“Of course.”
“Fine,” I say through my teeth. The word is hardly out of my mouth before Astrid shoves the feline in my arms.
Astrid bends down and strokes the mother cat before picking up the fourth kitten, another gray one. Her voice takes on a ridiculously high pitch. “Oh, Natalie. How can anyone resist squeezing your sweet little brains right out?”
I pull my head back. “That’s rather violent.”
She scoffs. “It’s just an expression. Don’t you ever feel that way when you see something cute? The overwhelming urge to just…squeeze?”
“No.”
“Hmm. Well, you must live a very boring life.”
I’d tell her she’s wrong, that serving as Huntsman is far from boring, but that’s not entirely true. Sure, I’m constantly on the move, constantly on one mission or another, traveling to a different court every few weeks, enjoying free meals, fine clothes, and the fanciest hotels, all funded by the Alpha Council…but there’s nothing fulfilling about this work. About my life these last five years. I have no permanent home. I’m forbidden from owning property or earning a single chip of my own. The work I’m forced to do suits my talents, but…it isn’t what I want to do.
The tiny prick of claws against my chest steals me from my thoughts. The insufferable little beast has begun climbing my torso. Before I know what to do, she’s perched on my shoulder like a damn pirate’s bird. “What is she doing?”
“Aww, she likes you.”
The kitten walks along my shoulder toward my neck and shoves her face into my cheek, rubbing the top of her head against my beard. An unexpected sensation brightens in my chest, summoning memories of a warm muzzle bumping up affectionately against mine, a comforting tongue grooming my fur, a plump belly to snuggle against.
Mother.
My heart constricts. Normally, I’d push such thoughts away, for sentimentality has no place in my mind while I’m working. But with the kitten now licking my cheek with her bristly tongue, I can’t find the will to resist. A tender warmth radiates from my chest to my fingertips. I reach up a hand and pet the kitten. Once. Twice.
All right, so the little beast is soft.
Astrid’s scent flares, the lemon brightening with fresh zest. I glance over to find her watching me with her hazy gaze, and realize my lips have stretched into a wide grin.
Training my features into a scowl, I gently lift the kitten off my shoulder and place her next to her mother. “Enough with this nonsense. Let’s go.”
“Very well,” Astrid says, but there’s something smug about her tone. She sets down her kitten as well, then offers each one several more pets.
“Miss Snow,” I growl.
“Fine.” With a huff, she leaves the kittens behind. As soon as she reaches my side, I take off. She quickens her pace to keep up with me. “Where are we going, Huntsman?”
We round the corner of Lust and head straight for Department Wrath. “It’s time we had a chat with Madame Fury.”
13
ASTRID
Istop in place for a few moments before I force my legs to move and catch up with the Huntsman again. A disbelieving laugh escapes my lips. “Chat with Madame Fury? Do you think it’s going to be that simple?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” His tone is all confidence as he makes a beeline for Department Wrath’s ticket counter. The window is empty, so he rings the bell on the counter a few times.
I glare at the side of his face. “Have you any clue how expensive a meeting with Madame Fury is? A petition costs just short of a hundred opal rounds.”
Without looking at me, he takes his coin from his waistcoat pocket and flourishes it between two fingers. “I have the funds.”
“Yes, well, even when one pays the fine, she has the right to refuse a meeting. If she does agree to one, she can schedule it whenever she likes. It could be set for weeks from now.”
The Huntsman doesn’t bother looking at all worried as the ticket seller approaches the window.
“How may I help you?” asks a female fae in seelie form. She has small round eyes and two bunnylike ears sprouting off the top of her head, reminiscent of the desert cottontails I see hopping around the hotel grounds now and then. Unlike the kittens, they do not let me pet them.
“I need to speak with Madame Fury at once,” the Huntsman says.
