Read Online No Return by Zachary Jernigan - Free Book Online Page B

Lake Ten. Craziness, traveling so far with strangers. She reminded herself that returning home without the money to pay off her debts was not an option. Neither, if she valued her sanity, was the prospect of remaining in the badlands. She could only kill so many untried boys before her soul withered inside her, or left of its own accord.
    “Okay,” she said. “You gotta go. Ten percent?”
    “Yes.” He pulled her out of the chair and embraced her, crushing her arms against her sides. “Ten percent. I’ve tried my damnedest to give you a chance at success. I wouldn’t travel this far for anybody else. You know that, right?”
    She pressed her cheek against his. Brief contact, a last reminder of home. He still smelled of garlic. His wife was from northern Nos Ulom, where they put garlic in everything . To keep the dead away , he had once told Churls.
    He let go. “How much dust do you have? Do you have enough for your sword?”
    She raised an eyebrow. “I always have enough for my sword.”
    “Good. And for money?”
    “That depends. What’s the interest?”
    “Fuck you,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He counted out waxpaper packets of dust, and handed her five of the larger ones. “There. That should be enough for travel.”
    She weighed them. An ounce of high grade. Should be enough .
    “Thanks, Gorum. Any other advice?”
    He stopped at the door, turned back. “As always, it’s best to reign in that murderous instinct of yours. You never know when the tables will turn and you’ll find yourself on the other end of the blade. A little compassion could save your life. Don’t roll your eyes at me—it’s true. Mostly, though, my advice is just to watch out for Berun. You’ve seen him fight, I take it? Back when he lived in Onsa?”
    She nodded. “You took me. The fight lasted all of half a minute.”
    “Then you know not to expect any pity from him.”
    She smirked. “Contradictions, contradictions. And the Black Suit, Vedas? How reliable is this source of yours? How do you know he can be trusted?”
    “I already told you: I don’t. I’ve given you all the information I have. You’ll be their guide—it’s up to you to create trust.”
    “I’ll be lying to them, Gorum, delaying them by weeks.”
    “You’ll be saving their lives by changing their course. Listen, you can’t afford not to do this. The gambling houses will send someone after you eventually. Probably several someones. Not strongarms. Dangerous people. This is the only way to dig yourself out.” He opened the door. “And I went to a lot of trouble to get here.”
    Churls considered her response. Possibly, she would never see him again. If she died, he would eventually find out—mostly to discover the fate of his dust, maybe a little because together they had once been something.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    ‡
    Churls did not leave that day. The old men of Basec had agreed to pay for two fights, and as much as she loathed the idea of killing another inexperienced boy she could not turn down the money.
    Gorum had arranged a live horse for her, an extravagance he had condoned only because time was pressing. On horseback, she could expect to arrive at the designated gate into Dareth Hlum two days before her traveling companions. There, she would need lodging. She would need to bribe entry officials to inform her the moment Berun came through. With any luck, she need not touch Gorum’s money until they were well underway to Danoor.
    She spent the afternoon practicing in a roofless abandoned building. For the first time in days, the sun cleared above her. She thrust and parried, swinging her dull, heavy sword in tight arcs, footwork kicking up a fine cloud of dust around her. A light sheen of sweat highlighted the flow of hard muscles under the freckled skin of her shoulders and arms.
    Finished, she stood, breathing easily. She retrieved the pail of water she had brought from the hostel, disrobed, and washed the grime from her