“You have to know you’re on my shit list,” said Nicco as he watched the bowl fill. “I’ve been hearing things about how you’ve been sitting on information; about how you tried to keep rumors of a Snilcher from me; about how you paid some piece of shit named Larrios to dust that Dealer for you. Hell, people are even saying you’re trying to sabotage Rambles-and my operation-in Ten Ways.”
“People?” I said.
Nicco shrugged. “All right, Rambles.”
“You talked to him?”
“About an hour ago,” said Nicco.
Shit! While I had been hunting Baldezar, Rambles had gotten to Nicco. That was exactly what I hadn’t wanted to happen. I was starting to have too many balls in the air to manage.
“And you believe him?” I said.
Nicco looked at me sidelong. “Shouldn’t I?”
I let out a derisive snort. “Well, if you want to listen to Rambles’s fairy tales, then of course I’m going to come off as a complete-”
Nicco held up a hand. I stopped talking.
“I know how to pick through what Rambles tells me,” he said, “just like I know how to pick over the information you supply. Don’t look so surprised-I don’t take anyone completely at their word, including you. But things are adding up, Drothe. You’re fucking up, and it’s costing you. And me.”
“I…”
“I’m not finished,” said Nicco. He paused to pour the bowl over his head and sighed. “You don’t want to fall out of my good graces, Drothe,” he said, “but you’re damn close to doing just that.”
I watched as he sat there, nearly naked, letting the water run down his face, his eyes closed. And me across from him, fully clothed-and fully armed.
It was tempting. One step, one cut, and it would be over. No Nicco meant no war in Ten Ways, or, at least, not as ruthless a war for Kells. I could live with that.
My fingers began to itch for my dagger handle.
Then I remembered the wrestling pit and Nicco’s seemingly weak grab, followed by a hard kick and a footful of sand in his opponent’s face. Was he setting me up? Testing me? Me?
I studied the Upright Man without seeming to. Yes, there-Nicco’s eyelid twitched ever so slightly, revealing a sliver of color beneath it.
The son of a bitch was watching me. He was ready. Waiting. Testing.
And in that instant, I knew I was in trouble. If Nicco had to see if I would go after him, to see if I would confirm what Rambles had been saying, then I was already on my way out. Rambles had the upper hand with him now; anything I might accuse the Ruffler of would only seem petty-or defensive.
I put my hands on the massage table in easy sight and pretended not to have noticed Nicco’s test. “All right,” I said, “maybe I’ve been fucking up lately, maybe not. Either way, I’d like to think everything I’ve done over the years would count for something, maybe give you reason to cut me a little slack. But that’s not the point right now. The point is what’s been happening in Ten Ways. You’re being played down there, and not just you, but the whole cordon. Someone’s been setting up a war for months and-”
“I know,” grated Nicco. “Kells.”
“No,” I said. Almost shouted. “Not Kells. That’s what-”
Nicco’s eyes snapped open.
“Don’t tell me he isn’t behind it!” yelled Nicco. “I have five people lying in the street in Ten Ways. Five, with two of their killers next to them. And do you know what those other two are wearing?”
I felt a sinking sensation inside me. “I can guess.”
“Gray-and-red ribbons on their arms,” said Nicco. “Kells’s war colors. He’s not just trying to embarrass me anymore, Drothe-he’s fucking calling me out.” Nicco stood and began stalking about the massage table, circling me. “War cords! I didn’t think he had the balls, but if he wants to throw that glove in my face, I’ll pick it up. Cord for cord, man for man.”
I shook my head. A pale imitation of the colored sashes that identified the different arms of the imperial military, war cords were the closest thing we had to uniforms among the Kin. Wearing a cord was the same as declaring your allegiance. It was an invitation for attack, an excuse to let blood and take revenge. It was war among the Kin.
Except it was all a dodge. I knew firsthand that Kells hadn’t put cords on anyone in Ten Ways-not yet.
“Think about this for a moment,” I said, turning to follow Nicco as he paced his circles around me. “This is Kells we’re talking about. It’s not a matter of his having the balls to do something-it’s a matter of his even considering doing this. War cords? Unannounced, and in Ten Ways? That’s not his style. It’s too obvious, too direct. Kells doesn’t work that way.”
Nicco gave me a dark look. “Since when did you become a fucking expert on Kells?”
I raised the towel and wiped at my face, hiding my expression. I was suddenly grateful Nicco had brought us into a steam bath-in here, I had every reason to be sweating.
“You forget,” he continued, not noticing my reaction. “I know him. Knew him… damn well. He’s a cold, calculating bastard, but he’s not half as smart as he’d like everyone to believe. Kells can be as hottempered and bloodthirsty as the next man, and there were plenty of times I was the next man. I wouldn’t put this past him if he thought he could pull it off. Especially against me.”
“But what if it’s not personal?” I said. “What if it just looks that way? I don’t think-”
“I don’t give a fuck what you think,” Nicco snarled. “I’ve already told Rambles to put cords on our people. We’re going to war in Ten Ways, and we’re going to bring that son of a bitch to his knees.”
“You’re going to fight him in Ten Ways?” I said. “You don’t have the people down there to take him on!” Kells didn’t have the people there, either, but I wasn’t about to share that tidbit of information.
“It’s taken care of,” said Nicco. “If you’d been Nosing like you’re supposed to, you’d know that.” Nicco paused and let his breath out. He rolled his shoulders. Something popped. “Besides, we have more friends there than you think. Rambles has seen to that.” Nicco grunted. “At least someone can do his fucking job.”
So, there it was: Rambles not only had Nicco’s ear; he had arranged for “friends” in Ten Ways as well. It wasn’t a stretch to guess who two of them were, either. The only question left was, would Nicco believe me if I told him about Iron Degan and the Gray Prince? Would he even care?
To hell with it. The war was on, and Nicco no longer trusted me. I was a marked man, even if Nicco hadn’t decided it yet. My chances of swaying him at the moment were nil. I needed to find some way to get back in his good graces, or to walk away. I couldn’t do either of those dead, and that was how I would end up if I pushed him now.
I slid off the table and onto my feet. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmingly tired.
“Where the hell are you going?” said Nicco.
“To go do my fucking job,” I said. “Unless Rambles has seen to that, too.”
Nicco didn’t answer-he just stared at me as I walked past him and out through the other two rooms of the bath.
I didn’t work the streets that night, didn’t do anything except find my way home and collapse onto my bed. I vaguely recall noticing Task’s body was gone from my rooms, but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have cared either way at that point.
When the knock came at my door sometime later, it felt early. The muted daylight slanting in through the shutters suggested noon. After the last two days, that was early.
“Who?” I called through the door, my boot knife in my hand.
“Assassins!” called Degan cheerily. I let him in, anyhow.
Word, it seemed, had gotten out on the street about Task and her singular appearance in my rooms. As things went, it wasn’t the worst rumor to have making the rounds; if nothing else, my showing that kind of backing-inadvertent or no-would make it harder for whoever was after me to recruit a replacement. My concern was they’d find a Blade who could do the job, regardless.