Leo rolls his eyes. “It’s Leonardo, actually.”
“Mm, of course, because you’re an Italian…?”
“Siren—uh, oceanid. And demon.” He clears his throat, eyes fixed straight ahead.
I don’t know why it’s so fun to pick at this big combination merman-demon, but Leo is such a good sport, I could probably keep going all day. Lucky for him, the door opens again and the man reappears.
“Uh, hello.” He nods at me before handing Leo a crisp white envelope. “Five thousand six hundred and forty-eight, plus a small…token of appreciation. For your patience.”
Leo doesn’t bat an eye. “Well, of course. Alfo will appreciate it.”
His unflappable, calm confidence brings zero comfort to our new friend. If anything, he looks like he might piss his pants any second. “Okay, bye-bye. Do not linger, please.”
We make our way back toward the front of the inn, to the drawing room with the bar where I told Evie to meet me.
“Listen,” Leo says, tossing a furtive look over his shoulder as we settle around a small table by the windows. “I was going to stop by anyway to let you know that I’ve made contact with Orfeo’s brother, and we’ll be by tonight to talk through the details. I’ve pulled Kat in, but as you know…” He presses his lips together and drops his eyes to his hands. “As you know…”
“She’s still fragile, and we need to look after her,” I say. “We’re not putting any innocent humans in danger.”
Leo’s mouth jumps into a purse. “Exactly, but she still wants to help.”
We stare at each other for a second, until I realize he’s looking at me like he wants permission. “Okay.” I nod. “I trust you.”
“Great.” He cracks a half smile, that stern jaw of his clicking into a lopsided smirk. Deeply charming, the grump is. “I wanted to also talk to you about?—”
Over Leo’s shoulder, I spy Evie stepping in through the open doors, pulling her beanie off. “Hold on, my friend’s here.”
“You told someone you’re here?”
“Uh.” I cringe. “Oops?”
“Uh-oops, my ass. Diantha, you are out of your mind. You weren’t going to tell her about we’re doing, were you?”
“Not exactly what we’re doing…”
“Fucking hell.”
Evie turns left and right, scanning the room for me. She’s little more than a round pink face sticking out of the top of her ankle-length puffy jacket.
Finally, her eyes catch mine. “Diantha!”
It’s definitely not appropriate, but I jump up and race across the room, slamming into her embrace.
“Fuck, man!” Evie throws her arms around me and squeezes me with her crazy pastry chef strength. “I thought you weredead.”
“Almost kinda did die,” I whisper, squeezing her back. “It’s a long story.”
“Promise you’ll tell me?”
“Oh, one hundred percent?—”
Leo clears his throat.Never mind.
I turn us toward Leo, who’s loitering beside us like he’s my keeper. “Evie, this is Leo. He’s my friend and, um, bodyguard. Leo, this is Evie. She’s my best friend and…former boss.”
They trade wary looks like haggard combat veterans.
“Bodyguard?” she drawls, tightening her arms around my waist.
