famously unfamous | jaron artolius eckbert iii

Eighteen

Sage gently set the sword on the floor, then took Imogen's  and my hands and pulled us into the tunnel. Before he shut the door behind us, I saw Mott use the dead man's knife to stab himself in the arm. Reeling, he pulled the knife out, then fell on the floor.

Several of Veldergrath's men ran into the room. "What happened here?" one of them, a leader of the group, asked.

Mott rolled over. Whether he was exaggerating his pain or not, I believed his performance. "Your man attacked me," he mumbled. "I might have startled him when I came in, but it was only to assist him with unlocking these doors."

One of Veldergrath's men knelt down to examine Mott's injury. "You're lucky it wasn't deeper, or in a more vital area."

"I tried to dodge out of the way. He was aiming for my chest. I had to defend myself."

"You must have provoked him!"

Mott shook his head. "You saw me walk in here. I had no reason to attack this man. Perhaps I should report to your master and mine exactly how this search is going."

"Get rid of that body," the leader said. "Veldergrath doesn't want damage done to Conner's property. One of you clean up this blood."

A few men went to look for cleaning supplies, and after wrapping him in sheets from Roden's bed, it took most of the rest of them to haul the body out of the room. Mott assured them he could get himself bandaged and was soon left alone.

He glanced at the crack of the opened passage door Sage and I had been staring through, then nodded at us.

He closed the door tightly and sank against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees. Imogen sat silently beside him. I slid down the wall, clutching his hand with all my strength. I vaguely felt her presence, but took no notice of it. As it was, all I could do was stare into the darkness and try to keep breathing.

Conner said he would let the devils have his soul if it meant succeeding with his plan. I had the feeling that when he did, the souls of all the rest of us would go to the devils too.

Imogen, Sage, and I remained there until the search ended and Veldergrath's company of men left. Conner himself came to claim us in the tunnels. He found Tobias and Roden first, and then they walked downstairs through the tunnels to find us.

Conner offered us each a hand from where we still sat on the floor, numb. Sage nor I never killed before, not even accidentally or for defense or for whatever label they would attach to it tonight and neither of us had ever witnessed a death like this either. His only intention had been to stop him from harming Imogen and me, and without alerting anyone else in the house to our presences. That at least had been accomplished, but it had come at a heavy price.

Every feeling within me was pain, so I hollowed it out and barely acknowledged Conner's greeting when he saw me.

I took his hand, but he did more work in pulling me and Sage up than we did with any effort to lift ourselves. I could tell from there that the imitation of Prince Jaron's sword was gone. Mott must have taken it with him when he went to get bandaged. Conner led us into the bedroom, where Sage and I sat on his bed. Roden sat next to me, Tobias took a stool for himself, and Imogen stood, keeping herself apart from the rest of us. Mott was already in the room when we entered. His arm was bandaged and his face was grim. It was obvious where the floor had been scrubbed of blood.

Conner addressed Imogen first. "May I assume that you were in the tunnels because you were somehow involved in the death of that man?"

Imogen nodded, slowly.

"It was my fault," Sage said in a dead monotone. "I thought I struck him low enough to avoid any major damage."

"It was for good reason," Mott said. "We all know what would've happened if you hadn't acted, not only to Imogen or Leta but to you boys as well."