Page 36 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“Did Haeloc know you were… What was your mother’s name?” I asked.
“Cherryn.” The love Neo felt for his mother came through in the tenderness in his voice. “Cherryn Luisana Oderisi.”
“That’s lovely,” I said, my eyelids growing heavy. I stifled a yawn but scooted back just a bit farther onto the settee. My arms were so tired, and I could see Elgit from here. I’d just rest myself a few short moments while Neo explained. “So did Haeloc know that you were your mother’s son?”
“Worse than that,” he growled. “I believe he knew I was Cherryn’s son and meant to kill me. He lured me into taking the job on the pretense of wanting to help us out of our ‘unfortunate circumstances.’ He made it too easy, and I was fool enough to trust him. He provided a cog and a crew, but the cog was faulty. Either that, or someone on the crew was paid to sink it. We began to take on water. I panicked, tried to repair the leak, but by the time it was clear we had to abandon ship or lose the crew, twilight had fallen.”
“Sea trolls,” I whispered. If vengersax ruled the night air, the sea trolls ruled the coast at night and very often wandered as far inland as they needed to. For meat.
“I made damn sure every man on that crew made it to shore,” he said, his voice flinty with anger. “But the cog couldn’t be saved. It sank. I dragged myself back to Haeloc, blaming myself for the loss of the ship. By the gods, I was a fool. I should have known. Should have suspected! Haeloc didn’t apologize that he’d sent me out a ship that was nowhere near seaworthy. Didn’t breathe a sigh of relief that none of the men on that ship had become troll bait. No. The wretched monster tallied up the damages that I owed him. The full value of the ship. The time he’d have to pay the crew in wages. Every barrel of drinking water, every supply. He itemized everything, and not only that… He insisted I repay every penny of the value of the cargo I’d been sent to salvage.”
I worried my lower lip between my teeth, dragging the tiniest corner of a blanket over my hands to warm them. “I don’t understand,” I said softly. “I thought you hadn’t salvaged anything because the cog took on water?”
Neo barked a harsh, soft laugh. “Reality was just a distraction to Haeloc. To a desperate man in pursuit of treasure, reality was something to be shaped and formed, not something to bend to. By the time he hired me, he’d become cruel and bitter. I suspect he was dying and was doing something not unlike what my mother had done. Spending every penny he had to stay a step ahead of death.”
I felt him move over to make a bit more room. While he didn’t speak the invitation, I rolled onto my side, supporting my head with a pillow so I could still see Elgit.
“I refused to pay him anything but the value of the cog. Since I couldn’t prove he’d damaged it intentionally to sabotage me, it seemed a reasonable compromise on the exorbitant amount he claimed. But nothing about Haeloc was reasonable. He threw me in a cell, imprisoned me in his manor. Had a henchman beat me nearly to death but left me alive long enough to let me know he’d summoned my brother. When Rain arrived, Haeloc made him a deal. Pay the full amount of what he claimed I owed him within a few short weeks, or he’d kill me. Brick me into the wall of his dungeon.”
My stomach sank. “He threatened to brick you in?”
I could feel Neo nod. “Haeloc’s henchman beat my brother within an inch of his life, then cast him out.”
“You were imprisoned, then, by this Haeloc. The cruel man who wanted your mother but settled for you. And the same man who somehow is connected to what happened to the goblins?”
“Yes,” he sighed.
I felt the warm weight of his arm over my side. I tucked myself a tiny bit closer to him, willing my eyes to stay open while I rested my body but kept watch over my charge.
“When Rain, Gia, and Odile rescued me, Haeloc disappeared. Fully vanished right before their eyes. He’d had his fangs removed at some point—either intentionally or against his will. We suspected he’d been dabbling with magic—either personally or through some mage who used his fangs to bind him. But we know not where he is. Since the day I was rescued by Rain, Gia, and Odile, as far as I know, Haeloc has never returned to his wretched manor. It’s been nearly three months now, and the place is in utter disrepair. But I can’t stay there in wait, ready to kill him if he returns.”
“That was the job you offered your friend in Fish Head End?” I asked. It all made sense now. Of course the caretaking job would be too dangerous for me. The caretaker would not be taking care of the manor. He would be lying in wait to kill the vampire lord if he ever returned.
“It was,” he said softly. “And that’s why we lock our doors, even inside the house. Until Haeloc is dead, no member of the Oderisi household is safe.”
ChapterTen
“Brother, stop. I beg you to think this through. We have no idea what we’re dealing with!”
I squinted through the sleep that claimed my eyes, the sound of rising voices breaking through my dreams. As soon as I stretched and rolled over, everything returned to me. The marriage contract. Rescuing Elgit. Neo’s history with the vampire raider.
I shoved aside the blankets and sat up, trying to still the panic that overtook me like a sudden storm. Where was Neo? How was Elgit? And how, by the gods, had I slept so long?
The settee behind me was cold, an empty space and smashed pillows the only evidence that anyone had slept alongside me. My body warmed and my face flushed hot as I remembered the tossing and turning, and—dare I admit it—the closeness we’d shared as we slept. I remember a kiss on my forehead, my cheek against Neo’s chest. A leg thrown over mine. A tangle of light and dark hair spilled over our nestling bodies. As far as a wedding night, we’d certainly not behaved as newlyweds. But we had shared a bed, falling into that uncommon intimacy of actually sleeping beside each other, intertwined for warmth and comfort.
As soon as I shook myself awake, I grabbed the charm around my neck and took a deep breath. The darkness outside the volcano glass windows suggested it was early, just before sunrise. Exactly when Neo had awakened and left, I did not know. As much as I seemed to remember how sleeping beside him felt, I had not noticed him leave me.
I set my bare feet on the cool floor, grateful that someone—Neo, most likely—had tended the fire before he left. The room was comfortably warm, and I could see the gentle movements of Elgit’s chest in the orange light from the flames that flickered onto his sleeping form.
I hovered over the goblin, curious if he was feverish. I rested the back of my hand against his forehead, but not knowing what fever might feel like in a goblin, I gave up the effort and instead took hold of his hand. He moved slightly, a subtle reactive quiver in his fingers that I took as an excellent sign. He was at least no closer to death. Perhaps he’d inched a bit closer to this Realm in the hours he’d been resting—and that bit was more than enough to give me hope. I was afraid to touch his bedding or the bindings that Odile had applied, so I said a prayer over him and headed for the door.
“None of us will be safe until he is dead!” Neo’s harsh voice echoed through the manor. He had the death mask in one hand and gestured with the goblin dagger that had ruined the mask in his other hand. “And didn’t you, just last night, brother, passionately argue for an attack on Haeloc’s Manor? Why withdraw your passion now, when the light of day and a night of rest redeems me?”
I closed the heavy door to the sitting room and hugged my arms around my body. Outside the warmth of the fire, the manor was cold, the puff of my breath as I exhaled misting in a small cloud of heat. “Good morning,” I said stiffly. I looked at Rain first and then at Neo, who was not only wide awake but already dressed.
Neo’s entire expression softened as he looked at me. “How is he?” he asked without prelude or greeting.
“Resting. When I held his hand, he seemed to feel it.”
