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“What is that?” Bryce asked quietly.
Nesta’s eyes gleamed like a cat’s in the dimness. “Just the shadows.”
10
Tharion knew this wouldn’t end well. Not with Flynn and Dec pointing guns at the Hind, Marc’s claws gleaming and poised to shred flesh. Not with Holstrom crouched, teeth bared, angled in front of Sigrid. The Fendyr heir glanced between them all with predatory assessment, understanding a threat at hand but not what it was.
Well, fuck. That left him as the voice of reason.
So Tharion did what he did best: dragged up the smile of the person he’d once been and sauntered over to Tristan Flynn.
He laid a claw-tipped finger on the barrel of the Fae lord’s gun, pushing it down. “Take a breath,” Tharion crooned. “We’re all on neutral territory. Even Lidia wouldn’t be so stupid as to harm you here.” He winked at the Hind, though his insides trembled. “Would you?”
The Hind’s face held no emotion, but her chin dipped.
Sigrid stepped forward. “Who are you?”
The Hind’s golden eyes swept over the female wolf. Her nostrils flared delicately. “I think,” she murmured quietly, “the better question is who are you?”
“None of your business,” Ithan cut in.
The Hind gave him a look that said she had her suspicions but it wasn’t her priority—yet. She said to the Fendyr heir, “A moment of privacy, if you will.”
Holstrom growled. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of her.”
Declan said quietly, “Holstrom, maybe she can … go join the dragon for a minute.”
Ithan turned outraged eyes on Declan but then seemed to relent. If this was about Ruhn, if the only way for the Hind to talk was to get Sigrid out of earshot …
Tharion chimed in, “Ari locked her door, so I’m pretty sure that means alone time.” He nodded to the door beside Ari’s. “But go ahead and take my room.”
Sigrid scoffed. “I’m not some pup to be ordered about—”
“Please,” Declan said with a helpless gesture. Marc again laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
There was a moment, then, when Ithan and Sigrid looked at each other—when Tharion could have sworn some sort of battle of wills passed between them.
Sigrid bristled, then spat, “Fine,” and stalked off toward Tharion’s bedroom.
The sprites zoomed after her, but the Hind halted them. “You three—wait.”
Sasa, Malana, and Rithi turned, wide eyes on the Hind. But she didn’t speak again until Sigrid had slammed the door to Tharion’s room. Perhaps a bit petulantly.
Tharion didn’t miss Ithan’s sigh.
The Hind glanced at her watch, likely calculating how much time remained until the Viper Queen returned, then said to Flynn and Dec, “I went looking for you two, but no one was at your … house.” Her tone dripped with enough disdain that it was clear what she thought of their house off Archer Street. “But I knew that Ketos had defected and come to the Meat Market for refuge—so I guessed you might be hiding here as well.”
“Guessed?” Declan demanded. “Or someone sold us out?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” the Hind said, crossing her arms. “You’re extremely predictable.”
“Well, you’re fucking wrong,” Flynn said, still not holstering his gun. “We’re not here to hide.”
Declan coughed, as if to say, This is what you choose to lie about? Marc hid a smile.
“I don’t care why you’re here,” the Hind said. “We don’t have much time. Ruhn’s life depends on you listening to me.”
“What the fuck have you done to Ruhn?” Flynn cut in.
