Skulduggery 8: Building a Criminal Empire Read online

  “Right, okay,” the tattooed dwarf said and then swallowed the last bite of the flaky pastry. “So, basically, you’re talking about getting more contacts and customers, so we can get more coin, right?”

  “Mhm,” I replied.

  “So what are the next steps that we need to take toward that?” Skam asked. “Especially if we want to move faster than we have so far.”

  “That’s a fair question,” Twila said. “Don’t get me wrong-- I’m happy to work as many parties as I can, but there’s only one of me.”

  “I know,” I said, “and I’m actually going to have you stay behind on our next visit to the Gold City.”

  “Oh, really?” Twila raised her eyebrows. “Haven’t I--”

  “You’ve done a perfect job,” I interrupted, “but I really think I need you here again. You’ve been away from your dancehall for two weeks, so I’d like you to go back and make sure everything’s still well in hand. I depend on you here, too, you know.”

  “Of course,” Twila said. “Whatever you need, Wade.”

  “And Skam, I’ll also need you to stay behind this round,” I continued. “I want you to help Selius out at the warehouse again. We have enough whiskey in our new warehouse to supply the Gold City for a while, so you should just be able to focus on distilling more whiskey.”

  “Aye, I can do that,” Skam said. “It’ll be a wee bit of a break for my back, too, so I won’t say no to that.”

  “Good,” I replied. “So when I go back through the portal next time, I want to bring Dar, Ava, and Penny with me again.”

  “Works for me,” Penny said. “Where are we going, exactly?”

  “A party,” I said with a grin. “And from what I heard before we left last time, it’s gonna be a fucking big one.”

  “I hate parties,” Ava muttered.

  “Oh, I love a good party,” the redheaded pixie said. “I’ll help you through it, Ava. So, about this party-- are we supplying the whiskey for it?”

  “Not yet,” I laughed. “But that is the whole reason we’re going there-- to make enough connections to supply whiskey to damn near all of the Gold City.”

  “So who’s supposed to be at this party that we haven’t met yet?” Dar asked.

  “The only people I really care about are the dwarven and halfling business owners,” I replied. “Only the richest business owners and elven nobles in the city will be at this event, and that’s exactly who I want us to meet. The bigger the business, the better.”

  “A bigger business means more coin,” Dar said with a nod, “so I guess the idea is to see how many new customers we can rack up while we’re there, right?”

  “Yep, that’s the idea,” I said.

  “What’s the party for?” Penny asked. “It’s not for some elf’s birthday or something stupid like that, is it?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea,” I said with a shrug. “I didn’t ask what it was for. I just asked who would be there.”

  “All parties are the same,” Ava sighed. “It doesn’t really matter what they’re supposed to be for. Nobody goes there to celebrate the actual event.”

  “For someone who hates parties, ya sure do seem to know a lot about them, Ava,” Skam teased.

  “I might hate them, but parties have been where I’ve done some of my best work,” the blonde assassin replied. “People let their guards down when they start to have a good time with a whole crowd of people.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m counting on,” I said. “We should be able to make some good business contacts, or at the very least, we should be able to find out who to go see in order to expand our distribution in the Gold City.”

  “When’s the party?” Ava asked.

  “Not for a few hours,” I answered. “We still have plenty of time to get down to the portal room, go through the archway into the Gold City, and then make our way to the celebration.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what they’re celebrating,” Dar said. “Just as long as we make our contacts and then have something to celebrate ourselves.”

  “Thanks for proving my point, Dar,” Ava said with a smirk. “That’s exactly why people go to parties-- not to celebrate any event or person, but ultimately, just to celebrate themselves.”

  “Well, shit,” my halfling friend chuckled. “I guess that really does make sense.”

  “So, does anybody have any questions about what they’re doing?” I asked. “I’m not sure how quickly we’ll be able to come back here, so now’s your best chance.”

  “I’m good,” Penny said as she leaned back in her chair.

  “Me, too,” Selius said. “Skam and I will just go back to our warehouse here and keep making whiskey, right?”

  “Absolutely,” I answered. “Marver? Osman? Any questions?”

  “I don’t think so,” the blue-skinned djinn said. “We’ll just keep an ear out for anything that you might need to know about, and in the meantime, we’ll keep Selius and Skam well-supplied in food.”

  “And pastries!” Skam added with a grin. “Uh, I mean-- pastries, please.”

  “That’s easy enough,” Marver sighed.

  “Cim?” I turned to the beautiful dancer beside me. “What about you? Do you need anything from me before we go back through the portal?”

  Cimarra slipped her fingers into mine underneath the table and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. It felt like she wanted to do a hell of a lot more than just squeeze my hand, and as my gaze ran over her dark hair where it fell across her full breasts, I wished that we had the time for more.

  But if I was going to make it to a party in a whole different city on time, we would just have to wait.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Cimarra finally sighed.

  “Okay, good,” I said. “I trust you to run things for me while I’m gone, so if any of you have any questions, you can ask Cimarra while I’m away.”

  “Don’t worry, Wade,” Cimarra said, “you’re leaving your business in good hands here.”

  “I know, I am,” I said with a smile. “Otherwise, I’d never leave it. Twila? How about you?”

  “I’ll keep my ears open for any valuable information at the dancehall, just like you asked,” Twila said. “But my only question is if we need to do anything with Golierian while you’re gone? I mean, will he need anything from us?”

  “No, but if he has any information or questions for me, he knows to bring it to you or Cimarra,” I told the golden-haired halfie. “But he shouldn’t have any issues while I’m gone, just like I don’t think any of you should, either.”

  “You really do have this city in the palm of your hand,” Osman said. “It’s impressive.”

  “And it’s about time,” I laughed. “But you’re right. After all, we got rid of Lobrem and the dwarven guard, and we even got the elven soldiers removed from the human district.”

  “Plus, we have the captain of the elven guard in our pockets,” Penny added, “and you’re the guild leader, so even the elves can’t bother us.”

  “And that means we basically have free rein of the whole fucking city,” I said with a grin. “And that’s exactly what I intend to do with the Gold City, too.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Dar clapped his hands together. “We’ve got a party to get to, don’t we?”

  “Damn right,” I laughed. “Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you all soon, alright? And make sure you stagger your exits from the bakery.”

  “You got it, Wade,” Selius said.

  After Skam grabbed a few handfuls of pastries for the road, he and Selius were the first ones to leave out the back. Then while we waited for an appropriate amount of time, Twila and Cimarra left together through the front door and headed back down to the Entertainment District, while Marver and Osman started to clean up the bakery that they shared now.

  I knew that we didn’t really have to stagger our exits since it was true that we had free rein of the city now. But I didn’t think it hurt to take a few extra precautions,
and there was no reason for any nosy elves, or even halflings, for that matter, to notice a whole crowd of people leave Osman’s bakery at the same time.

  Finally, that left only Dar, Penny, Ava, and I behind. Marver and Osman were still cleaning up the kitchen together, so I waved and started toward the back door with the rest of my friends.

  “Maybe Penny and Dar should go out the front,” Ava said suddenly. “You and I can go out the back, and we can meet back up at the cross-street just south of here.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “Dar? Penny? Can you head out front?”

  “Sure thing,” Dar replied. “Come on, Penny. I’ll race you out the door.”

  “You know you’re gonna lose, right?” the redheaded pixie demanded. “After all, I haven’t been weighing my ass down with Osman’s delicious fucking pastries.”

  “If you haven’t been, then how do you know they’re delicious?” Dar smirked.

  “Ready, set, go!” Penny shouted as she bolted toward the door.

  “Cheater!” Dar puffed and then darted after her.

  I laughed and slipped my arm through Ava’s as we moved toward the back of the bakery. I noticed that she didn’t laugh like usual at Dar and Penny’s bickering, but I thought maybe she was just tired. When we reached the back door, I stretched my hand out for the knob, but the blonde assassin caught me by the wrist and then pressed her back up against the door.

  “Wade?” Ava murmured.

  “What is it?” I asked as I cupped her cheek. “You look a little pale. Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I mean, I think so, but I-- there’s something that I have to tell you, Wade.”

  “You know you can tell me anything,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” Ava looked up at me with her clear blue eyes and then bit her lip so hard that it changed colors.

  I didn’t think I had ever seen her look so scared before.

  “Of course I’m sure,” I growled. “Now tell me. What is it?”

  “Well,” the blonde assassin exhaled. “The thing is… I’m pregnant.”

  Chapter 2

  At first, I just stared at her. I couldn’t quite believe what Ava had said, and it felt like I was in someone else’s dream. For a second, I thought that maybe Ava was trying to make a joke, but jokes weren’t really her thing, and I sure as shit doubted that she would ever joke about something like this.

  That had to mean that it was true.

  I had never imagined that I would ever hear those words from a woman I loved, much less be in a position to take care of her and our child, but here I was, a guild leader, the head of a booming whiskey empire, and one day, maybe even more.

  I could take care of her and a child, but as soon as I had the thought, I shook my head. It wasn’t just a child. It was my child, and that made me even prouder than all of my other accomplishments combined.

  I was going to be a father.

  Ava was going to have my baby.

  “Wade, did you hear me?” the blonde assassin murmured. “I know this isn’t--”

  “I just need you to say it again,” I interrupted. “Just say the words one more time, please.”

  “I’m pregnant,” Ava said, and her hands unconsciously rose to cover her still-flat stomach. “I’m going to have your child.”

  I gave an excited shout, wrapped my arms around her, raised her into the air, and then spun her around twice before I set her back down on the ground.

  Ava’s hands flew to her mouth to hide a shy smile, but before I could say anything, Marver and Osman both poked their heads around the corner into the back hallway.

  “We heard a shout,” Marver growled. “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh, everything’s just great,” I said with a grin. “Thanks for checking, my friends, but we’re all fine back here.”

  Osman glanced from Ava to me, and when he smiled and backed away, I wondered if he had guessed the truth of the matter. After all, he was a djinn, so he could always sense magic when it was around him.

  And if there was one thing that I was fucking sure of, it was that our child was going to be goddamn magical.

  As soon as the djinn and the halfling chef disappeared back into the kitchen, I turned back toward Ava and placed my hands on her slender waist. Immediately, the beautiful assassin looked up at me with worry in her clear blue eyes, so I smoothed the blonde hair away from her face.

  “So you’re not…” Ava paused and swallowed like she had nearly choked on something.

  “I’m not what?” I demanded.

  “You’re not upset?” she whispered.

  “Upset?” I growled, but I couldn’t say anything else right away.

  Instead, I just pulled her close to me so that her head rested on my chest, and I held her there until she finally relaxed and melted against me. I couldn’t believe that Ava had ever thought that I might be upset by her news, or that she had ever imagined that I would be anything less than thrilled by the fact that she was going to have my baby.

  Finally, I pulled away from her but kept my hands firmly on her waist. The assassin looked less afraid now, but she still had a little line of worry between her eyebrows, so I leaned down and kissed it gently.

  “How could I be upset?” I smiled. “Don’t you realize that you’ve just given me the best news possible?”

  “Really?” Ava bit her lip. “So you’re… you know… I mean, you’re happy about this?”

  “Of course I am,” I said, and this time, I leaned down to kiss her soft lips. “Ava, I’m more than happy. If you told me tomorrow that you hunted down the moon for me and brought it back to me on a leash, I couldn’t be happier than I am right now.”

  “Oh!” Ava’s hands flew to her mouth again, but the corners of her eyes crinkled up into a smile.

  “Is it really that surprising that I would be so happy about this?” I grinned.

  “Well, most men might not have reacted the same way that you did,” the blonde assassin said with a shrug. “I’ve heard enough stories.”

  “Maybe that’s true,” I said, “but I’m not most men.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true,” Ava laughed as she reached up to run her fingers through my thick hair. “I’m so glad you’re happy, Wade.”

  “And I’m so glad you’re going to have my child,” I whispered into her ear. “How long have you known?”

  “Not long at all,” the blonde assassin replied. “I mean, lately, I’ve felt… different, but I wasn’t sure why until just a few days ago.”

  “Why?” I asked. “What happened a few days ago?”

  “I realized that I was late,” Ava said. “I mean, really late. We’ve just been so busy in the Gold City that I lost track of my cycle, and I never--”

  “You can tell me,” I said, when she suddenly cut herself off. “You never what?”

  “Well, honestly,” the beautiful assassin sighed as she looked up at me. “I never really paid that much attention to my cycle because I didn’t think I could…”

  Ava trailed off, so I just held her a little tighter and waited for her to finish her thought. I knew this was probably hard for her since she wasn’t used to talking about her feelings.

  Of course, Ava had only ever been trained as an assassin, and even though she had loved her mentor Adrian, I had a feeling that he might not have been as kind as she remembered. After all, no one who was in the business of making assassins could be entirely good-hearted. He’d tried to make her cold and calculated, and while she could be both of those things, that was just part of who she was as an assassin, but Ava herself was so much more than that.

  Sure, Ava hadn’t been trained in the arts of love and emotion like Twila, and she had never had the chance to develop confidence in her own feelings like Cimarra had. And while Ava was known to be blunt, just like Penny, that was usually only about things that we had planned, not about how she felt.

  But all those things were just more reasons why I love
d her. I loved that the blonde assassin could take down an entire squad of elven soldiers without even blinking, but in moments like this with me, she seemed so vulnerable that all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and protect her from the world. I had seen that same vulnerability when she first came after me to kill me, and I had sensed then that she didn’t really want to, and that I would be able to bring her over to our side.

  But I could never have predicted then that we would be here now, or that my arms would be wrapped tightly around her, and we would be about to discuss the future of our child together.

  And so if Dar and Penny had to wait at our meeting spot for a few more minutes, then that would be okay because I planned to stay right here with Ava as long as she needed me.

  “I didn’t think I could get pregnant,” the blonde assassin finally murmured. “I’m a halfie, and they always say… I mean, I’ve always heard people say that halfies really are half-breeds. And that, you know, we can’t actually have children of our own.”

  “I’ve heard people say the same thing,” I replied. “But you proved them wrong, didn’t you?”

  “I guess so,” Ava said with a shy smile. “I never even took the birth control herbs because I was so sure that it couldn’t happen.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” I told her.

  “Wade?” The blonde assassin leaned her head against my chest, so her voice was slightly muffled. “Does this mean that I… I mean, does this mean that we’re going to be a family?”

  Immediately, I pulled away from her so I could look down into her clear blue eyes. Her cheekbones were flushed with the same soft pink color as her full lips, and her lower lip began to tremble until I bent down to kiss her.

  “It’s just…” Ava started before I could say anything. “Well, I just never thought I’d have a family.”

  “Oh, Ava,” I said. “You already have a family.”

  “What do you mean?” the blonde assassin whispered.

  “You have me,” I said with a smile. “You have all of us, actually. And now that we’re going to have a baby, that just means our family is going to get a little bit bigger.”