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“Made him how?” I almost didn’t want to know.
“I didn’t ask.”
“What about consequences? Will he be kicked out of the guild?”
“Kane seems to think he was under some sort of spell at the time. He’s looking into it.”
“Imagine if every defendant claimed to be under a spell when they committed their crime.” I shook my head. “It’s a mitigating factor, but at the end of the day, he still stole your car.”
“We’re assassins, Lorelei. We’re hardly trustworthy individuals. We just don’t typically stab each other in the back. We stab someone we don’t know.” Gunther fell back against the car. “Mother of Giant Shitballs! Is that a lion?”
I spun around to see a large lion padding down the sidewalk across the street like he didn’t have a care in the world. Hakuna matata, indeed.
The lion took no notice of us as he continued along the pavement. The spikes of his collar glistened in the winter sunlight. He suddenly slowed his pace.
Gun huddled closer to me. “Dear gods, I think he’s hunting.”
“Why are you so nervous? You kill for a living.”
“I know, but that’s a lion. It’s different,” he whispered.
“How?”
“For starters, there’s no banter. If I can’t banter with my target before I kill him, does it even count?”
“I think the fact that he dies is what makes it count.”
“Fair.”
The lion stopped and lowered himself into a crouched position. He seemed to have locked on his prey. I followed the beast’s gaze to a man walking from his house to his car.
“That’s Kevin Swarthmore. Human. Works in financial services.”
That explained the Mercedes and the Porsche in the driveway. Kevin was currently unlocking the Mercedes.
Gunther crouched behind his car. “This is where years of training comes into its own.” He pulled my shoulder so that I was beside him. “Observe.”
The man didn’t seem aware of the approaching lion. He was too busy checking out his reflection in the side mirror. He seemed pleased with what he saw.
“I wouldn’t be so satisfied with that hairline,” Gun whispered.
“What’s he supposed to do about it?”
“It’s called magic—or hair plugs.”
The lion crept around the back of the Mercedes. I felt my boot for my throwing knives and swore under my breath when I realized I didn’t have them.
“We can’t observe if it means letting the lion eat him,” I said in a harsh whisper.
Gun looked at me with a deadpan expression. “Did I mention he works in financial services?”
My phone rang in my pocket.
Gun shushed me. “This is the twenty-first century. How have you not learned to silence your phone by now?”
I fished the phone out of my pocket. “Look, the lion keptwalking. Your neighbor is safe.” I tapped the screen. “Hey, Hailey. What did you find?”
“Not much, but there’s a reference to them in one book in the section on Icelandic mythology. I’ve set it aside for you to pick up.”
