“Problem, wolf?”
“He was a kid.” He glared at me, his dark eyes burning holes in my skull.
Ah, yes. The moral indignation. Always so predictable.
“And you’re a hired gun. But do indulge your conscience. Shall we hold vigils for every stray now?” As a muscle jumped in his jaw, I went on. “Cut out the boy’s heart. Send it to the Cimmerians so they may see the price an innocent boy paid for the loss of my daughters.”
“Why not his head? More traditional.”
“I need it to claim the bounty.”
“Bounty?” He blinked, surprise flickering across his face.
“The boy’s father is ahyungnim. Mafia boss. South Korea. He set a price on Austin’s head when the boy dared defect from the Ssang Yong Pa.” I tore Austin’s sleeve with a flick of my nail to show the tattoo of twin dragons devouring their tails on the boy’s bicep, the ink blurred by amateur suppression spells. “The Double Dragon. Their violence is renowned.”
“He was… What?Hiding?”
“Trying to make a better life for himself, no doubt. Hence the promotion. From kitchen boy to bargaining chip. Isn’t growth beautiful?” When Foster pinched his lips together, I laughed, a sound that held nothing like joy. “For a rogue, you of all people should know that there are the strong and there are the weak. The hunters and the prey. Do you imagine my daughters weeping in some dungeon? Praying for mercy?”
“I imagine neither wastes tears. Like their mother.” He paused, then sighed. “I can take a squad, try to retrieve Amabel—”
I cut him off with a flick of my hand.
“I don’t waste resources on corpses. As for Serafina, small torments for now, I think. A few expendable rogues sniffing around Evermere’s borders. A delivery or two of precious mementos she believes lost.” I tapped my chin with my forefinger. “Hmm. I wonder ifI saved the horns from that black goat to which she was so oddly attached.”
“What about her staff?” he suggested, staring at Austin Cho’s lifeless body. “Maybe one can be bribed?”
“Very good, wolf. Look into it personally,” I commanded. “Sever the head while I fetch a cryo box. Then remove the body from the house before it stinks up the place.”
Wordlessly, Foster went to the shelf and selected a bone saw.
Such a dutiful dog. The real question remained, though: Who’d trained him to bury his tells so thoroughly beneath bravado?
As I climbed the stairs, I let my thoughts drift to Serafina and her husbands. They thought they’d won something today. Very well, let the children think they moved pieces. Let them taste phantom victories.
By summer’s end, the Ssang Yong Pa’s handsome bounty would buy my naysayers’ loyalty, the Cimmerians’ bones would warm my hearth, and Serafina’s magical well would be all mine again.
And when the kill strike came,and come it would, a queen would already be dancing in their king’s blood.
30. To Be Here
Seri
Zane’s arrival at the breakfast table was announced by Brumous’ excited bark and the subsequent shuffle of paws against hardwood.
I glanced up from buttering my toast to see my red-headed husband saunter in, hair still damp from a shower, looking irritatingly refreshed for someone who’d been unconscious when I left him less than an hour ago. His eyes found mine immediately, a gleam of mischief already dancing in them as he slid into the chair beside me.
“Morning, gorgeous.” He dropped a light kiss on my lips. “Where are my wings and beer?”
“It’s eight in the morning.”
“And?” He stretched like a satisfied cat, revealing a sliver of chiseled abdomen above his belt that made my belly flutter.
“And normal people don’t have buffalo wings and alcohol for breakfast.” I pushed a plate of bacon and eggs toward him. “You’ll have to settle for this.”
“Like we’renormalpeople.” He made a show of sighing dramatically before spearing a strip of bacon. “Tyranny. In my own home. Denying a man his basic needs.”
“Brave of you to complain about the woman who nursed you back to health,” Koa scoffed into his coffee.
