“In the wind.” Saint glanced toward the shop. “Might be connected to last night.”
Maxen grunted. “I don’t believe in coincidences.” But. “She claims this was not because of her.”
Saint didn’t argue, but his silence said enough. If last night’s invasion wasn’t because of her, it could only be because of them, and that meant Calliope had been targeted because... she was his tenant? Had someone gotten the wrong idea? It couldn’t be because of the gunpowder. No one except the brothers knew about that. The rumored treasure? The culprit of last night was no treasure hunter.
“Targeting her makes no sense,” Maxen muttered. “She’s not anything to us.” The lie tasted bitter the moment it left his mouth.
His brother shrugged. “Doesn’t mean they don’t think she is with the way you’ve been acting.”
Maxen froze. “She’s not part of this world.”
Saint didn’t spare him. “She’s in it now.”
The words settled like a ton of bricks.
Calliope Turner had walked into their territory, their turf, with secrets, a dog, and no knowledge of who she’d rented from. He wanted the situation to stay that way until her lease was up. Until she was gone. He didn’t want her in this world.
But his enemies clearly didn’t care what he wanted.
“Do you have eyes on Peregrine?”
“Dagger.”
Maxen raked a hand through his hair. “Get word to Knight. Tell him to find Rollings but not engage. If Serpent is missing, we’ve got a bigger problem.”
Saint nodded.
“And Saint?”
His brother paused, looked at him.
“Keep out of trouble.”
Saint’s eyes flicked back to the shop. “That may no longer be possible.”
Maxen bit down on his jaw. “Be careful anyway.”
Saint gave a single nod. “She’s something different, isn’t she?”
Maxen shot him a hard look.
“You’ve been watching her.”
Why was every damn brother of his saying that? “I watch everything in Brighton.”
“She’s not Brighton.”
“Don’t make me beat your arse.” Maxen turned his gaze toward the shop, toward the faint silhouette of Calliope moving inside, conversing with the women. The dog was stationed near the door now, ears twitching like he sensed the gathering storm outside. “Do you know those women?” Maxen asked.
Saint looked over. “No.”
“I believe one of them has a shop nearby. One of ours?” Little here was not theirs, but it was possible.
“I could find out.”
“Get Dagger on it when he returns. This whole lease debacle is his fault, and if this is another slip, I’m going to throttle him.”
“Done.”
