Chapter Eleven
Despite the promisein Fin’s eyes throughout breakfast, I found my strength waning. I had enough time to grab the weapons the Captain brought for me and then hobble up to the bedroom Fin had prepared. Guards still lined the hallways, but they were fewer than when I’d first arrived, if the traipsing up and down the hallway while I’d tried to sleep was any sign.
The hallway outside my room was deserted. My door stood ajar, but it should have been closed.
I stretched my sides back and forth and wrapped my hand around the knife jutting from the edge of my boot. It wasn’t as if I was scared of being in Fin’s palace, but when Fin had yelled at me, he’d had a point. I couldn’t walk into anything blindly anymore and assume I’d come out on the other side alive.
It would seem almost dying twice in the same week had finally given me some perspective. Or, perhaps I never wanted Fin to have to escort me to the bathroom again in my lifetime.
I pushed the door open, scanning left and right as I revealed more of the room. A rustle came from near my bed, and I crept across the room towards the sound. In front of my bed, ruffling through the pockets of a leather jacket that looked like the one the surgical team cut off me, was a soldier. One I recognized.
Damn it.Why was it always the ones I trusted that betrayed me? I took the knife out and kept it tucked up along my wrist. He thrust my jacket across the bed in disgust.
He did the same to the rest of the clothes, not even noticing me standing behind him watching. When he finished with my belongings, he ripped the bedding out from under the mattress and tore the pillows out of their covers.
He huffed and cast the pillows to the floor. Finally, he spun around to where I stood in the middle of the room with a smile on my face.
“You know it’s customary to wait for an invitation before you rummage around a woman’s bed.”
His shoulders sank back, and by the look on his face, he knew I’d caught him. “Any chance I can talk my way out of this?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No, but you can help yourself. Tell me what you’re looking for.”
It wasn’t hard to figure out what he’d been hunting for, but he must not be very smart if he didn’t expect I’d locked it up the second I got here. Unless he thought I didn’t have a chance with my injuries.
His usually perfectly quaffed Captain America hair looked a little mussed today. Even his black-on-black uniform wasn’t quite up to the usual standard.
“Rough day?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t act like you know me. You don’t even know my name, so don’t pretend you care.”
“I never said I did. You just look a little flustered is all. We can chat about it, because you’re not walking out of here, no matter what you do.”
He assessed me, head to toe, and I could practically hear him weighing the odds of taking me on, and considering how injured I was.
My next step forced me to swallow my pride. I plucked that ever present bond between Fin and I. It probably didn’t matter since the man across from me wouldn’t be able to feel it. No doubt Fin already sensed my agitation and would come running any moment. Before that, I wanted to have a chat with my friend here, because once the Captain got hold of him... he wouldn’t be talking anymore.
“Are you working for Esteban then?”
The guard winced and closed his eyes, as if just the name pained him. “You shouldn’t say his name so casually.”
I chuckled. “The man has tried to kill me at least twice now. He’s also threatened to rape me so, I think we’re on a first name basis. Are you working for him voluntarily, or is he holding something over you?”
“If I said he forced me to do this, that I didn’t want to, would you believe me?”
“I’m not the one you’d need to convince. Now, if you ripped a hole in my brand-new jacket, well, then we might have a lengthier discussion.”
He turned to look at the clothing on the bed and it seemed to finally dawn on him that they were all new pieces, freshly washed and folded by Holly’s staff.
I grinned at him and said, “The surgical team cut everything off me when I got here. Even my favorite leather jacket.”
Panic entered his eyes. His feet shifted toward the door, and I waved my hand to catch his attention.
“We aren’t done talking. You can leave soon enough. What were you looking for?”
I sauntered toward the bed, which forced him around by the wardrobe. I kept my back to him, sat the knife on the bed, and nonchalantly folded my clothing back into a neat pile. When I finished, he still stood there, eyeing me, and then the door.
I faced him again, the knife back in hand, both arms behind my back. “You have nothing to say for yourself at all? How about an easier question? Were you spying on us the whole time, reporting back to your master whenever we scurried off on a mission?”
He narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring.
So that was a yes then. “While we’re on the topic, anything you can tell me in return for your straight up betrayal? Maybe provide me with a little leverage?”
Another long stare. I took that as a no. I wandered a little closer, and he scuttled backward. He passed the open doorway to bump against a table nestled against a couch.
“So you won’t tell me what you were looking for. You won’t admit you were spying. And you won’t give me any information about my enemy. Why should I keep you alive then?”
I struck something because he surged toward me and said, “You won’t kill me.”
I peered behind my shoulder and then back at him. “Who says I won’t kill you?”
“You’re not like these fae,” he said, as though the fae were the worst people in the world. “You don’t kill people. You’re a bounty hunter.”
The laugh bubbled out of me. “Kid, when have I ever said I don’t kill people? Do I enjoy it? No. But hey, you attack me, I’ll attack back, whatever happens... happens.”
“I’m not attacking you,” he said, clearly unsettled by the conversation as he moved from foot to foot like a toddler needing to pee.
I gave him one of my favorite, slightly unhinged smiles and flicked the knife up into my grip. “I don’t know. I’m injured, you’re armed and in my bedroom. It seems like you’re attacking to me.”
He blinked and scurried back into the table again, hands up. “Wait. Wait. Hold on a minute.”
I tossed the knife between my hands, spinning it back and forth. “Tell me what you were hunting for.”
With his eye on the knife, he stuttered, “I was supposed to find a watch. I checked your apartment, but it wasn’t there. Then I came here and, well, you caught me looking through your things.”
“How did you get into my place?”
“The landlord gave me a key. Remembered seeing my face. It was easy to convince him I needed to get something for you.”
I groaned. “I’m going to kill that little bastard. First Fin, and now you. At the very least, I need to move since your hands have been all over my stuff.”
Now he just looked put out. “I didn’t take anything.”
“You would have if you’d found what you were looking for. But my question now is, why you? You were here when I got here the first time, so that means you’ve been spying for a while. Maybe even sent in for that sole purpose. Are you a mage too?”
“No, the boss would have been able to sense it.”
I nodded, creeping closer to him. “And you’ve been reporting on what? Fin’s activities, or the Captain?”
A pulse through the bond told me Fin was on his way to me. I ignored it, focusing on the guard.
He shook his head at me. “No, it wasn’t like that. I was only supposed to keep watch. I was only given a job when I was needed.”
“Like now.”
He hung his head, and I strolled forward until only a few feet separated us. “Do you know anything about the watch? What it does? Why he wants it back?”
“No,” he said, defeat heavy in his tone. “I wasn’t told anything. Just to find it and bring it to him.”
That caught my interest. “Where and when were you supposed to give it to him?”
He squared his shoulders. “I’ll tell you if you let me walk out of here.”
If he hadn’t realized he wasn’t leaving this house again, he was dumber than I thought. “Sure, I’ll let you walk out this room and I won’t follow you, but only if you’re honest. And I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“How?”
“One of the little tricks I picked up as a bounty hunter.”
And one of the little tricks I suspected I possessed, thanks to the magic in my blood.
“I’m supposed to hand it off to him tonight.”
“Where?”
“Here. The contact was meant to meet me on the back lawn at midnight.”
Disappointment clogged my throat. Now who was being the idiot? Of course, Esteban wouldn’t come here.
“Thanks,” I said, still trying to play it cool. “Go ahead, out the door, like I promised.”
He stumbled toward the door, glancing back at me like I might change my mind at any minute. I smiled at him, and he picked up his pace, his gaze still locked onto me.
He walked right into the Captain who stood just on the other side of the doorframe.
I stalked forward, blocking him from returning to my room, effectively caging him in. With surprising speed, he spun toward me, knife already in his hand.
I dodged the first swipe, blocking his arm with my forearm, and brought my knife up and sliced across his midsection.
Pain splintered across my ribs and I clamped my jaw down to stop from moaning aloud.
His knife clattered to the hardwood floor. The Captain seized him by the collar and jerked him into the hallway.
Fin shoved by them both and grabbed my arms, surveying every inch of me.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m fine. Stop fretting. He didn’t even scratch me.”
I couldn’t think with his hands on my skin, his uncertainty and worry beating at me from the inside out.
It took a moment for him to settle, but when he did, he stepped back, his usual calm façade over his face again. “Good. Do you need anything?”
I stared at the bed. “A nap. Also some practice. Things in my chest are tight. Swiping across like that felt sharper than it should have.”
“You can practice once your strength has returned.”
I scoffed. “And you can rethink that tone and that order before I walk out of here.”
As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I regretted them. A wave of sadness brushed my senses.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant, you can’t order me around. That aspect of our relationship hasn’t changed. You know I don’t take orders well, especially when delivered as if they are for my benefit. Now, I promise not to gallivant off and push myself too hard, if you also promise to reign in the high-handedness. I don’t belong to you. Even if some more things change between us, I still will only belong to myself.”
Needing to change the subject, I pointed toward the door with my knife. “What’s the Captain going to do with him?”
Fin stared at anything except my face while he answered. “Take him away, question him probably. Other than that, I leave those decisions up to him.”
“Will he kill him?”
Fin shrugged. “Do you care?”
“Not particularly, but he seemed like he didn’t want to turn spy, if that matters.”
I reached out and turned Fin’s face toward me. “Will you look at me? I’m sorry. The threat to leave just came out before I thought about it. I didn’t mean it.”
His gaze softened. “The Captain has a way to erase memories. He’ll take out the ones involving us, this house, all of it, and send him on his way.”
“How many years of his memory is he about to lose?”
“It’s better than his life.”
Fair point. Given the choice, I would probably prefer amnesia as well. Maybe.
“I want to go do some practice. Will you please come to the sparring room with me and monitor things, and make sure I don’t overexert myself?”
I caught a wash of relief through the bond, before he nodded once.
“No weapons, though. Just stretching and hand to hand for now, until you build your strength back up. The Captain can come help too. He’s better at fighting while injured than I am since his self-healing factor is lower than mine.”
I shoved the knife back into my boot and we headed toward the door. He let me precede him into the hall but walked beside me as we made our way down to the training room.
I tilted my head at him. “What is my healing factor then? I’ve noticed it seems faster, but I wasn’t sure since we have augmented it with your magic since we met. You seem to spend a lot of magic keeping me from falling apart.”
The Captain sat on the blue training mats, his arms braced behind him, his legs stretched out front. “So we’re doing this then? You couldn’t talk her out of it?”
I smiled. “Nope. Let’s go.”
The Captain eyed Fin and turned to give me an assessing look. “He didn’t use all the tools at his disposal to convince you then.”