My big brute grunts. I love hearing that disgruntled sound, even if I hate what I see shadowing his face.
“Good,” he says. “I’ll help. Let’s go.”
Vallan looks ready to explode. I’m sure he’s had murder on his mind all evening, and this sounds like the perfect outlet for him.
I wonder,Is it wrong my body is sizzling with anticipation and lust just now? Truehearts weep, what’s fuckingwrongwith me? I’ve never looked forward to killing more than I have in this moment, staring into Vallan’s soulless, murderous eyes.
Garroway lifts his hands in surrender. “Master Skar isn’t going to like us setting off on our own, disrupting his finely wrought schemes.”
“Fuck Skar’s schemes,” Vallan says.
I smile wide, pushing past and slapping his ass on the way through the door. “Thatis what I want to hear, you big brute!”
He pauses at my usage of his sobriquet, staring down at me. “Who are those people on the list?”
“See for yourself.” I lift the page with the tiny pictures. “Recognize any names?”
“No.” He shrugs. “All the same to me.”
My smile returns. We head down the hall toward the stairs—
A hand grips my wrist, spinning me.
Garroway searches my face, all mirth gone from his smooth features. He looks suddenly serious, and I rarely see this side of the dhampir. “If we’re going to do this, little honey badger, then I want something from you as well.”
I flare my nostrils. “This isn’t anegotiation, Garroway. I’m not tallying favors to save these grotesque fucks—”
“I want a list of your own, lass.” His voice is startlingly flat, like he’s morphed into a different person completely. “If you’re doing this for Sister Cyprilis, then I’m doing it for you. You’re going to write down the names of every person who has ever harmed you, and you’re going to give it to me.”
Chapter 21
Garroway
I scan Cyprilis’ shit-list with Sephania, Vallan driving the carriage. My hulking brethren seems to be whipping the horses more often than necessary, careening the carriage in a fever pitch to get to Nuhav.
Furrowing my brow, sharing a look with Sephania that only gets me a shrug in response, I poke my head out the window and call up to the driver’s bench through the blaring wind. “You’re going to whip the manes off their necks, you keep that up, brother! Must we go so fast? There are hours of night left!”
Vallan says nothing, squaring his huge shoulders and acting as if he didn’t hear me.
Crack—
Another whip strike sends the horses into a tizzy.
I tumble back in my seat as we roll over a nasty part of the road, nearly falling into Seph. Bumping my head, I rub my skull and frown at her. “Don’t know what’s gotten into the devilish bastard.”
“He’ll tell us in time, I’m sure.” There’s real worry in her eyes. She cares for us three, and I know she can sense the danger in Vallan’s eyes as well as anyone. “It’s not our place to prod if he’s unwilling to speak about what’s on his mind, cub.”
I sigh. “We’reexactlythe people to prod, little honey badger. We are the only friends he has, if you can even call us that.”
She barks a humorless laugh. “I doubt Vallan Stellos would use the word ‘friend’ even if you tried to torture it out of him.”
I match her smile, bumping her shoulder with mine. “Back to the list. I don’t recognize any of the names.”
“The faces Keffa drew look lifelike enough.”
“True. I daresay I know Nuhav just as well as you do, spending so much time in its dark alleys and redcloud dens. Shall I take the lead on this hunting expedition?”
Sephania sits back, examining me. There’s an impressed frown on her face, and it unnerves me, making me feel embarrassed. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you willing to take the lead on a mission, Garro.”
