Page 4 of The Goblin in the Sink Drain
“Cousins,” Liam said slowly, eyeing me like I had sprouted a tail.
“Introduce yourself.” Rían smacked him upside the head. “Idiot.”
“Hey.”Liam danced out of Rían’s impressive reach. “Ana already knows me.” He prodded his scalp with two fingers, mostly as an excuse to restyle his hair. “I’ve spent more time with her than you.”
As Rían unleashed a low rumble that filled the space, I clued in to what Liam meant and stifled a gasp.
“Bowie?”I jabbed the Rían lookalike in the cheek with my finger. “This is the real you?”
For the past year, the Walsh clan spy before me had worn the face of my least favorite Sartori packmate, Bowie Ferguson. The Walshes concealed Bowie’s death in a fatal street race so this guy could assume his identity, with help from a transformation spell woven by Fayne, and infiltrate the pack to keep tabs on my dad. And, I was sure, on me too.
This was my first look at him in his own skin, but I was too busy kicking myself in the butt to take in more than the basic details. I wouldn’t have recognized Liam’s earthy, faint sweetness with an undercurrent of petrichor as Bowie, not without his usual wolfy musk, but I should have smelled him before he called out his greeting. That I hadn’t, even with a breeze at his back, served as a reminder of how reckless it was to mute my senses while among strangers.
Most of the time, I dulled them to avoid overstimulation from the barking, whining, and general chaos of working with animals in close quarters. I missed a few things that way, but I had never been allowed to rely on myself for protection, so I hadn’t seen the point in suffering eight hours a day for nothing.
But, until I made my choice, Sartori or Walsh, I couldn’t afford to miss a thing.
“Damn it.” Liam cringed up at Rían. “I’m so used to being Bowie, I forgot I was me.”
“Yeah.” Rían pinched the bridge of his slightly crooked nose. “Hence the reminder.”
“Ana, forgive me.” Liam mimed a curtsy, holding up imaginary skirts, setting a thick vein throbbing in the center of Rían’s forehead. “I am the infamous Liam Walsh.” He peered up at me through his thick lashes. “Little cousin to Rían, big cousin to Goldie, favorite child to Gran, and maguri of the Walsh clan.”
Huh. I figured his inflated ego and swagger were to blame on his portrayal of Bowie. Apparently not.
“Nice to officially meet you, Liam.” I couldn’t help but smile at his antics. “I see the family resemblance.”
“Yeah.” He straightened with a wink. “Everyone says I’m a hotter, smarter, cleverer version of Rían.”
A long sigh parted Rían’s lips, and he shook his head, but real tension stiffened his shoulders.
Part of me wondered how often Liam was chosen over Rían to put that dent in his self-confidence. Rían had the title of magnus, which would make him a desirable mate, but he spoke freely about his betrothal. No hope of a future asMrs. Magnuswould cost him points with the ladies, but not every relationship was based on duty or love or the future. Plenty happened in the moment as a result of desire or loneliness.
And he had been alone for a long time.
So had I, for that matter.
“I meant Goldie.” I gestured toward the window, watching for Rían’s reaction from the corner of my eye. “You both strike me as agents of chaos.”
Hand scrubbing across his mouth, Rían failed at hiding his smile while Liam deflated on the spot.
Hard knocks on the front door tipped those same tempting lips into a frown. “I’ll be right back.”
Alone with Liam, I couldn’t shake the sense his appearance at my window was more than a coincidence.
“Maguri.” I found myself eager to fill the silence. “Is that the same rank as beta in a wolf pack?”
“Yes and no.” Perhaps sensing my unease, Liam used the open window as a chair and sat. “I’m second-in-command behind my cousin, but I’m also acting spymaster, a title I inherited from Gran, which is how I ended up in your neck of the woods.”
As thoroughly as she had fooled me, I could picture Fayne in the role. “Fayne is a remarkable woman.”
“You have no idea.” He linked his hands between his knees. “She raised us all…after…”
Dread carved a hollow in my stomach. “After…?”
“Our parents died.” His fingers clenched tighter. “I was already living with Gran, had been since I was ten, after my parents were killed by dragon hunters. Then my aunt and uncle…” He blew out a controlled breath. “Anyway, Rían, Goldie, and I are more like brothers and sister than cousins.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” And I was too afraid to ask for details, of learning Dad had been responsible.
