"Hey, Fang, you got a visitor."
He frowned at Dev's voice in his earpiece. "Vane or Fury?"
"Neither."
Fang set his bottle down as he frowned. The only other person he could think of would be Thorn, but Thorn didn't usually come in the front door.
His breath caught as a searing pain cut through his shoulder where Thorn's mark was.
What the hell?
Trying not to show the pain, he scanned the room until his eyes fell on Varyk. He didn't know how he knew that, but the name popped into his head like a beacon.
Dressed in a light linen suit and with his hair immaculately combed, he looked as out of place here as Fang would on a billionaire's fancy boat.
Pulling the earpiece out and turning it off, Fang met him in the middle of the bar. "What are you doing here?"
Before Varyk could answer, Sasha was there, looking like he was staring at a ghost.
"You survived?"
Varyk's gaze went to him slowly. Unlike Sasha, his features were completely blank. "Betrayer." There was enough venom in that one word to supply an army of cobras.
Sasha let out a deep, vicious growl. "I betrayed no one."
By Varyk's face it was obvious he didn't believe a word of it. "And yet you survived while the rest of us were hunted into the ground."
"For a dead man, you look awfully hale."
"There's more irony in that statement than you realize, punk. Now get out of my face before I decide killing you is more important to me than Savitar's bullshit laws."
Sasha started away, then stopped. "Lera made her decision based solely on my age."
"And my brother was younger than you and still he was slaughtered. Get out of my presence, Sasha, or lose your life."
Sasha left.
Fang didn't speak until the wolf was gone. "What is up with you two?"
Varyk, obviously one who didn't like to elaborate, shrugged it off. "Forgotten history. You, however, are my present."
"Oh, goody. Do I have to wear a bow?"
His face unamused, Varyk pulled out a scrap of cloth. "Recognize the scent?"
Fang caught the whiff even before he put it to his nose. The stench was unmistakable and it made him see red. "Misery."
He nodded. "She broke out. I can't find her. I've alerted Wynter and now I'm letting you know. I'm sure she's in someone else's body. The question is . . . whose. Keep your eyes open since she has a hard-on for you. We're hoping she makes contact or screws up so that we can find her and send her back to where she belongs."
"I'll be watching for her."
Varyk inclined his head before he turned and left the bar. Fang put his headphone back on and switched it on just as Varyk paused at the door where Dev was standing.
"I feel the need for a bearskin rug."
Dev scoffed. "Funny. I was thinking a wolf's head would look good on my mantel."
"Watch your back, bear."