Damian FINUCANE's Arc

Chapter 42 of 57

Damian and Rolo rode hard through the dark. The ledger pressed against his chest under his coat. One name filled his mind. The man at the top would run at first light. The thin man's words stayed with him. He keeps a rider, same as her. Damian bent low over his horse and pushed it faster. The sky ahead held no color yet. He still had time, but only a little. The road bent toward a lone building at a quiet crossing. Warm light spilled from its wide windows. A carved sign hung above the porch. Horses stood tied at the rail, saddled and ready. Rolo pointed. "Fresh mounts. He's here." Damian slowed his horse to a walk. "Then he hasn't left. We beat him." He slid down and left his horse by the others. Inside, the drafthouse was near empty. A few travelers drank at the far tables. Behind the bar, a man in a fine coat counted coins into a bag. He worked fast. A rider stood at his shoulder, waiting for orders. The man in the coat looked up when the door opened. His eyes found Damian, then the sword at his hip. His hands went still over the coins. Damian crossed the floor. "You paid for every mark. I have the book." He drew back his coat and showed the ledger's edge. The man's face went white. He shoved the coin bag at the rider. "Ride now. Warn the others." The rider bolted for the side door. Rolo moved first. She flipped over a table and landed in the rider's path. She caught his wrist and twisted. The coin bag hit the floor and spilled. The rider swung at her. She ducked and drove her elbow into his ribs. He folded against the wall and stayed down. The man in the coat reached under the bar. Damian saw the motion. He stepped in and pinned the man's arm to the wood. A small crossbow clattered from his fingers. Damian pressed his blade flat against the man's throat. "You don't fight. You pay others to. It ends here." The man went limp. "I have money. More than the book is worth." "I don't want your money," Damian said. "I want the men above you gone." He looked at the ledger against his chest. Every name lay inside it now, and the man who fed them all stood bound under his hand. Rolo dragged the rider upright and bound his hands. "We have him. What now?" Damian lowered his sword but kept the man against the bar. "He talks. The ledger names the buyers. He names the ones the ledger missed." He pulled the book free and held it up. Dawn touched the windows. The man Damian had chased through the night stood caught before it broke. The trail no longer ran ahead of him. It ended in this warm room, with one last mouth left to open.