The Last Drop reopened for business.
There was no grand ceremony, no big announcement. Van simply unlocked the door and opened it.
His injuries had healed unexpectedly well. Wounds that should have been severe were already mostly gone, and he could not help marveling at how effective the Shimmer treatment had been.
He had not had much time to rest. There was still the bar to run.
Even with the doors open, the Lanes were still quiet after the recent upheaval, and the tavern itself was emptier still.
That did not mean Van had nothing to do. He had made a complete mess of the place the night before, and it had taken him a long time just to scrub away the blood and the spilled liquor.
On top of that, he had to learn all the bottles behind the bar—what they were called, what they tasted like, how to become a proper bartender.
There was no one left to teach him any of it.
So Van could only fall back on the most basic method there was: taste everything, one by one.
"The Last Drop welcomes you. What can I get you to dri—"
Van was turning around with a practiced greeting when he heard footsteps at the door.
But the moment he looked up, he saw a small, familiar figure.
At the sight of Ekko, his eyes flickered away at once. He slowly set down the glass in his hand, pulled a bottle of orange soda from under the counter, poured it into a wooden cup, stuck in a straw, and placed it on the bar.
"Uh... how've you been lately, little man?"
After Ekko climbed onto the stool, Van hesitated, then forced himself to speak first. His voice came out dry.
The little boy with short white hair kept his head lowered and said nothing.
Van pushed the orange drink a little closer to him and spoke softly.
"Little man..."
"You're working for Silco now?"
Ekko lifted his head, tears trembling in his eyes. His gaze was full of disbelief, hurt, and bitter disappointment.
"Why? Isn't he our enemy?"
Van fell silent.
What was he supposed to say?
That he was thinking of the bigger picture? That Ekko should understand?
What a joke. To hell with the bigger picture. He had no right to expect a child who had just lost his father to understand him. This was his own mess.
"I... sigh. Just have something to drink first."
"I don't want it!"
Ekko slapped the cup over. Orange soda splashed across the counter, and the wooden cup bounced to the floor and rolled away.
Then he could not hold back anymore. Tears burst from his eyes, and he jumped off the stool and ran out of the tavern, knocking over several chairs on the way.
Van only stood there in silence, staring at the overturned cup. He did not call after him.
In the blink of an eye, Ekko was gone.
"What happened now?"
Meira had just been about to step into the bar when she saw Ekko run off crying. She hurried over to the counter and asked.
Van's eyes shifted uneasily. He fumbled for a moment, then let out a long sigh and quietly started wiping up the spilled orange soda.
"It's nothing... just something small. Meira, did you find anything out?"
"No. I asked everyone. No one's heard a thing about Vi, and I'm usually the one who hears everything first."
"It's fine, Meira. Everyone slips up sometimes, don't they?"
Van sounded disappointed, but he still tried to comfort her.
"That's not what I mean," Meira said carefully. "What I mean is that even with the kind of information I can usually get, I still haven't heard a single word about Vi. It's like she vanished off the face of the earth."
Van's hand stopped in the middle of wiping the counter.
Even his breathing seemed to slow.
After a pause, Meira spoke again, more gently this time.
"I don't want to hurt you, child. But I have to ask... have you prepared yourself for losing her?"
Van's pupils tightened sharply. He pressed his lips together, and his hand clenched around the rag so hard that juice seeped back out and spread across the bar again.
Seeing the look on his face, Meira let out a quiet sigh and changed the subject.
"Oh, right. There are people stirring up trouble for Silco again. Are you going to do anything about that?"
"Again? Why?"
Coming back to himself, Van quickly finished wiping the counter, then went to rinse his hands under the tap.
"The ones who went to cause trouble before were all taken by Silco. They were still our people, after all..."
"I understand."
Van shook the water from his hands, grabbed his coat from the side, and stepped out from behind the bar.
"Please stop them for me. I'll handle this."
Before leaving, he glanced at the battle axe leaning by the door, freshly cleaned and propped there by hand.
He hesitated for a moment, then chose to leave it behind.
...
...
The Undercity had changed almost overnight.
The destruction of Renni's gang seemed to have been the spark. Silco's forces moved fast after that. The gangs that had spent years hacking at each other over every street and alley were driven back one after another by men who had rested, regrouped, and armed themselves with chemtech and Shimmer.
The Undercity had been in chaos for a week.
Then, in what felt like a single night, it found a new master.
Stranger still, throughout the whole thing, topside's Enforcers had seemed perfectly content to ignore the chaos below. They did nothing. They did not even bother to ask questions.
"It's hard enough just getting an audience with you."
Van had already been sitting in Silco's new office for quite a while by the time Silco finally pushed open the door and stepped inside.
"Hard?" Silco circled behind the desk and settled comfortably into his chair, letting its cushioned back ease some of the weariness from his body. Then he glanced at Van with mild surprise. "If it were anyone but you, they wouldn't have seen me at all."
"I figured you'd still be flat on your back for at least another couple of days."
"Your medicine worked well. Doctor Singed is a talented alchemist."
Silco gave no real answer. To avoid the worst side effects, there had only been a trace amount of Shimmer in that dose. It should not have worked that well.
But he quickly decided the question was beneath his attention. Maybe the boy was just built tougher than most. Or maybe, just as the rumors said, he really did have Janna's favor.
"So," Van said, "where are the terrifying bodyguards this time?"
Silco's mouth curved into a faint, cold smile, and he turned his head.
"After last night, no one in the Undercity looks more terrifying than you. The second Hound of the Lanes."
"You came unarmed. I thought I should show a little sincerity in return."
Van stared at him, then frowned.
"What's with your eye? Wearing makeup now?"
Silco froze for the briefest instant, then turned his face away, hiding the makeup covering the ugly scar over his left eye.
"That has nothing to do with you," he said lightly, brushing the subject aside. "Why are you here?"
"All right..." Van said. "The people from the Lanes. They're with you?"
"Oh, them..."
Silco tapped a finger against his temple and thought for a long moment before remembering what Van meant.
"Troublesome subordinates can be exhausting, can't they?"
"They're not my subordinates."
"They are now."
Silco adjusted his tie, took a cigar from an expensive case, and placed it between his lips.
"So, for your sake, I'm willing to let them off. You can take them back. But keep them under control. I'm not an especially patient man."
"I will."
Click.
Van reached over, took the lighter from the desk, flicked it on with one hand, leaned forward slightly, and held the flame out for Silco's cigar.
[End of chapter]