The waiting room reeked of inflated self-importance. Several pairs of antlers were mounted on the wooden walls, as if the owner of this house was some kind of master hunter. In addition to that, the brown leather couches were also positioned beside one another along the wall, so that all the visitors were forced to only sit and look at the door while they waited to be allowed inside. And to top it all off, a massive portrait depicting a gray-haired man in fancy clothes took up half of the wall next to the door.
Since we were alone in the room, I didn’t even try to hide my eye roll.
The four guards had escorted us in and informed their employer that we were here. But after that, they had told us to wait and that he would see us soon. If soon didn’t mean in the next five minutes, I was going to smash the door in and show that pompous fool exactly what I thought about his arrogant attitude.
“Boss.”
Startled out of my murderous plans, I stopped scowling at the door and instead turned to the muscled man sitting next to me on the couch. Henry’s gray eyes were uncharacteristically uncertain as he looked back at me.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“Is what Audrey said true?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Audrey talks a lot of shit, so probably not. What did she say this time?”
Henry didn’t immediately reply. Instead, he sat there, watching me as if he was trying to read the answer on my face. I frowned at him in silent question.
“That you got down on your knees in front of her and begged her for help so that you could save me.”
Cold dread surged up in my chest. Fuck. I hadn’t meant for Henry to find that out.
“When the hell did she tell you that?” I countered.
“Back when we made camp that first night.”
“We all ate dinner together that time.”
“Yeah, but I went to ambush her while she was getting water.”
My eyebrows rose. “You did what?”
“She hit us too with the poison at Malcolm’s mansion, and she was gonna make you swear a blood oath to her.” He shrugged. “So I put a sword to her throat and interrogated her to see if she’s about to betray you again.”
I let out a low whistle. “Shit, Henry. That was a risky move.”
“I know what I’m doing. Or at least I thought I knew. Then she told me that. And she said it casually, as if she thought that I already knew.”
“She probably said it to throw you off.”
“Maybe. But is it true?”
My heart was slamming against my ribs, but I kept a neutral expression on my features as I slid my gaze back to the door and waved a hand in front of my face. “No. Like I said, Audrey talks a lot of shit.”
“Callan.”
Both the use of my name and the seriousness of his tone made my chest constrict. Forcing out a slow breath, I dragged my gaze back to him. His eyes seared into me, as if he could see right through my soul.
I heaved another sigh and raked a hand through my hair before admitting, “Yeah, alright, it’s true.”
Holding his gaze, I braced myself for the look I would soon see on his face. The embarrassment. The loss of respect. The disgust.
To my surprise, none of those emotions appeared on his face. Instead, it was something else entirely. Regret.
“Fuck, Callan.” Closing his eyes briefly, he shook his head. “Why?”
“You know why.”
“No, I don’t. I seriously don’t. You got down on your knees and begged Audrey Sable for help. My life isn’t worth that. None of your guards’ lives are worth that.”
“You seriously gonna make me say it out loud?”
“Say what out loud?”
Turning to face him fully, I locked serious eyes on him. I was trying to keep a steady expression on my face but my heart was pounding in my chest as I finally said the words that I should have told Henry years ago. “Because you’re family to me.”
His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open ever so slightly as he stared back at me in utter silence.
Awkwardness swirled inside me and I snapped my gaze back to the door. Shit. I shouldn’t have told him that. I really shouldn’t have told him that. I knew exactly why he had sought out dark mages, and that ridiculous declaration was probably the last thing he wanted to hear.
“Hey.” He grabbed my arm and turned me back so that I was facing him again.
I barely dared meet his gaze, but I forced my eyes to his as I shifted on the couch.
A wide smile spread across his lips. “You’re family to me too, you fucking insane madman.”
Relief washed over me. It was so intense that I actually laughed. Drawing my eyebrows down in a mock scowl, I gave his shoulder a shove. “So why did you have to go and make me say that out loud?”
“Because you obviously need to learn how to share your feelings,” he replied, a teasing smirk on his face.
“Says the guy who spends half his life scowling in silence.”
“Yeah, except for the times when I whoop your ass in the training room. Then I show my feelings very clearly.”
Shaking my head, I huffed out a laugh. “Asshole.”
He chuckled too. “Bastard.”
“When this mission is done, I’m gonna—”
The door was pushed open and a young man poked his head out. “Commander Johnson will see you now.”
Henry and I exchanged one last look, smiles pulling at our lips, before we pushed up from the leather couch and started towards the door. My chest felt lighter than it had in years, and that desperate and broken twelve-year-old kid that I had been faded a little from my mind. I drew in a deep breath as if I had never felt my lungs expand before. It was an incredible feeling.
“In here,” the young man said.
Both Henry and I towered over him, so he shrank back a little as we crossed the threshold into what looked like a study.
It was decorated in the same ridiculous manner as the waiting room. More antlers filled the walls, but in here there were also a bunch of swords on display. A grand desk filled the space in front of the back wall, which housed another portrait of the same gray-haired man in different, but equally fancy, clothes.
The man in question was sitting at the desk in front of his portrait. He was resting his elbows on the shining tabletop and had clasped his hands while peering over them as if he was about to decide our fate. I fought down the urge to hurl a force wall at him.
“So, my guards tell me that you have been lurking close to the bridge,” he said.
“We weren’t lurking,” I answered. “We just didn’t know how to proceed. You see, we were robbed on the way here and they stole our permit for the bridge.”
Commander Johnson raised his eyebrows. “Oh really?”
“Yeah, but I told my companions that it wouldn’t be an issue because we would be able to buy new ones here.”
“Buy new ones?”
“Yes.”
“Here?”
“Yes.”
Lowering his arms, he sat up straighter and looked down his nose at us. “Young man, do you know who I am?”
It took all of my self-control not to call up a force blade and run him through with it. Young man. It had been quite some time since someone spoke to me with that level of disrespect.
“The guy who guards the bridge?” I answered, and arched a nonchalant eyebrow at him.
He harrumphed. “I am Commander Johnson. And I was entrusted by the city of Castlebourne to guard this bridge against marauders.”
“Yeah, we’re not marauders.”
“Everyone without a permit is considered a marauder. So if you have lost yours, you will have to go back to Castlebourne and apply for a new one.”
“We’re in a bit of a hurry.”
“Inconsequential.”
“We would pay very well for a temporary permit until we can get our real one back.”
“Young man!” Slamming his hand down on the table, he pushed to his feet and shot us an indignant look. “I am not susceptible to bribery of any kind. Now, I ask that you leave and come back with a permit. Until then, none of my guards will open the gate for you.”
For the third time in as many minutes, I had to fight down an impulse to throw the full might of my force magic at him.
Unfortunately, Audrey had been right earlier. We couldn’t start slaughtering people here. It would immediately alert others that there were dark mages around, and that would make it very hard to carry out a secret mission.
So instead of severing Commander Johnson’s head from his shoulders, I gave him a cold smile and then jerked my chin at Henry. We turned around and strode out of the office without another word.
For a moment, it looked like the man who had called us in was going to follow us to the door. But one look from me, and he trailed to a halt in the waiting room.
Our boots thumped against the floor as we walked down the halls and towards the front door in silence. However, I kept my gaze flicking back and forth. Since we were unaccompanied this time, we might be able to steal a permit anyway. There was one room that I had noted on the way in that I was pretty sure held documents like that. But since we had been escorted by four guards, I hadn’t been able to go inside.
When we reached the doorway I had marked, I slowed down and glanced in. Piles of folders and documents filled the desk by the windows while tall bookshelves lined every wall. I squinted towards the papers on the desk.
“Is that…?” Henry whispered.
“Yeah, I think so.”
I was just about to sneak inside when someone moved into view. Screeching to a halt, I watched as a woman about our age walked over to the desk with her arms full of folders. With her in there, we wouldn’t be able to steal the document. I glanced back over my shoulder. And it was only a matter of time before someone else came by and found us here.
“Go back to the others and watch Lance,” I said in a quiet voice. “And tell Audrey to sneak up to that window from the outside.”
Henry scowled at me. “Why?”
“Because as much as I hate to admit it, that vicious little poisoner is a lot sneakier than you and me. She’s also half your size so she’s a lot less likely to get spotted.”
“Fine. What are you gonna do?”
My gaze drifted back to the woman who had begun sorting through papers. A sly smile blew across my lips.
“I’m gonna get us that permit.”
