97: Bad investment.

97: Bad investment.
Garrick pov

Bastian was gone again.

He didn’t go far, never really did - I could still feel him out there in the trees, crouched somewhere with his eyes locked on Ryker’s patrol like a starving dog watching a closed door. That was fine, actually better than fine. 

I needed him busy and out of earshot, as far away from the men as possible.

I gathered my men behind a large formation of rocks we had been using as a hideout, getting them far enough from Bastian to ensure that even if we raised our voices, they wouldn’t reach him. 

It was getting colder and darker, but I refused to bring fire or make any extra movements that might appear suspicious to an outsider like him. At the end of the day, that was exactly what Bastian was - only an outsider who had found a place among men he shouldn’t have trusted from the beginning. 

Everyone warned him, I knew he had asked around - rogues like us couldn’t be trusted because we followed our own good and I wasn’t ashamed to admit that. If I had to choose between the survival of my men and mine, I’d choose myself in a heartbeat. 

In the group, there were only eight of us left that still mattered to me. I didn’t forget the few that were still lingering around and would follow whoever looked most likely to keep them alive, but I couldn’t focus on them too much either simply because I couldn’t trust everyone completely. 

To my right, Draven stepped forward and crouched down, keeping his voice as quiet as possible, “if this is about the ambush-”

“It’s not,” I cut him off before he could finish the sentence, “at least not tonight.”

Suddenly, everyone’s attention was on me, almost like they couldn’t believe the words I just spoke. Slowly, I crouched down next to Draven and scanned everyone’s faces. To hide how badly my hands were shaking, I settled my elbows on my knees before I spoke, keeping my voice just as low and steady as Draven’s had been. 

“The news travels fast among our own circles and you know it,” I started and looked around at every face around me, ensuring they didn’t try to look around. “The word is that Bane left the castle at first light and took a small team with him. Apparently he has trackers and only a few warriors, but that’s not important. What is important is that he’s coming for Bastian.”

None of my men looked even remotely surprised by my announcement and honestly, that told me more than the whispers that had already been moving through our camp. 

“That crazy bastard isn’t out there, hunting for us,” I continued, emphasizing every word that left my lips, “he doesn’t care about rogues and increased activities. Ryker is after that group of daredevils that have been terrorizing the villages, so he’s not our problem either. Our only true problem is Bastian and his greed.”

“I heard,” one of them muttered. “Didn’t know if it was real, so I didn’t bother to question anyone. Doesn’t feel like relying on rumors would be a good idea these days at all.”

“It’s real enough,” I said and turned to him, hating the bitter aftertaste the words had left in my mouth, “but the news also changes the math we’ve been following like a bunch of fools.” 

Draven spat into the dirt. “What math? The boy wants the halfbreed dead so he can get his girl and we are done with whatever bullshit he’s planning next. That’s all the math we need - kill one obstacle and live well without needing more jobs.”

“The job was supposed to be simple.” I hissed and looked around the tired faces that looked just as close to losing patience as I felt. It was another reminder that there were too many empty spaces where my men used to stand, men who would never have their voices again.

Since nobody spoke, I elaborated, “the whole purpose at first was to get the girl, maybe pressure Bane’s pack a little. We all wanted to make a profit and disappear, but instead, we’ve lost bodies to a castle fire, failed a fight and every half-planned idea that comes out of that obsessed little bastard’s mouth.”

The men remained silent, so I just went on, delivering the point once and for all. “He’s not going to pay us, plain and simple. At least not in the way he’s been promising us all this time. He talks like the money is already sitting in a chest somewhere, but it isn’t and I have a feeling all of you know that too by now. He’s stringing us along because he needs our claws and we were stupid enough to think someone like him would ever honor a deal he made with the devil. No, he’ll get the girl and disappear before any of us can blink.”

One of the younger ones frowned. “So what? We walk? Just like that? In the end, we lost men, we didn’t get paid and now we leave empty handed?”

“Walking is one option.” I grumbled, even if I didn’t want to admit that. “The other option is we sell him out to someone who’s really dying to get his hands on him.”

Drave’s eyes immediately focused on me - he didn’t need to be told twice to know exactly what and who I meant.

“To Bane,” he said anyway.

I nodded, feeling some of the tension leave my shoulders simply because no one in this small circle looked like they’d mind the option at all. 

A couple of them barely moved, looking at each other and even from here I could see the look in their eyes - pure calculation.

“Bane will kill us on sight,” one of the younger guys pointed out.

“He’ll kill us faster if we stay attached to the man he’s hunting,” I shot back quietly. “Just think about it - Ryker is out there with a trained patrol while Bane is coming in from the other side with men who know how to track. Once Bastian finds out Bane’s getting personally involved, that bastard will treat it as a gift. He’ll try to convince us that it’s fate - two targets, one forest. I’ve gotten to know him well enough to know his moves and if anyone’s asking me, that won’t be a plan, that’ll be a funeral for us.”

Slowly, I lifted my pointer finger in the direction where Bastian was no doubt still watching Ryker’s patrol like the rest of the world had disappeared. “He doesn’t care if we die, he only cares about the girl. That’s exactly all this has ever been. We have already paid too much for one prick’s obsession and there’s no way he’s paying us, so why not take money from the man Bastian promised to rob?”

Draven rubbed a hand over his jaw. “You think Bane would take a deal?”

“I think Bane wants Bastian more than he wants a pile of leftover rogues,” I said with a shrug, trying to hide the little uncertainty that still lingered. “If we hand him the location, the timing, maybe even the boy himself, Bane will let us walk away. Even if he doesn’t pay, we’ll leave with our heads still attached to our necks and honestly, that’s more than we’ll get if we follow Bastian into a fight against both of them.”

“What happens if Basitan finds out about our conversation?” The younger guy asked. “Not only about the fact that we’re discussing him but also that we’re planning to hand him over? We don’t know if he’s hiding a backing stronger than a group of rogues.”

I glared at him until he dropped his gaze. 

“If he even as much as suspects we’re planning to turn on him, he’ll run,” I told them quietly, letting my eyes scan every face until they understood how serious I was. “Which is exactly why this meeting stays right here - no one speaks, no one pulls off any big moves, nothing. For now, we just watch him and let him keep staring at Ryker. The rest, we decide soon, before he can plan a way to escape.”

Draven, usually the most outspoken of all, remained quiet for a long time until he nodded in agreement. “He’s going to get us all killed, I vote we get rid of him before that happens.”

“Agreed,” I said and stood up, stretching out my legs, “unless we stop being useful to him and instead, start focusing on ourselves.”