Page 36 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

Damien giggled. “Daphne, be nice.”

“Why? He’s a total prick. Acting like he’s a gift from the gods.” She leaned close to Fenric and Damien, lowering her voice to a whisper. “And if that’s true, the gods forgot to gift him where it counts, if you know what I mean.”

“Well, it seems like this one is more than gifted enough for two heroes,” Damien purred as the hand on Fenric’s thigh slid up to cup him through his pants.

Fenric captured his hand and lifted it to his lips, brushing a kiss across Damien’s knuckles. “Maybe next time. Right now, I need to find Carrington.”

Damien whimpered. “He’s even a gentleman.”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “End of the hall. I just saw the girl he was with tag out and send someone new up, but at this point, he’s got to be so drunk I can’t imagine he’s still conscious. It should be easy to slip inside the room.”

“Thanks.” Fenric climbed to his feet, gently pulling free of Damien’s grabby hands. “If you could just stay in here so no one notices I’m not…”

“Fucking someone brainless?” Daphne supplied with a bright smile.

“Yeah. That.”

Damien gave Fenric a thumbs-up. “We’ll cover for you. Just try not to get us shut down. I don’t have another job lined up.”

Yeah, that too. These were all hard-working people with bills to pay and mouths to feed. No reason to make their lives more difficult because Fenric had a vendetta to take care of.

After a quick adjustment to his cock, which was arguing that he should take Damien up on his offer, Fenric opened the door and stuck his head out into the hall. Empty. Perfect.

He slipped out of his room and hurried to the end of the hall. Not a sound came out of the room supposedly holding Lance. Taking it as a good sign, Fenric shoved the door open and froze over the threshold.

What. The. Fuck.

Lirion was already there.

The pink-haired troublemaker stood fully dressed beside Lance, who sat naked in a chair and tied up with more rope and knots than Fenric would have thought possible. Lance’s golden skin held more than a few red marks, as if he’d been hit, but there was no blood. He clearly hadn’t been hit hard enough yet. His face also looked untouched. Fenric was ready to change that as well.

“Long time, no see, Sexy Eyes. As much as I’d love you to join us, you’ll have to wait your turn. This is a private party,” Lirion purred, adding on a wink.

Fenric was still trying to get over his shock of running into the bard yet again when Lance seemed to come partially out of his stupor. “Fen?” Lance said, sounding dazed. Fenric couldn’t tell if he’d been drugged or was just drunk. Not important. Fenric was more than happy to beat both vices out of him.

Fiery rage poured through his veins. His hands balled into fists at his sides and trembled. Acid boiled in his stomach, threatening to eat through his organs.

Betrayer.

Liar.

Murderer.

Thief.

Lance was supposed to be his partner. His comrade-in-arms. His most trusted companion as they rode through the countryside helping the weak, saving damsels, and ensuring the commoners had a shred of justice in their lives.

Instead, Lance and the other so-called heroes had turned on him. Beaten him. Killed his mother. Stolen a lifetime of treasures to line their pockets.

And now it was time for payback.

Without a clear thought in his head, Fenric stepped forward and slammed his fist into Lance’s jaw, snapping his head violently to the side. Pain screamed through his hand, but it was nothing compared to the bone-deep ache in his chest.

“Hey! Wait!” Lirion lunged, placing both of his hands against Fenric’s chest and shoving him a step back from Lance. All the playful sexiness evaporated in an instant, and he even dared to snarl at Fenric. “You can’t do that. He’s my prisoner. I caught him first. He still owes me information.”

“Your turn is up,” Fenric gritted out between clenched teeth as he pushed Lirion off him. “I need information now.”

“Then ask him questions. Don’t break his jaw before he can tell you anything.”