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Ander had been tough on his kid, almost to the point of being cruel in some instances. On more than one occasion, Odin had returned from a “sparring” match with his father with a broken bone or two. He’d also forced him to be the epitome of clean-cut, which was no doubt why Odin preferred an edgier style now.
“Why didn’t you end him and take his power?” Hunter asked. Even without being able to consent to the exchange, his father was a powerful Shout. The boost he’d still get from inking his ashes would be great.
“Attachment,” Wren answered for him when Odin was quiet for too long.
“He’s my father,” Odin said.
“He’s a tyrant,” the other Dominus unapologetically corrected. “And now he’s your only chance.”
“He’s—” Hunter began, but Odin grabbed onto his thigh and gripped him tight to keep him from talking. He must have figured that he’d been about to admit he was a Whisper. They’d agreed to keep it a secret from everyone, but Wren was Odin’s closest friend, and it was plain as day that he cared for Odin.
“I have another way,” was all Odin said.
Wren frowned.
When his eyes lingered on Hunter a little too long, it was clear he’d picked up on enough to have realized something all on his own.
“All right,” he finally conceded, rising to his feet. “You have another way. Use it, fast. The spies say Isa is planning something. No one has been allowed close enough to gather any details, but he’s got something up his sleeve.”
“He’s most likely trying to figure out how to buy back all the property I have in his territory,” Odin guessed.
“We all know that’s not why he targeted Jita.” Wren shook his head. “No, it’s something else.”
“Why’d he target Jita?” Hunter asked, but he didn’t need anyone to tell him. It clicked a second later. “Oh. Isa was jealous about what happened at the gala.”
“He was upset that I ran out on him to help you that night you were drugged by that lunatic,” Odin corrected. Not that it made much of a difference.
“I told you not to parade me in front of him.”
“Do you want me to admit you were right?” Odin asked. “You were, but I still wouldn’t have done it any differently.”
No, he wouldn’t have, because Isa being aware of Hunter had forced Hunter’s hands.
“Asshole.”
“As fun as this has been,” Wren said then, “and as much as I’d love to stick around and see you two switch back and forth between nice and mean to one another, I should get back to the Yellow Brick Road. I have people reporting in later. With any luck, they’ll have discovered something else that’s useful.”
Yellow Brick Road was a part of the city where all of the gambling dens and casinos were located. It was a lot like Odin’s Red Light Distract, Liaand Norra, and not a single road at all. Since it hadn’t been there, at least not in that capacity and not with that name, when Hunter had lived here in the past, he’d never gone anywhere near the gambling district.
He didn’t wait for either of them to respond or bother with goodbyes, Wren simply walked out without so much as a second glance, shutting the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone once more.
Chapter 10:
“You were very forward just now,” Odin said after the door had closed behind his friend.
“It was camouflage,” Hunter replied, then when the other man’s eyes narrowed, admitted, “Mostly.” Since they’d attended the gala together and he’d been introduced as his date, everyone already believed the two of them were together anyway. But Wren was different. He knew the truth of the matter, at least in part, and Hunter had been more comfortable acting like himself. “He’s been helping you against Frost?”
Odin hummed. “Together we form a large chunk of the Brumal, a formidable adversary. That’s largely the reason Isa has stood back all these years.”
“Lying in wait,” Hunter said.
Odin frowned. “He mentioned that he was hoping I would eventually forgive him. Seeing that I’d forgiven you triggered him into action.”
“Which is what you wanted,” he pointed out. “Remember? Even when I warned you against it.”
“I didn’t believe you.”
“But you do now?”
