Tarnley
The ache in my chest grows, so I rub the heel of my hand into it and keep my eye on the main entrance to the back alley I’m currently standing in. It feels so fucking awful to be back here, hiding in back alleys, waiting for the other half of my party to arrive.
I haven’t had to fucking hide in well over a century, and yet, here I am, inhaling the stench of piss, vomit, and what is likely more than one dead animal. It’s demeaning, and even if it weren’t for the panic attack I’m currently suffering over Bronywyn’s emotional turmoil assaulting me through our bond, I’d be more than ready for this meeting to be over with.
“Come here often, then?” Brad’s voice drifts into the alley a mere second before he comes to a stop right in front of me. With a baseball cap pulled low on his face, a hoodie pulled over the top of it, he looks nothing like my well-dressed friend.
“Not fucking particularly.”
He leans back against the brick wall of the closest building and crosses both arms. “How are you guys holding up?”
“We’re all living together like one big wonderful fucking family if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“That sounds lovely.”
“Hardly. Tell me you have some good news.”
Brad sighs. “I honestly wish I did. Everyone is running scared. They blasted your faces into the inbox and mailbox of every fucking supernatural in a hundred-mile radius. And that’s just the ones I know about. The lot of you have bounties on your head, and the young Astor’s is fifty-million dollars.”
My stomach drops. “Fifty million?” I practically choke on the amount.
“Yes.”
“Fuck. That’s going to get the attention of every bounty hunter alive.”
“Pretty damn much. They want her dead, Tarnley.”
“Why?”
“Likely has something to do with her being the host for the OG witch.”
“Heather is dead,” I remind him. “We killed her almost a year ago.”
“I don’t know, but they want her dead. I’ll keep digging, see if I can get to the why, but my best guess is that they are worried about what could happen should someone else decide to ride shotgun inside your pal.”
“This entire fucking thing is horseshit.”
“I agree.”
“And no one is willing to stand up? To fight back?”
“They’re scared, man. What we’re asking them to do goes against everything they’ve ever known.”
“Sometimes, that’s what you have to do.”
“I agree. I’m still trying, but so far, it’s not looking good.”
“Well, I appreciate you trying.”
“Of course.” He reaches back and tugs his hood down then runs a hand over the back of his neck.
I’ve known Brad long enough to recognize when he’s stalling. “There’s more?”
“Unfortunately. I was approached by a council member yesterday.”
“Who?”
“A woman. Odette.”