Midnight Jewel (The Glittering Court #2)(86)

“Oh, I am,” I told her. “I’m also just happy to see another tough woman in this city. I keep finding more and more of them.”

Joanna laughed. “Not many of us, but we’re out there. We’ve got to keep pushing. You sure you don’t want to work for me?”

When Tom returned, he carried a heavy sack and began doling out gold. He paid each of us ten and kept the rest in reserve for those who’d gone to the safe house. Holding that much money left me momentarily dumbfounded. Then, old instincts from Osfro kicked in. Showing wealth in certain neighborhoods was like an immediate request to be robbed. I quickly spirited the coins away to an inner cloak pocket.

Some men in our group wanted to stay and try their luck, but the rest of us headed for the door. Suddenly, Anders stopped and stared across the room. Incredulity, then anger, filled his face.

“Look who’s over there! It’s those bastards who think they can call anyone a heretic and beat them up!”

I spun in the direction he indicated and immediately found the table, all the way in the back, that had caught his eye. Ten men sat around it, intent on their cards. A few of them I recognized. At a recent party, I’d caught sight of heretic patrol members coming discreetly to the kitchen’s back door to report to Warren. These were some of the “average citizen” members. The patrol’s more elite members probably only played cards at the Chambers plantation.

And, of course, I knew one of the players very well. Grant.

Tom put a hand on Anders’s shoulder. “Leave them be. They’re authorized by the governor.”

“You think that matters to me?” Anders shrugged Tom off. “They’re the ones that arrested my cousins this week! Broke one’s ribs and knocked out some of the other’s teeth. And that’s only part of it.”

“Anders—”

But Anders was already storming away from us, pushing his way through the room and shoving aside anyone who blocked his path.

“Damn it,” said Tom, hurrying after Anders. Elijah, Lesser Tom, and I began to follow as well. Joanna caught my arm.

“Don’t do it. This is going to be a mess. Leave with me while you can.”

“I can’t.” I left her and caught up with the others.

No one at the table had noticed Anders’s approach yet. Grant seemed particularly focused on his hand, which made me think he must actually be here to play and not gather information.

Anders walked over to one of the patrol members, jerked him up by the shirt, and punched him so hard that he flew backward into another table, scattering coins and cards. A hush fell in the room, and the other patrol members—including Grant—jumped to their feet. He recognized me in an instant. Our eyes locked, and even he couldn’t conceal his surprise right away.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” demanded another man from the patrol.

“What you did to my cousins on the east side!” Anders roared.

The man tilted his head. “What, you mean those Skarsian delinq—”

Anders punched him too, and a third patrolman lunged forward. Elijah blocked the attack and grabbed him around the throat.

That was as far as it went because we were all suddenly surrounded by Molly’s burly bodyguards. “Out!” she yelled. “All of you! There’s none of that here!”

Her men herded my party and the heretic hunters to the front door, some of us—like Anders—more forcibly than others. The bodyguards gave us our weapons back and shoved everyone out to the street.

Anders wasted no time in pulling out his pistol as he strode toward the man who’d spoken to him. “Let’s see how you do against men who can actually defend themselves!”

I expected Tom to halt this. He had no qualms with necessary violence in his jobs but usually only engaged in minor scuffles within city limits. Apparently, this was an exception. Things moved so quickly, I could hardly keep up. Joanna and another hired hand from the ship raid had quickly departed. That left six of us and five from the heretic patrol. At most, the patrolmen were armed with knives. They’d only come here for gaming, after all. The pirates, fresh from a job, had guns and swords.

Chaos followed. The pirates descended on the heretic hunters, and Anders promptly shot someone in the leg. As he was trying to reload, another hunter attacked him, and in turn, two pirates attacked him. And me, I stood there stupidly, having no idea what to do until someone slammed into me and knocked me to the ground.

Grant.

“What are you doing?” I demanded in a low voice. He held me pinned in the dirty street, as if attacking, while the fray raged behind us.

“What are you doing?” he growled back. “Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”

“Me? No! You’re the one who’s outnumbered.” He regarded me intently, not satisfied with that answer. “Don’t worry about me. Trust me on this.”

He hesitated a beat more. “Then keep my cover. I can’t get made. Do you understand that? No matter what you see. Don’t try to help me out here—”

“Let her go!”

It was Elijah and Lesser Tom coming to my rescue. They ripped Grant away, and I lost track of him in the shadows. I’d just staggered to my feet and took out the dirk when another patrolman tried to grab me. He didn’t get very far. Two punches to his jaw sent him stumbling, and then another gunshot sounded. My opponent screamed and put a hand over the left side of his head. It looked like the bullet had only clipped his ear, but it was still a bloody mess. Tom himself came over, shoving his pistol in his belt as he kicked the man in the ribs.