That remains to be seen. Is there anything else you would like to ask us?
Ah, no. I think I’ve learned enough, thanks.
Be well, Ronin Matakos. We will see you again. In this world or the next.
The lights in the room flickered back to life and the temperature normalized.
Ronin blew out a long breath.
The Windrider opened her eyes, which had returned to normal, and regarded him with an inscrutable expression. “Are you satisfied with your reading?”
“Sure.” Ronin pushed up from the table, feeling even more foolish than when he’d walked in here.
The female bowed her head, her gaze darting to the small donation table. “We thank you for visiting us today.”
Ronin fished a fewdrachasfrom his pocket and tossed them into the bowl, then exited the shop and returned to the snow-covered, sun-drenched streets. He needed another Delirium after that weird fucking session.
She spoke the truth,his wolf piped up.
How doyouknow that?Ronin aimed for the bar.
You can drown us in Delirium, poison us both all you want, but she would not lie to me, his wolf whined.
I’ve had enough of the psycho-babble bullshit today, Ronin spat back.Spare me.
You only have three days or you will lose this chance.
Why do you fucking care?
Because, his wolf spoke in a low, reverent voice, she showed me a vision of our future.
Ronin’s heart nearly stopped as his wolf whispered to him again.
And I wasfree.
CHAPTER FIVE
Mireille gently stirred the pot above the burner, trying not to agitate the veiling potion she’d spent the past hour brewing.
She’d used the last of her supply during her assignment with the Deathstalker this past weekend, and she wanted at least one vial on hand before she headed to Otto’s estate.
Ifshe went to the estate. It was seeming less and less likely with each passing day.
Ronin hadn’t shown up here at IA HQ for the past three days, and, to no one’s shock, least of all Mireille’s, she’d been forced to begin doing the research into Otto on her own.
Ronin was rapidly running out of time to make his decision. And if he didn’t agree to play along, mission incomplete.
Even if, by some miracle, Ronin showed up today and agreed to participate, there was still the pesky task of getting an invite to the event in the first place.
She snorted a bitter laugh at the thought thatallthe males she was currently required to depend on were letting her down.
Well, they could fucking get in line. Males had been letting her down her entire life.
From the side of the lab table, that thick, creamy card beckoned with enticing promise.
We have learned the identity of your father.
She’d been trying to do the same ever since she’d come to Kheimos. But with so little information to go on, even the IA’s vast data archives had revealed nothing. Each fruitless effort had dampened that hope in her heart, until it was no more than a faintly smoldering ember.
