Page 39 of Forbidden

It was best not to keep her waiting for long, so he reluctantly peeled himself away from the bar and went to the half-hidden door in the back.

At the top of the stairs, her office door was closed. He knocked, and her voice rang out from within. Steeling himself, he opened it and stepped inside.

“You asked to see me?”

She looked exactly the same as last time, in skin-tight black clothing with blood-red lips. She stood, gesturing for him to sit in the leather chair across from her. The urge to recoil was strong, but he forced himself to close the distance between them and sit stiffly. There were halflings throughout the city who would hunt him and Ira down if she so much as snapped her fingers. He’d have to playthis cool—give her enough to sate her curiosity without putting Ira in danger. It would be a fine line to walk.

“Do you recall what I said at our last meeting?” she asked, strolling around her desk in her towering stilettos.

“Yes, I do.”

“I told you totell meif anything about the situation with Talon and his people had changed.” She stopped in front of him.

He didn’t raise his gaze. “I remember.”

“Thenwhy,” she grabbed him by the face, her nails digging into his jaw, “am I hearing from someoneother than youthat the holy men have got themselves some kind of base?” Her pearly white teeth were bared.

Wolf didn’t move, thinking fast. “It’s no secret that the humans are private investigators now. They’ve been looking for somewhere to do their work for a while. I didn’t really think a decrepit old building ranked very high on your list of priorities. The place is a dump, and they’re barely making ends meet.”

“Oh, you’ve seen it?” she simpered saccharinely, and he knew he’d fucked up. “Did you possibly go and visit with a holy man of your own?”

Wolf winced.

Lilith nodded, releasing his jaw and leaning back against the desk. “Tell me about him.”

Wolf struggled to suck down a breath that didn’t want to come. “He’s… just another holy man. Not even a paladin. He just worked for the guild.”

“What, like a pencil pusher?”

He nodded.

She smiled, but it set Wolf’s teeth on edge. “Why are youlying to me, Wolfie? You know I don’t like being lied to. And things always get so messy when I get angry.”

He gripped the edge of his seat hard. “I’m sorry. I—want to protect him.”

“Then tell me the truth.”

Wolf sighed. He had no choice. “He’s… They call him a prophet.”

“A prophet,” Lilith repeated gleefully. “Like, visions from the Big Guy?”

“Yeah.” He grimaced. “He means no harm. He doesn’t even know how to fight like the others. He just doesn’t want to go back to the guild.”

Her head tilted, the curtain of her dark hair swaying with the movement. He couldn’t interpret what the cold, calculating look in her eye meant. “Why?”

“They’re—not so good, as it turns out.”

Lilith barked out a cruel laugh. “No surprise there. The hypocrisy runs deep in those circles. Were they mean to him?” She affected a pout.

“Yes,” he said bluntly. “They tell their prophets to starve themselves for their visions. It’s unhealthy.”

“Why do you care?”

“I like him.” There was no point in denying it. She already knew Ira and Wolf shared a connection. He didn’t know what her informants had told her, but trying to lie again would only dig his hole deeper than it already was.

“Youlikehim,” she repeated.

It was dangerous to give her this kind of ammo against him, but he would protect Ira no matter what. “I do.”

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