11
Gideon
At Wylder’s words,the girl’s piercing blue eyes widened. In my head, I referred to her as the girl because she was a temporary guest in our life. When she was gone, I would simply delete her from memory like I did most useless information.
Or at least that was what I told myself.
My gaze drifted over the silvery lines of the dress Wylder had forced her to wear—and the copious amounts of smooth, pale skin that showed through the gaps in the fabric.
“You’re serious?” she said to Wylder. “No changing your mind once I’ve done what you asked me to, yet again?”
My best friend looked back at her with the kind of calm I knew hid a whole storm of emotion inside him. “If you can clear Kaige’s name, I’ll make Steel Knights’ blood rain from the sky for you, no questions asked.”
She raised her chin. “Forgive me if I’m not sure I can just take your word for that. You’re asking me to go after a known killer, without any idea who that killer is. That’s a little more dangerous than confronting some dork with a gun.”
Wylder walked around the bar until he was standing toe to toe with her. The girl, to her credit, didn’t even flinch. Wylder frowned, as if he had wanted her to cower, but when she stood her ground, he simply reached for the paring knife she’d cut the lemon for our drinks with. When he held it up, she still didn’t try to move away. She didn’t break eye contact for a second.
There weren’t many people Wylder couldn’t manage to scare when he wanted to. She definitely wasn’t much like the other girls around here.
He flipped the knife in his right hand and carefully punctured the skin of his left thumb so that a bead of blood trickled out of it. I hissed under my breath before I could catch the sound. What the fuck was he doing? A blood promise among criminals like us wasn’t something you could walk away from, not without losing all faith in your word going forward. But Wylder was offering one anyway.
“I mark my words with the honor of my blood,” he said.
The girl’s eyes widened for a second. She knew he wouldn’t make an offer like that without meaning it, and we all stood here as witnesses. I wanted to haul Wylder’s ass out of the room and ask him if he knew what the hell he was doing giving the word of his blood to this unproven quantity.
Finally, she nodded and shook hands with him. It was done.
“Wow,” Kaige said, sounding bewildered. Wylder had done this for him, in the hopes of establishing his innocence. I just hoped he knew where to draw the line.
The girl took a step away from Wylder. “I’ll try my best to find out who the killer is.”
“Just don’t get murdered in the process,” Wylder said casually as if he hadn’t just given her the most solid oath any of us could make. He turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.
The others followed suit. The girl paused to put away the alcohol, ignoring the empty glasses we’d left on the bar. I guessed cleaning up wasn’t her job anymore.
When I moved to go too, she cleared her throat meaningfully. “Hey.”
I glanced back at her. “Yes?”
She paused, looking a bit awkward, which wasn’t unusual. No one ever seemed to know exactly how to talk to me—except Wylder. He never acted like there was anything to be uncomfortable about. Like there was any reason to think that I didn’t belong here.
Then she raised her eyes, and the full force of that bright blue gaze burned into mine. “You had someone bring me a clean outfit the other day, didn’t you?”
The wheels in my head spun, but I knew she was right before I’d even quite remembered it. She’d looked so bedraggled coming up from the first task Wylder had given her… It hadn’t been fitting for anyone who was running with the Nobles even on a small scale. I’d simply ensured she didn’t tarnish his image through his association with her.
“It was nothing,” I said evenly.
“It wasn’t.” She held my gaze, no awkwardness left, and it occurred to me that her initial hesitation might not have had anything to do with me but with her own pride. No one who lived this kind of life tended to be very good showing open gratitude. “I appreciated the gesture, whatever reasons you had for making it. I just thought I should say that.”
I didn’t like the unexpected list of my stomach at her words. Why should it matter to me whether she thanked me over some brief remark to the staff or not?
“Don’t mention it,” I said, my tone coming out brusquer than I’d intended, and strode out of the room before I could dwell too much on the trace of disappointment I’d caught on her face at my response.
Back in my office, I sat down in front of my expansive computer setup, but the image of her face, those eyes pinning me in place, lingered in my head. Without any conscious direction, my mind produced another image—of her peeling the strips of that silvery fabric down her shoulders to reveal her breasts…
My cock stirred. Fuck. I swore under my breath and shook any thought of Mercy Katz away. To distract myself, I made my way to the complex espresso machine I’d had installed in my office. I couldn’t work without caffeine—and it had to be caffeine done right. Maybe it would jolt me back to the mindset I needed.
With a meditative air, I set the machine running to my typical specifications and watched the dark liquid fill the mug. There was something grounding about the steady stream and the rising of the coffee against the pale sides. When it was finished, black, sugarless, and perfect, I sipped it while eyeing the aquarium that filled most of one wall across from my computer. The gliding motions of the fish grounded me too.