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“Not currently, but I may reassess if you don’t shut the fuck up.”
I raised an eyebrow. That was not all that comforting, as it meant he could still kill me tomorrow, but I left it. I had no intention of going around in circles all night long and still getting nowhere. “So what are we doing here?”
“I am drinking.” He looked sideways at me, even as he raised a hand and waved for a bartender. “You can do whatever the hell you like. I hardly care as long as you do not attempt to leave before we are able to locate Cross.”
“Who?”
“Cross. The founder of the thieves’ guild.” He raised a brow at me. “The male that you all but forced us to pay a visit to. He owns this tavern.”
“I didn’t—”
“It’s fine, rebel.” He waved me off. “Don’t misunderstand, what you did was still absurdly foolish, but I will throw you a proverbial lifeline this one time.”
I was not sure I liked the sound of that. “I take it you know this ‘Cross’?”
“Of course. The guilds can only exist with our blessing.”
Ah, there it was.The real reason for all his anger.
He might say “our blessing,” as in all the Everlasts, but I presumed that truly meant “his” blessing. He was unwilling to help the Lord and Lady of Inbetwixt because he had some dealing with these guilds, perhaps with this “Cross,” and now I’d ruined it for him—or, at least, made it harder.
Thalia would be proud of me for hoarding my information, and Scion, it seemed, was a wealth of accidental secrets. Perhaps he thought he was beyond reproach—so powerful that he did not have to be too careful with what he said. Perhaps he simply didn’t care. Whatever the case, I was going to pay better attention to what he let slip from now on.
“So if you know Cross, then how will we get the soldiers of Inbetwixt to help?” I asked. “Which one will you betray?”
“How indeed?” he snapped. “It’s almost as if I was attempting to avoid this very situation, and some hapless fool bumbled directly into it.”
My cheeks burned. This time, I could see what he was getting at, yet I refused to admit it. “Perhaps if you hadn’t dragged me along in the first place or had told me what we were trying to accomplish—”
“It is no matter,” Scion said. “Fortunately for you, rebel, I have already planned for this possibility.”
“You…what?” I stopped before I could blurt out something stupid.
“The Lord of Inbetwixt has always been difficult. You asked earlier why we do not wish to overtake Inbetwixt or use the city as a capital, as it is larger and better positioned for trading.” He looked sideways at me, seeming to almost be hiding a smile. “The high court family has been losing territory in their own city for years and now control only the eastern gate, which suits us fine. That means they still have control over the docks and the waterways, but we don’t have to worry about them trying to provoke any kind of uprising.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As you saw, they live in the Northern district, but they are surrounded by territory that they cannot control. The situation is…tenuous.”
“I empathize,” I grumbled.
“I can imagine,” he said lightly. “I have long known he might deny the use of my soldiers for any reason, but it is far better for him to know we are in the city than not. Now, we are unlikely to be bothered while meeting with Cross. You might even say Cross is the reason why we are here.”
I stiffened, preparing for yet another revelation I was sure to hate. “I thought Dullahan was the reason we’re here.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to simply sit and wait for him to appear.” His tone was slightly resentful. “Who knows how long that might take, and I assume you hadn’t planned to stay in the city indefinitely?”
“No!” I said too fast. “I—I can’t.”
“It’s not as though you have much else to do,” he pointed out.
“I want to return to Bael.”
I’d reconciled the fact that we may have to stay the night but assumed there would be some inn or perhaps the home of another noble where I might lock myself in a room and ignore Scion as much as possible. Now, however, I realized how impossibly short-sighted that had been.
Of course, it might take more than a single night to track down Dullahan. It could take weeks or even months…but Scion was right—weeks wasn’t an option.
“There is no chance that Bael even realizes you have left,” Scion said, sounding almost bitter for no reason I could understand. “If he did, I’m sure he would be here.”
