Bone Diggers (Paperback out now!)

Bone Diggers - Chapter Fourteen

Daniel tossed the small bottle to Amilia, who awkwardly caught it. "I guess you will have to find women the old fashion way, because if I catch you here again I'll kill you. Now leave." Daniel lowered the sword, and took a single step aside to let the man pass.

The wannabe killer seemed to check his ego against challenging Daniel, but decided to bolt in the end.

They were whisked over to the sick woman in one of the side rooms. Lily sat at the bedside of another woman who looked warm and sickly despite the cool rag on her forehead. Without a word, Amilia handed the bottle over to Lily.

"Miracles do exist," she said, with a new hope as she tipped the medicine into her friend's mouth. Once empty, she gestured everyone to leave the room and followed them out. "I don't know how to thank you enough for what you have done. The head of the house is away. I should have been responsible for handling the situation but..." Lily's hands went to her carefully pinned hair as if needing to fix a stray hair somewhere. She could handle many things, but this situation had spiraled out of her control. She exhaled deliberately to center herself. "Please stay. Relax, maybe have a drink. Our hospitality is the least I can offer you."

Daniel stayed silent, wondering if the girls felt the same tension that he did. Then it dawned on him; they hadn't actually met that morning.

Someone else called Lily's name. She turned to look and let out a sigh. "I have to take care of something else, but please stay. The night even, if you want."

Daniel turned to Amilia with a slight shrug. They had run two guild missions together, and this impromptu one. "Would you like to stay?" He grinned. "Maybe we shouldn't. I'm not sure these women would be a good influence on you."

Amilia shifted her weight slightly as she looked at Daniel. "If the thief's guild doesn't work out, perhaps I could try being a courtesan. Holding a sword to clients seems bad for business, though. But, we should stay and hopefully avoid any more trouble."

There were many guilty pleasures that could be found here besides ones that needed a bed. Gambling and drinking among them. "Sounds good." He gestured towards a corner. Two couches sat across from each other with a shared table. Daniel picked up the deck of cards he found and promptly started shuffling. "Do you have any games in mind, or should I just deal the first thing that comes to me?"

Amilia had been looking over to various men and women. Her expression was tight, like she didn't fully approve of people spending time here, but seemed to be trying. "Whatever is fine."

After the cards were dealt, they were brought glasses of wine. The waitress gave a practiced smile before leaving them be. Daniel didn't flinch at the drink this time, making Amilia curious how often he was here. When he noticed she was staring, he slid his drink away making her laugh.

"It's a good thing we are not playing for money," Daniel said after a few hands. "You'd be beating the pants off of me." He took the cards back from her, giving the cards an extra shuffle this time as if that would cure his string of rotten hands.

Amilia leaned back against the couch, and her mind drifted to think about all that had happened lately. She had killed a man. Killed. "Daniel, how many people have you...dealt with?"

He looked up from the cards, unsure what she meant until he saw the dark expression over her eyes. "I don't know, Amilia," Daniel said, with a soft sigh. He wasn't trying to hide the answer, it was just easier to do his job if he didn't count how many people it cost. "I wish we lived in a world where killing wasn't the way people got what they wanted," Daniel continued, "Think of it this way, if you asked someone how many people they slept with many can easily think of an answer. They might be embarrassed to tell you, but they know. The courtesans, however, feel different about it. They might not have a number, but they aren't ashamed of themselves for what they do. Some people may look down on them, but they don't buy into it. The act doesn't define them."