Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,77

hospital you’re in and then send in the troops.”

Once again, there was a bitter edge in my voice, and Mo tsked. “You know he’s not that stupid.”

“I thought I knew him. I can’t help but wonder if that was ever really true.”

She reached across and squeezed my free hand. “No matter what else he does, no matter how badly darkness has stained him, he is your twin, and I do not for one second believe he can or will cast that aside lightly. Not without great cause, at any rate.”

“You raised him. That should have held some weight, too.”

“You shared a womb. I did not.”

I laughed, as she no doubt intended. “The way things are panning out, that possibility wouldn’t actually have surprised me.”

“Only Mryddin has the reverse life gene; even then, he only regresses to a certain point before his life clock ticks forward again.”

I studied her for a second, uncertain as to whether she was being serious or not. The mischievousness in her expression suggested not, but she did have a long habit of hiding truths in outlandish statements.

“Really?”

She nodded and airily waved her fork. “It’s his incubus heritage; it does weird things to the genes. It’s also what allows him to hibernate for centuries on end.”

“Huh.” I picked up a dumpling and munched on it. “Are you going to start aging backward anytime soon?”

She chuckled. “Definitely not. I’m stuck with this face and body until death eventually claims me.”

Given she could only die of unnatural causes, I was praying death kept her grimy claws away until well after she’d claimed me—which hopefully wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Or, at least, not until I got some Blackbird action.

I finished my meal, then tossed the paper plate into the bin. I half thought about grabbing a shower to delay calling Max a little bit longer but decided against it. I might just need to wash the anger and sense of betrayal away afterward.

“It’ll be all right,” Mo said softly.

It would never be all right, and we both knew it. I sucked in a breath and then made the call.

“Gwen,” he said, voice warm and a touch surprised. “This is an unexpected pleasure—or has something gone wrong yet again?”

Yes, it has, asshole, and you know it. I sucked in another breath and said, “Thought you’d like to know that Mo and I were attacked this afternoon. We both ended up in hospital.”

He swore vehemently. Angrily. It sounded so real, so unpracticed and genuine that for a moment, uncertainty stirred. But only for a moment. He’d been lying to us for a long time now and was no doubt well practiced in producing the necessary emotions on cue.

“Are you okay?” he asked eventually.

You. Not Mo. You. I wanted to scream and rant at him, but I somehow held it back.

“Yes,” I said, somehow managing to sound normal. “Concussed and a little bruised, but otherwise, okay. We were damn lucky, though.”

“You want me to come home? At the very least, I can keep you both supplied with tea and chocolate until you’re both better.”

Once again, he sounded so genuine—so concerned—that tears stung my eyes. Damn it, Max, I wanted to scream, I know. I just need to know why. But I didn’t. Play the game. Find the hydra’s minor heads first …

“We won’t be home for a day or so,” I said. “Mo’s been ordered to rest up, so we’re going to hide out and take it easy.”

“All the more reason for me to be with you.”

This time the concern in his voice was edged with deep anger, but I had a suspicion it wasn’t aimed at us. It might have been caused by his troops missing their kill shot, but instinct suggested that wasn’t the case. Did that mean Mo’s guess was right? Had this action been taken without his knowledge or consent?

“As much as I’d like nothing more than to finally have you play errand boy, it’s too much of a risk.” But not for the reasons he’d undoubtedly think.

“And one I’m willing to take. Damn it, Gwen, you’ve spent plenty of time looking out for me after my various misadventures—”

“Misadventures? That’s putting it a little mildly, isn’t it?”

“Depends on your definition,” he said, laughter in his voice.

“We had thugs pounding on our door at midnight because you’d done a sleight-of-hand car deal—”

“Which was nothing more than a misunderstanding.”

“What about the irate woman who threatened to cut your nuts off because you sold her a strip of land that you didn’t actually