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“He’s not lying,” Hunter said then, lifting his voice so it was clear he wasn’t speaking to Odin.
Yule paused with his fist raised. He was holding the man up by the dirty hem of his shirt, but as soon as Hunter’s words were processed, he tossed him down to the ground and rubbed his palms on his thighs as if to clean them.
“Why do you think that?” Odin asked.
“Isa called him and the others in to beat me because they’re just muscle. They got off on it, that one especially. You don’t tell people like that important information,” Hunter explained.
“Ouch,” Yule feigned being wounded.
“You’re much more than muscle,” Odin reassured him, only partially joking.
“I need someone who spent a lot of time with Isa over the past decade,” Hunter continued. “Someone who would have been around doing all the minor, inconvenient things Isa felt were too beneath him to bother with himself. The last I saw Meg was in that photo he sent me of her death.”
“Think she was playing along or unconscious?” Yule crossed his arms, smearing blood stains over his skin and seemingly not noticing.
“She wouldn’t have been on his side back then,” Hunter replied. “So she must have been out when he staged the photo and made it look like she’d been killed. What I can’t figure out is why he’d bother going through all of that. Why keep her around? And what did he subject her to all these years that had her turning against me?”
That was the biggest question Odin had as well. His obsession with the Huntsman had begun because he’d witnessed a private moment between him and his sister. It’d been the first time he’d seen what real love was, what it looked like, and how it made people interact. Though he’d instantly latched onto Hunter, it hadn’t been one-sided. Meg had loved him every bit as much as he’d loved her.
“There’s no telling what he told her or he did,” he said. “Isa is a master manipulator.”
“And he’s had ten years to put bullshit in her head,” Yule added, letting out a low whistle. “Fucked up. If we weren’t planning on killing him before, we’d have to add it to the agenda now. No one messes with your man and gets away with it, boss.”
“That was…” Hunter seemed at a loss for words, so Odin helped him out.
“Cliché.” He shook his head at Yule. “Tone it down.”
“If you would, Mr. Thorn,” a crisp voice piped up from the doorway and they turned to find a man in a three-piece navy and gold suit standing there, “I believe I have the perfect candidate for you.”
“Jita.” Odin had seen the man a few times since he’d been released from the hospital, but this wasn’t his typical hangout, and he was a bit surprised to find him here.
“Sir.” He bowed and then returned to addressing Hunter directly. “We can consider it a welcome to the family gift from me. Right this way please.”
Hunter didn’t even hesitate or turn to Odin to get the go-ahead. Instead, he left after the counselor, not even bothering to look back to see if his Shout was following.
Odin let out a low growl, irrationally pissed about the fact his Huntsman was so openly trusting someone other than him, even though it made sense since he was well aware that Jita was one of the most trusted members in the Snow Brumal.
But. Still.
“You should probably get a handle on that,” Yule leaned in and told him, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Jealousy isn’t all that attractive in a lifelong partner. Sows seeds of distrust.”
“I’m two steps away from cutting out your tongue and force-feeding it to that bastard,” Odin warned, motioning to the man who was still a sobbing mess on the floor. He rolled his eyes. “Deal with that.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Yule gave him a mock solute and then turned back to the prisoner, slipping a switchblade from his left pocket as he ambled toward him.
Not caring enough to stick around to watch the show, Odin exited the room and made his way across the warehouse toward the opposite side where he’d seen Jita lead Hunter. There were sections in the Storeroom, built to keep multiple prisoners at once, and though most were filled, it was obvious Jita had a specific location in mind.
The Counselor hadn’t been here when they’d arrived, otherwise, he would have come to greet his Dominus, which meant he must have only recently shown up. Admittedly, Odin was more than a bit curious about what he’d brought along with him, especially since he was so certain it would be helpful for Hunter.
He wasn’t expecting what he found when he finally made it to the corner room where Jita and Hunter were, though, and soon as he spotted the man tied up and hanging from the ceiling by his wrists he moved closer to his Huntsman’s side.
First, Isa’s underboss, was gagged but not blindfolded, and he glared wildly out at them. His wrists had been bound by metal and attached to a pulley above him, given just enough length that his toes still touched the ground.
The position wasn’t too different from the one they’d put Hunter in, and Odin found his hands fisting at his sides from just thinking about it.
“Do you know what truly irks me?” Jita said, tipping his head to Odin as he adjusted a set of black plastic gloves over his hands, making sure to tuck the shiny end of his diamond-crusted multi-slate beneath the end of the latex. “The chain of command. I’m the Counselor to the Snow family, a reputable position, no?”
“Agreed,” Odin opted to play, curious about where this was going.
