his direction.
“So who are these people who want to meet me now?” I asked. He was only about a foot ahead of me, which made it slightly easier to ask a question and not tell the entire street at the same time.
“I’ve got some friends and colleagues that have similar interests.”
“And these people you call friends and colleagues, they like you too? It’s a mutual thing?” This was sounding bad again.
He let out a soft laugh. “Yes, they like me too.”
Had he just laughed? Up until this moment, I hadn’t realized he was capable.
We only walked another block or so before he opened the door to what appeared to be a dark taproom. It hadn’t had a fancy sign on the door, and there were drawn shades over the windows that made it look like it was nighttime inside instead of the middle of the morning.
The small crowd, some at the bar sipping on tankards and others sitting at the table, all turned to stare at us as we walked in.
We stopped in the middle of the room.
“Everyone, this is Tippi.” Hawk nodded in my direction.
I waved at them.
Unlike the clamoring group that had tripped over themselves to pretend to greet me when I’d been with Raydam, this group barely budged. Maybe Hawk did have some friends here. These were the people I could see him being friends with. They all had a rough look about them, from the woman sitting at the table watching me over her mug, with narrowed eyes and a spiky red mohawk, to the guy leaning on the bar, glaring at me as if I couldn’t possibly be the Tippi he’d expected. Yeah, this was making more and more sense. These might’ve actually been his friends.
Hawk had said they had “similar interests.” Did that mean they didn’t like the thing in the forest either? I’d have to ask later. Right now, silence seemed to be the thing.
If I was going to join a side, this would be the side I’d pick. None of the frills of the group Raydam ran with. These people weren’t here to socialize and tell each other how wonderful they were. They didn’t even look like they wanted to be here with each other. They came because they had to get a job done. These were more my type of people.
A familiar face finally appeared from the back. Oscar walked toward us with two drinks in his hands.
“They’re a little skeptical about you being able to deliver,” he said as he got close.
“Yeah, so am I,” I said, accepting the offered drink and then taking a healthy chug from it.
“I told them I’d bring her by. I brought her,” Hawk said, turning to me and tilting his head toward the door.
“You’re leaving?” Oscar asked, his brow furrowing as if he couldn’t understand why we’d split the party early.
“Yes,” Hawk said. “I don’t care if they don’t believe. I do, and I don’t need to convince anyone. They know where to find me.” He turned and walked to the door.
Dammit. Hawk was doing that thing that made me feel all special and gooey inside, like an under-baked brownie. This was not good.
I handed the drink back to Oscar. “Thanks. It was tasty.”
I followed Hawk out the door, afraid to be left alone with these people, even if they were on our side.
Hawk didn’t say anything, but our gap had narrowed to under a foot. Whatever his people had thought of me, it hadn’t scared him.
“You know, they’re probably right,” I said, in case he needed a reminder of the possibility. Plus, I needed some skepticism to harden up my mushy center.
“They’re not.”
Dammit, he was a tough sell.
27
“There’s nothing for me?” A guy with the platinum-blond hair sat slumped in front of Zab.
Zab’s forearms were on his desk as he leaned forward, eyes heavy-lidded. “I’m sorry, man. It’s just you have a very small skill set, at least what you’re allowed to use. If you hadn’t signed a non-compete clause, things would be a lot different.”
The blond nodded as he rubbed his palm over his jeans. “What do you think would happen if I broke it?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, and I won’t help you do that. We can’t handle that kind of heat here.” Zab leaned back.
The blond deflated again, rubbing his chin. “I know you’re right. I’ve heard the stories. You know, they all said do it. It’s a gold rush in Xest. You’ll live the good life.” He