Read The Consuls of the Vicariate for Free Online Page A

said you’d be released soon enough.”
    She sighed. “My father’s dead. He passed away while I’ve been in this house.”
    “How?”
    “His way with loose women brought disease to him. Now I serve in an attempt to save his soul, that he won’t burn in the hells with Syril.” She folded her arms. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fortunate to be in this house; others have it far worse than I.”
    “Worse than being beaten?”
    “ Much worse ,” she replied, as if she’d witnessed the atrocity firsthand.
    Brice averted his eyes. “Very well. Show us to the door, if you would.”
    She led them to the darkened hall and the door through which they had originally entered. “Be on your way and good luck.”
    “One last thing,” Brice said, offering his hand. “What’s your name?”
    “Does it matter?”
    Caleb opened the door and grabbed the tail of Brice’s shirt. “Let’s not waste the opportunity. Come on.”
    “Your name, miss?” His hand remained outstretched, and she finally took it.
    “Collette. Now, go .”
    Once he had passed the portcullis, Caleb started to run, and Brice struggled to keep up. Brice grudgingly maintained the pace, staying within reach of Caleb’s fluttering cloak the entire way back to the Shimmering Dawn headquarters. Out of breath and sweaty, they burst through the door to find the others gathered at the large dining table.
    “Have you led anyone here?” Piers asked without any apparent concern for their haggard appearance. His concern obviously lay with the safety of the headquarters’ secret location.
    “N-no.” Caleb bent over and rested his palms on his knees, sucking in air.
    Marac closed the door they’d carelessly left open.
    Piers said, “What’s gotten into you? You both look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    “We’ve come from… the Vicar Forane’s house…” Caleb choked out.
    Piers gestured at the chairs. “Have a seat, you two.”
    “Vicar Forane’s house?” Jurgen leaned toward Brice and Caleb as they sat. “Genevieve Forane?”
    “Yeah,” Brice said before taking a swig from a nearby mug. “That’s the one.”
    “What did you find, pray tell?” Jurgen asked.
    “Correspondence. Letters between her and someone else, the Grand Vicar, I think.”
    “And what did they say?”
    Brice glanced at Caleb before responding, “You’re in danger.”
    “What, specifically, did they say?” Jurgen demanded.
    Caleb answered, “Lester was a traitor. He was working for Forane, and his task was to have you killed. We were all nearly caught up in his plot.”
    “Bastard,” Piers said. “That little, sniveling cretin. Had us all dancing to his tune, did he?”
    Brice nodded. “Almost. She doesn’t know what’s happened to him, and she wrote that she wanted to meet him tomorrow night—by a bell tower.”
    “The city has many bells, but it is host to only one such tower,” Caleb said. “That is where the meeting will take place.”
    “Were you able to procure one of these missives to use as proof?” Piers asked.
    Brice shook his head. “We couldn’t. She would’ve taken it out on the girl.”
    Piers narrowed his eyes. “What girl?”
    “The servant girl Collette. She discovered we were in the house. She could’ve turned us in, but she didn’t. We wouldn’t have escaped without her help.”
    Piers put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Have our whereabouts been disclosed?”
    “Not from what I saw. Either Vicar Forane doesn’t know our location, or she hasn’t written of it. Surely even Lester wouldn’t have been that stupid.”
    “Shouldn’t you relocate?” Laedron asked. “We can’t accept the lack of evidence as an assurance of safety.”
    Piers rubbed his chin. “No. If she knows, we must keep up appearances. This could be a boon for us, though.”
    “How could this, in any way, shape, or form, be a good thing for us?” Laedron asked.
    “We could send someone to meet her tomorrow. To keep up the ruse.”
    Laedron stared at