Apparently Bounty-Hunting Makes a Killing
Every day felt long to Gareth, but today was torturously so. He scratched at the slate in front of him, eyes blank, not caring if the teacher noticed.
His handler hadn’t given specifics. No times, dates, methods, people involved. Just a satisfied grin as he moved Bryony’s name—not her codename, her name—to the top of the bounty board.
The moment replayed over and over in his head. Absaranth had looked straight at Gareth when he did it. Why? Did he know something? Was he just pleased at the high pay?
And she wasn’t in school today.
Every time a horse clip-clopped by the window he looked up, hoping against hope that it was her horse, or a carriage bringing her in, or something. But no. The only reason he was in class now was because this was where she was supposed to be, and some stubbornness kept insisting that everything would be fine, that maybe she had just gotten a cold or something, that she was still going to show up.
Nothing.
Finally it was lunch time. He’d eat and then find her. Somehow. It didn’t matter he had no idea where she was. He’d find her. He had to.
Too preoccupied to pay attention to anything, he grabbed his lunch and bolted it down, before almost sprinting to the door.
He never made it that far.
The world wobbled beneath his feet, the edges of his vision turning static; the polished wooden floor crashed into his knees.
No.
Gareth clutched at his throat, a burning in it steadily expanding.
No, I don’t have time for this.
Absaranth’s smirk came to mind again, directed at him.
No, no, no. I need to find Bryony, I can’t….
I can’t breathe.
Distantly, he heard shouts of alarm as he fully toppled over.
It had to be the Mithae poison last week’s mark had been crowing about. Nothing else could act this fast.
But if they had gotten to him….
Gareth made one last attempt to drag himself towards the door, one last bit of panic pushing him. But no amount of willpower could negate this. Choking, struggling to breathe, his limbs went slack. The outline of sunlight, beaming through the edges of the front door, was the last thing he saw before blackness swallowed him.
