Damian FINUCANE's Arc

Chapter 41 of 57

The thin man lay bound at Damian's feet. He had named the ledger and the false wall that hid it. Damian tore back the loose panel and found the strongbox behind it. The box was heavy iron, but the lock held it shut. He tried the point of his cane inside the seam. The metal did not give. Breaking it might work. It might also crush the pages inside. The ledger held every name that had bought a mark against him. He could not risk turning it to scraps. "There's a key," Damian said. He crossed the room and pressed the thin man's coat. Hard shapes lined the inside pocket. He drew out a ring of keys, bright and worn. Rolo watched from the window. "You trust they fit?" "He kept them close," Damian said. "They fit." He knelt by the box and tried the first key. It slid in and stuck. He tried the second. The third turned, and the lock clicked open. Damian lifted the lid. He expected paper. Instead a golden chest sat inside, small and ornamented, its surface carved with tight patterns. A second lock held its clasp. Damian looked at the thin man. "A box inside a box." The man's face stayed blank. Another key on the ring was small and gold. Damian fit it to the clasp and opened the golden chest. Inside lay the ledger. Damian pulled it out and turned the pages. Names filled every line, written in a plain hand. Payments. Dates. Marks bought and sent. He read fast, hunting one name above the rest. Near the last page he found it. A single name, listed as the one who paid for all of it. The man who sat above every link in the chain. Rolo read over his shoulder. "That's him. The top." "He funded the marks," Damian said. "He sent the men to the temple." His hand tightened on the book. The trail did not stop at the thin man. It ended here, with one name and one place beside it. The thin man spoke from the floor. "He'll know I'm taken by morning. He keeps a rider, same as her." Damian looked up. "Then he already runs." He closed the ledger and pushed it into his coat. Rolo pulled him toward the door. "We ride, or the pages mean nothing." Damian nodded. He had the proof now, held tight against his chest. Every buyer, every payment, and the man at the top. But the man had time. If he reached his horse first, the name in the book would lead to an empty house. Damian stepped into the dark. He had wanted the ledger, and now it was his. It gave him one last name and one last place to reach before dawn.