(eng) Jonathan Moeller - Ghost Exile 5.5 by Ghost Mimic

Author:Ghost Mimic [Mimic, Ghost]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Nothing Ever Goes According To Plan

A short time later we stopped in an alley behind the Scratched Penny.

The tavern looked a great deal like the House of Agabyzus from the outside, though unlike me, the owner had not bothered to keep up with maintenance and the building looked worn and rundown, the whitewash peeling to reveal the rough brick beneath. The tavern also gave off a distinctly unpleasant odor, a mixture of sweat and rotting food and unemptied chamber pots and chimneys that hadn’t been swept in decades.

One would think the Teskilati would prefer more pleasant accommodations.

Right now, the Scratched Penny’s vile scent did not hold my attention.

The confrontation on the street drew the eye.

Turlagon, his six guards, and Caina stood outside the main doors to the tavern, Turlagon ranting and shouting threats. Four hard-bitten men with the look of mercenaries stood before the tavern doors, speaking much more politely, but they did not move. Very soon they would come to blows. Turlagon might kill Caina. Or he might kill her and return to take further vengeance on the House of Agabyzus. Or all this shouting would draw the attention of the watchmen or, worse, the Immortals…

It was time to get on with it.

I slipped back around the corner. The courtyard behind the Scratched Penny was deserted, ringed on the other three sides by sagging brick warehouses. Azaces and Malcolm stood near the back wall, holding the trapbox between them. Azaces had been strong enough to carry the box up the stairs, but not all the way from the House of Agabyzus. If he dropped the thing and the Hellfire containers shattered…no, better to have two men carrying it.

Nerina stood at the narrow back door, muttering numbers to herself as she worked with her lock picks. I glanced at the narrow windows overhead. All of them had closed shutters, but I wondered if the Teskilati watched us even now. Perhaps Turlagon’s diatribe had drawn the attention of every Teskilati agent in the tavern. Of course, sending someone through the back during a distraction was an obvious tactic.

Still, maybe the Teskilati were surprised that the man they had planned to kill had turned up on their doorstep.

I looked back at Nerina, resisting the urge to tell her to hurry. The woman might be mad, but she wasn’t stupid, and she knew that we had very little time…

The lock clicked, and Nerina pushed the door open. Behind I saw a dusty, disused kitchen, a little larger than the kitchen in the House of Agabyzus.

“Inside,” I whispered. “Quickly!”

We hastened into the kitchen. I tried to walk as quietly as I could, but I winced with every sound we made. I had seen Caina move in utter silence, but I didn’t have her skill. I looked back at Azaces and Malcolm, intending to tell them to set the trapbox down here, but I thought better of it. The kitchen had been built of brick, and it was at the back of the building.

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