Page 30 of City of the Lost
“I think my ears are broken, because I thought I heard you say hobo network.”
He looked up from his paper. “Oh, come on. You must have heard of the hobo network.” He looked to Taylem. “You know, right?”
Taylem nodded slowly. “The homeless see and hear it all,” he explained. “People walk past them, pay them no mind. They’re invisible. It’s a common theory that’s where Missy gets her intel and updates.”
Well, that was pure genius and made perfect sense. The homeless population was high in Southside. They had their own network, their own little world, and the Arcana acted as if they didn’t exist.
“So, we hit the mill tonight,” Tay said. He dropped his gaze to the hound. Anywhere but on me, it seemed.
Shit. This was what I’d been afraid of, this discomfort. It wasn’t how it was meant to be.
“It seems that your hunch was correct. He’s not going to hurt you,” Tay said.
The hound stood up and padded out of the room. The vibe in the kitchen was getting increasingly weird, and there was way too much testosterone floating about, so I followed. It headed back into the lounge, lay down in the patch of sunlight streaming in through the French windows, and closed its eyes.
Well, that was anticlimactic. Urgh. So many questions and no way of getting any answers. “Hey? You got a name?”
He cracked one eye open.
“I can’t just call you hound ... Or can I? Hound. Yeah. Okay, Hound, I’m gonna go run some errands. Catch you later.”
Back in the hallway, I bumped into Tay headed for the door.
“Are you off now?” Stupid question. Of course he was.
He kept his gaze on the exit. “I need to run to the warehouse and stock up on booze. I’ll be back tonight. Six p.m.”
Hell, no. We weren’t going to start down the weird-vibe route. “Tay, come on. What? You can’t even look at me now?”
As if with great effort, he transferred his gaze to my face. His pupils dilated and my breath caught in my throat as his pain hit me. My lungs felt tight and it was my turn to drop my gaze.
“Now who’s not looking?” he asked softly.
“Tay. I just want things to go back to the way they used to be.”
“I know you do. And they will, in time.” He lifted my chin with the crook of his index finger. The corner of his mouth lifted. “Love’s like that, Wila. It can take many forms, and if I can’t have you the way I want, then I’ll find another way to love you. I just need time.”
I nodded stiffly, my lips aching to say the words that would end this awkward phase, that would allow us to be together. But it would be a lie, and I’d end up hurting him tenfold. If I couldn’t offer him my heart and soul and my fidelity, then I didn’t deserve him.
The door closed softly behind him, and I turned away to come face to face with Azren.
“He’s in love with you,” Azren said shortly. “But you know that.”
“Yeah.”
His eyes narrowed. “And you love him.”
I flinched. “Not in the way he wants. I’m not wired that way.”
He gave me a pitying smile. “Like the Draconi females. They have many lovers at the same time. They are free and yet they are bound. Maybe that is what you need?” His gaze was intense, probing.
I held up a warning finger. “Don’t you dare go poking about in my head.”
He balked. “I gave you my word I wouldn’t.”
“Not unless your liege asked you to, right?” Agitation brought my bitch out to play. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”
He pressed his lips together and last night’s not so sexy dream came to mind. Valance’s face filled my mind’s eye, his lips twisting mockingly as he addressed his mother. There’d been a whip in my hand, ready to hurt him. No. Not my hand, Azren’s. And Elora’s voice had been issuing the commands. I shook my head. What the fuck was wrong with me?
