Hard to tell from where I was standing, but I could have bet money the guy in the picture in the top left corner—his ivory skin, his dark hair contrasting with his bright eyes, beaming with a sort of happiness I had hardly ever seen him wear—was…
“Get in, sister.”
My stomach lurched, but I did as I was told. Sliding onto the worn leather, I squinted at the overhead lamp shining straight into my face. Black spots danced before my eyes, fluttering like tiny, winged insects hypnotized by the warmth. Like moths, or?—
“So, what’s it goin’ to be?” The artist put on her gloves, the latex snapping against her tattooed wrist, leaving a red ring on her pink-tinted skin. “Or shall I select for ye?”
“A butterfly,” I stated, the imprints from the bright bulb fading from my vision. “A monarch butterfly.”
Yudfren shuffled through the ink, the bottles clinking together. “Where de ye want it?”
“Um…” I pointed to the inside of my left wrist. “There.”
Someone dragged over a stool, the metal bottoms of the legs scraping across the hardwood floor. The Wizard plopped onto the seat, gray eyes burning with excitement.
“Care to tell me the terms of this contract? It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” I said wryly. The tattoo gun clicked on; I flinched at the shrill buzz filling the room. “And I could use a distraction.”
He threaded his fingers, resting his elbows on the edge of my seat. So laid-back for a king of the underground.
“Been lookin’ for an artifact. Resembles a large pearl—can be shaken like one of those Magic Eight Ball tings. Operates like one too.”
“Why don’t you just go to Target and get the knockoff?” I teased; my saccharine smile met a gruff, blank stare. “Alright, where is it?”
“Natural Bridges.”
The location unlocked a core memory, one I’d buried deep within: my mom and I climbing rock walls and scaling ledges, poking through tide pools and seagrass. “I’m familiar.”
“Tere’s a cave about a half mile in. Te Stalkers have marked it in te rock.”
I didn’t remember any sea caves—and the currents never allowed us to leave the natural bridge of stone and shallow pools against the bluffs.
“Already lost a few men on this mission.”
“Lost?”
“Te others went mad.”
“And what makes you think I can do it?” I couldn’t even get inside the damn Santa Cruz Lighthouse, the watchtower literally dedicated to the Angel of Water. My odds were not looking great here.
“We’ve tried dwarves, goblins, trolls, but none speaks to te water like ye do,” he said. “Ye were made for this—and I’ve run outta Nephilim.”
Yudfren adjusted my arm with a rough twist. I winced and turned my attention back to the Wizard. “I can think of two very capable Night Stalkers off the top of my head who are also part-angel. Why don’t you just ask them?”
He lowered his head, tight-lipped.
“Let’s stop pretending here.” The cool sting of an alcohol pad met my wrist. I waited for Yudfren to finish and dropped my voice. “When are you finally going to tell me what’s going on with your syndicate?”
The hairs on the tops of his ears twitched. Yudfren barked an order at her apprentice. I took the opportunity to slip a few more words in.
“You can try to silence me all you want, but I’m not an idiot,” I whispered harshly. “You knew of the attack. You didn’t order it—but you also didn’t stop it.”
The Wizard tapped the leather cushion.
“You’re taking the fall for them, aren’t you?” I said carefully, his shiftiness, the knowing gleam in his eye, the other dwarves’ confusion, everything falling into place. “Why?”
“S’what family does.”
Family. From the little I knew about Ryder’s, he’d lost his parents when he was five. Leif had naturally morphed from older brother into that father figure role.
