Infernal Investigations

I resisted the urge to curse. Not only would it not do anything, but the assortment of thugs before me and Tolman might think it referred to them.

It did, but provoking them wouldn’t do any good.

Five people stood outside the entrance, maybe a dozen feet away. Most of them wouldn’t look out of place on the street, dressed like vagrants, bearing the stained teeth of those addicted to one substance or another. Of course, most vagrants didn’t stand in a loose line outside the entrance of this place. Most vagrants didn’t possess the very well-kept knives this group was using to do such mundane tasks as picking their nails.

Most also didn’t have a trio of street rats behind them, one of whom was busy making obscene hand gestures at me while shrieking insults about my parentage.

There were no Black Flame tattoos in sight, which was not a shock. Part of the reason the tattoo existed was for members of the gang to deliberately not have it. Badges of honor and sisterhood were useful for morale, but they were also useful for making the Watch think you had to have one to be a member.

“I think we’ve been followed,” I confided in Tolman quietly.

“Amazingly, I must agree. Raises the question, why do you think the kid tried to put tracers on us then? It’s not like you renting out of here is a secret.”

“Maybe they didn’t expect us to come here,” I replied before continuing from the front entrance into the street below.

I didn’t recognize any of the Black Flame, although the leader seemed a little familiar. I recognized the three orphans in the back, the lead one being the wannabe pickpocket. He had given up on parental-based insults. Now a grin on his face that threatened to bisect his head with how broad it was, eyes taunting.

Ah, the follies of youth. I pulled a pistol from within my coat, not all the way. Just enough for the flintlock hammer to clear the coat. His eyes widened immediately, the smile vanishing. He and his two friends scampered off into the distance.

The lead Black Flame leader looked at their fleeing forms and then turned her attention back to me. “Was that really called for?” She chided me. “He already got a chewing out for fucking up the job on you. Poor kid’s also going to get a lashing from Syn, he’s got enough problems for today.”

I folded my arms, not reaching for my replacement saber quite yet. Lashings? Huh, just when I thought Versalicci couldn’t get any worse in managing his little criminal empire. Syn being alive wasn’t too much of a shock. Rats knew the best ways to escape death.

“Considering that he put tracers on my person knowing how this would probably turn out, I don’t see putting a fright into him as some grand sin. Why are you here?”

The leader held her hands up placatingly. “Mr. Versalicci wants to have a chat with you is all. About your mutual dead friend Mr. Golvar.”

“Calling Golvar a friend is stretching it,” I replied. “But if he wants to ask how Golvar died, the answer is simple and doesn’t need me. Golvar got stabbed to death by Pure-Bloods, as part of a delivery. He probably knows more than me about that.”

I knew this one from somewhere, now that I was focused more on her than the urchin. The unsymmetrical cheekbones, for one thing, one lower and forced inward compared to the other. It probably had been broken sometime in the past and never healed properly. The tail end of my time in the gang? Probably.

“Mr. Versalicci doesn’t doubt you didn’t kill him. But he does have some…questions he wants answered in person. As well as some missing property he thinks you possess.”

Tolman moved next to me, expression calm, but I could read the tension behind that. So could the leader of the group, who now had a hand firmly inside her coat. Pistols? A risk of the Watch, which would normally not be a factor except they’d been here yesterday.

I wish I could tell him to back away. We couldn’t communicate with each other, at least not with the hand signals. I really should have set up some kind of alternate form of communication for us that didn’t have its origins inside the Black Flame.

“You can tell Mr. Versalicci that I will meet with him on the subject at a later date, but I do not possess his property,” I said.

One of the thugs chuckled as the smile on the leader’s face grew a mite less warm.

“How about you tell him yourself?” she asked.

“I unfortunately have a very busy day, nor do I particularly want to see Mr. Versalicci. I made that very clear last time we met I did not want to see him again, no amount of gifts would change my mind, nor any other overtures he might make. If you want to take a message back, how about this? I’ve made it clear I’m through with him, and if he insists on continuing his pursuit of me, I will reveal things he does not want made public.”

The leader’s face went blank, and some of the others were muttering amongst themselves. While I didn’t make out much, a few words were loud enough to hear. ‘Think she’s the lady in red?’

What, no, the Lady in Red was dead. Laurata had breathed her last, not being paid back in the slightest for being Versalicci’s….

My mind blanked as they connected the dots of what this group of Black Flame was clearly thinking.

The leader cleared her throat. “I was told this was a delicate case, didn’t realize it was that delicate. Miss Laurata, it’s been a while since we last met, but I can assure you this isn’t related to the relationship you had with the boss.”

Tolman started roaring with laughter, making it for a full second before I elbowed him in the ribs.

This needed to be clarified. Immediately. “You misunderstand me, I am not Lau -”

One of the Black Flame glanced to the side and then immediately turned, knives clearing their coat. My own hand pulled out my flintlock, head turning.

Four humans were heading our way, canes in hand, the one in front bearing a top hat. More Pure-bloods? Why would they be here?

Don’t question it Malvia, I told myself.

The Black Flame leader had spotted them as well. She gestured to the other members of the gang, who turned their attention away.

By the time they turned back to the entrance, me and Tolman were halfway to the alleyway.

I resisted the urge to look back as a gun fired behind us. It didn’t impact anywhere near us. The best thing to do was leave and let the two gangs beat and kill each other instead.

More gunshots sounded as we skidded into the alley. I spared a moment to look behind us. The Black Flame members were seemingly torn but most had turned on the Pure-Bloods.

I slipped my pistol back into my coat as I ran. No need to present a threat. Time for the opposite, actually.

Tolman gave me a look of fake scandalization as we hurried through the alleyway, a grin threatening to break through the surface. “So did you mean to imply you and Versalicci were slee-”

“Finish that sentence, and I’ll remove the repairs on your horns,” I said.

I spared a look behind us. No one had even bothered chasing after us. Both groups probably knew where I lived, they weren’t too fussed about wasting their morning chasing us. I was almost insulted by how little effort they were putting into this.

Then again, they were likely too busy killing each other.

“We can stop. And no, I did not intend to give that impression.” Even considering the thought made my stomach rebel worse than the diabolism had.

“He’ll probably be just as horrified as you if he hears about it. That or he thinks he got things very wrong and thinks you’re really Laurata in disguise. Which well, considering what your disguise as Falara looks like, I can see why.”

I considered the shade of my skin and the adjustments I’d made in the last few days and came to a horrific realization. “Oh gods, I do look a little like Laurata. No wonder they suspected I might be her. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tolman chuckled. “I thought you were aiming for that kind of look?”

Unconsciously maybe. When I was fourteen, Laurata seemed to be the most elegant and refined person in existence. Had I gone for a look similar to hers because of that?

I sighed. This disguise would need to be changed regardless. “Okay. Enough on that. Did you recognize the leader of that little band?”

Tolman looked back down the alley towards where the fight must be raging on. “Not by name. She was a new recruit right before everything went straight to hell. Guess she’s advanced far up the ranks since then.”

“She wouldn’t have a lot of competition,” I replied. “Well, it seems from the lack of whistles the Watch is not as on the ball as they were yesterday. We should probably use that to our advantage and get as far away as we can.”

“I’m surprised you want to run. I imagine whoever’s left will try and break into your lab?”

“They will,” I agreed. “I’d say they’d have to make it past the defenses first, but considering last night….write it off as a loss.”

We finally slowed down to a walk. Whistles were beginning to blow, but nowhere near us. I turned back to face where my lab had been. Gods damn it, I’d just built that place up, and most of Lady Karsin’s payment had gone into that. Pain lanced through my palms.

“Malvia, your hands,” Tolman warned me.

My nails had started cutting into my palms. Cursing, I pulled them out, watching as drops of blood started falling. It took half a second to get some cloth out of a pocket and wrap it over the bleeding wounds.

Tolman looked at me cautiously. “We can probably take the survivors of that little skir-”

“Don’t,” I cut him off. “I appreciate the thought, but I doubt it’s the last group that will be sent, and we just don’t have time to move anything. I got the cures for Angel’s Sorrow out last night. It’s not ideal, but we can rebuild, and you are not risking your life over this.”

“Alright. What’s our next move then?”

“Your next move is heading home before Arsene gets more reason to kill me,” I muttered. “For me, next is meeting with Halmon and then dealing with Kalasyp’s clients.”

“With how worried you’ve been, I’m surprised you don’t think Kalasyp’s offer is a trap,” Tolman said.

“The thought did cross my mind,” I confessed. “But if they knew where my apartment is, there’s no real need to arrange for me to head to his lab.”

“Wanting to abduct you in a more quiet, isolated spot?”

“His lab is underground and right next to the Delver’s Guild headquarters,” I said. “Trying to abduct me would be right next to people who might actually intervene if they see someone being abducted.”

Tolman whistled. Getting real estate in one of the old dwarf quarters was an achievement.“How did he get such a prime piece of real estate?”

“Old deals with the guild masters,” I answered. “He used to be something of an adventurer a century or two back.”

“You’re joking. He doesn’t look it even a little. And he’s extended his life?”

“Apparently, they don’t mind too much if it’s done with enemies of the state. Which includes anyone who happens to be in a dungeon the Empire wants to be cleared.” We’d reached the street by now, and after a second Tolman was heading down the street.

I headed the other way, still checking my hands. The cuts weren’t too deep, so healing them could wait. I could take the main tunnels down, but I didn’t want to run the risk of being ambushed by another group of Pure-bloods or Black Flame.

Time for the smaller tunnels. There were dozens of them, and not well-patrolled. This close to the surface, there shouldn’t be any creatures there. But given my luck today, there probably would be something down there.

I checked the flintlock. I’d been holding out on buying a revolver, the new weapon costing easily twenty times a trusty old flintlock. That was changing the first chance I got. But for now, it would have to suffice underground.