you didn’t venture out tonight. Some guests coming in tonight might be very keen on knowing you two are here. Guess there is a high bounty for you both.”
Warwick’s head dropped in understanding, the space between his eyes wrinkling. “Thank her again for us.”
Rosie dipped her head and shut the door.
“Guess we should be honored we already have bounties on our heads.” I rubbed my arms, a chill running down my skin. Spending all day recovering in this place made me forget about what was going on outside these walls.
“Yeah, when I went out earlier, the streets were swarming with fae soldiers.”
“Many of us escaped last night, right? There must be a lot of criminals they want to recapture.”
Warwick huffed, turning his back to me. He pulled out the items in the bag, and the smell of noodles and sauce curled in my nose, my stomach clenching with hunger pains.
“They are only after us.”
“Us?” I repeated. “Why just us?”
Silence.
“Where did you go today?”
“Got rid of the bike,” he said, opening one of the cartons and sniffing.
“It took you all day?”
“No.” Warwick turned around, handing me a carton of noodles, my mouth watering at the container of pad thai, forgetting everything else.
“Oh gods, this looks so good.” Not waiting for him to hand me a utensil, I scooped up the noodles, dumping them into my mouth, half of them hanging out, dripping down my chin.
“Go slow.” He tossed a fork on the bed next to me. “Your stomach is not used to a lot of food, and it will retaliate if you try to stuff it too fast. Believe me.”
I heard him, but the taste of the delicious noodles spurred me to eat more. It felt like years since I had proper food.
“I warned you.” He grabbed a new palinka bottle out of the bag, his carton in the other, and fell back into the chair, digging into his meal.
“Shit, this is so good.” I moaned, thinking I would actually orgasm right there. His gaze drew up to mine, his lids narrowed. “What?”
He grabbed the liquor, pouring it down his throat until it was a quarter gone.
“Jesus. Who is the one who needs to slow down?” I stuffed more food into my mouth, another groan escaping my lips.
He muttered so low I couldn’t hear him and shifted in his chair like he was uncomfortable.
“Why do you think they are only after us?” I garbled through the food in my mouth, getting another huge bite ready.
“I just know.” He rammed a full fork into his mouth.
“What else did you have to do earlier?”
He continued to eat, not answering me. This seemed to be the theme tonight. Switching tactics, I went back to the topic he seemed open to.
“Why did you say you used to be a half-breed? That doesn’t make sense.”
He stabbed at his noodles, taking a deep exhale. “I died, and when I came back, I was different.”
“Different? How?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Try. My human brain will attempt to keep up.” I rubbed my stomach, feeling it gurgle.
“Just different. Can’t really explain it.”
“Wow, you’re right, I will need it dumbed down for me.”
He shot me a look, then turned back to the window. Darkness was creeping into the room. The activity in the street and in Kitty’s was picking up, music and voices flittering through the thin walls and windows. This seedy part of the city was coming to life.
The wall he kept slamming between us like a drawbridge had gone up again. I knew when I was losing a battle.
“Last question tonight.” I moved, my stomach squeezing with discomfort, nausea flooding over my tongue. “What was the reason you got locked up in Halalhaz?”
The side of his lips pulled up as he leaned his head back in the chair. For some reason, a spike of fear licked at the back of my neck.
“Repayment.”
“And that means?”
“I tracked down all the people who had killed me…one being the fae king’s right-hand man. In the end, he fell just the same as the rest. They got to feel everything I felt.”
“You did the same back to them?” I sucked in, the wavy sensation in my stomach slouching more. Stabbed, shot, gutted, burned, and a broken neck.
“And strung them all up as a warning.” His eyes burrowed into mine as if he was seeing if I’d run from the room.
I didn’t. “It took you twenty years?”
“No, it took me five. It took the guards twelve to track me down.”