Page 31 of Brighter Than Gold

Callan and I struggled to keep up with her as she marched through the hallways. She pulled the latch up on a heavy door and shoved her shoulder against it. A cold blast of air rushed through, but the door wouldn’t open more than a few inches for all the snow piled against it. Verosa continued to struggle in vain.

“May I?” Callan asked her.

She conceded and stepped away.

With a single mighty shove the door gave way, scraping along the frozen ground.

“Come,” Verosa insisted as she charged outside.

The day was bright and blustery, and almost immediately my feet were wet in the slushy snow beneath the thin slippers I’d borrowed.

“She can’t be out like this,” Callan called out to Verosa. “Where the fuck are we going?”

Verosa didn’t answer, she continued around the building at a harried pace.

Callan reached back and took my hand to keep me from slipping along the icy stone path.

“You all right?”

I was nearly crippled with fear, but I nodded.

We turned a final corner around the back of the brothel to find Lazio, and half a dozen of his Rats mounted on horseback.

“Took you long enough!” he shouted crassly.

I immediately noted our two saddled horses waiting, tied to a fence post.

“Here,” Verosa said, handing each of us a thick wool coat.

We shrugged them on.

“Where are you taking us?” Callan demanded. He turned to Verosa. “My wife is soaking wet in the middle of winter, where are we going?”

Verosa’s chuckle was cooler than the frigid air. “I have absolutely no idea.”

“Get on the fucking horses, we don’t have all day,” Lazio yelled.

Callan helped me onto my horse and mounted his own.

“See you soon, darling!” Lazio waved to Verosa, as he dug a heel into his mount’s side.

The general kept a keen eye out as we made our way through the small city. Something was abuzz in the air, everyone darting nervous glances at Lazio and his men as we rode by. The small buildings in the city petered out as we were led through a rugged path south, and the road we took eventually began to sink between two rising hills on either side.

We wove through the glen for close to an hour before Lazio pulled his horse off the road and towards what looked to be a small logger’s cabin on the edge of the thick coniferous forest.

The horses trudged through the knee-deep snow until we reached the cover of the trees where the snow had not been able to gather. Lazio dismounted and his men followed suit.

“What’s happening?” I whispered to Callan as he helped me down from my horse.

“I don’t know.” He chewed his words in frustration.

Without a moment of hesitation, Lazio kicked in the door of the small cabin. It was deserted, and we followed him inside. Two of the men set to building a fire in the cramped space.

“Bring her in here,” Lazio shouted from a back room.

Another of his men crowded Callan and I until we followed his instructions.

“What the fuck is going on?” Callan demanded when we entered the sparce bedroom. There was nothing but two tiny cots pushed up against the wall.

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