Bounty Hunter (The Rover 1)

“You play dirty, fairy boy. I assume whatever you have planned requires me in some way. What’s the next step?”

He settled his hands on the back of my lumpy, comfortable couch. “Do you mind if I take a seat?”

“Knock yourself out.” I crossed to sit in the old rolling chair in front of my desk. Better to keep a distance between us.

The thin line of his lips made me nervous.

He settled his elbows on his knees and met my gaze. “I need information. You have contacts we could exploit to find some missing puzzle pieces here.”

“Exploit?”

That one word gave me a world of knowledge relating to how Fin usually conducted business. People were pawns on his chessboard to be shifted and sacrificed for his advantage. Armed with that little nugget, I should have kicked him out.

“You know what I mean. There are avenues you haven’t pursued. I think you should take me with you to the Office.”

Even if I wanted to take him to my workplace—I didn’t—Hawk and the chief wouldn’t be excited to see me, especially with a fae on my arm. They would toss us both out and likely in the most painful way they could think of.

“Going to the Office is a bad idea. What do you need there? I can go get it and bring it back here.”

“The chief?”

Oh. Shit.

“You want my boss? He knows I’ve been searching for the Black Mage. Why would he share anything with you when he hasn’t with me for over a decade?”

The wheels turned in his head. “Perhaps you didn’t ask the right questions?”

The implication I missed something grated in my brain.

“What questions do you mean?”

“Have you ever asked the chief if he knows anything? I mean a direct question, not filtered through your misdeeds and his desire for a mentee?”

Oh, man, that therapy session wasn’t happening, not with the chief, and definitely not with Fin.

I shrugged, focusing on keeping my face neutral, but something told me he knew he’d touched a nerve.

“Fine, let’s go. But if you get shot by someone, remember this was your plan.”

He harrumphed. Like actually made the noise from his throat. “I’ll keep that in mind. Shall we go now?”

I stared at him. “My badge is in my bag.” Back at your mansion.

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing I brought it. It’s sitting outside your door right now.”

Had he brought it out of a sense of remorse, or because he knew I would agree to take him to my office?

I pointed to my beat-up boots by his feet, the ones I’d kicked off before falling face first into bed the night before. “Hand me those, please.”

“Shall I drive us to the Office?” He asked.

I shook my head. “No thanks. I want to walk.” The morning had a chill, and I needed time to plan exactly how I would approach this little interview. No matter what I asked, the chief would go on the defensive.

He’d never answered any question about the Black Mage. In fact, he’d warned me away on numerous occasions. Something dark and feral churned through me. Could he be working with the Black Mage?

Fin kept quiet as we walked through the streets to work. Few people were out, the biting wind a deterrent to the sane.

By the time we reached the door and I scanned my badge, my fingers were numb, and my toes were well on the way to joining them.