Exiles in Arms: Night of the Necrotech by C. L. Werner Read Free Book Online

about me,” Rutger said. “He wants Rex.” He slammed his cup onto the dilapidated table. “You’re talking about ’jack-scrapping, aren’t you?”
    Marko grinned. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t really need you, would I?” He tapped the fingers of one hand against the rings adorning the other. “After what happened in Blood Alley, your ’jack has developed quite a reputation. The operator of this . . . establishment we’ve been discussing would pay enormously well if he could promise his patrons a ‘celebrity’ fight.”
    “Not interested,” Rutger said.
    “Why not?” Taryn asked, rounding on her partner. She knew he was thinking only of Rex, thinking about his ’jack getting demolished in Marko’s arena. One of Rutger’s most frustrating quirks was his way of treating ’jacks almost as if they were alive. Taryn didn’t need some sentimental nonsense to give her the worries. She was thinking about the price on her friend’s head and the vindictive bounty hunter who’d be only too happy to collect it.
    “Because we’re not,” Rutger said. “I’m not going to let Rex get torn apart just to gratify a mob of drunken degenerates.”
    “But letting a bounty killer slit your throat, that’s fine?”
    “Oh, it doesn’t need to come to that,” Marko said, looking from one mercenary to the other. “The proprietor of this venture, he’ll want to build up Rex’s reputation first. Stage some preliminary fights for a month or so. Put you against repurposed laborjacks and the like. Nothing too serious.” A titter rose from the thief. “We can make our money on the preliminaries and when it comes time for the big fights, we can simply tell them we’re no longer interested.” He leaned closer to Rutger, tapping a finger against the splintered table. “After what happened in Blood Alley, you need to practice with your ’jack a bit more. Work out the bugs. I ask you, where else are you going to find controlled battlefield conditions to really put Rex through its paces?”
    “Wurm’s breath,” Taryn said. “I hate to say it, but the little weasel’s right.” She could see the turmoil in Rutger’s eyes. “You know it too,” she said.
    Marko beamed, puffing out his chest as he leaned back. “I’ll act as your manager, save you from all the drudgery of arranging fights and negotiating with the proprietor. Rutger, of course, will need to operate Rex. Taryn, we don’t . . .” The thief almost choked on his words when he met the gun mage’s glare. “You can come along for moral support.”
    Taryn ignored the Midlunder. Rising from her chair, she laid her hand on Rutger’s shoulder. “It’s the right thing to do,” she said.
    “No,” Rutger said, “it’s not the right thing to do.” He clenched his fist. “But it is the smart thing to do.”
    “Excellent.” Marko laughed. “I’ll go make the arrangements and we can discuss the split.”
    “Even shares,” Taryn said. Her tone brooked no argument.
    Marko shrugged. “It’s a lot of work to do, a lot of favors to call in, but seeing as we’re old friends, I’ll settle for a third.”
    “A quarter,” Rutger said, his decision drawing bewildered looks from both Marko and Taryn. “Rex gets a share too.”
    Marko blinked in disbelief. “The . . . the ’jack?” he said. “You want to give the ’jack a share?”
    Rutger nodded. “He’s the one that’s going to get knocked around. There’ll be repairs and upkeep to take into consideration. If Rex gets his own share, then we can make sure he gets the treatment he deserves after each fight.”

    Rat Run was appropriately named. Since entering the shadowy, stinking morass that passed itself off as a shortcut from Chesake Market to Haggler’s Square, Lorca had seen no fewer than a hundred of the vermin scurrying along the gutter or across the rigging overhead. Some of the loathsome rodents looked big enough to serve on the lord governor’s staff.
    The southernmost of