She’d been one of those orphans.
She stopped in front of him and he flashed a thin smile.
“Kael.” His voice was coarse but never raised, a low predator’s rumble. “Take a seat. You look like shit.”
She slid into the chair opposite him, leather jacket creaking as she lifted a sculpted brow. “You always say that. I’m starting to get offended.”
He grunted, nodding for the bartender who appeared and set four clear shots on the table in front of Shadera then vanished back into the crowd.
“Heard you finished the Dunmore contract early. Nice work.”
“Guy had it coming. He really thought no one would find out he was helping the fucking Heart.” Shadera inspected her nails, flecked with black paint and old blood. “You got another?”
Jaeger reached into his coat. The movement was casual, deliberate, no threat implied—but every Daggermouth in the room tensed except for her. No, instead she reached for the shot glasses in front of her, swallowing the liquid down without flinching, one after the other. She dropped the last glass on the table and placed it on its side. A signal she was ready for another round.
His hand came back with a thick envelope, wax-sealed and ringed with the Heart’s crimson insignia. He slid it across the battered table, never breaking eye contact.
She broke the seal.
The inside was lined with a thin, scan-resistant mesh, an extra precaution taken only by buyers who resided in the Heart, to make sure the contract made it past the ring checkpoints. She let the envelope fall open, and began to read.
Shadera’s eyes widened, darting from the paper to Jaeger and back to the contract. “Is this a fucking joke? This has to be a setup.”
Jaeger grinned across the table. “Vetted it myself. I assure you, this contract is as real as they come.”
She snorted. “It says the target is Greyson Serel.TheGreyson Serel. This’ll start a war.”
Jaeger shrugged, taking a sip of his drink as Shadera looked back down at the contract.
“What’s the price?” she asked.
“Enough to pay off this whole joint for the foreseeable future, and feed every family in the Boundary camps for a year.” Shadera choked on the gasp that flung itself out of her lungs as Jaeger tossed the coin once, let it spin on the table until it slowed, then snatched it up again. “You up for it?”
“Of course I’m fucking up for it.” She scanned the brief, already memorizing the information supplied. “You want the mask or the corpse?”
Jaeger leaned in, the table creaking under his weight. His burn-scarred throat flexed as he swallowed the rest of his drink. “The mask, too dangerous to try and sneak that corpse into the Boundary.”
At the next table, a brawny Daggermouth grinned, showing gold-capped teeth. “You mess it up, Shade, I’ll take the job off your hands. Bet I can get to the little heirling first.” He leaned back, boot propped on the bench. “Hell, I’ll even split the payout if you’re lucky.”
Shadera didn’t bother with a reply. She simply reached into her sleeve, thumbed the edge of her blade, and flicked it across the gap between the tables. The knife bit into the meat of the Daggermouth’s shoulder as he slammed against the wall at his back. Blood ran quick and dark, painting the wood beneath him.
The room went silent.
She got up, crossed the short distance, and pressed a boot to his thigh as her fingers wrapped around the blade and twisted. He howled in pain and tried to bring a hand up, but she slapped it away.
“Anyone else want to take this job off my hands?” she asked, glancing around the bar. “Speak now, or shut the fuck up.”
No one did.
The gold-toothed mercenary glared, pulling the blade free with a snarl and a spray of blood, then slumped back, holding his ruined shoulder. Shadera plucked the knife from his hand as the bartender set four more shots at her table. She wiped the blade on her sleeve before tucking it away casually.
Jaeger sat back, eyes shining with mirthless amusement. “Never change, Kael.”
She downed the first two shots. The liquor tasted of melting plastic and old fruit rinds, but the burn steadied her hands. She took the third shot slow, savoring the way it seared the back of her throat.
“Anything else?” Shadera asked, throwing back the last of the shots.
“Yes.” Jaeger’s gaze was all edge now. “If you fail, we are all on some pretty short lists.”
