Silver obviously enjoyed her job.
When she paused, I asked, “And did you catch him?”
“Well, our mentor promised extra points to the first to apprehend him, and I was trying to make it to protector, so I tried. All day, all night. I was bloody exhausted by the end of it, but I knew Isla, François, and everyone else were also doing their best, so I only gave up at midnight, when I was too tired and figured the asshole was sleeping in the hole he hid in.” She smiled.
It was strange how much her face changed when she did so, going from sullen to downright mesmerizing.
Quite frankly, a woman so short should have looked almost childish, definitely cute rather than beautiful, but no one could have looked at this five foot nothing little doll and called heranything but gorgeous, fierce. Sexy, too, in the tight black leather, with a touch of pink peeking out under the jacket.
I blamed the tits. I’d never seen a tiny woman with tits so round before. While on the subject of roundness, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also give a memorable mention to her leather-clad arse.
“You’re a tease, Edith Silver. Instead of telling me you caught the truant, you want to vaunt the whole story.”
She laughed. “Truant? Vaunt? Who even speaks like that.”
I shrugged unapologetically. In my defense, I was born and raised in another era, and my memory stretched back literal thousands of years. It was to be expected that some of my vernacular was outdated. “Me.”
“Well, you can get the whole story or none of it.”
I gestured for her to carry on.
“So, there’s this bar close to Dionysus’s temple. Very private. Kleos made her father buy it so we’d have somewhere to hang out. I was pretty far from home—an hour’s walk—and I thought I’d stop for a drink. Only I forgot the man who used to run it, Vance, ended up getting all enthused by Zeus and was killed a week ago. So, the bar was closed. But I could see a dim light flicker through a window.”
“Ha. Your thief, I take it.”
She glared at me. She seemed rather fond of doing it. I’d tell her it made my cock twitch, if I weren’t certain she’d stop. “You’re rather fond of ruining a good story, aren’t you?”
“No point beating around the bush.”
That made her snort. “I bet you say that to all the girls. I truly pity anyone you take to bed.”
My turn to laugh. “Oh, pretty doll. Shall we bet on that?”
“As if!”
I was both surprised and gratified to see her cheeks catch fire. So far, she only ever stopped scowling to glare. Blushing and laughing was certainly new.
Come to think of it, she’d been rather lovely during my week-long nap, too.
Considering the differences between then, now, and the many times she’d made a display of her animosity and mistrust, it wasn’t hard to note the difference: company. Or rather, the lack thereof. She was only hostile in public.
Wasn’t that interesting?
“So, you found the thief hiding in the bar and then what?”
I let her prattle on, describing every obvious detail. I asked after all, and letting her tell me allowed me to understand her.
She loved her job. That much was certain enough when she showed up this morning despite discovering a fortune in the Gold Bank, but it also conveyed in the way she relished in the retelling. Silver genuinely wanted to protect this city, rotten as it was. I felt rather uneasy as I recalled the many reasons it was doomed.
Last night, I accepted the hospitality of Gideon rather than remaining under the watchful eye of two Regises and the kindness of the healer. The miscreant we’d been sent to observe lived nearby, in a modest apartment between the gates of Hades and Poseidon, on a narrow street.
The six-story building seemed to house two names per floor. Silver rang Mattis Frazt of 27-1A twice, and received no answer.
She peeked at the window to the left, frowning.
Rows of closed shutters made it impossible to see what went on inside.
“What makes you think he isn’t on the other side?” I vaguely gestured to the wide-open windows to our right.
