Page 6 of Wicked Enemy
Chapter3
Starlight reflected against the water, making it look like the night sky was both above and below the boat. Or perhapsboatwas a bit too generous a description. It was more like a tiny dinghy that was barely big enough for two people. But it made it harder for the white boots who were no doubt posted up and down the Bridge of Life to spot us, so I didn’t complain.
Normally, I never ventured to the north side myself. Since I was Public Enemy Number One, my face had been plastered across wanted posters for years now, which meant that people on the north side would recognize me on sight. But with the loss of Tyler and the rest of my most capable dark mages, I had to risk it myself in order to meet with my spy.
I slid my gaze to the skinny woman opposite me. Her keen eyes kept scanning the dark water around us while she continued moving the rowboat across the river using her water magic. I was confident that she wouldn’t sell me out. Not only did I pay her extremely well for her services tonight, but she was also from the south side, which meant that she knew exactly what I did to people who betrayed me.
Unbidden, Eve’s face flashed before my vision.
I quickly pushed it aside. I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to get my people out of jail and secure my empire before everything I had built was irrevocably destroyed.
Bright lights shone from the houses farther away. Not the multicolored lights that always illuminated the Entertainment District, but rather the clean white ones that signaled how morally virtuous the north side was. If I hadn’t been so furious and worried, I would’ve scoffed. They considered themselves to be better than us, but given Eve’s infiltration and the ambush they lured me into, they were apparently not above using dark mage tactics to get what they wanted.
Water sloshed around us, but once we reached the shore, it was replaced by the scraping of sand against the wooden hull. The slim dark-eyed woman, who simply went by the nickname Ferry, shifted her attention to me.
“We’re here,” she said, rather superfluously.
“Depending on how things go,” I began while climbing out of the boat, “I might not be able to return to this exact spot.”
“I figured as much. I’ll keep an eye on the shore from out on the river and then come pick you up from wherever you end up.”
“Good. I shouldn’t be more than an hour or two.”
“You’ve paid me for the entire night, so take whatever time you need.”
After a nod, I turned around and jogged away from the shore and towards the houses up ahead. The gentle lapping of waves was soon replaced by the silence of a city at night. Candlelight still shone in some of the windows, but there was no one out on the street. At least not this far out on the edge of the city. But unfortunately, my spy lived closer to the city center, so I would eventually start running into other people.
I kept my head down as I quickly snuck through the deserted streets.
Before long, the sounds of people talking faintly drifted to my ears.
Slowing to a walk, I adopted a carefree gait right as a couple of men rounded the corner up ahead. They were engaged in a discussion about their boss, and they didn’t even glance in my direction as they passed.
I released a soft breath before hurrying towards the next street.
There was an area with restaurants up ahead, but thankfully, I didn’t need to cross it since my spy lived on the road just before it. After checking that the street was empty, I rounded the corner and hurried up to his door.
The slab of plain white wood vibrated underneath my fist as I knocked hard.
No answer.
Worry seeped through my veins. Had the white boots caught him too? Fuck, they couldn’t have. If he was in jail too, there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to spring the rest of my people.
I rapped my knuckles against the door once more. “Ben.”
Something clattered from inside, as if someone had been standing right on the other side of the door, listening, and then jerked back quickly.
Then the lock clicked and the door was pushed open.
A pair of stunned green eyes met me. “Mr. Arden.”
Relief flooded my chest. “Ben.”
Ben quickly shoved the door open farther while motioning for me to come inside. Sticking his head out, he checked up and down the street before pulling the door shut behind me and locking it again.
From the outside, his small one-story house looked incredibly plain. But inside, it was anything but. Because of the enormous amounts of money that I paid him, his house was now filled with rich paintings and beautifully carved furniture. Crystal bottles containing expensive liquor lined the shelves in the living room that he showed me into. I scanned it while taking a seat on the spotless dark green couch. An incredible oil lamp that probably cost more than the constables paid him in a month hung in the ceiling and cast the whole room in a warm glow.
“By the Current, I thought you were from the South Side Department,” Ben said in something that sounded more like a relieved sigh. Raising a hand, he raked it through his brown hair while plopping down in the armchair opposite mine. “I thought they had at last figured out that I’m the one who has been leaking all the information.”