Chapter Thirty-four

 

The four rushed back to the inn and quickly geared up. Cammie snagged Vulk’s axes, strapping them to her back so she could give them to him. The last thing she did was grab her brother’s brush— he used it every day, and it had a lot of his hair trapped in it.

 

“Will this work?” Cammie asked when she came out of Vulk’s room.

 

“Let’s find out,” Stern said. “Zasha, scent, please.”

 

Zasha sniffed the brush for a long moment, then nodded.

 

“Bring it with, just in case he needs to find the scent again,” Trish said.

 

“Let’s go,” Cammie said, striding for the door with determined steps.

 

They spilled into the street, heading back to the tavern, as that would be the best place to start. They’d only made it a dozen yards down the street when someone called out to them.

 

Stern looked over to see Sarah Kalma coming out of the Walkers’ hall. “What?”

 

“I asked what the problem was. You all look like you’re off to kill someone.”

 

“One of our crew went missing last night,” Stern said. “We think Bloodcoin had something to do with it.”

 

Sarah’s shock was easy to see. “The mayor from Bloodstone?”

 

“He was ousted after the trial,” Stern said. “We have to go. The trail is going to fade.”

 

“Good luck!” Sarah called after them. She stayed there for a minute, watching them go, before she nodded and headed back into the Walkers’ guildhall.

 

They weren’t stopped again, so they were swiftly back to the tavern. Cammie let Zasha get the scent off the brush again. Zasha sniffed around, his head down as he started back toward the Walkers’ area. It was almost a square back the other way when Zasha paused and sniffed the ground again.

 

Zasha whined and patted the ground.

 

Cyra was the first to see it. There were a few drops of blood that were already fading from between some cobblestones. “His?” Cyra asked.

 

Zasha whined, then sniffed again, and started away from the hall.

 

“I’m going to gut them!” Cammie hissed as she followed Zasha. “They hurt him. I’m going to repay that.”

 

Stern swallowed and fell into step beside her. “We all will, but we might need someone alive, first.”

 

“For information, if we aren’t led directly to him,” Trish said, understanding what Stern was saying.

 

Cammie nodded tightly. “I’ll leave them alive.”

 

Cyra spotted drops of blood every few yards. “It was a minor wound. He wasn’t bleeding a lot.”

 

Cammie exhaled. “Good.”

 

The trail started to duck down alleyways and off the streets as much as possible. After another few minutes, Zasha came to a stop and whined again. He was facing a door that had obviously been broken recently.

 

“I’ll go first,” Trish said as she got her shield on her arm.

 

Cammie’s hands twitched, waiting to rush in behind Trish.

 

Stern touched Cammie’s shoulder. “Dungeon protocol. There might be an ambush.”

 

Cammie grimaced, but nodded.

 

Stern upgraded Zasha with everything but his size increase. The puppy was now stone-covered. “Zasha, follow Trish and go the opposite way, look for dangers, and if you see something threatening, attack.”

 

A soft growl came from the stone dog as it got into line behind Trish. Cammie was behind Zasha, then Cyra, and finally, Stern. Once they were ready, Trish bashed the broken door out of the way and charged in, going hard to the right.

 

The rest funneled in after her. Zasha went to the left while Cammie came in behind with her small crossbow in hand, aimed high right. Cyra aimed high left and Stern came in behind her, focused on the middle of the room.

 

“Clear,” Trish said tightly. “I have a doorway on this side.”

 

“One left, too,” Cyra said.

 

“All clear,” Stern said. “Zasha, scent?”

 

Zasha sniffed the air, then went past Trish, leading to the doorway on the right side of the room.

 

They followed him, with Trish taking over to burst into the next room. Stern stayed back, watching their backs before following them in.

 

“Clear,” Trish hissed. “Trash... people were here.”

 

Zasha went to a scrap of cloth and whined.

 

Cammie was there before anyone else could react. She picked up the cloth and saw the dried blood. “It’s a piece of his shirt,” Cammie said. “It was cut.”

 

“Used his shirt to clean and bind the wound,” Trish nodded.

 

“Why?” Cammie growled.

 

“Hostage,” Stern exhaled. “Shit.”

 

“What?” Cyra asked.

 

“Look around some more,” Stern said, “and see if we can find out anything about where they went from here.”

 

The rest of the building turned out to be useless— Zasha led them out, following the other thick scents from the building, but that only led them to a spot where a horse had been the previous night. Pieces of leftover manure hadn’t been fully cleaned away.

 

“Can you track the horse?” Cammie asked Zasha.

 

Zasha sniffed, then trotted down the street.

 

They were led back and forth across the city before Stern called it off. “They took him as a hostage.”

 

“Why?!” Cammie demanded.

 

“Probably for me,” Stern said softly. “Bloodcoin is upset that I killed his son.”

 

Hands clenching, Cammie stared at the street, her anger bubbling up. “The one who tried to rape Cyra?”

 

“Yeah, then attacked me in the street,” Stern said.

 

“Back to the inn?” Trish asked softly.

 

“I’m sure they’ll send us a letter,” Stern exhaled. “I’m sorry, Cammie.”

 

“I’m so sorry...” Cyra sniffled.

 

Cammie spun on Cyra, grabbing her and crushing her in a tight hug. “No! I won’t accept it from you or him. You both did the right thing. This is that asshole’s fault.”

 

Stern considered their options, though they didn’t have many. They could wait for a letter about Vulk, or try to search and find him by luck. They could notify the guard, but there was no real proof of a crime at the moment. Whoever had Vulk wouldn’t keep him in a place the guards would just stumble upon, and Bloodcoin had corrupted guards before. If he tried to enlist the Walkers, that would surely tip Bloodcoin off and possibly get Vulk killed.

 

“Back to the inn,” Stern whispered as he dismissed Zasha’s upgrades. “Thank you, Zasha, for trying your best.”

 

Zasha whined, then laid down.

 

Cammie sniffled and bent down to pet his back. “You did the best you could. Thank you.”

 

Zasha whined again, but licked her hand.

 

“Go home,” Stern said softly.

 

Zasha faded into the ground.

 

Dejected and lost in their thoughts, the four of them headed back to the inn.

 

When they got inside, Stern had to stop, as the place was full with only standing room. He found out why a moment later when Sarah Kalma stepped out of the crowd.

 

“Stern, we’re ready to help,” Sarah said.

 

Stern looked at the room, full of Walkers, then back to Sarah. “We don’t have any leads. They abducted him and took him to a house. They patched him up, then took him to a waiting horse or wagon. We tried to follow the horse, but it was useless.”

 

“Why’d they take him?” someone asked.

 

“That’s a long story, and it’s only conjecture at the moment,” Stern said, “but if you want to hear who we think is behind it and why, I’ll tell you.”

 

“Please?” Sarah asked. “I think I know why.”

 

Stern went up to the bar, accepting a mug from the bartender as he turned to address the room with his crewmates beside him. It took him a while to explain the full story, which he did after Cyra jumped in and explained why Skippy wanted her shards. The crowd was upset as the story progressed. Stern didn’t explain about the letter, instead focusing on using the zone of truth to get out of court.

 

“Is that why the Hand of Law went to Bloodstone?” someone asked. “I know he showed up and the mayor got ousted.”

 

“He heard younger Walkers were being pushed around,” another person said. “Bloodcoin was thrown out.”

 

“He’s here for you, then?” Sarah asked.

 

“I believe so. I think Vulk was taken to force me to hand myself over, but we haven’t heard from them yet.”

 

“What can we do?” Sarah asked.

 

“Nothing,” Stern exhaled. “I fear that if Walkers start poking around, Bloodcoin might kill Vulk. The Walkers thwarted him in Bloodstone once.”

 

The crowd grumbled, but none of them could fault his fear.

 

“What if…?” Sarah began before trailing off. “What if we just walk around town for the next day or two? Just in regular clothing, strolling about? In a very directed way, but without intent?”

 

“Please?” Cammie asked. “Just no armor or weapons.”

 

The crowd agreed, and the bartender pulled out a map of the city. The heads of crews stepped forward, ready to segment the city. Stern explained what Bloodcoin looked like, as well as the guards he thought might have helped take Vulk.

 

An hour later, the inn was mostly empty, except for one stealth specialist staying in case someone came to drop off a letter. Stern, Trish, Cyra, and Cammie went up to their room to wait.

 

Closing the door behind them, Stern felt the anger and fear boiling in all three women. While it was stronger in Cammie, it was still present in them all. “Now we do the hard part: we wait.”

 

“Are you sure this is going to be a hostage issue?” Cammie asked tightly.

 

“No,” Stern said. When Cammie spun on him, he held up his hand to forestall her. “I believe it’s likely, but I’m not sure. I try not to lie if I can, even when a lie might be for the better.”

 

The fear rose higher than the anger, and Cammie began to cry. The other three moved in, holding her and forming a circle around her. Cyra cried with her, then Trish, before Stern couldn’t attempt to hold on anymore, joining them as their fear crested high.

 

Stern had no idea how long they just held their friend and cried, but in time, the fear abated and the tears slowed. He didn’t remember moving, but he was sitting on the sofa now. Cammie was between him and Trish, and Cyra was on the floor, facing Cammie.

 

“I hate him...” Cammie whispered. “I want to hurt him so much.”

 

“I know,” Stern nodded. “I’d foolishly hoped that when he had the heart attack, he’d leave us alone... That Gerald showing up would dissuade him from chasing us.”

 

“Gerald?” Cammie asked, puzzled.

 

Stern exhaled. “The Hand of Law.”

 

“His name is Gerald? How do you know that?” Cammie asked.

 

Stern froze, but recalling his words earlier, he exhaled roughly. “I’ve spoken with him before. He hates the nickname, but his wife loves it. She started it, in fact.”

 

Cammie stared at him, her brain not wanting to function. “You... ran into them before?”

 

“Yes,” Stern said, speaking truthfully, if incompletely.

 

“All of them?” Cammie asked. “Like the tavern owner?”

 

“I’ve spoken to all the members of Darkhand,” Stern said.

 

Cammie sniffled. “I was right…” She choked as she swallowed the pain she felt. “I told Vulk you came from the north. You have too much money to be from this far south.”

 

“You’re right,” Stern said softly.

 

“And you do so much for us,” Cammie sniffled.

 

“I would do anything for my friends,” Stern said, patting her knee.

 

“Thank you...” Cammie whispered before she pushed into his side. She held him as she began to cry in earnest again.