Oh, how I hated that smirk and this man. One day, I’d punch it off his smug face and make him choke on his teeth. That knowledge made me smirk in return.
“That I am, Father. That I am.”
“Have you ever considered this womanisthe Hooded Robber?”
My father was so obsessed with power, money, and being superior to everyone else, that I sometimes forgot he wasn’t a complete buffoon. His ability to deduce this caused my stomach to turn with unease.
If he started putting pieces together, he’d recall Ellery’s knowledge of the Revenant Woods, which was why I’d hired her to help me in the first place. He believed he’d driven us apart but could change his mind.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Ryker
“A man robbed me,”I told him. “I know because I saw his build, and there were no breasts. From what Gaius told me, the lightning bearer has lovely breasts. I am an expert on them, so I think I would recognize them on the Hooded Robber.”
“I suppose,” my father sighed.
I hoped that was enough to throw him off the trail of the Hooded Robber and the female lightning bearer being the same.
“When did you see Gaius?” my father inquired.
“The day after it all happened. I ran into him and Samael in Nottingshire.”
“Ivan has appointed him the head of his guard.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“You really do hear a lot in those woods.”
“I do.”
“You’re probably the only one who can go up against her. Would your abilities cancel each other out?”
“I don’t know; I’ve never encountered another lightning bearer before.”
My father rubbed his chin as he pondered this. “It will be interesting to find out. If you discover her, I want you to bring her here to me.”
Apparently, he was going to ignore that I’d said I wouldn’t hunt her. “Why?”
My father smiled. “So I can keep her safe, of course. Ivan’s irate; he might do something foolish, and we can’t have that.”
“What can we have, Father?”
“We can have another lightning bearer in the family.”
“I’m not marrying anyone.”
“Not for you, you idiot. I would never grant you such power. If I married the lightning bearer, between you andher, our family would be the most powerful in the realm.”
The idea of him marrying Ellery and touching her set my teeth on edge. It took all I had to keep my composure.
“I think you’re forgetting something, Father.”
“And what is that?”
“You already have a fiancée.”
He waved a hand through the air again. “That’s a minor inconvenience.”
