huge arms folded across his broad chest. Dressed in leather armour, scars running across the length of his body, he looked very much the mercenary captain he was. His dark hair was cut short and he had the same intense green eyes that Rigel had inherited from his mother.
‘I wouldn’t have asked you down here if I didn’t think I needed your special kind of help.’
Lines of worry momentarily crossed Finn’s brow before he took control again, repressing the memory of finding the boys’ bodies ripped to shreds at day break after the night-long, self-enforced siege. After that night, he had ordered that they return by nightfall to the safety of the barricade and doubled the defences. They had argued but he would hear nothing of it. Finn couldn’t explain why they needed to be back before dark, only that something was out there.
The howling convinced them on the third night, spontaneously starting just after midnight. Finn assumed the beast was finally hungry and it was calling them out, daring them to hunt it and leave the safety of the walls. But it was enough to scare the archaeologists shitless and they hunkered down under their bunks as the mercenaries patrolled the camp. They didn’t complain after that, nor did they sleep.
The mutilated bodies plagued his thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes for an instant, they were there. He didn’t dare fall asleep. Hollow eye sockets stared up at him, a rib cage torn open, limbs scattered on the bloody ground. He’d buried them himself, five foot deep as was proper, to spare the archaeology team from the sight of it. Finn had then returned to the camp and posted men at vital positions and at the ruins around the clock. Then he’d written to his nephew in the hope of getting some much needed muscle.
‘You said you’d pay,’ Rigel reminded him. His nephew was standing with his hands on his hips, dangerously close to the hilt of his weapon. His face was as cold as ice and his green eyes bored into him, a familiar stance when he was determined to get an answer out of him.
Finn broke out into a grin at the memory of when Rigel was five and wanted to know why he couldn’t run away from home and become a mercenary. ‘But what could a mercenary captain like myself have to offer to a Seventh Circle mage and my dumb-arse nephew?’
The captain’s arms dropped by his side, his palms turned up to shrug his shoulders. The two men smiled at each other, the familiarity of family finally relaxing the two fighters. Rigel lowered his hands and the two men quickly embraced.
‘Really? You’re grown men, is this display really needed?’
The two men shifted their gazes to the previously silent third party in the room. The young blonde had her lithe arms folded across her breasts, glaring at the two men. Finn looked away, unsettled by the power radiating from her eyes but her attitude didn’t faze the acolyte in the slightest and the corner of Rigel’s lips twisted up into a smile.
‘And the payment better be worth the hassle of coming down here Finn.’
‘Is she always this serious?’ Finn asked Rigel.
‘I think it’s kind of cute.’
This was only the third time Finn had met Carina, and she had only got more ferocious every time. The first time she was still a Fourth Circle, the next a Fifth. But the jump in power between then and now had had some serious ramifications on her attitude and presence. She was fucking scary.
‘Carina you have to understand—’
‘You promised payment in your letter, Finn.’
He could almost feel the frost of her breath as those ice blue eyes of hers stared into his. For someone so young and beautiful, the girl was an ice queen.
‘You let her read the letter Rigel?’ Finn demanded.
‘How else do you think I convinced her to come down to this shit hole?’ Rigel replied, shrugging his shoulders. ‘It’s not like she listens to me …’
‘The payment Finn, or we’re leaving.’ Carina’s hands sunk to her hips, her
‘I wouldn’t have asked you down here if I didn’t think I needed your special kind of help.’
Lines of worry momentarily crossed Finn’s brow before he took control again, repressing the memory of finding the boys’ bodies ripped to shreds at day break after the night-long, self-enforced siege. After that night, he had ordered that they return by nightfall to the safety of the barricade and doubled the defences. They had argued but he would hear nothing of it. Finn couldn’t explain why they needed to be back before dark, only that something was out there.
The howling convinced them on the third night, spontaneously starting just after midnight. Finn assumed the beast was finally hungry and it was calling them out, daring them to hunt it and leave the safety of the walls. But it was enough to scare the archaeologists shitless and they hunkered down under their bunks as the mercenaries patrolled the camp. They didn’t complain after that, nor did they sleep.
The mutilated bodies plagued his thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes for an instant, they were there. He didn’t dare fall asleep. Hollow eye sockets stared up at him, a rib cage torn open, limbs scattered on the bloody ground. He’d buried them himself, five foot deep as was proper, to spare the archaeology team from the sight of it. Finn had then returned to the camp and posted men at vital positions and at the ruins around the clock. Then he’d written to his nephew in the hope of getting some much needed muscle.
‘You said you’d pay,’ Rigel reminded him. His nephew was standing with his hands on his hips, dangerously close to the hilt of his weapon. His face was as cold as ice and his green eyes bored into him, a familiar stance when he was determined to get an answer out of him.
Finn broke out into a grin at the memory of when Rigel was five and wanted to know why he couldn’t run away from home and become a mercenary. ‘But what could a mercenary captain like myself have to offer to a Seventh Circle mage and my dumb-arse nephew?’
The captain’s arms dropped by his side, his palms turned up to shrug his shoulders. The two men smiled at each other, the familiarity of family finally relaxing the two fighters. Rigel lowered his hands and the two men quickly embraced.
‘Really? You’re grown men, is this display really needed?’
The two men shifted their gazes to the previously silent third party in the room. The young blonde had her lithe arms folded across her breasts, glaring at the two men. Finn looked away, unsettled by the power radiating from her eyes but her attitude didn’t faze the acolyte in the slightest and the corner of Rigel’s lips twisted up into a smile.
‘And the payment better be worth the hassle of coming down here Finn.’
‘Is she always this serious?’ Finn asked Rigel.
‘I think it’s kind of cute.’
This was only the third time Finn had met Carina, and she had only got more ferocious every time. The first time she was still a Fourth Circle, the next a Fifth. But the jump in power between then and now had had some serious ramifications on her attitude and presence. She was fucking scary.
‘Carina you have to understand—’
‘You promised payment in your letter, Finn.’
He could almost feel the frost of her breath as those ice blue eyes of hers stared into his. For someone so young and beautiful, the girl was an ice queen.
‘You let her read the letter Rigel?’ Finn demanded.
‘How else do you think I convinced her to come down to this shit hole?’ Rigel replied, shrugging his shoulders. ‘It’s not like she listens to me …’
‘The payment Finn, or we’re leaving.’ Carina’s hands sunk to her hips, her
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