Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Granny had an uncanny ability to suss out who she could bribe. Get the cities and towns in on it—hell, get the royalty in on it—and work together to unload the product. She was good at her job.
The man leaned forward again, over his beer. I let him be for a moment, talking a little nonsense to Nova, weaving fake stories about traveling that painted us as friendly, uneventful people. Non-threatening, basically. People never worried when talking to non-threatening travelers, especially lonely sods with glass eyes who never banged anything he didn’t pay for.
We were on our third pint and I hadn’t yet been able to create another bridge of communication. I sensed things were about to get interesting when a portly guy with a stained shirt and dirty hands joined Glass Eye at his table.
“How’d you do?” Dirty Hands asked before draining half his pint in a series of gulps.
“Unloaded the whole lot. This town sure has a need.”
Dirty Hands grunted. “The few villages around us won’t sell it. Everyone comes here.”
“Don’t I know it. They go through it fast, too. Best stuff on the market if you can stomach it.”
“If you got a hookup for the dragon elixir, you mean. Did you bring any?”
Glass Eye lowered his voice and leaned forward. “Yeah. In my room. Only got a case. People are buying it up to cut out that mean hook.”
Dirty Hands leaned back. “It’ll have to do. I’ll get you your gold tomorrow. Hold it for me. I have to unload a couple things later.”
“You knew I was coming. Why didn’t you get it all done earlier?”
Dirty Hands leaned forward again, resting his elbows on the table. He lowered his voice, but we were close enough I could still hear it when he said, “They found Granny’s little worker.”
“No shit,” Glass Eye said, shaking his head, then taking a swill from his pint. “The one that got snatched from the operation?”
Every hair on my head stood on end. Nova’s gaze slid my way, her posture still loose, not giving anything away.
“Yeah. My gods, she’s a pretty little thing, too. You get a hard on just looking at her. She gave the seller hell—something about whatever they are putting on the snacks—and then popped one of them things right into her mouth. Bought up a whole bunch of it, too, before storming off. That seller thought something was off about the whole thing so he let the watch know. Turns out, they’d been given a likeness of her by the organization. There’s a nice reward for bringing her in. They recognized her immediately.”
“Get the alpha,” I mouthed to Nova, adrenaline pumping through my body.
Her brow pinched together for a moment before her expression cleared. She nodded minutely, having figured out what I wanted, before leaning back and running her fingers through her hair.
“I’m starting to feel it,” she told me.
“You’re a lightweight, that’s why. I’m going to have a couple more before I help get supplies. We’re not leaving until tomorrow, we have time.”
“I hate when you shop drunk. It slows everything down.
“Well then you go get a head start and there won’t be much to slow down.”
She gave an annoyed sound and sipped her drink, allowing me to keep listening in to the others.
“Who’s going to take her in?” Glass Eye asked.
“Nah, they were told to keep her. Someone from the organization is going to come and collect her. That’s what I was doing—sending word. They don’t want her falling into the wrong hands again. They’ll take her to the packing village and make her work there. The production village has been compromised, I guess. The raiding party took all the product.”
“Fuck,” Glass Eye breathed out, just as Nova finished her ale and excused herself.
“Don’t be too long,” she told me, pointing.
“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, waving her away.
“That’s going to delay getting in new product, right?” Glass Eye asked.
Dirty Hands fell back against his seat, making it rock backward. “You got it. They’re already planning to jack up the prices to compensate. You’re going to have a lot of angry stall owners.”
“Not my fault. I just distribute it.”
“Yeah.”
“I think I saw her.” I leaned forward over the table, swaying a little to emphasize I’d been drinking. “That hot little number walking around late last night? I was thinking to myself, I was thinking—what is a sexy little lady doing walking around this late? Is she looking for fun? She turned a corner before I could catch up to her, though. She looked strangely familiar but I couldn’t place her. I think I may have seen a poster with her likeness, like you said. Just in passing.” I sat back in my seat, feigning indifference. “I don’t work for anyone relevant. I’m in a different trade. We can’t sell for shit. I don’t even know why I’m doing the damn thing—“