Bone Diggers Chapter Twenty Four

Loading... Chapter Twenty Four

The trip started to resemble a vacation, filled with the type of days that people lived for; careless, fun, free. Amilia lifted a trinket up into the light. It seemed to glow a warm orange as the sun ran through the glass sides. "Did you want to bring home a souvenir to add to your collection?" She turned the trinket lovingly in her hands. "If it was me I'd pick this one."

"It's nice," Daniel said, without much of a glance. Nothing seemed to catch his attention as much as the company he got to hoard to himself recently. "But I have everything I could want."

Amilia looked up, a light blush gracing her cheeks. They gave a polite thanks to the merchant for their time before they ventured further down the street.

Daniel's steps picked up as he veered off towards the mouth of a cross street. "Follow me."

"Why?"

"You'll see." Daniel picked up her hand and darted across the street. They found a good little hiding spot in a shaded path. Amilia stood close to the wall, carefully watching his face as he glanced to see if anyone else was coming.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Nothing." Daniel looked back to her, grinning boldly. "I just wanted you alone for a moment."

"You rascal!" Amilia punched him in the arm for the ruse. He laughed and held his 'injured' arm. Amilia placed her arms around his neck. "As least you are my rascal."

"True," Daniel smiled. The agreement wasn't exactly the words he wanted to say, but they were easier to say. He thought about kissing her, but movement caught his attention. He looked up, and spotted a someone standing at the crossroads. "We need to go."

"Daniel," she laughed. "I'm not falling for that again."

"I'm being serious this time." Daniel didn't glance back as he took steps towards the stranger. The sun silhouetted where Seb stood for a moment until the hate in his eyes burned brighter. It was the look of a man who wanted blood. "You should run, Amilia."

"No," she said. Daniel looked back to her. She stood defiant. "I'm not going to be anyone's puppet anymore."

It hardly seemed like the right time for her to reclaim any loss of dignity, but if she believed it was, so be it. If Amilia refused to make a break for it he could at least take the focus off of her. "Come back for another beating, have you?" Daniel taunted. He strolled closer, and could now see men in armor waiting along the sides. Bringing friends, or more likely paying for friends, made things a bit harder.

"You have it all wrong." Seb grinned. Having men at his command boosted his sense of worth. "I've come for something, but it isn't that."

A snicker escaped Daniel. "I'm sorry, you aren't my type."

An expression of confusion shifted into horror as he realized what Daniel was suggesting. It would have made Daniel grin more, but Seb signaled his men to move closer first.

"Stop this." Amilia stepped forward, resting her disdain on Seb. Her hands balled up, but she stood firm. No one seemed to listen as they pushed passed her towards Daniel. Her fear spiked as one of the men decided to grab her arm.

"Now Amilia, show a little composure." Another voice called, one they've both heard before. Don Ambrogio stepped forward, looking at his nails before giving his full attention. It became clear that this was less about Seb's interests and more about Daniel and Lance crashing the knight's party. "After all, we don't want people to believe you actually want to defend the thief."

Daniel mumbled a curse and twirled a dagger around in his hand. The air chilled at the realization that this was the city that was founded by the knight order centuries ago. It was clear no one was taking him as a threat, and he hoped to change that. He expected them to pile onto him, but instead they glared and waited for the command.

"It's time to come back home." The comment seemed so much like an decree that another guard grabbed Amilia's arm as if they were ready to haul her back across Spain.

"Wait!" Daniel's booming voice caught their attention enough to warrant a pause. Amilia even pulled her arms free. The guards seemed content as long as she didn't take another step. His resolve wavered at the sight of her concerned expression. "It's me you want, right?" He looked back to the Don with his chin held high. "Just let her go home on her own, and I'll go with you without spilling any of your men's blood."

Seb uttered half a syllable in objection before Ambrogio cut him off with a quick gesture. He didn't say anything else, but pursed his lips in consideration.

"It's a win-win for you."

"You have a deal."

Daniel raised a brow. That had been surprisingly easy. Frankly, too fast for something else not to be going on.

"Don't do this," Amilia said. Originally, Daniel mistook the force in her voice as a reach for volume, but it was closer to annoyance. Whatever the knight's real plan was hardly mattered to Daniel if it brought her freedom.

Against his instincts, Daniel put the dagger away. He looked to Amilia, forgetting about the men. At first, there were no words to be found. His lips parted soundlessly for a second. "Be safe."

"I will take pleasure in killing you, Mr. Ortiz," Seb said.

Daniel barely glanced over to acknowledge the comment. His eyes found Amilia's again, searching, wanting, before he nodded that it was okay. She looked hesitant as she shifted her weight between her feet then bolted as quick as a bird.

The guards ushered Daniel towards their holding in the area. Another oversight that he would have normally investigated first if he hadn't literally run off with Amilia. Several times along the way, he thought of making a break for it, but as much as he hated the knights, they keep their word. Sebastiano might go back on his promises, but the Don had an honesty of sorts which should keep Amilia safe. It was hard to care about anything else.

The guards pulled Daniel down to his knees. They hit hard against the stone floor of a barracks a short ways from where he had been captured. With a glare, he looked around for their names, but they were just tools who didn't even warrant them.

Ambrogio came in and the others were waved out of the room. Seb followed soon after, and brought chains to bind Daniel's hands. He tried to watch the intricate lock that accompanied them, but was met with a slap that turned his head for the attempt.

"Where is it?" the Don ordered, like Daniel was one of his men that needed to report in.

"Where is what?" Daniel said through gritted teeth as he slowly turned his head back.

Ambrogio exhaled sharply like Daniel had just told a joke. "The stone aegis."

"I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't take—" The punch that came next from Sebastiano was hard enough that it sent an unnerving amount of feedback through the headset and cut Daniel's words off early. He wiggled his nose, worried for how it was fairing. It was clear Sebastiano was the one with a vendetta here, while the Don came purely for business. The difference in goals was something he could exploit. "You're right though," Daniel started, and glanced at the both of them in turn. "I did take something of yours. And do you know what I did with your precious Amilia?"

Daniel's expression rested on Seb as a near laugh escaped in his breath. "I took her to my bed," he finished. The words felt crude in his mouth. It wasn't how he'd like Amilia, or anyone, to hear him speak about her. It wasn't even completely true, but Seb's assumed ownership of Amilia stuck out like a knife in the man's back.

Seb's face filled with a rage that twitched its way through his features until he swung again.

This time the blow knocked Daniel off balance, and he landed on his forearms. "She's not your thing," Daniel said, staring at the floor as he spit out blood. "She's not a thing at all." He was forced up to his knees again, one of Seb's hands still gripping his collar as if he wanted a punching bag that didn't move so easily, but Daniel refused to stay silent. "If you were a man, I'd expose your abusive ass so fast."

Ambrogio held a hand to his mouth, and, at Daniel's words, he narrowed his eyes. "Sebastiano," he said, carefully without looking away from the thief. "Do you wish to tell me that you brought this person to my attention today for a personal benefit of yours?"

"No, of course not," Seb quickly replied. When the words weren't believed, he backpedaled further. "This is the same man who caused a scene at your party, who stole your hostage, killed your men."

When Ambrogio's eyes pulled away they turned sharply on Sebastiano. "You think I care about a few men? Especially ones who brought nothing except risk? I don't care what he did. I only care about what he can do for me. Which is apparently nothing, since the only reason he is out this far is for a girl."

"He was at the library!"

Daniel just stared wide-eyed at the scene. He should have taken the chance to work on the lock, but was too enthralled. What lie was told about him or Amilia? What the hell were they eager to beat a man over, if not pride?

"Guards!" The Don called. Daniel twitched at the boom of the man's voice, expecting another blow. Two men stepped in and waited for their orders. "Return Sebastiano to his family," Ambrogio continued, before he looked down at Daniel. "Have someone...watch him until I decide what to do with him."

The guards positioned themselves outside of the room. It would have been more helpful if they had stayed. Keys could have been stolen off them. Daniel leaned back on his heels so he could pull himself to his feet. He looked around the room that was void of any furniture and a tiny window he'd never fit through.

It barely looked like the room was fully rendered, there was so little to work with. Daniel sighed heavily to himself and rattled the chains so the lock positioned itself between his hands. If he could pick the lock, that might be all the advantage he needed.

A song that didn't match the world started to play like a whisper. The music built until it was impossible to ignore. Owen, however, recognized it, and blindly felt around on the couch for his phone. He pushed the headset off one ear and answered the call.

"Hello?" Owen asked, as he watched Daniel try to work on the lock without much success.

"Hey," Frank said. "Are you coming into work today? You're sort of late and I have work for you to do."

Owen mentally cursed with enough annoyed focus on the word that Daniel spit out a cuss in Spanish. "Uh yeah." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I'll be right there."

"See you soon."

The phone was tossed to the cushions, and the headset pushed back into place. He didn't want to log out right here. It wasn't the worst spot, since he wasn't at the mercy of anyone at the moment, but that didn't make it safe either.

There wasn't much choice. The real world called.

Getting ready turned out to be a mad dash of pulling on socks with an awkward hop, stealing a quick moment to push his hair into a uniform direction, and nearly missing the keys as he snatched them off the table. He dropped them into his pocket and mentally debated how to get to work. Lunch hour meant there'd be fewer taxis available, and if he was going to be any later than he already was, he'd rather have it be his doing. Walking seemed a bit of a stretch, but biking would be the perfect middle ground.

Owen booked it to work, weaving in between cars as if once again in an alley cat race. When he made it to his desk, he was completely out of breath. His lungs gulped in air for a moment before they realized that there was no rush anymore. Thankfully, Michael was off in his studio and therefore didn't have a snide comment ready.

Frank raised a brow as Owen sunk into his office chair. He glanced over his employee's face with a clear question on his mind, but didn't voice it. "I have these for you," he said, and placed a stack of papers on the desk.

The cover page had the logo of the city. Whatever this task was, it was for something official. Owen looked back up at his boss. "I'm sorry about being late."

"Mhm," Frank hummed, without much enthusiasm. "Just tell me if you find anything newsworthy in there."

Owen read about ten pages before he figured that there wasn't going to be anything interesting. The paperwork was a zoning bill and filled to the brim with repetitive information. The promise that someone messed up and accidentally zoned a strip club next to a school was his only real hope of a good story.

To distract himself before his brain went numb, he texted Andreah. By the end of the day she hadn't answered. Objectively it wasn't a big deal, but today was so off that the minor annoyance wedged itself under his skin.

He finished reading all of the documents; nothing interesting, like he'd thought. When Frank called it a night, Owen was still left with the notes from city council. While his tardiness was a fluke, it wasn't unusual for Owen to stay late if there was work left, so Frank waved his usual goodbye as he went home.

The building sat silently. The only sound came from Owen himself. There wasn't even the occasional shuffle from the night owl down the hall. Being stuck at the office tonight was daunting; he didn't want to be the only person here digging for a story that might not even exist.

Worry for Daniel and Amilia was all consuming. Anything could have happened while he was logged out. City council could wait. It was time to head home.