Kyler's Justice (Assassins of Gravas Book 3) - N.J. Walters Page 0,14
The kiss had affected her as much as it had him. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead.
She finally looked up at him, a deep pink climbing up her cheekbones. “I need to…” She cleared her throat. “I need to work.” The knife she lifted shook, but she grabbed a bunch of carrots and began to prep them.
The door beckoned. Time to head back to his ship and regroup. This mission was tying him in knots. Something he couldn’t afford. To fail would bring shame on himself and his family line.
For as much as they would no longer recognize him, they and the king both knew from where he hailed. Honor was everything to a Gravasian warrior. To an assassin, it was unassailable.
For the king’s blade, it was titansteel.
One of the waitresses stuck her head in the doorway. Kyler turned away and pulled his hood up before she got a glimpse of his face. She looked from Etta to him and back again. “Ah, I know the kitchen is closed, but a regular wanted to know if you had a bowl of soup. Or anything really. He’s not picky.”
“If I do that, I’ll have more orders,” she griped. Etta swiped the back of her hand over her forehead, huffed out a breath, and went to the sink. She cleansed her hands and then ladled up a bowl of soup from a big pot on the back of the industrial cooker. “Here.” As the waitress came forward, she added a crusty roll.
The waitress sidled closer to Etta. “Everything okay in here?”
That was his cue to leave. Without a goodbye, he left the heat of the kitchen behind, but it was Etta’s warmth he missed. The further he got from her, the more the ice around his heart solidified until it was once again impenetrable. The outer layer might have melted, but there were many between it and the organ it protected.
Awareness flooded him, his senses coming back online. More than a few eyes were on him as he left Hell’s Gate and began the trek back to the docking station and his ship. Going into the kitchen with her had been a foolish thing to do. It had brought even more unwanted attention. Something he couldn’t afford.
Two sets of footsteps sounded behind him.
Maybe it hadn’t been such a bad move after all. Seemed it had shaken up a few people. Curious, he ducked into an alleyway and waited.
“You sure he went this way?” a male voice asked.
“Yes. And keep it down.”
The two men were almost to his location.
“Why are we following him?”
“Balthazar is paying us to make sure Etta don’t run off. Maybe she’s trying to convince this stranger to take her. We need to have a little talk with him.”
They passed by without even glancing into the alley. He slipped out behind them. “What do you want to talk about?” He kept his voice level and unthreatening. Information was what he needed most. And dead men didn’t talk.
The two of them whirled around and took a step back. They were almost identical in size, but that was the only thing they had in common. One had skin as dark as ebony. The other had pale-blue skin, probably a mixed race, partially Crebian and a paler skinned people.
The mixed-race male stepped forward. “You need to stay away from Etta.”
Kyler remained silent, knowing that would disconcert them. Having his features hidden, when added to his size, made people uncomfortable. And uncomfortable people tended to talk more.
“Don’t believe whatever sob story she weaves. She ain’t got money enough to pay you to take on Balthazar.”
“Who is Balthazar?” Better to play it dumb.
The other man’s mouth dropped. “You don’t know Balthazar? He’s Etta’s brother.”
“Half-brother,” the other corrected. “But he’s a right bastard. He’ll chase you to the ends of the universe if you take her.”
“Good to know.” And a possible way to draw the man out. If she was so desperate to be gone from here, she might jump at the chance, even though she suspected him of being her intruder.
When the men added nothing more, he walked around them and resumed the trek back to his ship. He had a lot to consider.
****
“Are you okay?” The worry in Sera’s voice snapped Etta out of her thoughts. She’d spent a very hot and restless night reliving the kiss with Ky. The heat from his mouth against hers, the languid way his tongue had dipped inside and explored.