Chapter 222: Shadows Among the Stalls

The Black Market

Tobias narrowed his gaze. "I’m a businessman. I’m not going to tell you how I get my goods."

The man nodded. "Yes, I apologize for that."

"How do you expect to carry them, though? Where are your people?"

"They’re coming," the man said simply.

Tobias frowned beneath his mask. He didn’t like waiting twice for the same man. But he said nothing. Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms as they waited.

Minutes passed. The air grew heavy with silence. Then he heard it—footsteps, five sets, steady and deliberate.

Five cloaked figures appeared from the tunnel’s bend, faces hidden, movements precise. They carried empty satchels and carts, and without a word, began transferring the remains into them.

Tobias watched quietly. His gaze darted from one to another, his instincts sharpened by habit. Every motion they made, he noted—their height, their rhythm, their silence.

As one of the men lifted the crate containing the Skylur’s talons, Tobias felt it again—that prickle down his spine, sharp and electric. Like eyes on the back of his neck. Watching. Measuring.

He turned subtly, scanning the shadows between the lanterns, the cracks along the tunnel wall. Nothing. Only darkness.

When the last of the remains were secured, the masked man approached him again. "Our business is concluded."

"At last," Tobias said dryly.

The man’s lips twitched as he watched Tobias. He gave a curt nod and turned, leading his people away. They rolled the carts outside while Tobias stood watching them until they disappeared.

Something about the whole encounter didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t place it, but there was something strange. Well, at least he had sold the goods. He was a businessman, after all.

Perhaps he should have also asked if they wanted the Trihydra remains, he thought to himself.

It wasn’t up to two minutes after Tobias returned to the stall that one of his people rushed up to him.

Tobias leaned back against the counter, his eyes narrowing at the man standing before him. His employee’s voice was barely above a whisper, but the tremor in it caught Tobias’s attention.

"What? Is this true?" Tobias asked quietly, his tone level but cold.

The boy nodded once, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. The black market had ears—too many of them—and a careless tongue could be worth more than blood in a place like this.

"Yes. People were not aware of it before, and they say they are able to blend in easily, but they are here," the boy told him. "Victoria’s people are here."

For a moment, Tobias said nothing. The faint hum of noise filled the silence between them—the clatter of coins, the sharp laughter of gamblers, the sizzle of cooking oil from a food vendor across the corridor. It all felt distant, muted, as the words sank in.

"Victoria’s people," Tobias repeated, his voice flat. "Are you sure?"

The boy nodded again, a quick, nervous motion. "It’s what I heard from the northern stalls. They’re moving quietly, but... people talk. No one knows why they’re here, though."

Tobias studied the young man for a heartbeat longer, then gave a slow nod. "Go back to your post. Don’t repeat this to anyone else. And stay low."

"Yes, sir." The boy gave a small bow and hurried off, disappearing into the crowd of veiled figures and shadowed lantern light.

Tobias exhaled quietly and turned away, rubbing his gloved fingers together in thought. The black market was always crawling with strange faces, but Victoria’s people? That was a different matter entirely.

They didn’t belong here.

He reached under the counter, retrieving a flask of strong liquor. Ronan had gifted it to him, saying he needed some grape juice when he was facing some very tough clients. Tobias had laughed at that when Ronan gave it to him, but now... he wasn’t facing a tough client, but the news he just heard was enough to make him drink.

From what Tobias knew, the enclave didn’t like the fact that the black market existed. They’d been trying to monopolize it for years, but that hadn’t happened. Every attempt they made at owning it was met with failure.

There had to be a reason why her people were here. There must be something they wanted, and he wondered if it had anything to do with his pack.

He set the flask aside and adjusted his gloves.

The air felt heavier suddenly, as if the tunnels themselves were holding their breath. He glanced around. Lanterns flickered lazily, the shadows stretching longer across the uneven stone floor. The Nightshade’s stall was one of the larger ones—wooden counter, thick curtains of dyed fabric to separate the front from the back, and a narrow door leading to the storage chambers beyond. Everything here had been built for secrecy.

But right now, even that didn’t feel safe.

He turned his gaze toward the main corridor, where masked figures passed by—some tall and cloaked, others hunched and hurried. Every step, every whisper, every shift of fabric seemed sharper to his ears than usual. He couldn’t shake the prickle that had been haunting him since the previous night—the feeling that unseen eyes lingered just beyond the reach of the lantern light.

Maybe it wasn’t paranoia after all.

He let out a slow breath, remembering Orion’s voice from their last conversation before Tobias had left for the market. Orion had told him to be careful, and extremely so. He didn’t understand why, but perhaps he had felt something?

Maybe Victoria’s people being around was one of the reasons why that feeling of being watched stuck with him. Maybe it was connected after all, and if so, why?

He drummed his fingers lightly on the table, his mind already beginning to weave threads together. It was how his brain worked—where others saw danger, Tobias saw possibility. Risk and opportunity were two sides of the same coin, and he had learned to flip it just right.

He still remembered the task he had been given—to find if there was anything happening with the Silver Creek pack, their allies... maybe he could trail one of Victoria’s people and get the information they needed? And maybe even more. He’d just have to watch them closely. But first, he was going to find these people.