Scenes from an Unholy War Read Online Free PDF

slightly.
    Lyra continued, “But eighty dalas is just the base pay. Every time you put down some trouble in town you get an extra ten dalas, and if you arrest a wanted party, it’s twenty more.”
    “How much trouble was there last year?” asked D.
    “According to the logs, only three incidents. A drunken scuffle, a domestic dispute caused by a cheating spouse, and getting rid of a stray dog.”
    “And since you signed on?”
    “I took a baker into protective custody after he was stabbed in the ass with a knife.”
    “What was that all about?”
    “He came home drunk in the wee hours and went into the wrong house. As luck would have it, the man of the house had also been out at the saloon drinking. The baker went into the bedroom without even bothering to turn on the lights.”
    There was some stifled but hoarse laughter as the Hunter’s left hand pictured what ensued.
    “To make matters worse, it was only about twenty minutes later that the woman’s husband got home.”
    “And what does he do for a living?”
    “He sharpens cutlery.”
    “Now that’s what you call destiny!” the hoarse voice replied.
    “Would you knock it off with the ventriloquism,” Lyra snapped.
    “Oh, you could tell?”
    “Of course so. The least you could do is make it a more pleasant-sounding voice.”
    “I wish I could,” D confessed.
    “So, you’re fine with eighty dalas?”
    “It’s not like I have a choice.”
    “Well, in return, we’ll pay you for the whole month even though you don’t start working for another ten days.”
    “That’ll be fine.”
    His expression hardly suited the young man. It was like being thanked by a gorgeous Grim Reaper. And there were undoubtedly more than a few people who wouldn’t mind meeting the Grim Reaper, if he were this exquisite.
    “Then it’s settled.”
    Suddenly, the door opened and Rust came in.
    The hoarse voice gasped in surprise.
    —
    II
    —
    “You’ll be a really great help to us. I’ll go easy on you when it comes time for questioning,” the sheriff said brazenly.
    “You mean to tell me you weren’t out on patrol at all?” the hoarse voice spat back angrily.
    “I had to play it this way. Lyra’s a lot better at these negotiations than I am. And I bet you enjoyed talking with her a lot more than if it’d been me, am I right?”
    The stone-faced D said to him, “Undo that bandanna.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Untie it.”
    “Sure thing.” Slapping his sun-bronzed neck, the sheriff said, “You don’t see any Noble’s fang marks there, do you?”
    D continued, “Just so we’re clear, I apparently won’t be able to work for another ten days. In the meantime, I won’t be any use to you.”
    “That’s okay. According to our latest information, the Black Death won’t be coming for at least a month. That’s when we’ll get some work out of you. With the man called D on our side, we could defend a village three times the size of this one.”
    “Don’t underestimate them.”
    Lyra nodded at that, saying, “He’s right, Rust—I mean, Sheriff. You’ve seen the villages they’ve hit.”
    Silence fell, as if the whole world had frozen over. Rust’s hand slowly rose, reaching for the persimmon-orange fabric that covered the nape of his neck.
    “Rust,” Lyra said to him. Her voice had a stern, commanding ring, not a tone used between equals.
    “I sure have.” Moving the hand from the base of his throat to his hair, Rust scratched his head. “Corpses lying all around, inside and out. Men and women, young and old, all with their throats ripped open. Some of the bodies got their wounds from blades, and others from teeth. And all of it done by human beings—no, by those bastard victims of the Nobility—pseudo vampires!”
    His voice was choked with emotion, and a terrible gleam filled his eyes. Both testified to his madness. There was no trace of the courteous sheriff.
    “Keep a handle on it, Rust,” Lyra told him.
    Nodding, Rust wiped the sweat from