A Flight of Ravens by John Conroe (thriller books to read TXT) 📗

bring Sissa in here until I know exactly how you’re doing, can I?”

He froze up, muscles locking tight.  Behind me, I heard a slight foot shuffle and I hoped, prayed really, that Fontina would take the bait.  But the room stayed silent.

I grinned at Ash, but his eyes stayed locked on mine.  He blinked again, twice.

“Okay, buddy, let’s get down to it.  Saddle up because this is going to be a long one.  Let us know when you need anything, alright?”

He blinked once.

“First, the hard one—did anyone else make it?”

Two slow blinks.

“Damn.  What about Paddy?”

Two blinks.

“But at least you did.”

Two more blinks.

“Oh? You didn’t make it out?”

Two more.

“Because that shit stain the Paul did this to you?”

A single blink.

“I speak for the entire Shadow team and Princess Brona when I say we all want you back anyway we can get you.”

He growled and turned away sharply.

“Welton already figured it out.  We had to about confine him to his house to keep him away.  You think Sissa Newberry will stop loving you because you’ve contracted a disease?  Have you met the lady?”

He had his thick back to me, the new twists in his spine painfully visible.  I let him alone for a few minutes, turning back to study my watcher.  Fontina was frowning lightly, which I took to mean absolutely nothing.

“I’d offer you a chair, but I don’t want you here so… there isn’t one,” I told her, turning back to Ash.

He straightened and slowly turned to us.  Then he shuffled over to the wide oak bench and sat heavily.

“Alright, Shadow. Comfortable?”

He shrugged, one paw loosely swinging my way.  Ash-lish for let’s get on with it.

“Did you penetrate the Paul’s citadel?”

He growled and looked to the side.  Then he turned back and blinked once.  I started to speak, and he growled and blinked twice.

“Yes and no?”

One blink.

“You got caught?”

One blink.

I turned and looked behind me.  Soshi was near the back wall, where we had stored some items that we thought might be useful for this debrief.

“The map please, Soshi.”

She picked up a rigid map made from thin pine planks glued together with a large parchment fastened to it.

“This is our map with what we know to date,” I said, moving close to the bars and holding the map up for him to see.

He looked at it, eyes narrowing.  Suddenly his right hand shot out and grabbed the wood frame, yanking it from my hands.  A sharp pain in my hand told me the boards hadn’t been well sanded, but I didn’t let on to the splinter’s presence.

Ash was holding the map, which looked much smaller in his enlarged hands, and he hunched over it in concentration.  After a moment, he looked up at me and his eyes narrowed again.

It wasn’t our best map, more like our second-best map, and I believe that he knew it.  He and his murder had studied the good one long and hard before heading out on their mission.  I pointed a finger at the center of my chest, using my own body to block Fontina’s view.  He focused on it and then focused past me—behind me.  It was my turn to blink once.  We don’t bring out our best dishes when the pain in the ass relatives force themselves on us.

He growled and looked back at the map, one big claw scratching idly at the thin parchment.

“So you partially penetrated the fortress, but got caught—where?  In the tunnels?”

He growled and blinked at me.  Yes.

“Did the Paul try this on the whole murder?” I said, waving at his whole body.

He snarled, loud, but his eyes blinked twice.

“Just you?”

He threw down the map and it skidded to the bars just in front of my feet.

“Did he know you would stay you?”

His growl changed, becoming something uncertain.  Then he turned and lurched over to the big bed we had installed in the corner.  He collapsed on his side, facing the far wall.

I reached though the bars and retrieved the map, my very quick glance showing the vellum was scratched up as I handed it off, unexamined, to Soshi, who whisked it away from Fontina’s sharp eyes.

My single look had seen a small set of marks at places on the map that our more up-to-date version showed as entrances to the labyrinth under the Paul’s citadel.  I had also seen some clawed lines moving inward, so I felt pretty sure that we needed to examine it closely and compare it to our updated version. Ash had just drawn a map on the map.

“Break time.  We’ll go at it again in a few minutes,” I told Ash.

As I turned, Fontina raised her brows in obvious question.  I escorted her to the next room over and Soshi followed us out, closing the door behind her.

“You honestly think that that thing understands you?” she asked, incredulous.

“I’d ask if you honestly thought he didn’t, but we both know how far honesty goes in this business.  If you believe that he wasn’t communicating, then say the word.  We’ll have you back to the Ravens in no time.”

She studied me, expression blank.  I waited.

“My job is to observe this fiasco, so that’s what I’ll do.”

“Please.  We both know you’re just fishing.  You saw what I saw, and you realize what a font of information he is.  Don’t patronize me,” I said, turning to Urso, who had followed Soshi out of the room.  “Let’s give him a treat, shall we?”

Urso nodded and left through another door.

“He is your avowed comrade in arms and you speak of tossing him food for good behavior,” Fontina said.

She was clearly frustrated, or she would never have made that assumption.  It was useful to know where she stood.

“We’re sending his youngest nephew in to visit him,” I said.

I’ll give her this: She was fast on her feet.  “That strikes me as incredibly risky.”

“For who?” I asked.  “You and the Ravens?”

To her credit, she didn’t continue to press any kind of case.  We both knew that she had no moral or emotional interest