The person was slight with a flicker of white hair appearing from under her black cloak. But instead of a face… was a black mask.
“Please,” he croaked.
“No, dear boy,” a woman trilled.
Then, she brought her face, covered by a black mask, close to his and stabbed him in the heart.
He had just wanted to see the sea one more time… and now, he never would.
14
The Dealer
Kerrigan strode into the Wastes, sweeping the hood of Fordham’s cloak off her red hair. She was hardly inconspicuous today. Normally, she wanted so desperately to blend in here, to belong. But today, she needed to talk to Clover and knock some sense into her.
But attracting attention in the Wastes was dangerous. And she was attracting a lot of attention.
“Hey, baby, you want to go a round?” a male Fae asked, adjusting his crotch for emphasis. As if she wasn’t aware that he wasn’t talking about a fight in the Dragon Ring.
She rolled her eyes and kept walking.
He followed her when she didn’t reply. “What? Think you’re too good for me?”
Kerrigan almost laughed. “Yes.”
Then, she whipped up an easy wall of air between them and continued forward through the gambling hall. She knew where Clover would be after what had happened. She would want the familiar, and there was nothing more familiar to Clover than the sound of the Dragons Up tables.
Unsurprisingly, Kerrigan found her in front of a cheap tankard of ale, holding a loch cigarette between her fingers and laughing with a handful of regulars.
“Red!” Clover cried as she saw her approaching.
Kerrigan’s fury topped out, and she threw the punch before she could stop herself.
Clover toppled off her barstool, landing in a heap on the sticky floor of the gambling hall. “What the…”
“What in the gods’ name were you thinking?” she shouted.
The gaggle of regulars went deathly quiet. In fact, much of the area surrounding their fight had gone silent. Everyone waiting and watching to see if the fight would turn into a brawl.
Clover clutched her cheek as she came slowly to her feet. “What was that for, Red?”
“You know exactly what that was for.”
She clenched and unclenched her fist. Clover looked at it carefully. She knew that she couldn’t take Kerrigan in a fight. Clover might have a height advantage, but Kerrigan had more muscle, and she had magic.
Clover gulped as she realized the extent of Kerrigan’s anger. “Why don’t you sit down and have a drink… on me?”
“I don’t want a drink. I want answers.”
“Then, perhaps,” a voice said, stepping in silkily, “we should take this upstairs.”
Kerrigan glared at Dozan. How did he just materialize out of nothing? Had he known the second she stalked into the Wastes that she was here? Or was it before then, when she’d left the ceremony? How far did his little spies go?
“Dozan,” Clover said, going pale. She bowed her head slightly. “Of course, we’ll follow you.”
Dozan’s gaze swept the room. “Nothing to see here. Continue.”
Just like that, the rope snapped. Everyone went back to their games and drinks and fondling. It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Kerrigan was still furious. And her fury went deeper than how stupid Clover had been, but it was the only thing that she could fix.
Dozan arched an eyebrow at her. “Shall we?”
She huffed and then strode away. Upstairs meant Dozan’s office, and she had been there enough times to know the way. She didn’t want to sit back and wait for him to escort her. But he kept an easy pace with her anyway.
“This cloak,” he said for her ears only, “where did you get it?”
She glared at him. “I borrowed it.”
“It has the sigil of the House of Shadows on it.”
“So?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. If he was going to ask questions, she would make him work for his answers.
But Dozan gave nothing away. Just released the scrap of material. She didn’t look back as she climbed the stairs that led to the king of the Wastes’ residence.
A guard stood outside Dozan’s office and glared at her. But Dozan swept his hand to the side. The guard allowed the three of them to enter.
Kerrigan dropped into a chair as soon as they entered, but Clover hovered in the corner, as if she were waiting to get in trouble with a teacher in primary care.
“Have a seat, Clover,” Dozan said as he folded easily into a massive chair behind his equally massive desk.
Clover gulped and then took a small wooden chair across from Kerrigan. “Ker…