A crow flew in from an open window and landed on the kitchen counter, cawing angrily at me, while her glamour melted away to reveal a voluptuous, raven-haired beauty.
“Is that what he said? Well, I suppose that’s one way to put it. Let me put it another way—she reclaimed something that was meant to be his, but given to her instead.”
I furrowed my brow, trying to parse through her cryptic words. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
She crossed her arms and walked towards me, her generous hips swaying with each step. Normally, I’d find that very alluring, but my dick was still steadfastly loyal to Sage.
“It means she didn’t steal shit, and I’m not going to let you get this one. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
Well, that wasn’t going to work for me, unfortunately. I happened to like living.
“Where are her parents?” I asked. “Did they disappear five years ago, too?”
She didn’t respond, but the look on her face confirmed it.
“Her parents, her friends, her co-workers… it was all the Premier’s work?” She nodded almost imperceptibly, and I ran a hand along one of my horns as I groaned. “Dammit, I was kind of hoping Sage was a serial killer. Would have made my job a lot easier.”
She stepped up closer, her eyes bursting with power and anger. “That man is a psychopath, and he’s going to torture Sage for the rest of her life to get what he wants from her.”
I sighed, crossing my arms. “I can’t just exchange her eternal damnation for mine based on vague references. You want me to choose her freedom over my life? Then fucking tell me what she did. Whathedid.”
Morgana took a step back, defiantly raising her nose in the air. “It’s not my story to tell, and I’m certainly not going to let you get near enough to her to hear it yourself.”
I suppressed the laugh in my chest. “Oh yeah? And how are you going to stop me?”
She raised an eyebrow, and it was at that moment I noticed the crow was gone.
I looked up at the framed family photo on the wall behind her, the reflection of a large man raising a vase over my head in the glass.
Shit.
8
There’s an App for That
Adamantine cuffs bit into the skin around my wrists, and my head pounded with a dull ache. All my muscles were sore, and my stomach revolted with hunger.
A strong herbal smoke hung heavy in the air, making it difficult to breathe properly, like my lungs refused to expand.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
I looked up from my position against a cinder block wall to where Morgana stood, that damned crow familiar smirking at me from a perch in the corner.
A cauldron simmered from a camping stove on a work bench, and the floating shelves along the walls were filled to the brim with jars and boxes containing all manner of dried plants, animal parts, and who knew what else.
Fucking witches.
My throat felt dry, and I had to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth to speak. “How long have I been here?”
She shrugged. “When does your deal run out?”
The crow shook out its wings and settled into its spot again, and I took another look around the room. Small windows, too small for me to crawl through, were located near the ceiling made of exposed beams. A lone light bulb hung over the table, the fire from the stove the only other light in the room.
We were in a basement somewhere. I didn’t think we were still in Sage’s house, though. Even with the pungent smoke, I couldn’t detect any of her lingering scent. I was almost amazed that I was that attuned to her by now. I’d never had that happen with my previous bounties.
The cuffs behind me were wrapped around a floor to ceiling pole, and a few cursory tugs told me it was sturdy.
“I had three days left when I showed up at the house,” I lied. “I take it that means you plan to keep me here until the contract ends and I die?”
