Vengeance (The Captive #6)(15)
“You are to go to Chippman and find Jack or Aria; tell them William is well. There will be two more gold coins there for you if you do.”
The older boy nodded eagerly and slipped the coin into his pocket. The promise of two gold coins would annoy Jack, an added bonus in his mind, but it would also guarantee the boy completed his mission.
“I’ll leave now, sir,” the boy said eagerly.
“Good.” William stepped into the snow floating down in lazy spirals. Walking down the street, he stopped outside of the tavern before walking up the stairs and opening the door. A few heads turned in his direction, but most remained focused on their games or conversations. He took in all of the faces, but Kane’s ugly mug wasn’t amongst the sparse crowd.
He barely glanced around the interior. He’d been in hundreds of taverns over the years; they had all blurred into the same picture in his mind. They all had dim lighting with candles placed around the tables. There was always a card or dice game going on amongst the patrons. Ale flowed freely, as did the women. A fire crackled in the large fireplace across from him; the heat of it warmed the small, smoke-filled building. Pulling his cloak off, he draped it over the back of a chair before sliding into it.
“Can I get you something?” a pretty, petite blonde asked him when she arrived at his side.
“A tankard of ale.” He threw some coins across the table toward her. “And keep them coming.”
“I sure will,” she replied as she eagerly scooped up the money and slid it into her pocket.
His fingers tapped the surface of the scarred table as he tried to control his impatience and annoyance. He’d set out knowing this could be a lengthy process, but secretly he’d expected to find Kane and settle this as quickly as possible. He’d never been one for waiting; he didn’t like being denied what he sought.
He had to keep a hold on his patience; he would only end up getting himself killed if he didn’t. It went against his nature to be so methodical and restrained about something he truly wanted. Unable to sit still any longer, he rose to his feet and walked over to a poker game in the corner.
“Can I join?” he inquired.
“Do you have coin?” a human man inquired.
William slapped some coins on the table. The man beside him slid over to the empty chair, making room for him at the table. He sat in the vacated chair and took hold of the cards dealt to him. The first hour passed in mundane conversation about the weather and the crops to be planted in the spring.
William listened and offered his advice as the game progressed before finally asking the question he asked in every town he stopped in. “Has a man, by the name of Kane, passed through here over the past five months?”
They all looked up at him before focusing on their cards again. “Never heard of him,” the human across the way told him as he tossed some more money into the growing pot in the middle of the table.
“He’s about five ten, stocky build, cropped brown hair. Has a scar that starts at his hairline; it goes to his chin before twisting up to his bottom lip.”
The human beside him stopped dealing the cards and turned toward William. His mouth pursed, a line creased the bridge of his nose. “I saw him once, about three months ago. Not here, but in a town about fifty miles north of here. He was with a group of other men. Ugly son of a bitch with a personality to match his face. I left that town before the winter set in.”
William sat up straighter in his chair; he barely managed to keep himself from crushing the cards in his hands. It was the first lead he’d stumbled across since Kane had run him through. “What was the name of this town?”
The man’s eyes narrowed as he shrewdly assessed William and the money sitting before him. “How much is it worth to you?”
William’s fangs tingled with the urge to rip the man’s throat out. Steadying his anger, William pushed a few silver coins toward the man. “That’s all you’ll get from me, and if I don’t get my answer, I’ll beat you into a bloody pulp.” The man froze in the middle of grabbing his coin. “And if I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll come back here and kill you myself.”
The man’s hand hesitated over the coins before he snatched them up and shoved them into his pocket. “The town is Chester. I’m not sure if he’s still there or not.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s still there or not, it only matters that he was there. Are you going to stick with your story?”
The man glanced nervously at his friends. His heartbeat kicked up, it beat more loudly in William’s hypersensitive ears, causing his fangs to tingle more. The foul stench of panic wafted off the human as beads of sweat broke out across his forehead. “Ye… Yes,” he stammered out.
William bit into his wrist. He moved so fast from his chair the man never had a chance to react before William jerked his head back by his hair and held his wrist over the man’s mouth. Beads of blood plopped onto his lips and chin. His lips clamped together to keep from swallowing the blood.
Bending low, William almost rested his chin on the man’s shoulder as he spoke, “Now, with the knowledge I can track you anywhere if I force my blood into you, are you going to stick with that story?”
“Hey now…” the one vampire at the table started.
“Stay out of this!” William snarled at him. The vampire’s mouth shut as he quickly settled back into the chair he’d half risen from. The eyes of the human William held slid toward him, but his head didn’t move an inch. “Are you going to stick with your story?”