Fallen Grace (The Death Dealer Book 1) (25 page)

The lights in the narrow two story house were all extinguished. Waiting until morning wouldn’t have hurt, but Marcus needed to know now since Grace didn’t hang around long enough to hear the rest of Mac’s plot. Knowing he would strike soon was all she needed. Unsheathing her sword, she pounded on the door with the hilt. A few minutes passed before candlelight appeared in the kitchen window. A drowsy Thom opened the door. Upon seeing the executioner’s hood outlined in his candle’s light, he dropped it; extinguishing the flame.

“
You! What business brings you here so late?”

Grace pushed past Thom. “I need to speak to Marcus and it cannot wait until morning! Please wake him for me.”

Thom was tired and groggy. He was a loyal servant and friend to the King of Thieves, and knew urgency when he heard it, even if it was only in troubled whispers. “Wait here.”

Overhead, Grace heard Marcus order Ridley and Thom back to bed. Marcus came down the stairs in only a pair of tattered old breeches. “Well?”

“I am truly sorry to disturb you, but it’s about Mac. I saw his camp tonight. He has at least twenty men with him, and he said more were to arrive soon from Salatia.”

“
Pox and rot!” Marcus pounded his right fist into his left hand. “Salatia has had problems for two seasons now. I should have known Mac was inciting them. His brother lives there, and for the past year he has spent much of his time there.”

“
What do you plan to do? Geary is among Mac’s number.”

“
That is no surprise. He has tried in the past for my throne, but was too weak to take it. He would ally himself with Mac despite all my efforts to keep him close.” Marcus smiled and patted Grace’s shoulder. “I will have a plan to handle the situation. Right now I won’t raise the alarm. If we start a war in the city, Frederick’s men will be on us and no one will be left to defend my people. Go home and get some sleep. I will call for your aid if it is needed.”

Marcus climbed the stairs back to his room and Grace left the house thinking about the fate that lay before her friend.

“Why exactly did you need to see the King so late?” Grace looked up and saw Jack standing beside Marcus’s fence.

“
What are you doing here?”

“
Walking home from the Angel. I do leave, you know.”

Grace sighed in relief. She was afraid he’d been following her around. “It was about Mac. I was out tonight and overheard his plan to dethrone Marcus. I had to warn him.” Grace stood beside Jack and saw the doubt written all over his face.

Jack took Grace firmly by the shoulders and steered her up the street. “And?”

“
Marcus told me to wait and that he would call for help if he needed it.”

“
Marcus
is
going to need it. Rumors at the Angel after everyone turned in revolved around Mac and the sightings people have had of him hiding out in the woods. There could be a war here for the common born, and if you meddle further into these affairs, you’ll be the spark that ignites it. You know better than most that playing with fire is dangerous.”

Jack was afraid that she was getting involved too heavily with the Guild, and that was a dangerous game. Others had tried to dethrone the King of Thieves before. The king who sat before Marcus had usurped the throne from his own mother, and then he met a nasty end by the hand of Marcus when he was too ineffectual for the thieving game. And though Jack had only known of the Thieves’ Guild for seven years, he saw many men try to usurp the throne from Marcus in that time. Many ventures to do so ended in bloody confrontations for the men, as well as those who followed them.

He knew Grace had no idea what she was getting herself into. If Mac was successful they would find out that Grace tried to help Marcus, and who knows what would happen to her after that?

Jack took her by the arm and walked her back toward the Angel. “I hope you’re not planning on doing anything rash concerning Mac. He’ll kill you the next time you fight, that I can say with confidence.”

“I’m not going to just sit back and let him hurt my friends.”

“
Neither are your friends. Leave this to Marcus and Thom. You just go back to fighting petty rogues in the wild and let Marcus do what he does. You’ll be safer that way.”

“
Do you even care about Marcus? I could help protect him!”

“
I care more about someone protecting
you
.”

“
Why? Marcus is just as much your friend as he is mine.”

“
Marcus is a grown man. You, Death Dealer, are a small, hooded, and stubborn person who will get hurt if rashness prevails.” Jack stopped them in the alley behind the Angel. “Don’t be stupid. Do what Marcus said. Sit back and wait.” He bent forward, pulled her hood up and kissed her softly.

Jack pulled back and stroked her cheek. Turning on his heel, he disappeared into the shadows.

Thirteen

Grace had been back in Glenbard for three days. Her birthday was two days away, but she wasn’t able to muster any excitement for it. Geary tried to lure Marcus from his home early one morning, but Marcus turned him away with many harsh words. Grace was unsure exactly what was said, but she was tremendously worried that Jack was right and war would erupt.

No one had heard from Mac since the day Kay left the city, and an uneasy feeling fell on Grace. Donald told her there was little to fear, but what did he know? In a few days he would be headed back toward the Nareroc Islands, unaware of what was really happening in Glenbard.

On the third night after Marcus and The Death Dealer met to discuss Mac, Grace was having a troubled sleep. She chased something, yet she could never catch it. Stopping her hunt, she lay in a grassy field and watched the clouds that threatened to rain upon her. Suddenly a weight pressed on her chest, and fighting to wake up, Grace opened her eyes to find a black wolf standing on her chest. Its eyes gleamed silver with no pupils.

Get up!
a voice broke through Grace’s thoughts; terrifying her. The voice echoed through her entire mind; howling through it like wind howled through a tunnel. This animal was blessed by the gods and chose to come into Grace’s life. The wolf jumped down and looked at her pointedly.
Get thee gone, Death Dealer! The villain has made his move!

Grace needed no more urging. She was dressed and out her window in record time.

~*~*~

Port side, Jack awoke to the same howling voice. It simply said “
Thom
” to him. Needing no more urging, Jack dressed and headed to Marcus’s. The door to his house was open, nearly broken off its hinges. Inside, dishes were broken, the table was overturned, the chairs were smashed, and poor Thom was bound, gagged and unconscious.

Running out to the well near Marcus’s, Jack retrieved a bucket of water. Instead of dousing Thom, he untied the poor fellow and found a ladle to pour some water onto his face. He only groaned at first, but when Jack dumped the rest of the bucket on his head, Thom sat straight up. His breath was ragged and his eyes were full of concern and anger.

He took hold of Jack’s shoulders and pinched him hard. “They’ve taken Marcus and Ridley! I came home from running messages and found two of Mac’s men looting the house. They spared me…I don’t know why, but they did.”

“
Be thankful they have.” Jack ripped up a tablecloth to bandage Thom’s wrist, which had been cut by a dull knife and irritated by the rope used to bind him.

“
I have to raise the alarm!” Thom tried to get to his feet but Jack forced him down.

“
Think sense! You’re in no condition to move yourself. Stay here and I will go to the Angel and raise an alarm.”

“
But—”

“
Stay, let me get you a healer. Don’t risk your life just yet.”

Jack helped Thom into what was left of his bed before heading off again. Outside Marcus’s house, the silver-eyed wolf sat.
Don’t raise the alarm just yet. I have sent the Thief King aid.

“
You can’t mean Grace,” he snarled.

Mac is waiting for a large scale attack from Marcus’s followers. That is why Thom lives. At dawn you may raise the alarm, but tonight his men are poised and ready for attack.

“And what of Grace? They won’t be prepared for The Death Dealer to appear?”

Mac believes she will lead the offensive. Alone, she can sneak into the camp and free the captives, but only if she is given the chance. Wait an hour or more before calling Marcus’s followers forth. By then Grace will have freed her friends, or died trying. If the alarm is sounded now, everyone will know who The Death Dealer is. That is as much a danger to her as to Mac.

Jack growled and jumped at the wolf, but it took off into the dark. He stalked off to the temple district to make hasty prayers to Kamaria, Ciro, and Diggery for the safe delivery of Marcus and Ridley, and most especially for Grace.

~*~*~

Grace pushed herself to the spot she had been only a few precious nights before. If it wasn’t for the executioner’s hood, Grace’s face would have been severely cut by the whipping branches. Unlike the last time she spied on Mac, she wasn’t being careful or quiet. She ignored the stinging sensation she felt underneath her hood and stopped running for a moment.

There had been a fire in this spot recently, and she guessed Mac and his group put it out in the last few hours. These men were no fools; they covered their tracks well. Grace guessed they went north, but their tracks led off in all directions. Mac must have guessed their secret hideaway was not so secret, after all. After Marcus sent Geary away, Mac probably guessed he was being watched closer than he believed.

Enraged by it all, Grace kicked a charred log across the campsite. Mac was already one step ahead, and if she took the wrong path it would cost her precious hours. Already she was wasting time trying to guess which way the real path was. She took off north. The next largest city was north of Glenbard and she figured Mac might try heading out there. It would take days of travel to get there, but if Mac had enough of a head start and had horses with him, Grace knew she would never catch him.

Something growled and barked. Grace turned in her tracks and saw the large black wolf again. It barked angrily at Grace, although it made no move toward her, so she slowly walked toward the northern path. Seeing this, the wolf leapt after her and blocked the path.

It was steering her away from the northern route. Then Grace noticed something odd…the wolf’s silver eyes sparkled in the dark. Tales had been told and many legends consisted of a wolf just like this, and Grace, now fully awake, understood what was happening.

“
If you really are Diggery, guardian of the lost, then show me the right path.”

The wolf seemed pleased that Grace finally understood. She bounded past the girl and headed with all speed down a western path. Grace wasted no time. Her legs ached from running so much already, but she pushed forward. She lost sight of the wolf as its black fur concealed it in the darkness, but Grace could still hear the swift movement of her great padded feet.

The large black wolf set a grueling pace and Grace felt her muscles begin to tire. She wanted to help her friends, but now faced with the actual task, she wondered if she could do it. She needed help, but she fled Glenbard without calling for aid from the thieves. What kind of foolishness was that?

She stopped and strained her hearing. The wolf could no longer be heard ahead. “I failed. I failed everyone…Marcus, Ridley, myself.” She sank to her knees and pounded the ground with her fists. Hot tears of frustration poured down her face, soaking the hood. “I...need a...help...” she cried out to no one in particular.

The wolf came to her side and licked the hood. Grace removed it and the animal gently cleaned the tears from her face. Diggery threw back her head and let out a howl that shook the entire wood. Grace suddenly felt filled with a new strength. She rose to her feet again and continued on.

~*~*~

Grace walked well into the night, always keeping the wolf in her view. Suddenly the wolf stopped and Grace stopped beside her. The wolf began to walk slowly ahead, crouching low to the ground.

A fire came into Grace’s view. It was small and dim from where she stood, but she guessed that the wolf had brought her to Mac’s hideout.

“I suppose I’m on my own from here?”

The wolf growled a little and snuffed at Grace’s hand.
You will not be alone, I promise
. Grace was a bit shocked. She couldn’t see the wolf completely in the dark, but she swore she saw it smile. Returning the hood to her head, Grace patted the wolf softly, wondering if she was out of line petting Diggery. 

Grace snuck forward slowly. There was no telling how many guards Mac had posted about. The black of her clothes would help conceal her, but once she was closer to that fire, her shadow would give her away. The thought she might die that night kept running through Grace’s head.

She knew she wasn’t ready to fight Mac, and this time Jack wouldn’t be there to come to her rescue. “You don’t need someone to rescue you,” Grace whispered to herself.