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His lips twitch. “Wait and see for yerself. My brothers are bringing the trucks tonight?— “
“What does that mean?”
He gives me a hard look. “Exactly what it sounds like, lass. They are bringing the supplies on trucks.”
“What supplies?” I ask, confused.
He heaves a frustrated breath out. “What kind of supplies do ye think I’m talking about, lass?”
I screw up my face. “Guns?” I whisper.
Hades’ expression tightens. “Supplies,” he repeats. “As I said, my brothers are bringing the trucks tonight. So we are basically going to be waiting on ye to ship the cargo containers of… supplies.”
I blink a couple of times. “Oh,” is all I can think to say. “Well… okay.”
Hades slides his arm around me and hurries me along the cobblestone road, back to the hotel.
Chapter30
Hades
It’s well after noon by the time I get a text from one of my brothers. I feel my phone vibrate gently in my pocket but ignore it for the moment.
At the moment, I’m busy settling Persephone into the first floor ballroom of what may honestly be the most palatial estate I’ve ever set foot in. It’s a massive four story mansion with white marble walls, rather extravagant fountains everywhere I turn my head, and a huge lawn laid with expensive, lush sod.
Penny takes a few steps inside, cocks her head, and looks back at me. “Umm… did the last tenants get evicted or something?”
I swing my gaze around, surveying the scene. Panels of sky blue silk that once hung from the ceiling have been ripped down, left strewn over chairs and tables. Several of the beautiful fountains, once shaped as lions and giant fish, have been cracked. A little water still burbles in a couple of them, but the rest are dry.
Pieces of paper are scattered all over the floor, as though somebody opened a full briefcase and dumped the contents out. One of the lights flickers eerily, casting a pall over the palace.
“So it would seem.” I raise my hand to touch her back, steering her toward the ballroom. “I dinnae ken the last people that lived here.”
A short, rather squat man in a navy suit with a kerchief tied round his neck steps out from the shadows. I start; it’s not every day a man in such shiny loafers manages to stand nearby without my noticing. I squint at the man; his skin is scar-pocked, and complexion is ruddy. His hair is slicked back, and he wears a very expensive watch. This must be Ares’s friend, the tech genius.
“The Ashanis’ were chased out of here in the spring,” he says, looking pleased with himself. His Moroccan accent is strong, but he speaks perfect English, sounding perhaps as though he were educated in Cambridge.
That, or he merely has something snobby about him that I can’t quite put my finger on. I sigh, looking him up and down.
“Karim Tazi,” he says, extending a hand. “I stepped in and took over the payments in their stead. The family had apparently failed to pay their taxes for quite a number of years.”
I cast my gaze around once more. It is too chaotic a scene for them to have left entirely of their own accord. However, I get another text from my brother and I would rather talk to him than continue to find out about local politics.
“Fine,” I say, ending my sentence. “Would ye show Penny where her art supplies are set up?”
He gives a little bow, smirking. “Of course.”
Persephone presses her lips together. It is clear from her body language that should rather not leave with Karim. But there is nothing I can do about that just now, not when I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket.
I jerk my head toward the ballroom. “Go get yerself set up. Karim will make sure yer taken care of.” I step closer to Karim, giving him a hard stare. “Right, Karim?”
“Of- of course.” He flushes ever so slightly, bowing his head again. “Right this way, please…”
Penny gives me a last look as she reluctantly follows him. I yank my phone from my pocket, already answering it without looking at the screen.
“I’ll be right bloody there.”
I walk out into the bright sunlight. Shielding my eyes, I see that my brothers have driven the big tan cargo vehicles right up to the gravel driveway and parked them in front of the house. Ares slumps against the side of his truck, looking at his phone.
