Ikelos (The Ephemeral: Book 2)

Chapter 15

Victor and his companion, Torian, escorted us through the sleeping village of Primm to a small pub—one of the few establishments still open at this hour. Alehouse, it was called, and with its old brick exterior and wooden porch, it reminded me a lot of Lucky's Liquors, the tavern I'd frequented back in Belgate. 

Lucky's...which, like most of my past, had become a pile of frosted ashes and broken glass. I never thought I'd miss its smoky air and sticky floor so much, but I really wished I could pay the bar one last visit and listen to Leith and Frankie's drunken theories for a while.

The moment we stepped inside the building, a restorative heat embraced me, and my stomach rumbled viciously at the savory smells.

"Sounds like someone's got an appetite," Victor teased. He shouted a few orders to the bartender and steered us toward the corner of the pub, where a group of scrappily clad men sat and played cards. They looked like they'd walked right out of the pirate book I read as a child, and I wondered if they too shared the characters' love of looting.

Rheans in thick furs and leathers sipped from their mugs, their curious and distrustful gazes following us through the tavern, and I did my best to avoid eye contact. We were outsiders in this land; one wrong look could get us killed or thrown in Rhean jail, and we didn't have time for a prison break.

We needed to keep our heads down, even if Victor had other plans. 

We reached the large booth occupied by Victor's peers, and our goateed chaperone spread his arms. "We have two guests tonight, rats. Make room."  He then stepped up onto the booth and tramped over the men's laps to his desired seat in the middle, sounding off a chorus of complaints and irked mumbling as he completely disrupted the card game. He sat down and immediately poured himself a drink. "My friends, meet our new acquaintances, Ikelos and Mr. Price."

The men stiffened at the namedrop and stared at their leader in astonishment—their cards abandoned, their foamy drinks forgotten. Then, one by one, their incredulous gazes slid to mine. 

"You can just call me Alex," I murmured, and I pulled up a chair to sit at the edge of the table. Mason remained standing with his arms folded over his chest, unwilling to let his guard down.

The bartender arrived with two mugs of cider for Mason and me, and I shot him an appreciative glance. He didn't seem to know what to make of me yet, so he simply nodded once to acknowledge my existence. 

"Alex here just single-handedly solved your pest problem, Duke," Torian said, clapping the man on the back as he sat down at the end of the booth. "Won't have to worry about storing red meat anymore."

"No kidding?" Duke exclaimed. He looked me over in surprise, and while his suspicion didn't lessen any, a bit of admiration seeped into his expression. He backed away with a tentative smile. "I'll be right out with your food, then. On the house."

I just about cried hearing that.

Warm food—free food.  Gritz, this might have been the best day of my life.

"Wait," said the man next to Torian. "You don't mean the Sac, do you?" He whipped his head around to gape at me, and his braid of strawberry blond hair nearly took out a pitcher of ale.

"The what?" Mason hissed.

"The Spider Sac," Strawberry clarified. He looked at Victor. "She wiped them out?"

Victor grinned at me from across the table. "The whole damn valley."

Suddenly, the group's nervous glances adopted a strange kind of enthusiasm, and I could see their mouths quivering with a thousand different questions.