“I didn’t need to be saved,” Idess said, following him into the tiny kitchen space.
“Yeah, you did. You were in way over your pretty little angel head.”
“I’m two thousand years old. I’ve been around the block, you know.”
He laughed. “Really? Do you have any idea what he would have used you for? Go ahead and picture him naked. Because he uses his assassins for more than just killing.”
“Oh… good Lord.” Her hand flew up to her throat. “Has he… does he…”
“I’ve been lucky.” He dug a glass out of a cupboard. “I think he’s afraid of me. None of his assassins can harm him with intent, but because just touching my arm can kill… he’s not taking any chances.”
She looked down at her jeans and brushed away some invisible lint. “Still, I would have worked out specifics with him—”
“He was going to brand you. When he reached for you, that’s what he was going to do. You would have had a handprint on your chest to match mine and it would have been too late to negotiate.”
Her mouth worked soundlessly. “Oh.”
“A thank-you would be nice,” he drawled, as he grabbed a jug of his rotgut out of the fridge. It wasn’t even cold. Damned fridge had shit the bed again. But then, he’d had the Kelvinator since 1940, just like the oven he never used.
“You couldn’t have warned me? You had to kidnap me instead?”
He laughed. “That, coming from you?” He splashed liquor into a glass and took a swig. “Want one?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “Thanks, no.”
“You hungry? I have sandwich makings. I think. If you like peanut butter. And bologna.”
“As appetizing as that sounds, I’ll have to pass. Thank you, I’m fine.” She dragged her hand through her hair, tugging strands out of the ponytail, and sank back down on his couch. “Now what? I’m running out of ideas.”
“I have one, but it’s going to require Wraith. I need to contact the guys anyway, let them know that what’s going on could be about them instead of you.”
Lore’s plan for Wraith would be a longshot, though—he had no idea how effective Wraith’s mind-invasion thing would be on a being like Deth… assuming Lore could get the two of them together. And assuming Wraith didn’t kill Lore before that could happen. First, though, he was going to have to go to Detharu and take his punishment for stealing Idess. His chest was burning like a mother, and the pain was only hours away from holy-shit-I’m-going-to-die-debilitating.
In rapid succession, he slammed four more shots of alcohol to numb himself. He’d have to take his other edge off, too, the sexual one, so he’d be less likely to rage out during his torture. “Look, I have to take off. I’m just going to, ah, shower up and head out.”
“Where?”
“I need to see Sin,” he lied.
“I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not.”
Idess let out an aggravated breath. “I’m not going to let you go alone.”
“You’re afraid I’ll hunt Kynan.” Guilt put shadows in her eyes, and he cursed. “I said I wouldn’t.” An unusually powerful blast of heat in his chest made him grit his teeth. “You don’t trust me?”
“I want to, Lore. But this is important.”
“You can’t go. I’m going to the assassin den.”
“No need.” Sin’s singsongy voice came through the screen door. “I’m here for a friendly visit.”
Shit. “Now’s not a good time, Sin.”
She ignored him to plop down in the recliner. She was dressed like a street thug, in baggy pants with chains, a black hoodie, and sneakers. Even her hair was tucked up under a backward Yankees ballcap. “So. How’d it go at the Guild?”
“It didn’t,” Idess said. “Your brother felt the need to rescue me.”
Sin cocked an eyebrow. “Rescue her?”
Lore slammed another shot. “Let’s drop it, ’kay?”
“What did you do?” He should have known better than to expect Sin to leave anything alone.
“He knocked me out and threw me over his shoulder like some sort of caveman,” Idess said, and yeah, that was pretty true. “He claims that if he hadn’t, I’d have been branded like you two.”
Sin’s eyes widened, because she knew exactly what saving Idess had cost him. “Fuck,” she muttered, and gestured to his bottle. “Gimme.”
He passed it to her, and she swigged right from it. Dainty, his sister was not.
“I’m going to shower and go,” he muttered, and started toward the bathroom.
“But Sin is here,” Idess pointed out. “You have no reason to go to the den.”
Black eyes sparking, Sin planted the jug between her thighs. “Oh, he didn’t tell you?”
“Sin…”