Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (positive books to read .txt) 📕

“So we’re not fighting, right?” Raven asked, still in a combat stance.

“No, we’re not,” I replied, waving at her to sit down while I took my own seat. “We’re all friends here, barring the hired help over there.”

The two rent-a-thugs scowled at me. Their hands twitched to their swords, but Mika held up his hand. “Stand down. He’s the leader of the Gloom Knights—you both know what that means.”

The two men nodded and sat down without another word. Godsdamn, have some fucking pride. Normally I afforded other rent-a-thugs an amount of professional courtesy, but the two men that had been hired were poor excuses for mercenaries.

Their armor and swords were cheap, and they had the battle-hardened looks of seasoned men, which meant they skimped on their gear to save profits. A choice only fools would make.

“I know I joked about your armor, Mika, but at least you know how to play the game.”

He snorted and sat next to me. “True, but it’s just like you to antagonize your comrades when we’re about to go into what sounds like, by all counts, a really fucked up situation. You haven’t changed.”

I sighed. “I wish that was true.”

Mika drummed his fingers on the table. “I know we have business to discuss, but how’ve you been?”

“That’s a complicated question.”

“Can’t be more complicated than how things ended between you and Lonny,” he replied.

I chuckled. “You’d be surprised, but speaking of, I ran into Ascalon not too long ago.”

He paused mid-drink. “And how’d that go?”

“Couldn’t have gone worse if I’d resurrected Sophia only to kill her in front of him.”

“Whisper’s lips,” Mika cursed. “Though, if you can joke about Soph, you must be doing better.”

“I’m getting there,” I whispered.

Mika smiled and drained his mug. “Well, we’ll have all the time in the world to catch up properly when we’ve got what we’re after and are rich as kings. Your boss is footing the bill for this quest—that means you’re calling the shots. What’s the plan, D?”

I stood up, and Raven followed suit. “For now, recon. Considering the stakes, I’m not leaving anything to chance. In the morning, we’re going to scout the location and assess the situation. What your team could do for me is work Hightown, listen to rumors, monitor foot traffic, you know the drill.”

Mika and his team nodded. “Operational budget?”

“Spread some gold around quietly. I’ll reimburse whatever you spend.”

“Understood.”

With that, our business concluded for the evening, and I was looking forward to some much-needed rest. Mika and his team departed with plans to meet up the following day to discuss our plan.

“Well, might as well follow me,” Orryn said as they left.

Raven and I stood and swiftly exited the tavern behind him. It wasn’t cold enough to fog my breath, but as we stepped onto the street, Raven shivered. I barely noticed the chill. The air outside was fresh compared to the heated confines of the bar, but even with as much wide-open space above us, the air was still a little stagnant.

We caught up with Orryn a short jog later just before he rounded a corner and disappeared from view. He didn’t so much as look at us as we fell into step behind him, but he did pick up his speed as we crossed side streets and alleyways until we reached a small residential street. Two rows of houses stood side by side as we walked down the street to the last house.

It was a modest dwarven two story, though I was hoping Orryn’s comment meant it would be spacious inside, but it was nondescript, nothing that would distinguish it from any of the other houses on the street. The roof was flat rather than slanted, and I was betting it had a roof hatch so we could escape if needed.

Orryn walked up the steps to the front door, which was nothing but a thick slab of stone, and spoke a few words in Script. The stone slid under the ground and revealed a quaint entryway. He motioned us inside and followed behind us, raising the stone slab with his magic once more.

“I have no clue if either of you can use earth magic, but there are a few scrolls etched with the spell next to the door. Bath is upstairs, but there’s limited hot water, just letting you know.”

I gave the place a once-over, just making sure we were alone. It was unequivocally dwarven, with a lot of stone furniture and plenty of furs and blankets draped over everything. Wood was a luxury Copper Lowtown couldn’t afford, so they made do.

“Thank you. I’m assuming the rest of our supplies will be provided?” Raven asked.

Orryn nodded. “I’ll bring them by tomorrow.”

With those parting words, he departed, leaving us alone in the quiet stone house. Before we’d really taken a step inside, a loud grumble caught my attention. I glanced over at Raven, whose cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Sorry.”

“You hungry?”

She shook her head. “It can wait.”

I could eat. Been awhile since I had dwarven cooking. I snagged a scroll by the door and waved her over. “Let’s grab some food. I know a good place. Do you have any dress clothes?”

Raven nodded. “In my bag.”

I pulled it out and mine at the same time. “Good. Let’s get dressed and head to Hightown. It’s rather expensive, but with Magnus paying, we’ve got plenty of money.”

She didn’t put up a fight, and we quickly threw on our clothes. Thanks to Magnus, I had plenty of perfectly tailored outfits and chose one at random. It was black, with light gold around the collar, and hugged my frame nicely. Raven wore a variation on the black dress she’d had on earlier in the day, though this one was more modest, only hinting at her upper chest without dipping