Page 65 of The Enemy to the Living
Vlad sighs. “I know.” He does. He can be as ruthless as the Huntsman, though, when he wants to be. “We cannot even be certain they are keeping his wolf in there. Or that they have kept it at all.”
“Why did they take it, do you think?”
“I am not certain,” Vlad replies, shrugging one shoulder. “Perhaps just for the fun of it. Perhaps Bryn made a deal he could not keep.”
I try to keep my expression as still as possible, staring at the alley entrance again. Quinn’s done that, too. Without him able to tell me, I don’t know how long he has left before his bargain will come to fruition.
I have no doubt the twins will try to trick him. They won’t have offered a deal they don’t think they can benefit from. But what’s the benefit of stealing wolves? Deacon’s pack are more angry than scared. Lone wolves are more panicked, but their nature means they’re inherently wary, so I’m surprised Bryn came here at all.
“Asher?” Vlad says.
“Hm?”
“Do you know something about this? Something you are not sharing?”
“Nothing important,” I reply. Half true. Quinn isn’t important to him, and my speculations are no good without evidence. Still… “I think there might be some purpose behind this.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Feels too neat.”
“They took his wolf and dropped him in front of a pack. It smacks of theatrics.”
“Yeah, all fae are theatrical. It’s just…” I make a frustrated sound in the back of my throat. “I don’t know. Maurice should probably talk to Sparrow.”
They were there, after all. Maybe they have a different view.
“All right.”
We’re mostly silent for the rest of the night, though I check my phone every few minutes until I worry about the battery dying. Quinn doesn’t call back. He doesn’t come to Mischief & Mayhem, either, so all I can hope is that he’s finally getting some much-needed rest.
“We should head back,” Vlad says as dawn creeps closer. “Paxton can come and watch for the day, see if they leave.”
We haven’t seen Celyn and Sorrel at all. I’m not convinced they do leave; they’ve clearly warped the inside of the pub, so they may not need to.
“Send him to me,” I reply. “I’ll wait here.”
Vlad studies me. “Get some rest once he arrives.”
“I will.”
“I mean it, Asher.”
I quirk my lips, almost a smile. “I will.”
Vlad leaves with a wave and I settle back against the bricks. My blessing has been quiet tonight, bolstered by Vlad’s, but once I’m alone, it tugs as though wanting me to go somewhere else.
Not inside the pub, at least. I desperately want to see if Bryn’s wolf is there, but I don’t know where I’d begin the search, and if I get caught—
I can’t fight them both. I don’t know that I’d beat just one of them. And truth be told, I don’t know what I’m looking for.
The sun is bright by the time Paxton arrives. He settles easily next to me, blessing falling over us both like a second skin.
“All quiet?” he asks.
“Boring,” I reply, and when he smiles, I smile back.
“What am I looking for, then?”
