Daniella exited Cass's room and made the funniest face he'd ever seen.
"What in the world are you doing!?"
Cass shot her a grin from the circle of bent and broken steel, concrete chunks surrounding him.
"Wow! You can emote without Rudy being here? I'm very impressed…and quite proud of myself for causing such a reaction."
Daniella's skin was pink and steam was rising off her body, adding an extra comedic note, much to Cass's amusement.
"I hope you saved some hot water for me. I'm a bit dirty, you see."
"Get this junk out of here this instant! This place is already a pigsty!"
Cass rubbed his neck.
"I'll have you know I clean every day, I just don't see a need to put up the books if I'm gonna use them again tomorrow."
She huffed.
"And if you ran the heat once in a while, I wouldn't have to take such long, hot showers!"
"You never looked that cold to me."
She scoffed and stomped over to the kitchen. The next thing Cass heard was the door to his room slamming shut and locking. He sighed.
Guess I'm sleeping on the couch again.
The next couple of weeks went by with no real trouble. The Doxy was operational again…somewhat. The amount of customers had diminished by a good amount. The place was still a wreck and news of an exploding brothel didn't really stir a lot of interest. Thankfully, the clarion call of their favorite girls had brought some of the regular customers back; as long as their girl wasn't injured, that is. Cass and Daniella had managed to work out their living arrangement as well…somewhat. It basically meant Cass lived in his corner of the apartment and she had hers.
What the hell!? First I'm apologizing to Ariayah for almost getting killed, and now I'm apologizing to Daniella for how I keep MY apartment. I guess women really are like that. I knew Misha was special.
Cass broke out of his daze before the Misha daydream could ensnare him. He had a delivery to make. And he had a good feeling about this one. He didn't keep his side job from Tindra because he didn't trust her…well, maybe at the beginning he did, but not now. The life of an underground delivery boy was cruel and usually short. Once you get your high value package, what better way to keep them quiet than make them disappear? Not to mention being targeted by vultures trying to intercept the deliveries. Basically, she'd beat his ass if she found out…and her own ass by proxy. He also wasn't doing it for only money. Information in the slums can be even more valuable; and every once in a while, the pickup had loose lips.
Cleaned the place up fast.
The section of dock where Dhall and Tindra had clashed was as good as new. The docks were in a rough section of town, but they supplied the city with vast amounts of goods and revenue. As such, any disturbance is met with a quick and harsh response. Cass ducked into the old wheelwright building. In the center of the crumbling, dusty abandoned building, was a man hunched over a wooden table. An oil lamp lit the area in a warm glow and the empty chair across from him looked almost as frail as he did. Cass walked over silently and sat down in the chair, just as the instructions said. The hooded man looked diseased: His glassy eyes stared off into the distance. One was so clouded, Cass could barely make out the iris. The flesh on his furrowed brow folded in on itself more times than seemed possible and his gaunt, gormless face was visible through the gloom of his hood. As if hit with the spark of life, he convulsed with a surprisingly cheerful tone.
"Welcome! So glad you made it! Yes."
Half his teeth were missing and the foul odor spewing from his mouth made Cass recoil. The man picked the package up and slowly unwrapped it; A large, tattered book. The cracked, brown leather cover seemed like it would come undone at the slightest touch. The man didn't share Cass's concern; he flipped the book open and meticulously studied the blank page. After a while, he jumped ahead to another section of the book and did the same. A crooked grin crawled across his sallow face.
"Excellent! Most excellent! Yes."
He shuffled the book into a bag and began muttering to himself, seemingly pleased with his new acquisition. Cass's aching body had already depleted his patience.
"My pay?"
He jumped.
"Oh yes!"
He slid a small envelope across the desk. Cass checked this one.
"You've done well making it here tonight…yes."
He smacked his lips, trails of yellowish spittle trailing between, then licked them with a crimson tongue.
Thank god I didn't eat before this.
"Very valuable this book…yes. Very skilled you are…yes."
"Thanks."
"Very dangerous, being a delivery boy…yes. Are you looking for work? Much safer work…yes."
"I'm always looking for ways to make some extra cash."
He giddily pulled out a long sheet of paper and slapped it down on the table. It looked as worn and tattered as the man and his rickety chair did.
"Very easy…yes. Show up at building at listed time. Simple task…yes. Then work work work…yes."
Cass looked over the paper: A basic contract saying to show up and get paid for some manual labor. The pay was too good to be true and the contract was worded so poorly, he wondered if the crazed man had written it himself.
"Sign…yes. Easy money…yes."
Cass studied the paper for several minutes. The man's fidgeting and odd noises grew more frequent. Cass leaned back in his chair.
"Sorcery?"
The man made a quick, guttural noise and snatched the contract like a spider pulling its prey into the darkness of its den. He studied Cass for a moment and hissed.
"You practice the art?"
"I dabble in it. Enough to know not to sign that contract."
The man looked around as though he was searching for something he'd dropped and mumbled incoherently. Cass had taken a complete stab in the dark. Nothing about the paper seemed out of place, but between the note in the exploding man's chest and the strange book inspection he just witnessed, Cass had a feeling he was on the right track.
There must be a way to hide sorcery. Or maybe another way to use it besides runes.
"I'd still be interested in some work, if possible. Something that doesn't require me signing such a contract, that is."
The man looked at Cass, the pitch and frequency of his odd noises shifted. Cass gritted his teeth.
Hurry up and make up your mind, you addled mess of a man!
Cass felt a wave of nausea. The urge to sprint back to the warm embrace of his host was screaming at him.
"Show up this building instead…same time…say "Festus send". Work hard…yes."
Cass forced out a smile.
"Sounds perfect. I'll be there."
He glanced over his shoulder as he opened the door to leave. The man, along with the table and chairs, were nowhere to be seen.
Damn, I wish I had time to examine the area.
A short time later, Cass crashed on his couch, exhausted. He had been separating from his host more and more frequently as of late, and it was taking its toll on his body. It didn't seem to cause any physical damage that he needed to transfer to Tindra, but there was a recovery period of sorts.
Perhaps that's why I don't mind that beast of a woman squeezing the life out of me. Does being closer to her speed up recovery? Could I sneak into bed with her? Hmm…that came out wrong.
Cass struggled to understand his feelings towards his host. How much was caused by his connection to her and how much was his own? None of the information in his head regarding his curse told him he'd care for her; but it stood to reason, since her survival meant his own. He knew he loved Misha, that he was sure of. However, for almost 18 years, it was the only positive emotion towards someone he could reference. What about Ariayah? He definitely had some strong feelings towards her. What would he call that? Certainly not love…or was it? He was pretty sure his feelings toward the betrayer, before he stabbed him, was respect and admiration…It was all so confusing.
"What in the world are you doing?"
Ah…annoyance. Finally, an emotion Cass understood. Daniella was studying him with a perplexed look on her face. He turned and gave a halfhearted grin, saying nothing.
"You'll hurt your back if you keep that up. At least lay on the couch properly."
Cass rolled over onto his back and folded his hands behind his head. She didn't seem impressed.
"Off to see Rudy?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Are you keeping tabs on us for Tindra?"
"Why would I sneak your letters to each other if I was?"
She opened the front door and looked at him.
"I ordered food. There's leftovers in the fridge."
And with that she was gone. A couple days later, Cass was at the building at the specified time. An ominous wind slid down the alley and through his hair.