Marta’s hand hovered near the hilt of her sword, ready to move, and Elvin edged closer to his mother but kept glancing toward Lochlan and Ambrose like he hated being forced to choose sides. Lochlan moved half a step closer to me without seeming to realize he’d done it, his shoulders tense and jaw tight as he watched Marta’s every movement.Nora alone remained calm, one hand resting lightly on the desk beside her as though she were discussing trade agreements instead of standing on the verge of a fight.
Almost as if by accident, she brushed her hand across the bag of gold set on the desk so the coins clinked gently. “The offer still stands. Appoint someone to replace me and I’ll step aside. Or you can try to arrest me, assuming we all leave this room alive, and I’ll rescind my offer, be out by nightfall and will send more bounty hunters than you can handle.”
Marta worked her jaw back and forth. “IfI accepted the proposition, you won’t seek to undermine any of my authority? You’d willingly relinquish the title?”
“Wholeheartedly. Getting my sister back is a fair trade for turning over an empire of bounty hunters. Just imagine how much control you’ll have when commanding the Nightsworn and placing whoever you want over the Syndicate. I’ll even order Ambrose to transition his loyalty to whomever you appoint. You’d agree, wouldn’t you, Ambrose?”
“Anything you say,” Ambrose agreed. “As long as I’m paid, I don’t pay attention to who hands out gold.”
Marta appraised my sister. “Do you always buy your way out of all your problems?”
“Most of them,” Nora said. “And when I can’t, I place bounties on people and let my hunters take them down.”
“Which is also a form of buying your way out of your problems.”
“True. But it works. Now, do we have a deal? Or would you like me to send my hunters after you? I can make your life far better or far worse. Which do you want?”
Marta hesitated for a fraction of a second, then extended her hand to accept the bribe. “We have a deal.”
They shook and exchanged the money. Just as Marta tucked the bag away, one of the Nightsworn re-entered the room. “I’m sorry, but the prisoner passed away,” he told her.
Next to me, Lochlan tensed up.
Without thinking, I slipped my arm around his middle. It didn’t matter what Roderick had done in the past—he was still Lochlan’s father, and he’d claimed to have good memories of him. Even Marta’s jawline hardened.
“Such a shame that the Employer died before he could ever stand trial,” Nora said smoothly. “I suppose the Syndicate will dissolve now without him around to lead it.”
Marta stared at her, then waved her hand dismissively at the guard. “Leave us.”
The moment the guard disappeared, Marta looked up at Lochlan. “Would you be willing to become the Employer?”
Lochlan took a deep breath, then shook his head. “No. I’m done. And Jillian would be better for the job, anyway.”
I shook my head as well. “I don’t want to be involved with the Syndicate at all anymore. I only wanted to find my family, and now I have.”
Nora beamed at me. “You see?” she said to Marta. “None of us are a threat any longer. The Syndicate will dissolve and disappear.”
“You misunderstand me,” Marta said. “I never wanted to eliminate the Employer or the Syndicate. I simply wanted a little more control over the goings-on. But if none of you are willing…” Her voice tailed away, then she spoke directly to Elvin. “What about you?”
Elvin’s eyes grew wide. “Me? You want me to be the Employer?”
I almost laughed aloud. Elvin was barely of age. It certainly would give her plenty of oversight into the Syndicate’s operations, but I couldn’t imagine Elvin ever intimidating anyone. What did it matter how the Syndicate functioned after we left?
“Yes, I’ll do it,” Elvin said, looking prouder than a dog with two bones.
Ambrose beamed. “Now there’s an Employer I’d be honored to follow.”
While Elvin and Ambrose gloated, I crouched back down to look at Peter.
“Is he another of your bounty hunter friends?” Marta asked.
“No,” I answered. It looked as though Peter had drifted off to sleep or else lost consciousness, but he was still breathing and his pulse was strong. “I can’t imagine that he would ever work for anyone else, even for the Syndicate.”
“Is he a threat?”
Beside my foot, Peter’s hand curled into a fist. So he wasn’t sleeping at all.
“No,” I lied. “He’s just a boy who got mixed up into some trouble. We ought to let him go.”
