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Chapter 96 Last Chance Saloon [End of Book One]

  The Rotten Apples drank to the demise of The Golden Blades. Lothar had lost track of who was the legal owner of The Smashed Marbles, but he paid for it all out of the loot contained in the sack of carrying, and was glad to do so. His finances were set. He owned the only mercenary company in Gal’azu. Celebrate while you can, he told himself.

  He took a seat next to Ashlyn. ‘I forgive you,’ he said magnanimously.

  ‘I shouldn’t have run off like that,’ the girl said. ‘But it turned out the Gerds needed us. Twenty goblins.’

  Lothar raised an eyebrow. ‘Twenty? Then I’m glad you did. There are people I like who live on that farm. Thank you for saving them. And how does it feel to have got your revenge on one of the Blairs?’

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  ‘Terrible. I’m glad you dealt with Sal. That part of my life is over. What happened to my father happened. The man I blamed is dead. I’m moving on now.’

  Except Lothar couldn’t detect much enthusiasm in her voice for the next chapter of her life. ‘Good. Because whatever you turn to, you’ll be great at it. Who knows? I’ve not got many years left at this game. Someone will need to take over the Apples one day.’

  She gave him a doubtful look. ‘What? Lothar ‘Stiff’ Sauer is going to retire to a farm as well?’

  ‘Hmm. Maybe not.’ He nodded at the table. ‘Not drinking?’

  ‘No. I’m done with that, too. Doesn’t make me feel better in the long run.’

  ‘Then you’re free for a final bit of business?’

  ‘Suppose so.’

  Lothar stood, and Ashlyn got to her feet. ‘By business, you mean—’

  ‘—Yep. Best to bring Greenblade with us. Mental?’ he shouted. ‘Time to go.’

  The Anchor was busy, but Lothar soon spotted the table he was after.

  Wynter Blair looked up at him with a resigned expression, as if he was the grim reaper come to fetch her soul.

  ‘Don’t do that,’ Lothar said, as her two friends reached for their weapons.

  Wynter shook her head at Rake and Vixen, and they did as they were told. Raimy Molleker looked at Ashlyn with a confused expression. ‘Don’t I know you?’

  ‘Sal is dead,’ Lothar told Wynter.

  ‘I see. And I’m to be next?’

  ‘Not necessarily. You showed leniency to me once. I’m prepared to do the same to you. But I’m done with competition. If you’re prepared to forget about The Golden Blades, I’d have you in my squad. A Rotten Apple. We forget the past and start anew. Do you think you could do that?’

  ‘Aye. A life and a career instead of death? I can take that offer. But there must be a catch.’

  ‘Oh, there is.’

  ‘Chinara and Raimy?’

  ‘Are both welcome too.’

  ‘Alright. So, the catch?’

  ‘Mental?’

  Mental held Wynter’s hand to the table. Wynter smiled—skin taught, and staring eyes—it wasn’t a pleasant sight. Then she winced when Jenkins snapped two of her fingers. Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t cry out. She was tough as nails, for sure. Just what Lothar’s crew needed.

  ‘We’re even now,’ Lothar told her. ‘I’ll see the three of you tomorrow. Sort out all the paperwork and get you settled.’

  Lothar’s three latest recruits nodded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and he left the inn. ‘I’ll see you back at The Marbles,’ he told Mary and Ashlyn, and took himself to Avolo’s docks.

  He looked past the still water of the harbour, to where the waves surged back and forth.

  A fresh start, he’d told himself. A last chance, when he was being brutally honest. Somehow, he’d changed his life’s course. A series of grand failures; snatching defeat from the jaws of victory every time it looked like he might just make it.

  In Gal’azu, he’d proven himself. He’d made the right decisions; trusted the right people; repaid their faith in him with something that felt remarkably like success. He’d stared down bad odds, and he’d fought, and he’d found a way.

  Gal’azu, he was sure, would have more to throw at him.

  ‘But I’m ready,’ he murmured. ‘What’s more,’ he said, turning around to face the city, and the lands that stretched out beyond it, ‘it feels like I’ve finally found home.’

  Lothar ‘Stiff’ Sauer and The Rotten Apples will return in book two...

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