Tethered Pair

Chapter 1-2

Todd changed into his dark green suit, barely glancing in the bathroom mirror as he tied the tie and smoothed it down against his shirt. He pulled a leather portfolio he’d been sent by Chancellor Clarke from the dresser drawers he’d placed it in while he and Nick were unpacking. Unwinding the cord that held it closed, he spread the contents on the dinette table in their suite.

Swinging the chair around so he could straddle it, he stopped and took a few deep breaths. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at the memory of how Nick’s thighs straddling him earlier had felt.

Nick carried two mugs in one hand and a carafe in the other. The aroma wafting around Nick gave away that the coffee in the mugs was dark, rich, and hot. It smelled wonderful. He set one mug on the table and slid it over for Todd to grasp. “Thanks.” Todd took a sip and nodded appreciatively. “Decent.”

“Decent?” Nick inhaled over his mug, set the carafe on the table, and sat in the other chair. “It’s…it’s…I have no words. I got a cup while you were cleaning up and changing. There is a girl who comes around with a pushcart. Then I hunted her down and ordered the whole pot.” He took a sip and smiled broadly. “I think I scared her.”

“Great. Let the help think you’re some sort of crazy coffee stalker.”

Nick shrugged. “It’ll fit with my ‘you neglect me’ cover story.”

“Did you see anything unusual while you were out boosting coffee and frightening the waitstaff?” Todd took another drink. “Damn, this is good.”

“Right? It’s about time we got a job somewhere that can make a decent cup of coffee.” Nick took another sip and adopted an expression that was downright obscene. “As for unusual, do you mean other than owners who allow their devoted and easily bruised slaves to be mauled by old women? No.”

Todd ignored the taunt. “I think our first step will be to go for a walk around this boat, check things out and see what we…well, you can see,” he said and picked a brochure off the table, tapping it lightly against its surface. “According to this there is a cleaning service on the main deck. I want to drop my suit off for cleaning and a press.”

“You’ve only worn it for a few hours.”

Todd smiled and reached out with the folded paper, whapping Nick on the tip of his nose. “You got it wrinkled and mussed up.”

“We also need to find out where that coffee girl holes up.” Nick finished off his coffee and stood up. He moved to the door and took his tether from the coatrack next to the door. Coiling it tightly, he shoved it into his back pocket. “My collar and tether don’t need cleaning.”

Todd snorted and gathered up the black suit, leaving the portfolio and papers on the table. He put the hat on, tapping the top of his head as he did so. “Let’s go exploring. I can’t wait to get a good look at the rest of this boat.”

“I bet Jack James knew the layout of every riverboat he gambled on,” Nick grumbled and trailed a few steps behind Todd as they left their room.

Instead of taking the main central staircase, Todd veered to the right and headed toward the back steps, whistling as he went. There were two sets of stairs at the end of the corridor. According to the signs attached to the wall in wooden frames, one went up to the next level and one down to the main deck.

Todd pointed to either side and looked at Nick, raising his eyebrows. “You pick.”

“Let’s look around the main deck first,” Nick said.

“There will be more people there,” Todd reminded him.

Nodding, Nick said, “I know. But that way, we’ll see more people faster.”

Without further comment, Todd turned to the left and headed down. The stairs ended near the shops lining the back quarter of one side of the boat. Opposite the shops were several bistros, a bar, and one of the formal dining rooms. There was a larger formal dining room with a dance floor on the uppermost deck that they’d see later.

A tightness in Todd’s chest eased when he saw plenty of slaves. He and Nick would blend in nicely. None of them seemed to be wearing tethers. However, Todd stifled a snicker and nudged Nick’s elbow, nodding to a few other people who carried a tether in a pocket or bag. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one on board with his opinion on tethers or was unsure of how their slaves would be treated and received.

Nick motioned to the tailor shop. The sign just inside the door boasted custom-made clothing, tailoring, readymade sales, seamstress, and cleaning services—all were welcome. The floors and walls were thick, dark wooden planks. Toward the back were dressing rooms with thick burgundy drapes instead of doors. A heavy oak counter took up half of one wall near the center of the store.

A man and a woman, dressed in matching brown suits with burgundy shirts in the same style as the porters, waited behind the counter. Three others wandered the shop floor, all dressed in the same outfit, assisting customers.

There were other customers at the counter, so Todd and Nick had to wait. Nick almost immediately and effortlessly adopted his timid persona, not making eye contact with anyone, including Todd. He rolled his shoulders, hunching forward slightly. It gave him an air of being meek and defenseless as well as taking the emphasis away from his height. While he was a couple of inches taller than Todd, Todd was bulkier.

Todd knew Nick was scanning every person in the shop. The way his gaze would linger a second or two longer on a few told Todd his mate had spotted something suspicious. Just as Todd’s turn came, two men, well dressed even among the other passengers, came into the shop.

Nick dropping to one knee, hands folded in front of him and head bowed, sent Todd’s internal alarm system blaring. One of the men made eye contact with Todd, a creepy smile spreading over his face as he tipped his hat and nodded, then turned away before Todd could make any sort of gesture in response. A cold chill snaked down his spine, and he had to make a conscious effort to suppress the shudder wanting to follow.

“Sir, did you need your suit tailored?” the woman asked.

When she touched Todd’s forearm, he started and turned toward her.

“I’m sorry, I….”

She smiled. “I was asking if you needed your suit tailored.”

“Uh, no. I…you have a cleaning service?” Todd twisted so he could motion to the sign listing the services. This gave him the opportunity to see where the men were going. They had separated and were browsing some of the clothing and accessories near the store’s center.

“We do. We also have an excellent tailor service if you’d like a second suit,” she said.

“No, thank you—” Todd glanced at her name tag. “—Lisa. I’d just like this one cleaned.” He laid the suit on the counter and leaned in closer. “Do you know who those gentlemen are?” Keeping his hand low so only Lisa could see, he pointed in the direction of the two men. He discreetly slid enough money to pay for cleaning his suit twice over across the counter to her.

Lowering her voice, she said, “They’ve been on this boat for the last few trips. They come in and buy some things, but mostly keep to themselves. I understand they spend a great deal of time in the poker parlor. I don’t know their names.” She folded half the money and tucked it into her side pocket. The rest was put in the register, and a receipt for his suit was handed over. “This should be ready by six, sir. You’ll need that ticket to pick it up.”

Todd tapped two fingers on the counter and smiled at her. “I look forward to seeing you when I pick it up.” When she blushed, he winked at her.

The man who’d made eye contact was watching Todd over one of the many racks of shirts. His companion watched Todd from near the dressing rooms. Todd tapped his heel very softly once, then swiveled around and headed toward the door. After a few paces, he stopped, blew out a breath, and went back to Nick.

“Come on.” He reached down and touched Nick’s shoulder with one finger. “I’m sorry, I promised not to ignore you and leave you alone this trip.”

Nick stood, but didn’t look up, and dutifully followed Todd through the store. When they were in a position both of the men watching them could see, Nick reached up and wiped the corner of one eye with his fingertips. He mumbled a soft “Yes, sir.”

As soon as they were out of the shop and onto the main part of the deck, Nick drew in a few deep breaths. He snatched some brochures off a table near the wall.

“Let’s check out the bar.” Todd led the way across the large galleria that took up that portion of the main deck.

The bar had the same dark, rough wooden floors and walls as the tailor shop. The staff, however, wore deep red suits with cream colored shirts. Todd led the way to the far end of the bar where there were several small round tables just big enough for two or three people. There was one step up and a railing around that section. The walls were covered with shelves of books, mimicking a library.

When Nick followed him up the step and to one of the tables in the farthest corner, no one stopped them. A quick look around the bar and Todd saw other slaves sitting with their owners or in small groups together.

They ordered lunch. Nick opened one of the brochures and smoothed it out on the table. “A map of the entire boat,” he said. His voice was soft, and his hands shook the smallest bit.

“What did you see?” Todd asked. When Nick simply bit his lip and looked down at the tabletop, Todd reached across and laid his hand over Nick’s. “Nicky. Tell me.”

“I….” He shook his head and took another few deep breaths, shoulders and back relaxing. Running a hand through his hair, he seemed to be composing his thoughts. “Do you remember I told you when I was little, I saw something leave one of the other children in Eldrid, a girl? She died after it left her. It was inside of her for days.”

Todd nodded. He squeezed Nick’s hand. “Relax, buddy. We’ll figure it out. Tell me everything.”

Nick swallowed and ran his hand through his hair again. “The same thing was in that man. I don’t know what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it until now. The other guy was a pyrahni. I’m not sure if he recognized us or not, but I didn’t see much change in him.”

“s**t. What else?”

Nick looked up, meeting Todd’s gaze. “It scared me.”

“Did you see anything else?”

“No.” Nick shook his head. He glanced around the bar. “Everyone in here seems okay. I think they’re just passengers on a trip for a good time.”

Todd nodded and sat back when their food arrived. He’d noticed about half the staff here wore slave collars that matched their outfits. “If you want to socialize with the slaves in the gambling parlor during the game tomorrow night, I’ll allow it.”

Nick shot a quick glance at the waiter, and Todd saw how the man’s eyes focused in on Nick’s slave collar for a few seconds. “Thank you,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, and dropped his hands to his lap while their plates were set down. “May I watch the game?”

“That’s got to be boring, but whatever,” Todd said and turned his attention to the waiter. “We’re good, thank you. When we’re done, I’d like a carafe of coffee. I’ll let you know if there is anything else I need.”

“Of course, sir,” the waiter said, nodded, and left.

“Everyone working on the ship wears color-coded clothes, and the slaves have collars that match where they work as well,” Nick said after the waiter had left. “And from the expression on that guy’s face”—Nick dipped his head toward the spot the waiter had recently vacated—”I’d say my neglected act and your addicted gambler ruse is working.”

“I noticed. Our man with something inside him is a gambler. After we’re done here, let’s take a walk around belowdecks, then head up to the uppermost one and check that out. According to the ticket information, there are no games the day of launch. Those won’t start until tomorrow night. I’m betting that man will be in one of the bigger games.”

“Did you see how interested our waiter was in what we were saying?” Nick asked.

Todd chuckled. “I sure did. It’ll be interesting to see where he turns up when he’s not working. When we get back to our suite, we’ll take a look through the books and journals we brought, see if we can figure out what sort of thing lives inside someone.”

Nick nodded. “Our prime suspect for weapons dealer?”

“I think so, yes. We know Raleigh likes his dirty work done by pyrahni. I’m betting he’s not picky about other creeps. I’d sure like to know what he’s got working with pyrahnis.” Todd pointed up. “Next stop, top deck.” He couldn’t help the smirk.

Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’re just itching to see that poker room, aren’t you?”

“Nicky, Nicky, Nicky, it’s not just a room, it’s the poker salon.”

“Uh-huh, and the billiards room is a parlor. The dining room is a banquet hall, and the ballroom is a…well, that’s still a ballroom.” Todd smiled broadly. “Yep! And I can’t wait to see them.”