Page 40 of Reluctant Rebel

When Sabre growled again and threw a shuriken, Mikhail simply sighed. A giggle drew his attention, and he locked his eyes with an amused Jinx.She’s breathtaking,he thought silently. He offered her a smile and returned his attention to the battling mercenaries.

Dendey was holding up the throwing star, its razor-sharp edges glinting in the filtered sunlight. “This is from Heath’s forge,” he noted. “He does good work.”

“The best,” Sabre agreed.

Dendey turned the shuriken over in his hand a few times before sighing. “It’s not a trap, okay? X is killing dragons. I want him dead just as much as you.”

“So you only care because he’s killingyourkind,” Sabre said scathingly.

Dendey looked at Sabre like she was stupid. “Of course.”

Sabre pointed at him. “You’re such a fucking prick.”

Dendey shrugged. “That’s really not the insult you think it is.” He pinned Mikhail with his gaze. “Look. There’s unrest. The people are losing faith in the line of Cerberus. What you do with the information is up to you. Look for the satyr Azim. He agreed to attend the top-secret meeting of minds.”

Dendey’s skin immediately began to ripple. His bones creaked and elongated, stretching his form into impossible new dimensions. His face contorted, jaw extending into a reptilian snout filled with razor-sharp teeth. Horns spiralled up from his brow, twisting into ivory spires. Massive leathery wings unfurled from his back, the membrane thin enough to see the delicate network of veins within. They stretched wider and wider, spanning twenty feet from tip to tip. His hands and feet morphed into powerful talons that looked wickedly sharp. Then Dendey flapped his wings and took to the sky, effortlessly soaring above the treetops.

Sabre took a few steps forward, bending to collect her throwing star from the forest floor. “Do we believe him?” she asked.

Though he loathed to do it, Mikhail nodded. “Yes. We believe him.”

16

“Ifound where Azim hangs out,” Sabre informed Mikhail just twenty-four hours later.

They were again in his private quarters because until he revealed himself, he couldn’t move freely around his own palace. Plus, there was the matter of a hellbitch nesting in his living room.

Sabre grinned, rubbing the round tummy of the lovely, dark female hellhound. Styx was currently out hunting for his lady with Brax in the forest. Brax had taken the news of impending hellpups well—after scolding an unrepentant Styx—and was now doing everything he could to ensure the mystery female was happy and healthy. That included informing his brother that Styx and his mate would be staying in the remains of his lounge for the foreseeable future. Mikhail had put up a token protest but allowed it.

The easy compliance worried Sabre a little. The old Mikhail would have told Brax where he could shove a pre-labouring hound—in the nicest way possible. She was concerned that his entire identity had been shattered when he became Hound, and he was now struggling to pick up the pieces. Although, shewaspleased to see how he was handling Jinx. The pair were still being stubborn, but she could see the cracks. In Mikhail, at least. His jealous reactions to Eric and Dendey had been inspiring. As far as she was concerned, her plan was working perfectly.

“That was fast,” Mikhail said, looking up from his book.

It was the same book Eric and Jinx had discovered. They’d all read it multiple times now, but Mikhail insisted on reading it again in case he missed something. He hadn’t.Theyhadn’t, Sabre knew. But she left him to it, for now.

“Yeah. Gage found him. He’s a frequent flyer at The Howling Moon,” she disclosed. “If you promise not to go anywhere without me, I’ll head over there and beat some answers out of him.”

“The Howling Moon is a dive,” Mikhail said, scrunching his nose up. “And I promise to stay here like a good little demon until you return. Brax will be back with some slaughtered animal soon anyway. Hopefully, I can prevent him from tossing it directly onto my priceless rugs this time.”

“Pregnant critters need sustenance,” Sabre pointed out, massaging the hound's pointy ears. “And The Howling Moon is more mid-level dive. Piece of cake.”

Mikhail grunted, setting the heavy tome aside. “Maybe Mercy would like to go?”

“Mercy?” Sabre frowned. “You think I need a torturer to accompany me? I haven’t gone soft just because I’m banging your brother.”

Mikhail winced. “Why do you feel the need to keep reminding me of that every hour? It gives me the icks. I know you are more than capable of torturing information out of someone,” he continued. “But you mentioned Mercy needed a job now that Carlisle’s dead.”

Sabre didn’t understand where the conversation was heading. “And you want him to be my partner or something?”

“I was thinking more like Royal Interrogator,” Mikhail revealed. “You know, since your actual title is Guardian and not Assassin.”

Sabre stood up very slowly. “You don’t want me to be an assassin anymore?”

Mikhail looked at her askance. “You stillwantto be an assassin?”

Sabre kept her mouth carefully shut, telling herself to think before she reacted. Mikhail wasn’t himself. And thoughshewas more herself than she had ever been, they had yet to discover how to be themselvestogether. “Iaman assassin, Mikhail. That isn’t going to change just because you’re back.”

Mikhail stared at her for a few charged seconds before jumping to his feet. “Damnit, I keep fucking up, don’t I?” He paced away in agitation. “I feel like I can’t get a single thing right since being back.”

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