right boys?”
His words were met with shouts of approval and harsh laughter.
“Specter tells me that you’re the reason Imperial soldiers burned Jaobin to the ground. Is this true?”
Ethan felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. His thoughts turned to the farmer and his family.
“We had nothing to do with that,” Jonas interjected. “We’re just trying to head north to find work.”
“The look on your young friend’s face tells me that you’re lying,” Thrace remarked. He leaned back in his chair. “Now here’s my dilemma. It appears that Specter has taken it upon himself to kill three Imperial soldiers just to get his hands on you. This creates a big problem for me. The Empire doesn’t like it when their people are murdered, so they’ll be looking for whoever did it. That hurts business. Of course, Specter assures me that the bounty on your heads will be well worth it.”
“There is no bounty,” said Jonas. “He’s a liar.”
Thrace smiled. “Oh, I’m sure he is. In fact, he’s known for it. But I don’t think he’s lying about you. Are you, Specter?”
“You know I’m not,” he replied sharply.
“Now Specter has not earned himself many friends in the Hareesh,” Thrace continued. “But he is a mighty good earner. So what do I do? Do I turn him in to the Empire? Or do I let him take you to the garrison for the bounty?”
“Enough of this, Thrace,” barked Specter. “You’ll get your cut when I return.”
“You’re assuming I want you to return,” Thrace countered. His jaw tightened and his fists clenched. “Your stupidity might bring us all to the hangman’s noose. What were you thinking? You don’t kill Imperials.”
“No one other than the Hareesh knows it was me,” he said. “There were no witnesses other than these two, and who would believe them?”
Thrace glared for a moment, but his posture gradually relaxed. “You’ll have your bounty, Specter. But there is another matter that must be addressed. Hank’s murder.”
Specter’s top lip curled. “Hank was a dim witted fool. Who knows how he ended up dead?”
“I know how,” came a voice from the crowd.
Ethan turned and saw Jared pushing his way through.
“Yes,” said Thrace. “You said you had information about that, didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure exactly who did it,” Jared continued. “But I know that these two were involved. Kat snuck them into the city using my girls as a distraction.”
Thrace laughed and shook his head. “Well, that certainly wouldn’t have worked on Hank. But how do you know they were involved? It could have been anyone.”
“I’m not sure,” admitted Jared. “But I bet you could get them to talk if you wanted.”
“I’ll not have my bounty damaged,” Specter protested.
Jared shot him a furious look. “They have stolen my property. I want to know what they have done with it.”
It took Ethan a moment to realize that he was referring to Kat. “She’s not your property,” he shouted.
“If I were you, I’d keep that mouth of yours shut,” warned Thrace.
“None of this matters,” said Specter. “I’m not going to hand over my bounty just so he can find his missing whore.”
“She’s not a whore,” snapped Ethan.
In a single step, Specter spanned the distance between them and struck him hard on the jaw. Ethan stumbled back, nearly losing his footing completely. Pain shot through his head from the blow – pain that was compounded by the stress to his existing bruises that were only now just beginning to fade.
Thrace chuckled. “I warned you, boy.” His eyes shifted back to Jared. “Unfortunately for you, Specter is right. A runaway whore is no reason to give up a bounty. And unless you’re prepared to fight him for it, I think you’re shit out of luck.”
Specter flashed a sinister grin. “Yes, you could fight me. I’d enjoy that…very much.”
Jared’s eyes burned with rage. “This isn’t over,” he declared loudly. With a final, hate-filled glare at his tormentor, he spun on his heels and stalked out of the room.
“One more thing, Specter,” said Thrace. “I want you to take Thaddeus along with you.” He plastered on a fake smile. “Just for security.”
His displeasure obvious, Specter snatched Ethan and Jonas by their chains and threw them back toward the iron door. Caught out by the momentum, Jonas lost his feet and hit the floor hard. Ethan bent down to help the old man, but Specter pushed him again, this time sending him slamming into the wall. After dragging Jonas roughly to his feet, Specter bundled them both back into