“Not with Grizz by my side. I’m telling you. He’s a game changer.”
“Good. Just don’t let any of the gargoyles in the bazaar see him, or there’ll be questions.”
“I’m not an idiot.” She gave him a onceover.
He sighed. “Go ahead. Say it. You know you want to. ‘I’m not an idiot like…’”
“You,you big idiot.”
He groaned and banged his head on his desk.
“Talon, the Crimson Claw pack isstillmad at us. I can’t blame them. Just because you tricked Riley into owing you a favor doesn’t mean she’ll protect us when we need it. We can’t count on her after that stunt you pulled.”
Having a lycan berserker for support would really, really help. Berserkers were superpowered lycan warriors that lycan packs fought over. They didn’t often bother with those outside their plays for territory.
So why did the pack hate them? Or rather, hate Talon? Because he’d poisoned Riley and her cousin—the alpha-in-waiting of the most powerful pack in the Pacific Northwest—in a bid to get rid of the evil sorcerer plaguing the bazaar.
Val understood why he’d done it, but he’d gone about it all wrong. She never would have poisoned the lycans to force them to help. Blackmail, maybe a little black magic. Sure. But nearlykillingthem?
She could see the guilt he tried to hide behind humor as he sat straighter and ran a hand through his mussed hair. She knew he genuinely liked Riley and had been relieved to see her survive. Unfortunately, lycans were known to hold grudges.
“Riley made a blood-oath,” Talon said. “She’ll hold to it.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“Well, maybe we won’t need her. You got a freaky gargoyle to help us. And a strong witch. Between them and the dead lycans, mages, witches, and ghouls you’ve been collecting, we’ll have the numbers to fight against Vladimir’s army, right?”
“I hope,” she muttered, wishing their plan didn’t feel so half-assed. “What about the shifters? Are they still in on this battle?”
“Maybe. But they won’t do it for free. We need to pay them.”
“With what money?” It had taken all she had to pay for her transportation to and from Romania in addition to information leading to Grizz.
“We need better digs, too. Our pack house is pretty shitty.”
“That’s what you get when you take over a rundown house rumored to be the site of black magic and blood rituals.” She frowned at him. “I told you we’d find a better place. That house is corrupted, Talon.”
“Whatever. It’s just a house.”
“Hey, you get a dark stain on your soul, that’s a problem. Vladimir will exploit any hint of hell-taint he can. We just got rid of that other sorcerer and the monsters he tried pulling from hell. You know Vladimir is three times as bad.” She frowned. “I still can’t get a handle on why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
“Power, why else?”
“Yeah, but why here? Why now after so long spent hiding?” She sighed. “It’s been twenty years.”
“I know that, trust me.” He glanced down at his desk, but she could sense his sorrow, so thick and cloying, tying them together. “Ava would have been thirty-two today, you know.”
Val rounded the desk to put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
He put his hand over hers. “Me too. I still miss her. How fucked up is that?”
For Talon to still miss the young girl he’d lost twenty years ago, back when he himself had only been a young boy, spoke to their connection. Val knew, as did her friend, that he’d lost his mate. Shapeshifters weren’t known for having more than one.
Which explained his reckless behavior, his inability to lead a fulfilling or uplifting life. Talon lived to drink and party when not planning on avenging his beloved’s death, a retaliation he had no intention of surviving.
Yet she loved him too much to let him go. The brother she’d never had, since hers had been taken so long ago, Talon gave her the connection of family she sorely missed.
She sighed.
