Act 2 Chapter 40
JAYLAH

Contrary to my worries, it was surprisingly easy to find Alexander. Or rather, for him to find me. I was just free from the cave when he appeared in my vision, the darkness of his clothing blending with the forest floor. The closer he walked, the more prominent the cut on his throat became. It was not enough to put him in any danger of bleeding out, but still: Daggen's men came closer to claiming his life than I expected.

"They're all dead," he said in answer to the question on my face. "I strangled three, broke two necks, killed one with his own blade and smashed one's head in with a rock."

"Only seven. That does not seem an adequate number of men to send after someone one has made their top priority."

Alexander shrugged, rolling down his sleeves. His knuckles did appear to be a bit bruised. "They were some of his best. It appears even strong men become weak to arrogance. The point is: we can rest easy for a bit. Surely he will send more before our journey is over, but no one knows our exact location anymore."

"Daggen may be arrogant but he is not stupid. He knows of my skill and yours."

Giving a huff of annoyance, he asked, "Look, do you want to see the mess I made with your own eyes? Knowing you, I suppose you might even like it."

"No," I trailed off, distracted by the thoughts of the thing in the cave at the forefront of my worries. "We have a job to complete in Valentou."

Dark brows knitting, he said, "You say that like the job is not your own idea."

"It was not." I hesitated, wondering how insane I was going to sound telling him what I saw. "There was a...thing in the cave I took shelter in. It spoke to me. Told me to retrieve it something, and it would not kill me. I think it was some older species of naga unlike the one we downed with the huntresses."

"Okay," he drew out, knowing the worst was to come. "And what did it want you to retrieve?"

"The thing in the cave was what slayed all those men on the trail, not the beast we killed. It said the men drove it from its home to steal its offspring as a trophy. I think it was wounded in the process. We must get the offspring back for it."

Giving a slow blink as if he was not sure he heard me correctly, he said, "Whatever happened to 'We need to keep moving, Alexander, or I will cut your throat for making us miss a spare ten minutes'?" Acting as me, he put on a terrible, breathy rendition of my voice.

"I am simply thinking ahead." I began to walk, gesturing for him to follow. "Use that minuscule brain, Khan: if the creature is desperate enough to enlist a mere human's help, there is room for me to obtain other things out of the deal once I have what it wants."

"Yeah? And what does some forest creature have that you want?"

"You shall see," I answered, not liking his condescending tone. "If you prove yourself good enough to steal what we need, that is."

♕ ♕ ♕ ♕ ♕

We arrived in Valentou as the sun was setting, a rather large town for being enveloped on all sides by the forest. Razorwood's official edge was a whole day's walk away. For the time of day, the place was oddly vibrant and alive, with street vendors still calling out their low prices in the pink sunset air.

I expected a large, extensive search for Franck Castex, the target, but we heard his name called by one of the vendors advertising his handmade products to the huntsman and both our eyes were drawn simultaneously to the bulky man in a carriage on the road. I memorized every inch of his nearly-groomed face instantly. Not deigning to acknowledge the merchant's call, he kept steady down the road, his head held high with the superiority of a man who believed himself to be better than everyone around him due to his wealth. I knew that look well.

Alexander and I followed him inconspicuously, making small talk with merchants to feign innocence. The carriage eventually turned down a lane with a massive estate on the right—Castex's home, I presumed. We hung back as he arrived home, hopping from the carriage. His horses were put away by a servant. I heard the faint barks of guard dogs greeting their master. Beside me, Alexander muttered a curse but did not sound especially worried.

"Scout out the rear," he told me in a hushed voice before straightening. "I'll be back."

I straightened too, saying, "What—" but he was already retracing our steps back to the market. I shook my head, cursing him for leaving me here alone. Not that I feared confronting Castex if need be—it was just that this happened to fall into his area of expertise, certainly not mine.

Stalking around the back, I did as he requested, searching for the weakest link in the house's defenses. There was a first floor window that was wreathed in darkness by the jutting out balcony above. If only Alexander could get us in without breaking the glass.

He arrived some time later with a brown bag clutched in a hand. I asked him what was in it, but he only demanded to know what I found. When I nodded to the dark window, he ventured closer, then turned back to whisper, "Give me a blade."

"No."

Even in the darkness, I knew he was rolling his eyes. "Not to kill you this time. I can use it to break open the window, even if it's locked."

I slowly handed over Zensa's blade, feeling as though I was putting my life literally in his hands. But he took it and crossed the distance to the mansion, getting to work immediately on the seal between the window frame and the rest of the pristinely-painted wall.

There was a slight cracking noise I prayed was louder outside than inside. "If I can just..." He trailed off, switching hands on the hilt. "Once I can break off the—" There was a solid, woody sound and the window creaked open.

"Ladies first." He waved a hand to the barely lit room inside. Gathering an imperceptible breath, I climbed over the windowsill and my feet hit the solid wood boards below. From the looks of this bare room, at odds with the exterior of the place, I surmised this was the servants' quarters. With the knowledge of the rich and elite, it was not a hard guess to make at the trophy being on the opposite side of the house. Far from the grabby hands of peasants.

I felt Alexander's presence join me and instinctively moved forward not to be close. The door was ajar, casting a thin line of yellow light from the hallway. Daring to widen the crack enough to peer both ways, I saw the passage was empty.

As soon as I stepped into the hall, three massive dogs came barreling toward us. Their snapping fangs gleamed. Before I could recede back into the servants quarters in terror, Alexander reached into his brown bag and tossed bloody chunks of meat to them. The beasts' fury immediately switched to delight and they let us be in exchange for the offering. He assuredly patted their heads.

Randomly choosing to head left, which was the longer option, we stalked down the hallway together, staying on the opposite side of the lit candlesticks lined periodically in holders. Not that it was possible to blend in against the rich mahogany paneled walls. We stopped at another intersection. From an open door down the hall, I saw a guest room and decided to go right, further from the bedrooms.

We went on for a few more steps until voices rose up ahead, coming from the side. We scrambled back around the corner, near enough to eavesdrop.

"—cannot know of what misfortune this thing will bring you, sir—"

"Silence." That was undoubtedly Castrex's domineering tone. "I pay you to supervise and clean my home, not give orders in it. You will remain far from that room."

"My apologies," the woman backtracked immediately. "I only wished to warn you that the thing's parent still lives, which puts us all in—"

One pair of footsteps stopped abruptly. For a moment, I thought I might hear him strike her. Instead, after a moment of tense silence, the woman said, "Please accept my apology, sir. I meant no harm. Please let go..." There was pain shaking her voice.

Though I had no specific reason why in the moment, I looked to Alexander. He stood at my side, his face an uninterested mask, his darkened eyes dead. I guessed he was likely angry—angrier than me, even—but it did not show.

Because of it, I missed the rest of the conversation, but before I knew it, Castex's heavier footfalls were moving forward alone and the woman's were rapidly receding. With movements softer than air, Alexander went past me to follow him. When we turned the corner once more, Castex's dark head was already ducking into the next turn ahead, completely unaware.

There was the sound of jingling keys, and I knew Castex was locking the door to wherever the naga's offspring was stashed; the other woman must have tried letting it go against his wishes. I wondered what condition the thing was in—locked in a cage, dead with its head cut off as a prize or dying a slow death.

Behind us, two servants passed, not yet aware of our existence. Alexander and I simultaneously dodged their glances by fitting on either side of a niche with a statue of a nude Goddess. My lip curled. How tasteful.

The door was locked and Castex was moving away to the front of the home. Alexander surged forward first, turning the corner to pick the lock. I stood guard, watching every possible way. It opened after too long virtually soundlessly. I rushed in and closed the door behind me.

This room was a nightmare made real. Preserved heads of animals like bison, monkeys and even some rare breed of jungle cat hung on the walls. Lining the perimeter of the long, skinny space were stuffed bodies of Castex's kills, horrible in their lifelikeness. Their cleaned death wounds were still visible.

When I overcame my disgust, my gaze landed on a pedestal on the other end of the room. On it was a single rotund object. Low and behold, it was an egg. That was it.

I took ahold of it, marking the warmth inside. The thing was not yet dead.

Alexander was busy taking pieces of a magnifying glass apart when my back was turned. I jumped at the scratching sound, clutching the egg. But he did not keep it as a weapon. Instead, he lined the razors on the chair at the desk. The next time he sat down, Castex would be in for a rude awakening. I held back a devious smile.

The hallway outside was still abandoned when we exited Castex's terrifying trophy room. Apparently having a better guess at the mansion's layout, Alexander winded us through passageways, sure to keep us from any living areas or kitchens.

The space began to open back up, hinting that we were nearing the front exit. In fact, I could see two spiraling staircases ahead. But there were also more voices too, blocking our exit.

With a hand to its cool side, Alexander shoved over a massive ornate vase that looked as if it had been painted by hand. It smashed with ear-splitting sound, the shards falling everywhere. Before anyone could see us, he whisked us around the other end of the staircase out of sight.

As everyone in the house approached the mess he caused in the hallway, he led us easily out the open front door and into the night air without a worry.

We took turns holding the dark egg as we jumped over the cast-iron gates surrounding the property. Once we were safely down the street, Alexander said, "You might add professional burglar to your ridiculous list of titles, because this is our second success in as many jobs."

"I will not stoop to your level."

He brushed past me. "Too late."