“Please, you have to help us,” begged the man.

  He reeked of desperation, much like his three companions. The usual for visitors to Coal’s large house. Unfortunately, he did not reek of money. Coal could tell at first glance that if this group had any money at all, they’d likely spent it all just to get here. Still, sometimes people could be surprising and it was often when they were at their most desperate that even the poorest seemed to find something worth offering.

  This man was used to bargaining. Coal could see that. There was a look in his eye, a shrewdness, and his nose had obviously been broken once. It had remained crooked as a result. No access to a healer then but the man was used to things getting rough and he was the kind to stand his ground rather than run.

  “They’re coming! They’re coming!” screamed the woman behind him. She was fair haired and nicer dressed than any of her companions. Not in a way that suggested she was rich, just that she cared about her appearance, or at least she cared about what she bought for it was obvious that she had not dressed herself, even if those were her clothes. She was in not in the state for self care. She was a psychic who had succumbed to the madness of her visions. Her companions didn’t seem to think it was a permanent madness, or they wouldn’t be here.

  Another woman and a man held her up. They were perhaps a little younger, although it was hard to tell. They were at the very least a little less experienced than the one doing the talking. The woman had purple hair and multiple piercings but her clothes and her face were softer in nature and she had a wide-eyed sort of look about her. The man was all over unassuming. His clothing choices plain and simple, tidy but not tailored. His hair a sandy brown, a little lighter than the first man, tidier too but not groomed. He got it cut regularly by someone who knew what they were doing but he obviously had no inclination to stand out. It was possibly for intentional and practical reasons but Coal couldn’t be sure. He’d know soon enough though, depending on what they had to offer.

  “Please,” begged the first man again, taking no care to remove the desperation in his tone. “We need a binding infusement or a spell. A good one. I hear, we can get that here?”

  Coal gave a slow nod. He hadn’t taken them to his office room. It was too small for so many. Instead, they all stood in the front library, surrounded by lush rugs and floor to ceiling shelves. “Quality comes with a higher price.”

  Binding infusements weren’t that uncommon but they obviously did not find the more common ones suitable. They wanted something that lasted longer, something stronger. Coal doubted their ability to afford it though.

  The man nodded. “We can pay. Whatever you want. She’s been like this for days now. Nothing works. We aren’t cash rich but we heard you accept other payment terms?” He lowered his voice slightly at the end as if worried someone might be eavesdropping.

  Coal gave a slight smile. “What did you have in mind?”

  “A blood bind?” The man’s fingers found the edges of his coat and they curled around it. His eyes showed a flicker of fear, the first Coal had see in them since he’d arrived. It was to be expected give what he’d just offered.

  “You understand what that means?” Coal asked.

  “Bo?” the purple-haired woman started to protest quietly.

  Bo held up a hand to hush her and she fell silent.

  The blonde psychic had since fallen into a string of indecipherable mumbles.

  Bo looked at Coal. His expression determined. “I do,” he replied.

  Coal did not think he was lying or naive. The man knew what he was offering, he was simply desperate.

  “You understand that even the best binding infusements require renewal?” It wasn’t technically true. Infusements did exist that could practically last forever, but they were few and far between and the price of those worth far far more. Coal would not offer them up unless they were specifically requested and something of equal value offered. For those, even a blood bind was insufficient.

  “I do,” the man repeated. “Just like blood binds right?”

  Coal gave a single nod. “Very well. I’ll need a vial of blood and your signature, also in blood. Furthermore you’ll need to be marked. I will provide you an address where the ritual will take place.”

  “I understand.” The man slowly lowered and raised his head.

  “How likely is it that his debt will be called?” blurted out the purple-haired woman.

  Bo seemed annoyed that she had interrupted but Coal could also see the question in his own hesitant eyes. That was understandable. They might know logically what they were getting into but they lacked the experience he had.

  He put their minds at ease. “Nobody wants to die of course, least of all one who buys a blood bind. That is of course the point.” Coal paused briefly. It wasn’t entirely true. There were exceptions. Young aristocrats who bought blood binds just so they could dance with death but they were relatively rare and these people didn’t need to know about them. Besides, as they were likely to be back for renewals, giving Coal the chance to renegotiate, it would not do well to sell this particular binding to that sort of customer. “Many blood binds are sold to rich folk who wish to protect their children from unfortunate accidents and assassinations. Resurrection always carries a risk, as I’m sure you are aware, and so it is very much a last resort. Your chance of being called is low, I assure you.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Coal could tell his words had done the trick. The group had gone from tense to relaxed, almost relieved. The rest of their visit went swiftly and quietly, with the exception of the occasional outburst from the psychic. But once the first half of the agreement had been settled, even before Coal fixed a small bracelet around her wrist, her cries fell silent and suddenly she looked around the room with renewed understanding and awareness.

  “Wow! That worked fast,” remarked the purple-haired woman in surprise.

  Coal quickly fixed the bracelet to her wrist and, hiding his own surprise, he nodded. “Do not take it off now it is on though. Not even for a moment or she will return to her previous state 10 fold over. Do you understand?”

  They nodded.

  Coal did not understand.

  There was no way it should have worked before it touched her. His confusion was cleared up when, after he’d bid them farewell, he returned to his entertaining bar and found Stella sitting on a stool and sipping a small glass of whiskey.

  “Oh. It was you.”

  She smiled. “It’s hard for binding to work when one is in the middle of a vision. I thought I’d help you out a little.” Unlike most other magic, two psychics were not stronger than one. Each would weaken the other, or if one were sufficiently stronger, the other might find themselves briefly impotent.

  “I suppose we could have foregone the infusment and just had you follow her around,” Coal replied.

  Another smile. A shake of the head. “That would not have worked forever. You’d have had to kill them eventually, and then the binding would be useless wouldn’t it?”

  Coal smiled. She was right. It would not have worked in that particular case. But there were others where it might. I was something he’d have to consider as an option in future. Cheating only paid sometimes though. More often than not it was honest deception that paid off.

  Stella moved her glass out of the way, and he could see that on the bar beside her she had a book. She handed it to him.

  “The Poisoners Practical Guide to Foraging?” He frowned at her. He knew of the book. It was restricted but not otherwise uncommon. Most aristocrats probably had a copy somewhere in their libraries.

  “It’s for Reason. You were going there next? It won’t get you what you want though. Not yet anyway. Consider it a favor.”

  Her words were important, Coal knew that. A favor for him or for Reason? Stella was being unclear on purpose. He didn’t over think it. Some things couldn’t be planned. He’d know what she meant once he was there. “I actually had somewhere else in mind first.”

  “Oh.” She sighed, and frowned momentarily. Then she bit her lower lip. It was a decidedly sexy maneuver but Coal was never sure if she did it on purpose. He was suspected she did but the uncertainty did make it sexier. “You owe Amanda.”

  “What?” He hadn’t expected that statement.

  “She killed a unicorn. That last mission, it cost her a lot. Perhaps you should buy her a dragon as compensation.”

  Coal almost said what again, but then he caught Stella’s smile. She was still speaking in riddles. He sighed. The dragon comment was a little too close to something he already had planned. He wasn’t about to pull the plug on that, not without her stating so much more clearly, and she hadn’t done that. It seemed this was yet another thing for future him to figure out. He had learned not to question Stella, not too much, not when she was being intentionally coy. It made it harder for her to give him accurate predictions. So instead he simply bowed his head slightly and with a glance at the book replied, “Thank you.”

  She gave him another of those delicious smiles, and then she slipped off the bar stool and out the door.

  He frowned and looked down at the book. Curious, he opened the front cover. There were initials scrawled in the bottom left corner, EB. It meant nothing to him but there was nothing else that stood out as he flipped through the rest of the book.

  He considered changing up the order of his plans and visiting Reason Winters first, but he decided against it. His task in town would likely take much less time and effort. It would be good to get it out of the way, even though it was a little less urgent.

  The police commissioner's office was on the 3rd floor near the back of the police building with a splendid view of the neighbouring building’s wall. Despite that, it was actually rather sunny, not because of the real sun, but because at some point over the years and rotations of office, someone had setup a luminary infusement in the alleyway, making it seem like the room had direct sunlight pouring in throughout most of the day.

  Coal hated it. Not the sunlight itself, but the unchanging nature of it. He had been in this room many times over the last couple decades and the only thing that ever changed was the name of the man behind the desk. Even their natures didn’t change. They were all the same. All boring. They rarely ever argued with him and when they did it wasn’t with any amount of vigor. All optimism had long since been beaten out by the time they reached the position and any cop with any skill never hung around that long in Little Rock, or if they did, they were too smart to get chained to this desk.

  “Mr Chase,” remarked the officer through half-lidded eyes. Neither the light from the fake sun nor the several empty cups of coffee in the nearby bin seemed to have done anything to wake him up today. His tone was weary and Coal could tell that the man found the prospect of talking to him exhausting.

  Coal set a new bottle of whiskey on the commissioner's desk.

  The man’s eyes lit up. His posture straightened. He was easy. Too easy. It was boring.

  The commissioner's voice took on a more welcoming tone. “What can I do for you today?”

  Coal took a seat even though he hadn’t technically been offered one. The police weren’t known for their manners. They were often forgetful.

  “Cathryn James,” was all Coal said.

  “Yes?” The police commissioner’s posture deflated like a popped balloon.

  “She was recently arrested by some of your people?”

  “Yes, for murder.”

  “Of a man who is himself a child murderer? Is that correct?”

  “That isn’t confirmed.”

  “But it’s likely?”

  “Yes.”

  “So one might say she did a service to this community?”

  “We can not be seen to be endorsing vigilantism,” replied the commissioner.

  “No, of course not. It is a pity though. I’ve always found her a rather useful member of this society. Tourism’s gone up quite a jump since she opened that race track.”

  “Unfortunately many of my officers and members of the public don’t quite agree. Not when the tourists in question are petrol heads who don’t slow down or stay on their side of the road. And then there’s the increased risk of dragons.”

  “Little Rock hasn’t had a dragon attack the town in years,” Coal replied with a relaxed scoff. More sincerely he added, “The people’s concerns are understandable though and certainly it’s important they see a fair trial occurring with all the evidence you have. Tell me, were you thinking of running for a seat on the council again this year?”

  A muscle in the commissioner’s jaw twitched. “I was.”

  “Good that’s very good. I’m sure most people have forgotten that embarrassing incident at the Norman’s yule revelry. People can be very forgetful you know. Especially when they’re busy. It’s very easy to lose track of things...” Coal fixed him with a hard stare so the man would understand everything he was implying.

  “Forgetful... yes.” The commissioner frowned in thought. It took him a few seconds but eventually a light went on.

  “Anyway, with the support of much of the aristocracy I’m sure you’ll do just great.” Coal gave him a warm smile.

  “Yes, yes of course. Thank you for the whiskey.”

  Coal stood up. “Well, you deserve it. You do such great work. Let’s hope it continues.”