Chapter 6: Prologue (6)

Imagine what those thugs would say if they found the Merchant of Death crying on the side of the road. Besides, this was to be expected anyways, it’s for the best that she cut the ties between us. Now I can move on without anything holding me back.

After wiping the tears from my face, I make my way to the library. It had been my primary source of knowledge in my journey to creating the blasters, it's only fair I bid it farewell.

“Reeve, you’re here early. You usually only come at…” the woman at the counter says before looking around and continuing in a softer voice, “you usually only come after midnight.”

“I’m not here to read Cassidy, I’m here to say goodbye. I’m moving, and I won’t be coming back,” I say, before handing over my membership card. Even though I’ll miss the books and the quiet time, I’m sure Vermon will have a bigger library, with better books.

“Y-You’re leaving? But why?”

“I got a job offer. My old man used to work in an alchemy lab back in his day, he pulled a few strings for me over there,” I lie. Well, it's not completely a lie anyway. Part of the reason I want to go to Vermon is for the Arcane gems. They might help improve my creations.

“T-That’s sad to hear, Reeve. Ah, wait, before you go,” Cassidy says, before quickly scurrying from her post toward one of the shelves in the library. She quickly pulls out five books, looking around in a paranoid manner before scurrying back over to me.

“Here, have these. You weren’t done reading these, were you,” she whispers, while shoving the books on me.

Metallurgy, The science of fire, Contraptions and Machines, Southern Design, and The Tales of Death the kid. She memorized all the books I had been reading. I hadn’t even borrowed half of these, I made sure to only read some in the library and borrow the others at odd times so as to not rouse suspicion.

Had she been watching me all this time? No, how did she even know that I hadn’t finished these ones in  particular. This lady… she’s dangerous.

For a second I contemplate sending a hit squad after her. Sure it would take off a chunk of the money I saved, but she knows too much. Anyone with half a brain would be able to figure out that I was up to something shady.

I mean, I’d do it myself, but the woman has grown on me over the past few years. I’m not a weak man, but I’m not some immoral killer… yet anyway.

“Reeve, I- I,”

“You what?” I shout unexpectantly. I’m on edge.

What? Is she about to blackmail me? Is this a rouse?

“I- I like you,” she says finally.

Cassidy… likes me? But she’s married.

“Excuse me?” I ask, perhaps I hadn’t heard right.

“I said I like you, Reeve. Ever since the first day we met, I’ve liked you. I was sort of happy when Canary got a good bullion. N-not to throw shade or anything, but you have to understand that I had met you first. I thought that maybe we’d finally end up together-“

“Cassidy what are you on about? You’re married,” I interrupt. She looked as if she were lost in a trance, like she wasn’t really all there as she spoke.

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“I divorced him the day you and Canary publicly broke up. L-Look, I know I’m not as pretty as her, but I promise I’ll never leave you. An-and my bullion isn’t all that useless. I can do much more than just memorize,” she quickly added.

I’d never known Cassidy to be crazy. She always seemed, quiet, reserved. The kind of girl you’d look at from a distance and think ‘good girl that one,”.

“L-Look, we don’t have to get married right off the bat. We can start off as a little more than frien-“

“Cassidy, what are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that I want to come with you. No, even if you don’t let me, I’ll follow you. You said you were going to Vermon right… no, even if you were lying, a quick look at the immigration records and I’ll know,”

She’s lost it. The more I let her talk, the crazier her eyes get. It gets to the point that I can’t even understand what she’s saying. So I grab the books and slowly back out of the library. I never should’ve spoken to her.

I’ll send the hit once I’ve fled the town, it’d be too risky if someone who should’ve been a normal civilian is found to know about these… services.

*

There are only a few minutes to midnight, the time our escorts agreed to meet us. The night air is cool, silent. I bet most men would be satisfied with this weather, but for some reason, it feels like the calm before a storm.

After stashing our bags in some nearby tall grass, my father and I wait behind one of the more popular saloons in the city... A gentleman’s establishment.

Even as they drink, they have an air of refinement around them. It's quiet in there, calm… unlike all the other riff-raff bars around here. How I wish I could sit in there, brush shoulders with the elite. Sadly, even though I probably have the wealth to do that, people would quickly question how a nobody came to find such a sum.

Anyway, the center district is as busy as always. This is the only part of the city or any city for that matter that have no sense of the dangers that Ryka pose.

“Two minutes,” I whisper to myself, before looking at the new watch I had bought a few days ago. Nothing fancy, but its probably one of the best in this town. The perks of being a mob boss.

“You gentleman need help?” a disembodied asks, completely disrupting my train of thought. For a moment I fumble, before quickly remembering how I was supposed to reply.

“Only if it comes with a price,” I reply.

A moment later, a black hand made from a shadowy mass appears in front of me, pointing towards a nearby alleyway.

A shadow shane?

 

 

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