Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(25)

“You scum,” the grocer roared, pulling a bat of his own from beneath the counter. He lifted it, clearly prepared to defend his store, but fear shone in his eyes, and his ruddy face had turned pale. “I’m not going to let you take my stuff!”

“Oh yeah?” The thug moved in. “And who’s gonna stop us?”

I stepped between the two of them, squaring my thin, teenage-boy shoulders. “I am.”

The thug laughed. “Get out of the way before you get hurt, kid.” He swung at me with the bat.

I shot forward, closing the gap between us too fast for him to hit me with the business end of the bat, then grabbed both arms and pivoted, throwing him over my hip. He slapped his left hand on the ground, dispersing the blow, but I had his right arm with the bat clutched in his fist, and I brought his elbow down on my knee, bending his arm the wrong way. There was a loud crunch. He screamed, and the bat clattered to the ground.

“What the f*ck?” Crony Two yelped as their leader began wailing pitifully. “Who the hell is this kid?” His half-full burlap sack had slipped from his hands, and his bat was trailing on the floor as he gaped at me.

I grinned and dropped my illusion, allowing them to see who I really was. Crony Three actually gasped, then dropped his bag and made a run for it. Before he could take more than three steps, I snatched one of my mystery meat cans and flung it at the back of his head.

He dropped like a stone.

“I’m not a kid,” I said to a now-shaking Crony Two. I grabbed the bat Crony One had dropped, jumped across the row of shelves separating us, and started swinging.

***

“I really appreciate you beating up those hooligans,” the grocer said as he snapped the reins of the cart he was driving. He’d introduced himself as Gorden Matthes after the little incident with the looters.

The dappled grey horse let out a snort, then picked up the pace, hooves clopping against the pavement as it dragged the cart behind it.

“No problem.” I looked back at said hooligans, who were securely trussed up and tossed into the back of the cart. “You said this isn’t the first time they’ve come to your shop?”

Gorden shook his head. “They’ve tried it once before, but, luckily, my son was there, and he’s a big guy, bigger than even them. They’re bullies, not used to an actual challenge, so they backed off pretty easy once they saw we meant business.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I shook my head a little. Those thugs – little more than overgrown kids, really – had been ridiculously easy to beat. They were used to scaring their opponents into submission, and had little fighting experience that didn’t consist of simply throwing their weight around. “So I’m guessing you’re not the first store they’ve hit, then?”

Gorden snorted. “Not even close. There’s a reason so many shops in Maintown are closed now. With the Enforcers Guild essentially deciding to go on strike, there was no one to answer our calls for help. Until you, anyway.”

“That’s changed now,” I said, trying not to grit my teeth in anger at the selfish decision the Guild had made in Iannis’s absence. “The Enforcers Guild has just agreed to police the looting and start going after criminals again.” Which was, of course, why I was having him drop me off at the Guild with the thugs I’d apprehended. I fully intended on cashing in on that double bounty Iannis was offering.

“I can see that.” He glanced sideways at me. “Why are you disguised like that, by the way? I don’t see how you can do your job as an enforcer if you don’t look like one.”

I sighed a little, leaning back against the bench seat. “The Resistance is determined to kill me for getting in their way. It’s not safe for me to go out in public wearing my own skin.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re not going to rat me out, are you?”

“Nah. I’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

I relaxed a little – the man was being truthful. “All right. I’ll make sure the Guild sends extra enforcers your way to patrol, so that guys like this don’t bother you again.”

“Appreciate it.”

Using my claws, I sliced open another can of mystery meat – I’d gone through three already – then chowed it down, doing my best to ignore the taste as we finished the journey. To my sensitive nose, the contents were no real mystery. Half mutton, half pork, with a lacing of chickpea and seasoning. Not exactly tasty, but filling enough.

I asked Gorden to pull up at the back entrance of the Guild, where criminals were usually received. Five enforcers stood guard outside the metal door, more than twice the usual number, and they eyed us with suspicion as I jumped out of the cart and went around the back of it.

“Stop right there,” one of them called. He stepped away from the building, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he approached the cart. “Who are you, and what business do you have here?”

“I’m a licensed enforcer bringing in some thugs I caught in the middle of a robbery.” I grabbed Crony Two by the back of his collar and hauled him upright. He groaned, cracking open a black eye to stare blearily at us, then whimpered when I dropped him back into the cart. “Mind giving me a hand with these guys and signing for the receipt?”

The enforcer’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no way a scrawny kid like you would be accepted into the Guild, and definitely no way you could have apprehended these guys by yourself. Where’s your help, kid? It’s hardly the old man driving the cart.”