Page 39 of Villainess's Redemption
I chuckled, accepting a tankard of ale from our returning barmaid with a wink. “Patience, cousin. Our friend Gareth will show his true colors soon enough. We just need to give him enough rope to hang himself.”
“Are you sure about not telling Seb?” Noah chimed in.
“It’s his father who is one of the people we suspect. It’s not practical to involve him.”
I thought Noah would argue but he just nodded and went back to sipping his ale.
We nursed our ales in tense silence, the acrid liquid burning a path down my throat. I’d tasted better horse piss than this… whatever sewer water this was. The din below ebbed and flowed, punctuated by the occasional scream or crash of breaking furniture.
Below, Gareth had settled into a high-stakes game, tossing gold coins onto the table with drunken abandon. I watched, patient as a spider in its web.
Any time now.
As if on cue, a roar of outrage erupted from the far corner of the room. Gareth stood swaying, his face purple with rage as he glared at the dealer.
I leaned back, a predatory glint in my eye. “And so the rat enters the trap.”
Gareth’s luck, it seemed, had run dry. As the dealer raked in his last coin, the man’s face twisted in fury.
“You cheating bastard!” he roared, lunging across the table.
Chaos erupted. Gareth’s fists flew, connecting with the dealer’s jaw with a satisfying crunch. But he didn’t stop there. Blinded by rage and drink, he turned on the barmaid I had paid to steal his money and make it look like it was the dealer’s fault. Shit.
I straightened, all pretense of relaxation vanishing. “Lennox,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous.
“You cheating whore!” he bellowed, sending his table flying with a sweep of his arm. “I know you’re working with that dealer! Where’s my money?!”
The girl scrambled backward, terror etched on her face as Gareth advanced. “Please, m’lord! I didn’t do anything! I swear!”
My captain was already moving, shouldering his way through the crowd with efficient brutality. I followed, Noah close on my heels.
I watched as Gareth’s fist connected with the barmaid’s jaw, a sickening crunch echoing through the tavern. The sight ignited a familiar fire in my veins, one I usually kept carefully banked. Part of me - the part I rarely indulged - itched to teach this drunken fool a lesson he’d never forget. But that wasn’t why we were here.
Gareth had the girl by the hair, spittle flying as he screamed incoherently. The other patrons gave him a wide berth, unwilling to challenge a man of his status.
Cowards, the lot of them.
Lennox reached him first, his hands catching Gareth in an iron grip. “That’s enough,” he barked.
“Who dares to stop me? Do you know who I am?”
“That’s enough! You’re under arrest!” Lennox said, his voice ringing out with authority.
Gareth spun, his bloodshot eyes wild as he looked at him closely. Recognition dawned, followed swiftly by fear. But thefool recovered quickly, puffing out his chest in a pathetic display of bravado.
“No,” he slurred, stumbling backward. “You can’t – Lord Elyas will-”
I stepped forward, letting my hood fall back. Gareth’s face drained of color as he whispered, “Prince Anderic.”
“Lord Elyas,” I said, my smile widening and my voice cold as winter frost, “isn’t here.”
But before I could savor the moment, an irritatingly familiar voice cut through the tension like a knife.
“Stop.”
Twice in one week. It was getting tedious.
I turned as Ilyana pushed through the crowd, looking absurdly out of place in her fine gown. She moved with the grace of an ice queen, fury and determination etched onto her perfectly sculpted face. Those vivid green eyes of hers blazed with an intensity that would have cowed a lesser man. Her ever-present maid trailed in her wake like a shadow.
