“I dunno. I said I was gonna tail you and here we are.” I shrugged. “Wanna tell me where we’re going? And why didn’t you just ask me to come along, like Mammoth’s? I’d watch your back anytime, anywhere.”
“I appreciate that more than you know, but I ain’t going to Mammoth’s or anywhere safe. I got something I need to take care of.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
I ignored the whine-like noises Rome was making. I was sure he was cursing a blue streak in his mind.
He is the perfect boyfriend like this. He can’t argue or anything when he shifts. Oh, this is precious!
“Just like that?” Kerry tilted his chin down and stared at me. “You’re not gonna try to talk me outta it?”
“You got your armor on?” He tapped his chest, and I put my hands on my hips. “Me, too. So what are we waiting for?”
“I’m gonna kill someone. Straight up murder him.Nowdo you wanna tag along?”
“Kinda figured that out for myself.” This time, I resisted rolling my eyes. Barely. “And yeah, I’m coming.”
“You’re a weird girl. You’re not even gonna ask?”
“Nope.” I kept it simple. “If you say he has to die, I know he deserves it.”
He scowled as he studied my face, which I was careful to keep blank.
“Zick told us that Og has Parvaneh, remember?” he said at last. “If I defeat him, we can rescue her.”
“She’s peri queen, right? You said the world would burn if she isn’t freed.”
“Yup. Then again, I might burn it down myself if that djinni has hurt Gemma.”
His eyes flared, and I wisely changed the subject.
“Why are you set on doing this by yourself? Rescuing Parvenah is high on everyone’s priority list.”
“If I fail, it’s on me. And—” He drew a deep breath and looked away. “And one of the others woulda tried to tell me there are other ways to deal with the situation. They’d go on and on about second chances and mercy and that killing is always wrong, and I can’t stomach that garbage right now. Not when a monster like Og has Parvenah as his prisoner.”
He didn’t even have to say the rest of what he was thinking. I could read on his face that he was thinking of Gemma in the hands of the enemy, too.
“Is Og a human?” I asked.
“No,” he snorted.
“Is he a neph?”
“No.”
“Kerry, you’re missing a key point about mercy.” Feeling the weight of his complete attention fall on me, I chose my words with care. “Those with free will, like humans and nephs, can choose to repent their sins. We give them second chances so they have the opportunity to do that. The Diabolical are a different story. They will nevernotbe evil, so mercy does not apply to them. Ever.”
He would need time to fully digest the idea, but, judging by the thoughts scrolling across his face, he’d caught the gist of it—and that was good enough for right now.
“Okay,” he said at last. “Let’s go.”
27. King of the Rephaim
Mira
Kerry led us toward the industrial docks. The stench of barnacles and dead fish hit me while we were still a coupla blocks away from the water, and I imagined it was even worse for Rome. Dogs smelled things a thousand times better than humans, and that was without taking his warrior talent into consideration.
He didn’t flinch from it, though, and neither did Kerry.
