Spike Thornley's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

Kael slid a scrap of paper across the tavern table. "The woman you asked about," he said. "She trades near the storeroom cave, past the tavern. But only at dusk, and only some nights." Ire tapped the paper. "Get there early. She doesn't wait." Spike folded the note and pushed back his stool. For the first time in months, his hands weren't reaching for thread. He reached the cave while the light still held. Sacks of flour leaned against the walls. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the stone. Grain spilled from a torn pouch near his boot. He waited, needle-quiet, and watched the mouth of the cave. She stepped in from the dark. Spike's breath caught. She was stunning, but her skin was pale as bone, paler than any human he'd met. Not human at all. Red eyes met his and held. He knew what she was then. A vampire. He should have flinched. He didn't. She set a small crate down and smiled, careful and shy. "You're early," she said. Her voice was soft, with a Scottish lilt. "Most folk don't bother." "I heard you trade old things," Spike said. "Relics. I'm looking for a stone. A navigation stone. My people lost it." Scarlett tilted her head. She stepped closer, then stopped, as if unsure of her welcome. "I've seen a lot," she said quietly. "More than two hundred years of it. But I don't force my company on strangers." Her hands stayed at her sides. "You're not afraid of me." "Should I be?" Spike asked. "Everyone is." A flicker of something crossed her face. Old hurt. She didn't like to hold it long. "I drink from a cup now. I clear fields at night to pay a debt. I'm not what I was." Spike sat on an upturned crate and set his hands on his knees. His spines pressed the lining of his jacket. "Then sit," he said. "Tell me what you've seen. Maybe you've heard of my stone." She sat across from him among the sacks. For a long while they talked. She was sweet, and sharp, and kind in a wary way. Spike felt something loosen in his chest. Here, at last, was a person, not a torn glove. He watched her and found her beautiful. Then Scarlett went still. "I know Ire," she said. "And Sable. They're the only ones I trust." She met his eyes. "There's a man I'm bound to. Kai. His wife owns my debt. I killed her goats. I can't leave until it's paid, and I can't be more than a friend to anyone until then." Spike's hope tightened into a knot. He'd found the woman. He'd found her kind and lovely. But she came chained to a debt he couldn't cut. "How long?" he asked. "Years," she said. "Maybe more." He stood. He wasn't leaving Mosswood now. He was staying to win a woman who wasn't free.