Shards

Chapter 64 - Blame

"Lie down and stay down or I'll tell Xi Xiu," threatened Lord Zhang.

The threat of Xi Xiu either becoming enraged at him for hurting himself or crying tears of distress was enough to still the Five.

Ghost stayed down.

"Ghost?" Key called uncertainly. Was Ghost being held captive? Did Lord Zhang make the Five betray him?

"Lord Zhang ..." the Master Thief begun, shifting his attention to the person in charge. He felt uneasy and kept alert in case he had to fight the Captain.

"Over there Shard," said the Captain. "Ghost wants you to take care of that."

Shard? They knew his identity? Key's eyes narrowed. That meant everyone in the room knew about him and Ghost being from the Dark Sect!

Captain Zhang ignored his reaction and pointed to a corner with the hilt of his sword. A covered body lay there. The Three studied the body from where he stood, moving only when Ghost lifted his hand signaling it was alright.

Key pulled up a corner of the white cloth. He blanched. Glass? What was he doing here? How did he die? He swallowed hard, flicking a hard look at the onlooking Zhang household. Did he die here?

"I want to talk to Ghost," Key said in a flat voice.

Ghost was injured and Glass was dead. He felt stunned at the implications. Ghost was not a captive ... but was being treated for his wounds? Confusion made him frown. If House Zhang killed Glass, they were in trouble with the Dark Sect. If Ghost killed him ... he shuddered not wanting to think further. He hoped the Five would take charge, tell him what to do and make everything alright.

"Be my guest," said Lord Zhang backing away. The others took his cue and moved with him to he other side of the room.

The Three sucked in his breath when he saw Ghost. "What happened?!" he gasped sitting down at the edge of the bed.

Ghost's hair was matted with drying blood. The damp folded cloth still on his head was seeped with red. It smelled of unidentifiable herbs. Someone had tried to clean his face but could not do a thorough job due to the head injury. His eyes were blood shot.

He was only wearing pants. Darkening bruises decorated his upper body and one arm was bandaged. Key's eyes widen in shock as he took in the cut and brutal ligature marks on his neck. The wound had been cleaned and salve administered on the angry red lines. But the deep lacerations would leave telling scars after it healed.

"Ghost! Who did this?" he asked even as the answer popped into his head. Who else could it be with marks like that! "Glass used the silver thread on you? How could he?"

The silver thread was a thin sturdy rope. It had filaments of thin wires running through it, making it almost unbreakable. A favourite tool among Shards, it was easily carried and used mainly to strangle Targets.

All Shards had them. In fact, Ghost currently had two on him. He had dyed them black and wore them with brown leather strips tied to his high ponytail. Key fingered his own colourful set which decorated his sword.

"Shhh!" Ghost croaked. His throat hurt and speaking was painful. "Move your body to cover my face, then listen to what I have to say."

Obediently, Key adjusted his body so that those watching across the room would not be able to view Ghost's head. They would not be able to read lips if they couldn't see them.

I came to see Lord Zhang. When I was leaving, I bumped into Glass. Zhang Xi Xiu was his Target. He was here to kidnap her for Lord Zhai.