“What?”
“Barrier land.”
She looked down.“Barrier land?”
Dey-ek said, “Land around the orc enclave not belonging to the orcs.”
“Oh.Which enclave?”She moved the map around.“Oh.Well, that’s odd.”
Tam-or chuckled.The agents finished their break and took their leave.Tam-or sat down at the nearly empty table.He looked very pleased about something.
“Why would she have bought a house attached to an orc neighbourhood?”
Dem-rah patted her cheek.“It’s a question for the ages.I will get back to work, but I want to see you for dinner this week.”
“Yes, Uncle.My number is the same.Contact me when you want me to beat you at an eating event, and I will be there.”
“Why don’t we just have dinner and catch up?I think that would be better.”He grinned at her with his jagged teeth.“I should have all my non-goblin nieces together.I think you would enjoy the company.”
“Really?”
“Jennel is mine, born into my hands.Nylora is mine.She sought me out.Her sister is mine by virtue of Nylora; you and Cora are mine because Matthias begged for help; and of course, Benny is mine because she grew up here.I have many nieces who are not goblins.Perhaps you would consider taking on one of my sons or grandsons as your mate?”
Tam-or coughed.
“Ah.I see.I will wait on any introductions.If the speaker doesn’t suit, I will have a line out the door for you and Cora.”
Tam-or muttered, “She’s considering her own option.Abel-ur.”
“Oh.Well, that is suitable then.The girls have always been close.”
Never smiled.“One way of putting it.”
Dem-rah kissed her cheek and said, “Relax and stay a while.There are joys beyond the hunt.”
“I haven’t actually felt joy in the hunt for a decade, Uncle.There was satisfaction, but no joy.”
“Then, perhaps it is time to find a place to call your own.”
She groaned.“But it’s so much paperwork!”
He laughed, Tam-or laughed, and the goblin patted her hand before he returned to his food truck.
“So, you are avoiding home ownership because of paperwork?”Tam-or paused in his eating.
“I am avoiding settling down because I have to go through every registry in the city so that they can find me if they need me.It is considered the price of citizenship.I will become an on-call hunter.They can summon me for everything from estranged spouses to lost library books, as well as criminal pursuits.The only thing they don’t get is privacy as it regards to my actions.”
He blinked.“Library books?”
“A very earnest twelve-year-old once commissioned me to find a book that her sister had taken.I found it four hours later, under her sister’s boyfriend’s bed.That was a fun conversation.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t the sister in the bed with him.It was the mother.She had been taking her daughter’s book back to the library and fell into the nineteen-year-old’s bed.It didn’t go over well with the father or the sister, but it was recorded as a successful hunt.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, well.My part was done, legal and above board.And I got paid.”
