The Judgement Of Divinity (TMOE #2)

Chapter 12: A cursed forest

Perhaps Lucius had been too optimistic when he'd dressed for the weather.

In retrospect there was an obvious difference between actively walking around the forest in the early morning to visit a grave, and sitting still in cold moss in the middle of the night next to an intimidating war veteran to scout for suspicious scientists.

The two of them had hidden near an old farmyard just far away enough to be shrouded by the trees. It was, unsurprisingly and fortunately, close to the mark Lucius had found on the map.

"How long are we gonna sit here?" He turned to Ivan, who had leaned against a tree next to him. "It's really cold."

Ivan held up a finger against his mouth and Lucius squinted in order to see it.

"It's impossibly quiet," Lucius protested. "No one's nearby."

He received no answer, and thus let go of his manners in order to shake the man's shoulder.

"No one's nearby," he repeated, closer to the man's ear, and Ivan turned his head to look at him.

"And no one will be if you keep talking."

Lucius obediently held back a groan and looked forward again. Would it have been so bad to look for the Larkspur order during the day? Even if they moved around at night there was a chance neither Lucius nor Ivan would actually spot them. What if they knew a path and could move without a proper light source?

And what if a werewolf was nearby? The rumoured claw marks did no favours for the idea of late night strolls in the forest.

For that reason Lucius was grateful Ivan had brought a rifle with him, even though it was a big, scary weapon. It had supposedly been for the purpose of tricking Milica into thinking he was out hunting but chances were he had other, less peaceful intentions as well.

Lucius wondered how much Ivan actually knew. He was at least aware of the Larkspurs' existence and they had supposedly taken something from him, and he didn't want Milica to find out. So was it safe to presume she didn't know anything about them at all?

"What, um... So what did they take from you?" he asked rather bluntly, and Ivan released a silent sigh at the refusal to stay quiet.

"Nothing, but they owe me something."

"Like... Money?"

"Payment for this place." Ivan nodded in the direction the barnyard was in. "And for me keeping their existence a secret despite... Everything. But it's not money."

Lucius cocked an eyebrow as a sign for him to continue but Ivan had already turned his head away again.

"What is... 'Everything'?"

"They're not very... Ethical," Ivan admitted, voice even lower than before. "I don't know details but their ways sound far from legal, and I'm supposed to turn a blind eye, saying they're not around if anyone asks."

Lucius' stomach turned into a knot thinking back at Ethan's guess that they experiment on unwilling supernaturals.

"But they haven't kept their end of the deal, and I've been unable to track them down," Ivan continued, shuffling in the dark suggesting a shrug. "So it's a kind of... What is it called? 'All bets are off'?"

"I guess more like 'anything is fair game'?" Lucius suggested. "If they're avoiding you so they don't have to pay."

A hint of a laugh escaped Ivan.

"Most would argue there are limits." He patted his rifle to Lucius' horror and in a way, awe. "But it's very important, and I don't like being swindled."