I wanted to ask her more. I knew so little about her life, about who she really was. But I didn’t feel right initiating any conversation. I wanted her to lead the precious few hours of interaction we had until she was back in the Premier’s hands.
And I desperately wanted to know what he needed with her, what he’d done to her. Why her return was worth so much money.
“How did you end up finding me?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to know?”
“Of course. That way, if I escape again, I won’t make the same mistakes.”
I bit back a smile. She was a fighter, this one. Her scars were already proof of that, but knowing she wasn’t giving up yet gave me hope.
“Kaldrin. Your app.”
“Seriously?” Her jaw dropped open in surprise. “How did you know that was me?”
I explained how her professors had alluded to her future business plans, and that I’d possessed the witch at the apothecary in Noctis who gave me a few more details.
“And when I complained to a friend that my rut suppressant wasn’t working, he recommended finding a witch on your app to make me something a little more personalized.”
I didn’t know why I lied about Kit, but it felt weird telling her about my failed attempt at a one-night stand. Not because it was embarrassing, though. Just because I didn’t want her to think I was the kind of guy who had had them in the first place.
Which was stupid. Why should she or I care?
“Damn, that sucks. I’d hired a guy to help me finish the coding, but I guess I should have made sure I was untraceable, too.”
I looked at her again in the mirror. “If you manage to escape again, look me up. I’ll get you in touch with my elf, Arlen.”
She dissolved into a fit of laughter, and I waited to find out what was so funny. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she finally replied, “Arlen is yourguy, too?”
Son of a…
Fucking elves.
“Oh man,” she continued, giggles still bubbling from her chest. “How much did you end up paying him? Must have been more than me if he ratted me out.”
I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white as I spoke through gritted teeth. “Too much, probably.”
And probably, I was making a trip to Elmaris on my way home from Noctis.
“Well, what did you think of it? My app?”
“Hm? Oh, I thought it was great. It was easy to use, and the suppressant I bought worked okay for a bit, but didn’t last very long, unfortunately. I guess I should have asked for more dosesor something stronger. It was definitely better than the elf-made crap, though.”
When I caught her skeptical gaze, my cheeks began to heat. I was oversharing. “Sorry, I’m sure you don’t want to hear about all that. Especially after, well… I’m really sorry for how I touched you in the woods.”
Chasing down bounties, I always ended up getting my hands on them, and sometimes needed to rough them up a bit.
But I’d never…
I was still appalled.
She looked down, chewing her lip in thought. “So your rut broke through all that magic?”
“Yeah. Crazy, right?”
“That’s one word for it.”
I grunted, scratching my face. I hadn’t shaved since I couldn’t remember when. Probably Tideholm. And it was getting a little itchy.
