Heat flares in my chest.
"Your wife has her person back." Red's smile softens slightly. "Came because I thought you might want the company."
"Red." His name leaves my mouth cold enough to frost iron. "One more word and I'll demonstrate what I've learned from Hrolf today. On your face. Repeatedly."
He raises both hands in surrender, but that damned smile doesn't fade. "In all fairness, she does value Blaire's counsel highly. We should endeavor to make a favorable impression."
"Noted," Shade replies curtly, without lifting his eyes from the page.
Red watches me for a moment longer. The silence stretches, and I think perhaps he'll leave now, return to whatever duties occupy his time when he's not needling me.
But he doesn't move.
I set down my hammer and turn to face the knight. "What do you want?"
"I need your help with something." His smile is completely gone now, replaced by a grim set to his mouth.
"What kind of help?" I ask, though I already suspect the answer.
Garrett's eyes flick briefly to Shade and the wolf, then to Hrolf, before whispering to me. "The messy kind."
Of course.
"I may have acted with more enthusiasm during my most recent interrogation."
That's one way to say you lost your temper and killed someone in an inconvenient location.
Red has the decency to look slightly chagrined.
"Where?" I ask.
"Lower dungeon," he murmurs quietly.
Red's whispering is completely useless with a Grimsbane assassin in the corner and a dwarf who can hear a hairline crack in steel from across a workshop.
I close my eyes briefly.
"And he's... well, he's not small. He's almost Darstan's size."
Fantastic.
Shade finally looks up from his parchment, his expression curious. "Who'd you kill?"
"Valorian conspirator. He'd been corresponding with the Fae King's agents and was actively plotting against the queen." Garrett's voice hardens. "I couldn't let that continue."
And there it is.
The reason I tolerate this insufferable bastard despite every instinct screaming at me to remove his head from his shoulders.
Because he does this.
Red hunts down threats to Rhianelle before they can reach her. He eliminates enemies in the shadows and handles the dark, bloody work that she should never have to see or know about.
For that alone, and his unwavering loyalty to my wife, I will always help him hide the bodies.
I sigh, long and heavy. "Give me a moment to bank the forge."
"Take your time." Garrett's relief is palpable. "He's not going anywhere."
