elgit was. “He’s near death! Neo’s holding him.”
Antonia wasted not a step, frantically ringing for Dale and rushing him off to rouse the household.
As soon as I knew help was on the way, I ran back to Neo. Every muscle in his jaw was locked in grim determination. His hair was slick with sweat, his arms locked beneath Elgit’s legs and back. His face bore smudges of dirt from our subterranean descent, and if I wasn’t mistaken, fresh tears tracked thin paths through the smudges on his face.
Rain ran out to meet us first. Getting Elgit from Neo’s arms was heart-wrenching. Dale brought a sturdy wooden box from inside the house and set it beside the horse. Rain climbed onto the box so that his arms were nearly level with his brother’s.
“Careful, now,” Rain said. “Hand him to me.”
Neo didn’t speak, didn’t move. I didn’t know if he was reluctant to release the goblin or if fatigue and exertion had ruined his limbs so he simply couldn’t.
“Neo,” Rain urged, “you’ll cause him more injury and distress if you try to dismount without aid. I have no idea how you got onto that horse with him in the first place.”
I hardly believed he’d been able to do it. I’d been running so fast toward the horses, all I could see was Neo jostle the goblin from two arms to one, grab the reins, and mount the horse before I even arrived to pick up the torch. If his fear had spiked like mine, I would not have been surprised to see him leap onto the horse fueled by terror alone.
But now, Rain had to coax his brother to release his precious cargo.
“There, easy… I’ve got him. You can let go.” Rain stood on the box with Elgit in his arms, a nauseated grimace on Rain’s face. “Did you bite him, brother?” Rain asked. “Even the smallest bit of venom might…”
Elgit was still wrapped in the cloak, his injuries as well as his face still masked. Neo climbed down from his horse, a low groan the only evidence that he was indeed sore and tired. He stood with his arms outstretched, as if waiting for Rain to return the bundle.
“Trust me,” Neo gritted out, “he’s too far gone to be helped by a bite. Much too far gone. We focused on surviving the ride.”
Rain refused to hand Elgit back to Neo, instead holding fast to the silent bundle while he stepped down from the box. Dale took the horses and urged me to get inside.
“Set up in the sitting room,” Antonia ordered the moment our miserable group entered the manor. “Is anyone else hurt?” She rested her cool palms on either side of my face, the pinch of her lips and the crease between her brows belying her concern. “My dear, you look…”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “Please, we must help him. His name is Elgit.”
She nodded. “Come on, then.”
Rain placed the motionless bundle on the settee where I’d slept last night. I pushed past him to unwrap my cloak and free the goblin from the constraints of the fabric. When the small gray face was exposed, Rain gasped and gripped his brother’s shoulder. Antonia immediately began praying.
“I’ll bring hot water, drinking water, and fresh blankets and rags. May the gods bring Odile back to us before we lose him.”
Rain and Neo spoke quietly about what we’d found in the sanctum while Gia, barefoot but dressed in breeches and a tunic, came running into the sitting room.
“By the gods,” she breathed, a hand over her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.
The stench of Elgit’s injuries and what was no doubt a horrific infection filled the room as I gently peeled my cloak away from his belly.
