Outfoxed (The Fox Witch #1) - R.J. Blain Page 0,59

endorsements with Mansfield. They’re allowed to be in Asylum, but they have no true power with any of the ministers or influencers.”

“And you do?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re a bounty hunter.”

“On the side. Consider it an entertaining hobby. Your contract brought me into the Alley, but my position elsewhere, and my magic, makes me welcome among the powerful in most places. My mother is a force of nature, and only fools cross her. I’m not yet sure what I’m going to do about that bounty, but once I have your signature on an uncontested courtesan agreement, I’ll be able to crash any parties in the East and have a full claim on you. The only problem is if your sale is finalized in the East before I can crash the party should another bounty hunter get his or her hands on you. I’m looking into how I can counter that bounty altogether. The primary contact, unfortunately, is anonymous.”

“You don’t even know who is hiring you?”

“I don’t have a clue. We don’t usually care who is hiring us when there’s that much money on the line. Top-tier bounty hunters, such as myself, might even be paid bonuses if you sell well.”

“I do not find this at all amusing.”

“And you shouldn’t. It would be rather odd if you liked the idea of being sold off.”

“Yet you’re participating in it.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d just say yes if I suggested you marry me at my whim.”

I stared at him. “Are you saying uncontested courtesans are how useless people force somebody to marry them because their personalities are so shitty they can’t convince someone to fall in love with them properly?”

Sandro bowed his head and sighed. “Essentially, I am.”

“And parents are so convinced their children are so shitty as people they buy husbands and wives for them that might not be useless to help take over the family so the whole thing doesn’t fall apart?”

“I will pay you a great deal of money to tell that to my mother,” Sandro admitted. “But yes, essentially.”

“And the uncontested courtesans are supposed to be happy with being high-priced babysitters of useless rich people?”

“You have teeth, and I see you enjoy biting.”

What sort of world did Sandro live in when he wasn’t playing at being a hot as hell bounty hunter out for my head? “Were you expecting anything else from someone who has lived in the outskirts of Tulsa for years?”

“When you phrase it that way, I absolutely should not have expected anything else.”

“Are you always this much of an idiot or has the Alley finally gotten to you?”

He snorted. “Let’s go with a mix of both.”

“Well, I can’t fault you for going the uncontested courtesan route despite how disgusting that system is. The odds of me randomly agreeing to marry some stranger of a bounty hunter who is out for my living head is pretty close to zero.”

He lifted his head and raised a brow. “That is not a zero.”

“Yes. I am not blind, and rain-slicked is a good look on you. You clean up nice, but you’re even better when you’re dressed down and a little muddy,” I admitted. “Any smart woman has to consider the goods from all angles. You’re a decent candidate in the looks department. And you idiots are buying people based on their looks.”

“Actually, you’re valuable because you’re the only fox hybrid in your family, which means you’ve spontaneously developed a new form of magic. Since your discovery, most families with eligible male heirs have been interested in your bounty, although most are inquiring on how to participate in your auction. You might end up with a solo auction if you’re taken back to the East. First-generation foxes are difficult to find, most of them are men, and very few have your pedigree. Most families have been settling with second-generation foxes, especially if they’re also witches or mages.”

“You realize pedigree is generally worthless, right? My pedigree is not going to magically make your family better.” If anything, I viewed my pedigree as a black mark doomed to haunt me for all eternity.

“Now that your pedigree also includes the capability of disappearing for several years, your skills have risen above your parentage, although you’re considered to be an asset on that front. Should you somehow slip through my fingers and I haven’t been able to secure you here as mine, I fully intend on being the winner of your auction. I’m looking forward to many long years of fighting with you over my general worth.