Stepping Wild (Dungeon Runner 04)

Too tired.

He'd let himself get too abyss tired if he hadn't noticed the life essence in the room until now.

He had to give it to Charlie, as the fighter leaned forward in the chair and cast his face in shadows. He could definitely look menacing.

"Care to explain what you've been up to?" the man asked.

"Before you say you don't know what he's talking about," Cynta said in a hard tone, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "How you're dressed is telling enough."

Uzoma leaned against the wall by the window. "I'll give you this. You can play Street well enough." The anger that the man put in matched what Tibs needed to work at not putting those words. "For a noble."

"I'm not a noble."

"Right," the archer said derisively.

"I borrowed this from Herns."

"Oh, we know," Charlie said. "Doesn't tell us why, though."

"Or what you're doing in the university," Cynta added.

He leaned against the door. "What gave me away?" It would be good to get confirmation of where he'd made his mistake.

"Ismael told me you'd already gave her everything she needed for my jewelry when I checked with her. Also said you gave her much more than needed. I wasn't with you in the storm, so I thought you three had added that to your tasks, but Charlie and Uzoma knew nothing about getting gems. Then I heard how a few extra shops had also had water damage. The storm was strong enough I doubt anyone thought much of it, but there were a few gem shops that were hit. One even got its stock scattered on the street."

"We got to wondering why you didn't want our help with that," Uzoma said.

That was not what he'd expected to have given him away.

"So, we had to question," Charlie said, leaning back in the chair and chasing most of the shadows off his face, "what exactly you're playing at. If you're setting us up to take the fall while you enjoy the perks of all that money. Perks like having access to the university."

"That's not what this is." Then he added, under the suspicious glares. "Not exactly."

"We're going to want exactness," Charlie said. "If you want to avoid my fists expressing how I feel right now."

"The job is still on," Tibs said. "The university is a personal project I incorporated."

"So," Cynta said, suspicious tone still loud. "You're still after some high noble for revenge?"

Her expression and the shift in the tone stopped him from confirming he was. This was no longer something he could fix by lying.

"No. But I have narrowed the list of targets to six. Part of what I spent today doing."

"The other part?" she demanded before Charlie spoke.

"Personal. It won't impact the job."

"I don't know that's going to be enough," Uzoma stated.

"It'll have to be. I'm not sharing that part."

Charlie leaned forward again. "I can make you."

This time, the shadows made the man look more ridiculous than threatening and Tibs couldn't stop the snort.

"You're not going to do that. We go that way and you don't get the money you want. Your friend doesn't get the money for the cleric."

Uzoma was in his face faster than Tibs expected. "I don't do well with threats."

"They aren't threats. It's laying out what you're losing if we do this. I didn't mention the university, or the parts I folded within the job, because it's personal and I wasn't going to let it affect it." A slight lie wouldn't hurt here. It wasn't like they could know what his thinking had been when he'd started this. "As for the jewelry. It was an on-the-spot idea. I had some of the weakening agent left over, and the storm was going on. I'd already cased the shop, so I took advantage of the situation."

Uzoma didn't move. "The 'getting lost' because of the storm?"

Tibs shrugged. "Easier than going through the explanation. I didn't expect it to come up."

"You didn't think that me not having to talk a jeweler into handing me the jewels for my costume wouldn't come up?" Cynta asked, surprised.

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Put that way, his reasoning did seem odd. "It was a long, tiring day. Not the best decision I've made."

"It does put us in a difficult situation," Charlie said.

Uzoma turned to face the fighter. "You can't be serious. Are you thinking of trusting him after this?"

"His reasoning isn't unreasonable," Cynta said.

"He's going to leave with the money and leave us to deal with the nobles, the guards, and the Master."

"If this is about money," Charlie said. "Why give all the extra gems to Ismael?"

"Oh, I don't know," the archer said with derision. "Maybe so you'll be an idiot and believe him?"

"I don't betray my team."

"Abyss, you think we're dumb." Uzoma rounded on him, but Tibs caught the fist. He strengthened himself with Earth to keep him from pulling it out.

"I get that you're angry. I was an idiot not to tell you everything from the start. But I'm not used to sharing personal stuff. That's the kind of stuff strangers use against me."

"I thought we were you team," Charlie said, hurt.

Uzoma gave up trying to get out of Tibs's grip.

"You are now. Have been for a while. But back then we were all strangers."

"Why not trust us with this before?" Cynta asked.

The archer's eyes were still filled with anger, but when Tibs released him, he returned to the wall.

"We were busy, and it's small enough it didn't occur to me."

"What happens now?" Charlie asked.

"That's up to you. I can't convince you what I've done until now wasn't just so I'd get access to the university."

"I don't think you'd have continued with Herns's fitting if that was the case," Cynta said. "You don't seem to enjoy it."

"Standing still for hours is no fun."

"Come on," Uzoma exclaimed. "That's exactly what you do, Cyn. You keep with the act until you have everything you want."

She looked at Tibs, who shrugged.

"Like I said. I can't convince you. Uzoma's right that everything looks like the university was what I'm after, and I have that. All you have is my word that I'll see the rest through."

"Ismael can make jewelry and sell that on the cheap." Cynta said. "It's going to help theater. He didn't have to do that. I wouldn't have, if I'd been the one holding that bag and it wasn't the theater. But that's just gets them permits for a couple of seasons. I really hope you're being truthful, Thibaud."

"I'm still in," Charlie said.

"Of course you are," Uzoma said. "All you care about is the money."

"Abyss, yes, I want the money." He stood. "But Nariss needs it too. His sister's a friend of mine and it's my fault the Master had his people fall on her like they did."

"You never said that," the archer said, surprised.

"Oh, right. Because that's the kind of thing you tell every stranger you meet. So yes, I'm in it for the money and to kick some nobles where it hurts. But more importantly, to make sure my friend gets to have a life again." Charlie settled. "Are you in? We can't do this without you."

"We can," Tibs said before Uzoma responded.

The fighter glared at him over his shoulder. "Really? I give him this talk and you just tell him he can leave and we'll be fine?"

Tibs ignored Charlie. "But I'd rather have you on the team, Uzoma. When things go down, it's going to be quick, and we're going to need someone who's attentive and fast to react. I'm confident that with Charlie's muscle and Cynta's wit, we'll manage, but with you at our side, I know we'll leave there with all the money in their coffers."

"Charlie's talk was more inspiring," the archer said.

"But I'm the one you need to trust. That's how I see the situation. If you walk away, I trust you not to go to the master or the guards, so I'm willing to continue. We might not make it out with everything, but we'll get enough to make it worthwhile."

"We could bring in someone else," Cynta pointed out.

"Herns will be done with the costumes in no more than two weeks. Do you know anyone on the Master's bad side as good as Uzoma? That you can trust not to sell us out to regain his favor?"

She shook her head, and Tibs looked at Charlie.

"The people I hang out with aren't known for thinking quickly."

The archer rubbed his temple as he considered. "But my presence on the team doesn't change anything, does it?"

"It changes a lot of things," Tibs replied. "You're an extra fighter for when the fighting starts. If we're chased during the escape, you can take to the roofs and both guide and support us. With you, we will definitely not be hurt as badly as without, by the time it's all over."

Uzoma rested his head against the wall and Tibs sympathized with the headache he seemed to be getting. "Alright." He sighed. "I'm still in." He fixed his gaze on Tibs. "But I'm sticking with you from now on."

"You can't get into the university."

"The rest of the time, then."

"I run the alleys and get in and out of buildings."

The archer smirked. "If you manage to lose me, I'll be impressed."

* * * * *

Tibs had to admit that Uzoma was good.

What impressed him more was that among all the roof runners and trackers Tibs had known and dealt with, Uzoma hadn't started as a thief. Being able to climb walls to reach the roof for a good vantage point was important for an archer, but navigating them and keeping track of someone on the ground was an entirely different set of skills.

But he'd had to lose the archer for this.

Tibs couldn't risk the other man being noticed while he studied the nobles' houses. He'd narrowed it down further to two. Both were extravagant buildings, taking over multiple city blocks when including the maintained yard around them. One was an even four floors, while the others had a section stretching up three more, almost like they'd intended to have a tower there but hadn't completed it.

Multiple rooms in both had metal safes, small and larger. The largest were in the better secured room. The four-story house had theirs under it. The room was next to the cellar, and by what he sensed of the wood and metal and water, the entrance hid behind a shelve of bottles. The lock was complex, but not magical.

The other was under the would-be tower, on the third floor, and was protected through magic. The weave was too complex for him to even guess as all it did, but an alarm was certain. The chaos that would happen when it triggered could be used, but would draw everyone hired to protect the safe there.

Not insurmountable, but more trouble than his team needed. Unless…

The tower itself had no protection, other than its height. The weaves protecting the safe were on the door and walls, not the ceiling. It was wood with stone pavers, so he could go through them easily and without triggering the magical protection.

All it would take is revealing to his team what he could do, and he'd be able to empty the safes while they distracted the party goers and they'd have all the money.

While he wasn't willing to trust them that far, he could prepare the way for him and them. Arrange things so that, as he preferred doing on the final job, the guards were busy with someone else while the team pulled the job.

It was time to tell them about Fleet Fingers.

He chuckled as he vanished into the alley's shadows. Cynta would appreciate the flair with which he played that character.