I sat back, thinking this seemed too easy. “So all you want to know is where this guy Darius stays each night? That’s all?”
“Da, but I don’t want you killing his guards. He will panic and change his routine. I’ll send Christian with you to charm him for information and then scrub his memory.”
“Does he hire other Breeds?”
“As far as what we’ve seen, they are all Mage. He employs dangerous men, so keep that in mind. We know the pubs they frequent, but their schedule fluctuates.” Viktor stroked his beard. “I need to see what you have to offer us before I can make decisions about your future with Keystone. Can you handle it?”
“If I can handle a shopping cart with a trick wheel on Black Friday, I can handle just about anything.”
His brows furrowed, and I laughed.
“Never mind. Bad joke. Just take me to where they hang out, and I’ll do the rest. Do I get paid for these jobs?”
“Your payment will be deposited into an account.”
“Can I have an advance? I’m starving.”
Gem eyed my sausage. “I’ll fix you something better. We have a—”
“No, don’t bother. I won’t eat it.”
Christian stood up and strode toward the table. “She only dines off other people’s plates, so maybe you need to make yourself some breakfast and watch her in action.”
I felt a flush in my cheeks and rubbed my eyes, hoping no one noticed. “If I can’t earn my food, I take what people discard. I’m sorry if you have a problem with that, but it’s not about me being stubborn. This is the only honor I have, so someone telling me that it’s ridiculous is offensive. Eating isn’t something I need to do as often as the rest of you, so it’s usually not a big deal. I don’t have things handed to me on a silver platter, and it’s not easy to buy a meal when no one will hire you except to sweep up the kitchen as a one-time favor because they feel sorry for you. I’m not going to apologize for it. That’ll change once I start working more jobs for you—if I’m hired. But as it stands, I feel like an outsider. If you give me an advance on the money, I’ll buy my own meals until I’m officially hired.”
“Very well,” Viktor said, a hint of admiration in his voice. He took the sausage from my plate and bit into it. “Many centuries ago, there were warriors who lived by the same code. Sometimes when a man takes another man’s life, even for the sake of good, he clings to the things that make him feel like there is still honor and goodness in him. I will give you an advance and leave the card in your room. I have my own account; we don’t do business dealings through a separate institution.”
“Sounds good.”
Viktor stood up. “We begin tonight. Until then, feel free to go into any room with unlocked doors,” he said to me. “We have many things to offer.”
“Such as?”
Blue’s brows arched, drawing attention to her sapphire eyes. “Did you see the pool in the courtyard? It’s a little cold for swimming, but it’s heated. There’s also a rock-climbing room and billiard room.”
“And a bar,” Shepherd added, rising to his feet.
Christian patted him on the shoulder, and they swaggered out. “You read my mind.”
I spent the full day exploring the mansion and got lost three times. I went outside and circled the grounds, but a dense wave of fog rolled in. Before it started to rain, I hurried back to the house.
Blue wasn’t kidding about the rooms. I found one with billiard tables, dartboards, shuffleboard, and game tables, including one with a chessboard. I sat down and studied the chess pieces, wondering which one I was in the grand scheme of things. Steam rose from the heated pool outside, but I wasn’t much of a swimmer, so I just admired it from inside. The courtyard wasn’t a perfect rectangle and branched around as if it might be L-shaped.
The kid inside me wanted to skip down the halls and sing, but the pessimist kept reminding me that I was just a girl from the trailer park who had no business living this kind of lavish lifestyle. I’d grown up on the side of the tracks that even the cops didn’t visit.
After my self-guided tour, I found a room with a large window, and sofas boxing in the fireplace.
Christian poked his head through the open door in the right-hand corner from where I was sitting. “Sounds like a little mouse scurrying up here with all that trampling you’ve been doing.”
I ignored him, still curled up and staring at the empty fireplace on my left.
“Cat got your tongue?” Christian circled around the modern grey sectional and sat on the opposite side, crossing his ankles on the ottoman. He made an L shape with his index finger and thumb, then rested his chin between them. “Think you can handle the big leagues?”
“Are you offended by my Breed, gender, or the fact you’re no longer working solo? Something tells me you’re not trying to save a young girl from a dangerous life of espionage, so which is it?”
Christian retrieved a small piece of candy from his pocket and tucked the wrapper away.