four days to find them, and you can have one of them instead of Rufus. One of the people really responsible for the slaughter of yours.”
Phin went completely still, his eyes fixed somewhere below my chin. He blinked. Looked up. “You’d defy your superiors for this?”
“They may run this operation, but they’re not my superiors. They turned on me without giving me a chance. They killed your people out of spite. They’ve sat up in their ivory tower, anonymous, for too goddamned long. It’s time to take some fucking responsibility for all the shit they’ve stirred up.”
He nodded once, a sharp tilt down and up. “All right, then. Monday.”
“Monday.”
We shook hands, sealing our second bargain in as many hours. This one, though, I wasn’t at all sure I could pull off.
Chapter Four
9:16 A.M.
A white curtain was drawn around his bed, offering privacy from anyone passing by in the corridor. My shoes squeaked on the shiny linoleum floor, announcing my presence long before I reached the edge of the curtain. Wyatt had agreed to let me go in alone.
Rufus lay with his head tilted toward the room’s single window and a view of the Anjean River’s dark, slow-moving water. His shoulder and chest were still bandaged from the old gunshot wounds. New bandages covered his right hand and forearm. Ointment glistened on his neck and left cheek, a protective coating for the angry, blistered burns there.
His head listed toward me. He blinked several times—his only show of surprise at my presence. “Gina said you were alive,” he said, hoarse. “Don’t know why I didn’t believe her until now.”
“Because you’re the kind of guy who believes only what’s in front of him,” I said.
“Am I that transparent?”
“It’s a pretty common trait among Handlers.”
He waved his left hand above his chest, trailing an IV tube and several other wires. “So, how do I look?”
“Like a guy who’s really hard to kill,” I said.
“I’m sure the Assembly will be more creative in their methods.”
I grunted.
He noticed. “I guess you’ve talked to Gina.”
“Yeah, to Gina and Amalie and that Jenner guy,” I said. “What the hell is he anyway?”
“Probably a lawyer.”
I snorted. “I meant socially. He seems like a were, which makes sense if he speaks for the Assembly, but I don’t think he’s from any of the Clans I know.”
“You think were-sharks exist this far from the ocean?”
“I doubt it,” I replied, smiling.
He inhaled, held it several seconds, then blew hard through his mouth. “I guess I deserve this.”
I bristled and took a few steps closer to the bed. “How do you figure?”
“I’ve done some amazingly shitty things in my lifetime, Evy. You’d never believe it. Feels like it’s finally my time to pay up, is all.”
“What gives the Assembly the right to tell you what the price is?”
He shrugged his right shoulder, winced. “If not them, then someone else. You know, when we first started out, Wyatt and I hated each other? Despised, as a matter of fact. We couldn’t agree on anything, much less how the Triads should be run.”
“So what changed?”
“You mean he likes me?” Rufus asked, completely deadpan.
It earned him another smile. “I think he tolerates you like he tolerates me.”
“He loves you.”
“Christ, will people stop saying that like I don’t know?” I paced to the other side of the bed near the window. A flock of birds, too far away to identify, flew in formation down the length of the river. Free. “Do you know how much easier things would be if he didn’t?”
“Sure,” he said. “For one thing, you’d be dead.”
“See? Easy.”
“Since when do you like to do things the easy way?”
The birds changed direction without warning, swooping a hard left and disappearing into the trees that lined the east bank of the river. I watched, but they didn’t emerge. Rufus was right, and that annoyed me no end. Not that I wanted to corner
Phin went completely still, his eyes fixed somewhere below my chin. He blinked. Looked up. “You’d defy your superiors for this?”
“They may run this operation, but they’re not my superiors. They turned on me without giving me a chance. They killed your people out of spite. They’ve sat up in their ivory tower, anonymous, for too goddamned long. It’s time to take some fucking responsibility for all the shit they’ve stirred up.”
He nodded once, a sharp tilt down and up. “All right, then. Monday.”
“Monday.”
We shook hands, sealing our second bargain in as many hours. This one, though, I wasn’t at all sure I could pull off.
Chapter Four
9:16 A.M.
A white curtain was drawn around his bed, offering privacy from anyone passing by in the corridor. My shoes squeaked on the shiny linoleum floor, announcing my presence long before I reached the edge of the curtain. Wyatt had agreed to let me go in alone.
Rufus lay with his head tilted toward the room’s single window and a view of the Anjean River’s dark, slow-moving water. His shoulder and chest were still bandaged from the old gunshot wounds. New bandages covered his right hand and forearm. Ointment glistened on his neck and left cheek, a protective coating for the angry, blistered burns there.
His head listed toward me. He blinked several times—his only show of surprise at my presence. “Gina said you were alive,” he said, hoarse. “Don’t know why I didn’t believe her until now.”
“Because you’re the kind of guy who believes only what’s in front of him,” I said.
“Am I that transparent?”
“It’s a pretty common trait among Handlers.”
He waved his left hand above his chest, trailing an IV tube and several other wires. “So, how do I look?”
“Like a guy who’s really hard to kill,” I said.
“I’m sure the Assembly will be more creative in their methods.”
I grunted.
He noticed. “I guess you’ve talked to Gina.”
“Yeah, to Gina and Amalie and that Jenner guy,” I said. “What the hell is he anyway?”
“Probably a lawyer.”
I snorted. “I meant socially. He seems like a were, which makes sense if he speaks for the Assembly, but I don’t think he’s from any of the Clans I know.”
“You think were-sharks exist this far from the ocean?”
“I doubt it,” I replied, smiling.
He inhaled, held it several seconds, then blew hard through his mouth. “I guess I deserve this.”
I bristled and took a few steps closer to the bed. “How do you figure?”
“I’ve done some amazingly shitty things in my lifetime, Evy. You’d never believe it. Feels like it’s finally my time to pay up, is all.”
“What gives the Assembly the right to tell you what the price is?”
He shrugged his right shoulder, winced. “If not them, then someone else. You know, when we first started out, Wyatt and I hated each other? Despised, as a matter of fact. We couldn’t agree on anything, much less how the Triads should be run.”
“So what changed?”
“You mean he likes me?” Rufus asked, completely deadpan.
It earned him another smile. “I think he tolerates you like he tolerates me.”
“He loves you.”
“Christ, will people stop saying that like I don’t know?” I paced to the other side of the bed near the window. A flock of birds, too far away to identify, flew in formation down the length of the river. Free. “Do you know how much easier things would be if he didn’t?”
“Sure,” he said. “For one thing, you’d be dead.”
“See? Easy.”
“Since when do you like to do things the easy way?”
The birds changed direction without warning, swooping a hard left and disappearing into the trees that lined the east bank of the river. I watched, but they didn’t emerge. Rufus was right, and that annoyed me no end. Not that I wanted to corner
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