“Enforcer,” Dauphine laughed. “Did you miss me?”
“Give me one good reason,” he snarled, his knife tip pressed to the space beneath her ribs.
One move, and he’d stab her in the fucking heart.
His grip tightened on the handle of the blade, but Aidon caught his wrist, holding him tight. “Wait,” the king ordered.
Dauphine sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes fluttering coquettishly at Aidon. “I knew you liked me.” To Will, she asked, voice airy, “Was freeing you not reason enough?” Her lips lifted into a gloating grin. “Perhaps the return of your precious wolves, then?”
A thousand questions ached to spill from his mouth, but his mind snagged on one word.
Wolves.
Will stilled, his gaze darting to the left. Sure enough, Tyr and Azul flanked Akeeta. His bonded met his stare, her blue eyes bright in the sun. She gave a soft huff, as if to urge himto cling to patience.
“Besides, if you kill me, how, then, would I give you my gift?” Dauphine asked. “The Athatis are a bonus. Yours met us once we began our pursuit of your wagon.” Her gaze moved over Will’s shoulder, to where he was just aware of people standing in his periphery. “My true present is your crew.”
Will followed her gaze. Seven Visya surrounded them, their weapons drawn. Though none made a move to free Dauphine from his grip.
“Enough tricks,” Aidon growled to Dauphine. “Speak plainly, or I let go of his hand and you die right here, right now.”
At least someone knew to take Will’s ire seriously. Dauphine, it seemed, was utterly unaffected. That infuriating grin still stretched across her lips, and if Will had just an ounce less of self-control, he’d break Aidon’s hold and wipe the smugness off her face.
“You offered to pay me double what Nyra would pay,” Dauphine finally explained. “But Queen Hyacinth offered triple for the return of her Enforcer. It was enough to secure the best crew coin could buy.”
Will could taste the tang of truth on his tongue as his affinity wrapped around her. It came with a sprinkle of self-satisfaction beneath it, bright and zipping like the first bite into a sweet fruit.
Aidon frowned, his hold loosening on Will’s wrist as he took a step closer to the mercenary. “I do not buy your selflessness for a single moment.”
That made of two of them. Will knew Dauphine to be many things, butselflesswas a word he would never associate with the woman.
“Fine,” Dauphine relented. “It was enough to buy a good crewandpocket a hefty profit.”
That sounded far more like the Dauphine Will knew.And yet…
“Why do you care about the caliber of our crew?” Will pressed. “You could have easily gotten us a worse group and pocketed the profits.”
It was the main flaw any time one relied on someone else assembling a team. Will wasn’t used to not having his pick of warriors. But again, Desperation had forced him forward, and he had been willing to take what he could.
Dauphine’s jaw shifted as she glanced between him and Aidon. “Maybe I don’t want to see you dead,” she supplied.
Liam chuckled darkly from Will’s side, a caustic sound that echoed Will’s own doubt. But he forced himself to take a step away from Dauphine, finally allowing a trembling hand to fall into Akeeta’s fur as she approached.
He kept his knife hand pointed toward the mercenary, lest she get any foolish ideas.
“All that coin, and you come up with a team of seven?” Will remarked, glancing around at the circle of Visya. Akeeta nudged him with her snout in gentle admonishment.
She always had been the more well-mannered of the two of them.
“Eight,” Dauphine corrected. Will’s fingers stilled in Akeeta’s fur, his head cocking in confusion. Dauphine’s grin widened. “You didn’t think I was going to let you have all the fun, did you?”
For a moment, Will could do nothing but stare as Aidon’s words floated into his mind.
She was saying goodbye to her brother.
He turned to Aidon to find the king already watching him. It was telling that his friend managed to keep his face impassive. There was not a hint of gloat in the tense set of his mouth.
“What do you think, Your Majesty?” Will asked as he lowered his knife fully. He shifted slightly, his leg pressinginto Akeeta’s broad shoulder, the warmth of her a welcome weight.
