Read Online The Watcher's Eyes (The Binders Game Book 2) by D.K. Holmberg - Free Book Online
Authors: D.K. Holmberg
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before, and I suspect that if she uses me again, she’ll find another way to reward me. This time, I felt less comfortable with being used. The problem was, I wasn’t sure that those in the position to use me were finished.
I nodded to the man sitting across from Orly and waited. Orly smiled and motioned for him to stand. He was the sellsword who had been with Orly the last time I saw him, and he watched me with a curious expression as I took his place in the booth.
The sellsword stepped away from the table but remained close by. I suspected there were others in the tavern watching over Orly as well. I might get my shot in, but there was no way I would survive. It was the kind of standoff that Orly preferred. He didn’t know that I felt the same way. Besides, Orly still had his uses.
“Tell me,” I began, “what you know of Natash.”
Orly waved his hand dismissively and scooped the dice back into the cup. “Natash was connected and skilled with the sword, but that was about it.”
“So you know?” I asked.
He met my eyes without blinking. Few in Eban did. “Do I know that you killed him? What kind of question is that?”
“Who was Benahg to him?”
I figured that was the connection I missed. Why would Benahg help Natash? There had to be some reason that I hadn’t learned, but then trapped between both Orly and Carth, I wasn’t sure that I would be allowed to learn. They both had agendas, and I wasn’t certain that I had learned even the smallest fragment of what they intended.
“A cousin. Helpful to have such connections, especially when you run a crew like Natash did.”
“He didn’t do work for you?”
Orly shrugged. “From time to time. He thought he could take over more of the city. It might be good that you showed him that wasn’t going to happen.”
I gripped the dart and set it on the table. The sellsword watched the dart but didn’t move. Neelish sellswords were quick, maybe even quick enough to stop the dart were I to try and throw it at Orly, but could he stop the other one in my hand, or the two I’d placed in my boots?
“Did you set him against me?” I asked.
Orly leaned forward. His breath smelled of mint and something else that I couldn’t quite place. There was a hint of a floral scent to it, but none of the bitterness that I smelled with men who preferred tobanash. “I think you managed that quite on your own, Galen.”
I took a deep breath. Orly couldn’t have known how I’d met Natash on the street. That had been random, a chance encounter when I’d grabbed one of Carth’s women to find answers from her. Natash might have been following Orly’s instructions, assaulting women on his behalf to draw Carth out of hiding, but Orly wouldn’t have known how I’d taken out two of Natash’s men that night, could he?
The amused expression on his face told me that he could.
“You wanted Natash gone,” I said.
Orly’s face remained unreadable and reminded me of the way that Carth had stared at me.
Could I have served both of them? Had Orly used me to get to Natash, and Carth helped me to retrieve whatever the Binders had wanted from Benahg’s home? Between the two of them, they could feign ignorance and cast the blame onto me.
Somehow, I’d been used even more than ever.
“What happens when Benahg sends the guard searching for me?”
“Why would he do that?” Orly asked. He leaned back and shook the cup of dice nonchalantly.
“I invaded his house. I attacked a man inside his home.” I didn’t admit to the one outside the home, or the silver-haired man I’d been forced to hit with my knife before I left. Orly didn’t need to know everything that had happened.
“Hmm,” Orly said, then smiled. “I don’t think Benahg will trouble you.”
“He already has set the guard watching the streets for me. Now that I’ve attacked, I’m sure he’ll send even more.”
After what I’d done, I considered the possibility that I’d need to leave Eban. There
I nodded to the man sitting across from Orly and waited. Orly smiled and motioned for him to stand. He was the sellsword who had been with Orly the last time I saw him, and he watched me with a curious expression as I took his place in the booth.
The sellsword stepped away from the table but remained close by. I suspected there were others in the tavern watching over Orly as well. I might get my shot in, but there was no way I would survive. It was the kind of standoff that Orly preferred. He didn’t know that I felt the same way. Besides, Orly still had his uses.
“Tell me,” I began, “what you know of Natash.”
Orly waved his hand dismissively and scooped the dice back into the cup. “Natash was connected and skilled with the sword, but that was about it.”
“So you know?” I asked.
He met my eyes without blinking. Few in Eban did. “Do I know that you killed him? What kind of question is that?”
“Who was Benahg to him?”
I figured that was the connection I missed. Why would Benahg help Natash? There had to be some reason that I hadn’t learned, but then trapped between both Orly and Carth, I wasn’t sure that I would be allowed to learn. They both had agendas, and I wasn’t certain that I had learned even the smallest fragment of what they intended.
“A cousin. Helpful to have such connections, especially when you run a crew like Natash did.”
“He didn’t do work for you?”
Orly shrugged. “From time to time. He thought he could take over more of the city. It might be good that you showed him that wasn’t going to happen.”
I gripped the dart and set it on the table. The sellsword watched the dart but didn’t move. Neelish sellswords were quick, maybe even quick enough to stop the dart were I to try and throw it at Orly, but could he stop the other one in my hand, or the two I’d placed in my boots?
“Did you set him against me?” I asked.
Orly leaned forward. His breath smelled of mint and something else that I couldn’t quite place. There was a hint of a floral scent to it, but none of the bitterness that I smelled with men who preferred tobanash. “I think you managed that quite on your own, Galen.”
I took a deep breath. Orly couldn’t have known how I’d met Natash on the street. That had been random, a chance encounter when I’d grabbed one of Carth’s women to find answers from her. Natash might have been following Orly’s instructions, assaulting women on his behalf to draw Carth out of hiding, but Orly wouldn’t have known how I’d taken out two of Natash’s men that night, could he?
The amused expression on his face told me that he could.
“You wanted Natash gone,” I said.
Orly’s face remained unreadable and reminded me of the way that Carth had stared at me.
Could I have served both of them? Had Orly used me to get to Natash, and Carth helped me to retrieve whatever the Binders had wanted from Benahg’s home? Between the two of them, they could feign ignorance and cast the blame onto me.
Somehow, I’d been used even more than ever.
“What happens when Benahg sends the guard searching for me?”
“Why would he do that?” Orly asked. He leaned back and shook the cup of dice nonchalantly.
“I invaded his house. I attacked a man inside his home.” I didn’t admit to the one outside the home, or the silver-haired man I’d been forced to hit with my knife before I left. Orly didn’t need to know everything that had happened.
“Hmm,” Orly said, then smiled. “I don’t think Benahg will trouble you.”
“He already has set the guard watching the streets for me. Now that I’ve attacked, I’m sure he’ll send even more.”
After what I’d done, I considered the possibility that I’d need to leave Eban. There
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