“Death.”
He whimpers.
“Say it, Richard,” I coo.
“I’m not Richard,” he whines.
“You’re all Richard.”Every single person I killwhile working as the head of the Fairy Intelligenceis Richard fucking Morningstar.But since I can’t kill the king –not until I find evidence of him killing Aurelia–thesetargets of mine will have to do.“Say it,” Itellthe ‘Richard’ at my feet.
“Death…” He trembles.Whining,heshakes his head.
“Ugh.Forget it.You’ve ruined it anyway.”Disgusted, I yank the knife out of his hand.Then I wave it in front of his face, flicking blood everywhere.“Now,”I saywith a cheery smile.“Youmentioned you have connections.”
He nods on a whimperas he cradles both of his hands to his chest.“I can get you whatever you want.”
“I want to knowwho in the Court hasjustput a bounty on King Morningstar’s head.”It’s not even been three hours since that intel landed in my ear, but I can already feel the ticking of time.I need to solve this fast, before an assassin finds their way past Jace.He might be good at his job, great even, but there’s only so many people he can fight at once.The threat of being executed for treason will make a lot of assassins hesitantto take on the job, but in addition to the hit, there are talks of a coup brewing in Raza’s underbelly.Once those two things collide, even I might struggle to keep this kingdom safe.
The man’seyes widen.“I don’t know what –”
“Yes, you do,” I cut in.“You’re the one who put out the hit on her behalf so she could stay anonymous.”SoI know he has the next clue I need to track that bitch down.
“She’ll kill me!”
Insulted,I wave the knifeharder.“Um, hello?What do you think I’m fucking doing?”
He wails.
Dammit.
“Great job,”Aurelia laughs.“Tell him you’re going to kill him regardless.That’ll get him to talk.”
“That was a joke,” I lie.“Because I didn’t get to say my knock knock joke earlier.I’ll let yougoif you tell me what I want to know.”
He sniffles.“She’ll find me and kill me.”
I roll my eyes.I kinda already have you here, mate;youwill be dead long before she finds you.Smiling sweetly, I say, “I’m Evangeline Sinclair, head of FI-9.I’ll give you protection.”
“You’re not Evangeline!She’s –”
“Beautiful.Smart.Hilarious.Choose your words wisely.”
“Only has one leg,”he finishes.
Dear fucking gods, I hate interrogating stupid people.Standing, I pull up my left trouser leg and show himmyprettyprosthesis.Made of moonlight ore, it glistens like the silver rays ofthemoon.Etcheddownits full length is a ruler, with notches in it at: the ankle, mid-shin, right below the knee, above the knee, half-way up the thigh, and at my hip.From bottom to top, the notches read:just don’t like you, nothing personal, cunt, dick, rot in Hel you asswipe,andnow it’s personal.This way, when I shove my foot up people’s asses, they know exactly how much they’ve pissed me off.
“Isn’t it a beauty?”I purr.
“I’m not an idiot,” he snivels.“Evangelinelost her right leg, not her left.”
“I can shapeshift, dumbass.”Well, not technically.I can only modify my mass, not add or subtract from it like a true shapeshifter can.It’s very helpful for changing identities, not so helpful for proving who I am.“Though if you don’t feel like talking, I can just kill you now.”
Locking his body still with my magic, I start to plunge my knife into his –
“I don’t know!”he shouts.“I was never given a name.”
“Then how is someone supposed to collect the bounty?”A fairy’s promise is magically binding.Most anonymous contracts don’t get picked up due tothe uncertainty of being paid, so she must’ve given him something solid.
“She’s already moved thefullpayment into an account.They just need to come to me, prove they did it, and then I’m to transfer the money to them.”
