Storm of Shadows (Lumineers 1)

CHAPTER 15: TWO FOR ONE

Nit spent the next morning watching Blue-eyes's safehouse while Tabby worked with Elias, sorting through more scrap metal. It wasn't until early afternoon that Nit sent the signal. She stowed her things and retrieved her satchel, heading across town.

"He's with Beast," Nit warned.

"Perfect. Two for one. What a discount." This didn't surprise her as much as it should have. Realistically, it should have terrified her. But she had prepared for the possibility—that the two were connected when Blue-eyes had used Cochran's name.

She arrived at his safehouse and prowled about the street, sticking to the shadows, looking for traps.

"They're on the first floor, sitting at a table." Nit sent her an image.

She balked. "You're inside with them?!"

"I crawled in through the chimney." Nit sounded rather pleased about it.

Unlike Nit, she'd have to rely on stealth and silence. The doors would be rigged, and the windows were mostly boarded up. She'd have to climb to the roof. Its entry points would be far enough that any sounds she made might go unnoticed. Might...

She found a trap door not so different than the one on her own safehouse roof, used violet to unlock it, then checked for trapps. Two darts. She pocketed them and disabled the wires, then continued on with caution.

"Still talking," Nit said, updating her.

Pulling light from her surroundings, she turned herself into shadow. She'd have to act quickly before light sickness set in. She proceeded down to the first level where she found both men huddled together. She had all the confirmation she needed now. Blue-eyes wasn't Elliot Cochran's son, he was his apprentice. And given that he appeared a few years younger than her, he'd come from a younger cohort. That explained why she'd never recognized his face.

It was a shame, really. A shame she had to kill him. But there was no other choice. And she only felt a thimble of remorse that lasted mere seconds, monster that she was.

They sat arguing. She didn't hang around to see why. Sticking to the shadows, she removed her loaded blow pipe and sent a dart at Beast's neck. He froze, then surged to his feet at the same time Blue-eyes did. Their gazes searched the dark space where she stood, eyes sliding right over her. She loaded another right as Blue-eyes shot forward towards her. It lodged directly in his neck. She backed out of range. Beast hit the floor first, followed moments later by his apprentice. She'd made the sedative extremely strong.

"That was almost too easy," she said out loud, releasing the light from around her. Her temples pounded before her head relaxed. Nit fluttered from their hiding place in the form of a dragonfly.

"The hard part is yet to come."

As much as she hated to admit it, Nit was right.

***

While she waited for her victims to wake, Tabby traipsed around Blue-eyes's safehouse, exploring it. It was much the same as hers, though there were subtle differences. He didn't keep any poisonous critters to make concoctions. Some claimed poison was a woman's method. Even Spects. If that was his stance, he was weaker for it. Midnight used it plenty.

It took several hours for the sedative to wear off. Plenty of time to prepare. When it did and they began twitching, she slapped her victims awake. She had them tied to chairs with sturdy twine, side by side, completely naked and gagged. She'd stripped them of everything they might use in defense, including their dignity, and took their prisms as new trophies. Either she would find a use for them, or Elias would, never knowing how they'd been obtained.