Again, that wouldn’t save him. I shoved my blade into the man’s guts, avoiding vital organs.
“How many?” I hissed.
“W-what?”
“How many of these specific women have you stolen from Sophrosyne, you disgusting son of a bitch?”
“Only jus’ started workin’ with Arturo this year. Ten, maybe twenty? Thirty at most.”
Thirty at most.Unlikely odds in a sea of thousands, and yet the merechanceshe could’ve been a target of this vile fiend, this pathetic excuse for a man and his master…
Something primordial had awakened in my blood. A dark and ancient urge took hold of my hands before I even took my next breath. No matter how deep I tried to keep this power buried, the instinct was effortless.
Destroy him.
I ripped the dagger up and left, the serrated edge rending through his weak flesh with ease, tearing his insides to viscera and gore. The initial blow wouldn’t have been fatal, not if I was careful with the withdrawal.
I had no interest in being careful.
Agonized, choking, garbled wails poured from his throat as I let my Shadows act on their own volition, closing my eyes as sound gave way to silence.
The heavy, umbral iron door slammed shut behind me as I turned my back on the brutal scene and strode back into the dark corridor. As I passed my lieutenants, I grit my teeth and kept walking without another word. Hans attempted to trail from behind.
“No luck, then?” he asked. “Shall I call for Fen? Fetch us a cleric?
“Don’t bother,” I growled, fury still coating my vision in shades of blood and gore. “He’s already dead.”
“Shit.Alright, c’mon, Deering,” Jeremiah called from several paces behind. “Let’s get to work.”
This wasn’t the first time my lieutenants had to bury a body on my behalf, and it sure as shit wouldn’t be the last. But I needed to get the fuck out of here before I did something I’dregret, considering there were suspects remaining who still drew breath.
They called you in for Skielg. Your work is done.
“Wait,” I bit out as Hans began to turn, catching him by the shoulder. “Give me the book.”
In silent understanding, Hans reached into his coat and handed me the small, black leatherbound journal that only a few in our cadre knew existed. Fishing a pen from my own pocket, I furiously scratched out the details I’d discovered: a list of names and last known locations.
“Find them,” I demanded. “Find them all. Tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was still seething by the time I made it back to the townhouse, shucking off my blood-stained shirt, removing my belt, and kicking off my trousers the moment my front door slammed shut. I left a gruesome trail of clothes behind me on my way to the bathing suite, in desperate need of hot water and a vigorous scrub-down.
I didn’t want any trace of that fucker left on my body, especially not if I wanted to see Arken tonight. I was supposed to have met her at her apartment over an hour ago.
Fuck.
Arken…
I hated—fucking hated—that the events of this afternoon had gotten under my skin like this, wyrming their way so deep that now her very name summoned nausea in my gut.
Some of that was due to what the flesh trader had revealed about Arturo and hispreferences, yes. Most of it was due to the unbearable weight of my own self-loathing.
I killed a man today. I sent Skielg’s blackened soul into the Abyss without a second thought, yet again breaking my sworn oath to the Elder Guard, to Sophrosyne, and to the Convocation of the Nineteen.
While it was hardly the first time, nobody—save for Jeremiah and Hans—knew the details of the dark things I did from the Shadows in this city. I respected the Aetherborne’s authority, and would lay down my life in defense of most of their ideals…But some evils could not be suffered to survive.
Even High General Demitrovic and I were aligned in knowing that a lifelong sentence was far too kind for certain bastards—the rapists, the child abusers, the flesh traders of this world. We knew that even rotting in a cell for the rest of their days, they were a mouth to be fed—an utter waste of resources better spent elsewhere. And so my superior officers kept their backs turned on the details, but they knew. They knew that somewhere in the Shadows, I was leaving a trail of bodies bleeding out, a feast for crows.