Basil (The Brinnswick Chronicles #3) - Michele Notaro Page 0,20
on the left side, framed his pretty face and brought out those dark eyes. He had a menacing feel about him when you first laid eyes on him, but when you got up close, you could tell that was only a front and that he actually seemed to care about people.
But he was a witch, so even if he wasn’t one hundred percent evil, he still had it in him. Witches weren’t good. They were evil bastards that manipulated you and ended up hurting everything you loved. They always did.
“Grim,” Ellwood said as he made it to my table and sat across from me.
“Ellwood.” I leaned on my elbows and said, “I know it was you.”
He actually winced and stared at me with something that looked like an apology, like he was ashamed of himself. But witches didn’t do shame, so it must’ve been fake. He said, “I’m really sorry, Grim. I didn’t…”
“You didn’t, what? You didn’t mean to follow me home?”
He cringed. “No, I did, but I didn’t realize…”
I tapped the wooden table with my finger. “Listen to me. If you come near my daughter again, I will kill you.”
He didn’t even blink at that, he only nodded. “I know… I’m sorry I followed you, and I’m sorry I took so many of your bounties. I didn’t realize… it’s just, you’re always such an asshole, so I decided to be a jerk back, but if I’d known you had a kid you were taking care of, I never would’ve taken your bounties.”
I blinked at that, sifting through everything he said before I ground out, “I don’t need your charity, Ellwood.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t talking about charity. You took those people down, and I took them from you. You should’ve gotten the bounty for them, and I’m sorry I didn’t let you.”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at him, trying to figure out his angle. Was he just sayin’ all that to get me to let my guard down? Probably. But to what end? “What do ya want from me?”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean? I don’t want anything.”
“Everyone wants somethin’, witch. I’m just tryin’ to figure out your play.”
“I’m not… Mother of All, Grimsby, I’m not trying to get anything from you. I followed you because I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to hurt anyone with that damn hobgoblin venom. When I realized you were only trying to help those dwarves—”
“Half-dwarves,” I corrected, though I didn’t know why I cared.
He blinked at me, then slowly gave a nod. “Yeah, them. After that, I kept following you because I honestly thought you were bad news. I never meant to… I never wanted to make you feel unsafe in your own home.”
He actually sounded truthful, but for all I knew, he was a good actor. Still, some part of me wanted to believe him.
Basil pulled a pouch off his belt, and I tensed, waiting for attack, but all he did was pull out a bundle of money and said, “Here. All yours.”
“What the fuck do ya think you’re doin’?”
He sighed. “Helping make up for the things I took from you.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“So what? You need it, so take it.”
Every cell in my body tensed as anger overtook me. How dare he come in here, riding on his high horse, and throwing money at me. Who in the hell did he think he was? “I’m not takin’ your fuckin’ money.”
Basil jerked back at my anger. “Why not? I don’t need it and you do. Take it.”
“I’m not some charity case for you to throw money at to make yourself feel better. I don’t want it.”
“Grim, that’s not—”
“No!” I growled. “Take your fuckin’ money and shove it up your ass.”
His eyes narrowed in anger, and he said with clenched teeth, “Fine, asshole. Have it your way.”
I needed this to be done, I needed to get away from this witch that was driving me mad in more ways than one. I leaned forward again. “If you ever come near my daughter again, I will end you, witch.”
He sighed. “Whatever, hunter. I’m not going to hurt your daughter. I know you hate me or whatever, but I’d think that by now you’d know I don’t hurt innocents. I try to help everyone I can—even you, asshole.” He stood up and slammed his hands on the table. “You’d think after two months, you’d know that. Especially since you… you feel it, don’t you? This…” He waved between