Читать книгу Project: Shadow Walker - Dalin Moss - Страница 5

Jim placed the onyx ring on the table for Colter to examine. The contractor studied the ornate jewelry with a practiced eye, a look of admiration unmistakable on his face.

"This is it." Colter said, pocketing the ring. "How do you want your payment?"

"Coin this time." Jim said.

"Not sticking around?" Colter asked.

"No."

Colter shrugged then uncinched the purse from his belt. He pulled thirteen gold coins from the pouch, placing them carefully on the table as he counted. But, when Jim reached forward, Colter covered the neat pile.

"I heard…something." The contractor said, looking away. "A few days back one of my…colleagues passed through here. He told me about a contract that he had priced for some outrageous sum for a buyer richer than the Elken God. A contract that he'd sold to Floydd."

Jim nodded. It had taken him far longer to get to Indrasmos than he'd first expected. When he awoke, it had taken him days to find his bearings. Somehow, after his fall from the Father Tower, after the world made of smoke, he had wound up in the foothills of the Eastern Mountains, more than twenty miles away from the city of Elodin

Still sore and confused, he'd stumbled around the foothills until he finally found a thin passage that led to a small river. It was there that he thought, thought about the world that he had been forced to experience, thought about his fall, his death. It was there that Jim realized that all that he had run from was nipping at his heels. And, it was there, that Jim decided that Floydd would be his final contract.

"I'm sorry if I worried you." Jim said.

"Worried?" Colter exclaimed. "Jim, I thought you were dead. I heard you'd been shot half a dozen times and thrown from the highest floor of the tallest tower. The way Floydd tells it, he stripped you of your Hero blood and danced upon your lifeless corpse."

Jim stayed quiet.

"Well?" Colter pushed. "Nothing you want to tell me? Jim…I thought I'd lost my friend. And when you showed up this morning…."

"I died, Colt." Jim said, in barely a whisper. "Floydd caught me off-guard. He shot me and…and I fell."

"You…?" Colter started, but stopped suddenly. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"Jim…." Colter started, but his words faltered.

Jim looked at his friend. "I'm going to Salix. Floydd has a home there." From the contractor, Jim could feel his questions radiating, but he continued without explanation. "I could use your help."

Without hesitation, Colter answered. "You have it." He turned, grabbing at some loose papers and reading through them rapidly. "I don't know much about Salix, but I'll send feelers out immediately. It'll be an expensive ask…but I'll make it work."

"Thanks." Jim said, turning to exit the room. "I'll scout the city for a few days – lay low, stick to alleys and rooftops – that sort of thing. I'll reach out to you when I'm ready - our usual parameters?"

"I'll be there." Colter said with a smile. "Just…don't keep me waiting this time."

Jim returned the smile. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said, then opened the door and entered the streets of Indrasmos.

It would take a few days to get to Salix, Jim knew, so he stopped to fill his water pouch at a decently clean and cheap pump. He visited a few shops, restocking his tinderbox and snagging a piece of dried meat to settle his grumbling stomach. Then, he left, leaving through the Western gate and wandering toward the forest that he'd once called home.