“Why wouldn’t I answer that?” she said.
“Well, in case it was a sensitive topic.”
The ogress tilted her square head. “I do miss the company of my own kind,” she admitted. “But many made it clear I was no longer welcome in our community. And I have new friends here.” She smiled at me as she petted Trix.
To be so far from the familiar, and doing something so against the way she’d been raised... “I think you are quite brave,” I told her.
Her brows rose. “Really?” She looked pleased. “Thank you.” She stood. “What I really am, is hungry. Let’s beat those shifters to lunch.”
We did beat them, which meant we got first dibs at the dumplings. Something Matt noted when he finally wound his way to the table.
“Strewth.You early blokes scarpered with all the seafood ones,” he complained as he sat down.
“That’s what you get for being popular,” I noted.
His lips quirked. “Bloody bludgers wanted to know how we’d managed to finish.”
I sighed. “We wouldn’t have, if it hadn’t been for Sebastian.”
“Crikey.Not giving that bastard the credit,” Matt exclaimed.
I stared at him. “Then what did you tell them?”
“I told them we had you,” he said, and his eyes glowed.
The energy surging from him resonated straight through me, but I believed in credit where it was due. “It wasn’t me,” I protested.
“Bloody well was,” Mari said with a smile.
Matt’s lopsided grin fired every cell. “Your reputation is growing, Angel. They know you took out Darius. Have no idea how, but they do. Don’t think you’ll have any more unwanted suitors.”
“Or wanted ones, for that matter,” I said with a grimace.
“Cara’s training will set that right.” The words had a growl running right through them, and the look in his eyes had me gulping a breath.
Mari looked from him to me and turned her attention to feeding Trix some of her mystery meatloaf.
I glanced from Matt to the instructor’s table. There was no sign of Sebastian.
It didn’t matter, I told myself. The way things were going, I couldn’t even touch the guy that so clearly wanted me. The last thing I needed was another that didn’t want me touching him at all.
Or a third, who might not deserve it.
Thoughts of the Dragon had me rising and winding my way to where the Sabre triad had seated themselves for lunch, along with the twins. Cara was tickling Alyssa.
They all looked up with welcoming smiles as I walked up to them. Trix immediately wanted to interact with the twins, despite having spent the morning with them.
“Sorry to bother you guys about this,” I said. “But I wanted to know how it went with your contact, about Talakai?”
Cody’s smile vaporized in an instant, and Kitani’s grew strained. But my question was for Ryan.
The Sabre regarded me solemnly. “Jacques promised he would put feelers out, to see if any snippets about the Dragon turn up.”
“That Dragon’s taken his payment, and is long gone,” Cody snapped. “The guy was Guild. If he doesn’t want to be found, we won’t find him.”
“But what about the sword?” I reminded him.
He shrugged. “It proves nothing. He likely got enough currency for planning the kidnapping to render the sword’s value insignificant.”
