A dagger plunged into his back. He shrieked. The lovers in the corner dashed out the door, the guy struggling to pull up his pants and looking damn foolish doing so. The wench shouted something about no blades, but Gileas didn’t hear it. He twisted to one side, hoping to keep the blade from pushing in further, but then a hand grabbed his head and slammed it against the table. Stars swam before his eyes.
The dagger yanked out. Gileas clutched his arms against his chest, rocking back and forth as pain shot through his body. Warm blood ran down his spine.
“Hello, Vel,” he said as Veliana sat down opposite him. Twirling in her left hand was a bloody dagger, flecks of it splattering across the table. The tavern owner neared and started to speak, but a single glare from Veliana shut him up.
“This is guild business,” she said. That was all the tavern keeper needed to hear.
“I just saw a Spider Guild officer leaving the bar,” she said, when the man was gone. “What did you sell him, Worm?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Only lies and promises and empty air.”
She grabbed his hand and thrust the dagger through his palm. To his credit, he didn’t scream.
“Try again,” she said.
“You’re a bloody fool,” he said. “I wouldn’t have killed you. I never would have. So angry…”
“Look at me!” she shouted. She jammed a finger toward her scarred eye. “Look!”
The pupil was milky-white, the outer edges rimmed with blood. From her forehead to her cheek, the inflamed scar ruined whatever beauty she might have had.
“You think I give a rat’s ass if you meant to kill me or not?” she asked.
Gileas coughed. He felt like his back was on fire. With how wet his cough sounded, he wondered if she had pierced his lung. It wasn’t fatal, not yet…
“I can pay you, enough for a healer. They might not remove the scar, but heal the eye enough--”
Veliana yanked the dagger out and then rammed it back downward, this time penetrating his wrist. He screamed.
“What’d you sell him?” she asked. “You already sold me out to Thren. Who else did you ruin? What remains of my Ash Guild?”
Gileas laughed in spite of the pain it caused him.
“They’re hiding, Vel. Hiding. But worms crawl everywhere. Thren knows where they are now. He knows, and you’ll all die. He’ll have his plan, his stupid, idiotic plan.”
Realization hit Veliana like a cold fist in her gut.
“You told Gerand the truth,” she said. “You didn’t lie like we paid you. You told the king’s advisor the goddamn truth.”
Gileas’s black-toothed grin was all the answer she needed.
“You son of a bitch,” she said, her voice seething with rage.
“Who knows who Gerand’s told?” Gileas said. He coughed, and blood spilled across his lips. “Who knows what plans they’ve spun? The Kensgold will be a fun night. I can’t wait to watch.”
“You’ll watch nothing,” Veliana said. “You’re going to do Dezrel a favor and fucking die.”
She yanked her dagger out and thrust for his chest. The dagger punched through his clothes but pierced no flesh. They were empty, and already falling as if dropped from the ceiling. The clothes piled on the chair, looking like some strange joke. Veliana stared at them, her mouth open in shock. She had thought the first time she had been delusional from her pain and trauma. This time, she knew magic was at work.
She picked up his shirt and shook it. Nothing. She used her dagger to shift his trousers side to side. Still nothing. Curses on her lips, she turned to leave when something caught her eye.
Crawling on the floor toward a small crack was an eight-inch black worm. As it flexed, she saw a thin cut along its side.
“No way,” she said. No wonder he had been nicknamed the Worm. He’d probably given it to himself to mock every single person he dealt with. Every joke about living in mud, digging through walls, listening with ears clogged with dirt…it was all true.
It was almost to the crack. Veliana hurled her dagger, wanting to get nowhere near the strange creature. Purple fire swarmed around the blade, created by her meager magical talent. The dagger pierced the worm just above its midsection. It twisted and squirmed, its body cut in half. Still it crawled toward the crack, leaving its lower half behind.
Veliana crushed it with her heal. Innards spurted across the floor. She held in a wave of vomit. For some reason, it reminded her of