For a taut moment, no one said a word. All the predators watched one another with blank expressions.
Rasmus broke the tension. Gesturing toward the other side of the booth, he asked, “You want a personal invite to sit or what?”
Callen’s eyes, bottle green, flicked toward the lounging were. “Aren’t you gonnae introduce us?”
“Do I need to?” When the gargoyle only frowned, his keen eyes narrowing, Rasmus sighed. “Fine. Kaz, Doctor, meet Callen McCoran and… Damn, I forgot your last name, Hamish.”
Doubt it.
Atria didn’t buy Rasmus’s lackadaisical air. There was no way he didn’t remember the other gargoyle’s last name. He probably knew hismother’slast name, maybe even his blood type and favorite color, too.
It seemed that Hamish felt the same way. Arching a brow at the were, he murmured in a smooth, rolling brogue, “Carmichael.”
“Right. That’s the one.” Rasmus smiled his sharp, knowing smile, completely unbothered by the glowering gargoyles. “Callen, Hamish, meet Kaz Rione and Doctor Atria Le Roy.”
“It’s Le Roy now,” her mate said, his tone as flat and hard as stone. “Kazimier Le Roy.”
“Oh, right. You orcs do the matrilineal thing.” Rasmus tipped his head in Atria’s direction. “Le Roy, then.”
She wasn’t sure it was possible, but the expression on Callen’s face got grimmer as he watched them from across the table. His eyes dipped to where Kaz’s fingers rested around the neck of his beer bottle, then up to the fresh tattoo wrapped like a torque around his throat — an homage to the stylized Burden’s hands motif that circled her wrists and ankles.
And then Callen’s eyes settled on her.
She forced herself to keep her eyes on his face as he looked her over, taking in her own fresh tattoo — a downward pointing chevron in red ink around her throat — and the cuff on her one visible wrist.
“Before we sit, I’d like tae get this out of the way.” Callen held her gaze when he said in a low, somber tone, “I apologize for my kinsmen’s actions, Doctor Le Roy. I might no’ have known what they planned, but that doesnae mean I’m no’ responsible for the consequences. They trespassed on this territory and attacked an innocent woman. I cannae tell you how ashamed I am of that and I ask for your forgiveness for it.”
She wanted to shrink away from that penetrating stare, but managed to hold firm.Does he mean it?
A quick, furtive sift through the emotions he projected seemed to lend credence to the apology, but there really wasn’t much to go on. Callen was a bit of a fortress. He didn’t project much at all, but what did manage to get through the cracks in his stone walls was sincere remorse and self-righteousness. It was impossible to tell if he felt sorry for what happened to her or for his relatives getting caught, but she wanted to believe he was being honest in his desire to make amends.
“Thank you,” she replied at length, a little bit of her anxiety bleeding away. “I accept your apology, Mr. McCoran. Please sit.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Call me Callen.” Somehow the hulking gargoyle managed to look graceful as he and his companion slid into the booth. Resting his elbows on the table, he leaned forward to add, “And do no’ think we came with nothing but an apology.”
Kaz arched a dark brow. Speaking with soft menace, he asked, “What did you bring?”
“My kinsmen trespassed on your sovereign’s land. We’re prepared to make amends for that with tribute.”
“The sovereign doesn’t need or want your clan’s money,” he replied. “Try again.”
Callen didn’t seem surprised by the rejection. “We are also willing to vow to keep our business out of the Protectorate. We’ve no desire tae make enemies of your employers.”
Atria didn’t know what that business might be, but she also didn’t think shewantedto.
“Is that all?” Kaz lifted his beer up to his lips. Speaking against the rim, he said, “We don’t need a promise to keep your shit out of our land, McCoran.”
Callen made a sucking sound with his tongue and teeth. Tilting his head to one side, he replied, “Aye, s’ppose no’. I’ve only got tae one last offer, then.”
Kaz nodded.
Green eyes taking on a cunning gleam, Callen said, “Information on the bounty in exchange for a clean slate with the Solbournes.”
Her mate rolled the textured edge of the bottom of his beer bottle against the tacky table top, his expression a mask of indifference. No one but her could feel the hunter’s stillness in his aura. “What kind of information?”
“The kind you want if you care about chasing down the people who wanted your mate stuffed in the boot of a car.”
Atria reflexively squeezed Kaz’s thigh. She couldn’t pretend to understand the powerplays that governed the criminal underworld, but if this man was offering information that might lead to Ruby’s location, she didn’t care.Please, big guy.
