Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

“Thanks.”

I followed Cat and Bear through the main room and into the next. This room was smaller and held a ramshackle collection of chairs as well as a solitary table that had seen better days. Nuri stood next to an old electric stove near the center of the room; she was a rotund woman with rosy cheeks and wiry hair that ballooned around her head like a sea of steely snakes. Though she didn’t, in any way, look dangerous, she was undoubtedly the most formidable woman in this section of Chaos—if not the entire city. The force of her energy—a force that came from the fact that she was an earth witch as well as a seeker of some power—electrified the air. To someone like me—someone who was sensitive to such energy and a seeker besides—she appeared surrounded by a halo of flickering, fiery blue.

“Tiger,” she said, glancing around. “This is a surprise.”

I doubted it, given her expression and the amusement lurking around the corners of her sharp brown eyes. “I need help.”

“Indeed?” She turned back to the stove and continued stirring whatever she was cooking—which smelled delicious enough to have my mouth watering. “I was under the impression you wanted nothing to do with us.”

“Yeah, well, as I said to Jonas yesterday, you’re apparently intent on ignoring what I want, so I might as well make use of you.”

“Indeed,” she repeated, the amusement stretching to her lips. “And what is it that you want?”

I asked my two little ghosts to keep an eye on the exits, then walked across to the stove. “Some of that stew would be a good start.”

She chuckled. “There’s bowls under that bench over there. Grab three—Jonas will be here soon enough.”

I did as she bade and watched as she generously filled them. Jonas appeared as I was carrying two of the bowls across the table and stopped somewhat abruptly, his nostrils flaring when he saw me.

Which made me damn glad I’d taken the time to shower.

“Impressive.” His tone was neutral, but amusement teased the corners of his mouth and eyes. “I’m gathering that particular body alteration is not for the benefit of anyone here.”

“You gather right, Ranger.” I sat down, grabbed a spoon from the cutlery holder in the center of the table, and tucked in.

He sat down opposite me and pulled the second bowl closer to himself. “Then can I ask just who it was meant for?”

“Nadel Keller, initially. Sal told me his preference ran to dark-skinned ladies with large breasts, but I figured he would never ignore an impressive rack regardless of skin color.”

“Few men would.”

“Yourself included?”

The amusement in those sharp green eyes was deeper. “I would never ignore such an attraction if they came my way, though I am of the firm belief that more than a handful is something of a waste.”

Just for an instant, there was something in his smile that made me wonder yet again whether he was actually attracted to me, or if it was simply some sort of game he was playing.

Nuri joined us at the table, placing a round of bread between us and breaking the moment. Whatever the moment actually had been.

“So,” she said, tearing off a chunk of bread before pushing it my way, “what do you need?”

“Three things, the first being a new identity. One whose name is Cat—which will need to be short for Catherine.” Little Cat clapped her hands in delight at this bit of news, and a smile tugged my lips.

“That is simple enough to do,” Nuri commented. “But I’m thinking the rest of your requests will not be.”

“No.” I munched on the bread and contemplated her for several seconds. “I need the identity to be based on Third Street—at the very least—and I need enough credits to go with such an identity.”

She leaned back in the chair. “As I suspected, a tall order. Why?”

“Because Nadel Keller is dead, and I’ve found a new target.”

“Did you kill Keller?” Jonas asked.

I glanced at him. “No. He was poisoned. He dropped dead on Seventh before I got anywhere near him.”

“Meaning Sal’s partners are tying up loose ends.”