Chapter 64

Zea told herself that she wasn’t committing to anything when she bought the bag. It was only sensible to have something like that, especially considering she was still kind of homeless. She had a place to stay, for now, but she was under no illusions that she’d have enough money to pay for the rent next month. Even if she did, it would likely be all her money, leaving her penniless again. It would be far better to save that money for food and other necessary supplies.

So, she bought a bag to hold her meager possessions. Her dress would go into it soon and she’d be back to rags. The money stayed in her neck pouch, safe from all but the nimblest of pickpockets. She was going to pick up a few other things, perhaps a nice warm cloak. That also was not committing to anything, as a warm cloak was invaluable during the winter months, and she already had the bag to store it in until she needed it.

Zea didn’t make it to cloak shopping though. Her afternoon was interrupted by the sight of a human barreling down a street, only for him to abruptly leap so high into the air that he cleared the eaves of the house a block down the street. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought that was Aldrick. It couldn’t be though, because he was taking that church hussy out to lunch so that he didn’t ‘arouse suspicion.’

Part of Zea had been tempted to follow him, but she reined that back in and told herself that it wasn’t really her business. Besides, he hadn’t been completely wrong in his logic, though she thought he might have come up with that idea with only half his blood going to his brain.

On the off-chance that his plan had backfired spectacularly, she started towards the nearest alley to try to get a better look at the man who’d jumped onto a roof. Before she got half way there, another man went flying by, heedless of anyone else who might be in his way. Zea barely managed to dodge to the side in time to avoid being kicked.

Her heart in her throat now, she raced around the corner just in time to see the first man somehow leap completely across the street to land on another roof. There was no doubt about his identity now, which meant that the worst had happened. Aldrick had done something, or said something, or was maybe just plain unlucky, but at least one person was after him.

She had no idea where he was going, but she’d never keep up. He ran like the wind, leaving both her and his pursuer behind. Soon enough, the city guard was involved, and since they weren’t detaining the man who’d been chasing Aldrick, that meant he was someone important. Zea slipped away as soon as she saw the guards showing up and working with the pursuer.

If there was anywhere in the city she might find him, it was their room. He had left an extremely expensive weapon there, one that he might come back for. She didn’t think she would if she were in his place, but Aldrick wasn’t the smartest man she’d ever met. Kind of the opposite, really. All heart, too trusting. The city would have eaten him alive if she’d let him do whatever he wanted.

If it had been her, she would have cut her losses and run, but it was entirely possible that she could catch up to him at their room, if she was quick enough. At least, she hoped that was the case. Zea walked as quickly as she could without attracting attention and silently prayed that she was right, and that she wasn’t too late.

* * *

Luke dropped back to street level after a few more jumps. He called upon all the knowledge he’d gained from [Disguise] and [Deception]to help him hide, and the big thing that jumped out to him when he activated the skills was that he was far too conspicuous. He needed to blend in with the crowd, so he dropped down onto a side street, ran towards the closest main road, and as soon as he was there, slowed himself down to a walk and did his best to just merge into traffic.

There was only so much he could do since his high XP marked him as unusual to anybody with even a halfway decent perception, but at least this way he wasn’t actively advertising his presence. Luke walked as quickly as he could, weaving between slower people and occasionally forcing his way past someone with a hastily muttered apology. Neither of his skills liked that, but he couldn’t afford to get bogged down by every window shopper and casual stroller crowding up the place.

The last of the poison burned itself out while he walked, which was a relief in and of itself. Its effect had grown weaker as the timer counted down, but it wasn’t until it was fully gone that he really started to trust himself to make good decisions and maintain awareness of the world around him. He started moving in a wide circle through the city, sometimes ignoring the main thoroughfares in favor of side streets and small winding alleys that were nothing more than dirt trails between buildings.

Normally, Luke avoided places like that. He wasn’t looking for a fight with a street gang, and Zea had been adamant that it was worth the extra time to go around places with bad reputations. Today he didn’t have that time, so he cut straight through them without a thought. He needed out of the city, but he didn’t think he’d survive without a good weapon.

As much as he wanted to just make a run for it, there was no choice but to circle back. Hopefully Myla and her flunkies didn’t know where he lived, but he wouldn’t put it past them. He’d need to approach carefully and keep his eyes peeled. It was almost guaranteed to be a trap and he didn’t have any weapon at all to rely on.

Luke made his way back to the one-room apartment he’d rented with Zea and spent some time circling around it, just to see who was loitering around and keeping an eye on the front door. The fact that he didn’t find anyone didn’t reassure him, but his perception was high, hopefully high enough to spot any hidden watchers.

An uncomfortable nagging feeling told him that they’d probably been watching him prior to making their move, that Myla had somehow found him days ago and had been spying on him ever since. Trusting in his perception might not be the right move. If for no other reason than that, he’d have to be quick. In, grab his stuff, and out. In a pinch, he’d settle for just the mace, but fortunately, he’d been paranoid enough to keep everything packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Luke slipped inside and took the stairs four at a time. He ran down the hall towards his room, fully prepared to knock the door down, only to find it was already unlocked and open. Zea was standing there, huffing and puffing as she stuffed the clothes he’d bought her into a bag.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked.

She froze, then relaxed when she recognized the voice, and spun to face him. “I saw you running, figured you’d gotten into trouble if you were jumping across the roofs. This was the only place I was sure I’d find you.”

Shit. She’d run towards danger. “You shouldn’t be here. They’re after me, but they’ll take you too if they find us together.”

“It’s too late. I’m your manager. That church girl knows that. I’m liable to be picked up too.”

“Then why are you here?” Luke asked. “You should be hiding somewhere where they won’t find you.”

She looked down at the bag she’d been packing, then back up at Luke. “You’re an idiot,” she said with a snort. “Here, get this harness strapped on so we can go.”

Despite the danger, Luke’s heart fluttered. “We?”

Before she could reply, [Twitch Reflexes] activated and he threw himself sideways. A dart of some kind whipped past his head and buried itself in the wall behind him. Luke blinked at the dart, then traced its trajectory back. Despite the shutters being closed, someone had thrown it through the small gap with such precision that he hadn’t even heard it clip the wood.

“Holy shit!” Zea yelped, staring at the dart with her mouth hanging open.

Luke dove for the floor and scrambled to grab his bag. “Here,” he said, rummaging through it until he came up with a feather. “Take this. The guy I got it from said you have to deliberately break it, and it will conceal you from all senses for a short time. I’m not sure what that means, but you use it so they can’t catch you.”

“Wait!” Zea grabbed at his sleeve. “You get out of Valtira as fast as you can. Don’t stop to let me catch up. There’s a town forty miles north of here called Landston. I’ll get there as fast as I can. Be careful.”

“I will, I promise. We’ll get through this, okay.”

“Of course we will. Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

Luke smiled. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Yeah,” Zea said, one eyebrow cocked, “I do.”

“I’m going out through the window,” Luke said, the harness firmly strapped to him and his mace freed from it. “Gonna catch whoever threw that fucking thing in the face with this mace. Then I’m running at top speed. Hopefully they all chase me.”

He took a step back, centered the window, and took a running leap forward. Wood shattered and exploded out in every direction. Crouched on the roof opposite his room was a woman wearing some sort of armor with a bandoleer of throwing knives across her chest. She had a blowgun in her hand, held up to her lips, and as soon as their eyes met, her cheeks puffed out.

Luke twisted in mid-air, every single point of agility he had working to keep control of his limbs, and somehow, miraculously, the second dart missed. It did accomplish one thing though: by forcing him to dodge, he was no longer any sort of coordinated and he smacked into the roof without ever getting a shot at the woman.

Luke rolled to his feet and spun to face Myla, who’d produced a dagger in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. “Foolish to stand and fight,” she said.

“Seemed like I owed you one,” Luke told her, though he agreed. There was no telling what poison was on that knife. But he wasn’t just going to let her put it in his back. He had to at least disable her before he made a break for it.

It was hard to get a feel for her. She obviously had a few skills reducing how much her XP she appeared to have, but he wasn’t going to underestimate that. The first few passes would be defensive. He had a longer weapon, and he was pretty sure he was faster and stronger, but he wasn’t going to take anything for granted.

Three people climbed up onto the roof, all of them in full armor and wielding swords or axes. Silently, they fanned out to circle around Luke. “Fucking heretic,” one of them said softly as she raised her blade up to skewer him.

“Screw this,” Luke said. There was no chance he was taking this fight. He’d have to take his chances with getting shot in the back and hope that if he needed to use [Life Surge] again, that it wouldn’t kill him to do so.

Luke turned and sprinted for the edge of the roof.