One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #3)(51)

I sighed. “Can you see them from the street?”

“No. Focus. I’m telling you your boyfriend beheaded your enemies and threaded their skulls on sticks, and all you care about is if your neighbors can see them.”

“Is he okay?”

“Physically, yes. Mentally… Don’t get me wrong, the heads are an effective tactic. But still - disturbed. If you happen to catch his eyes in the right moment, something stares back at you.”

“It’s a wolf,” I told her.

“What?”

“It’s a wolf in the dark woods.”

Maud sighed. “You see the wolf. I see cities burning. There is something not quite right about him. Something unsettling. I’ve been through hell before. I know that look, Dina. It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“I like him.”

Maud rolled her eyes.

“Did the Lord Marshal deliver?”

“Deliver what?” she asked.

“You know what. He promised you a sword. I think his exact words were, ‘A new blade before nightfall.’”

She clamped her mouth shut and drew a blood sword from her scabbard.

“Is it a good sword?”

“It’s exquisite.” She sounded like she just tasted a lemon. “He had it sent down from his ship. He made a huge scene out of it. A courier in full armor with crimson banners arrived and knelt in front of me to present it.”

I wished I could’ve seen the look on her face.

“I tried to refuse it.”

Arland could be extremely persistent when it was in his best interests. “How did that go?”

“He made it clear it was a gift from his House. If I didn’t take it, I would’ve offended the entire House Krahr. I couldn’t put us in that position. I looked up your rank while you were gone. You are at two and a half stars.”

“The inn was dormant for a long time.”

Maud waved her hand. “What I mean is, House Krahr publicly endorsed Gertrude Hunt. It would be both dangerous and ungrateful to offend them.”

She took it. Of course, she did.

“I made it clear that I will repay this gift at the first opportunity. I don’t like him,” Maud said. “He is stubborn, bullheaded, and insists on doing things his way.”

“You do realize all of those are synonyms?”

“I don’t like him, Dina. I have a responsibility to my child. I won’t risk reentering a society that threw her away like trash. We’re done with vampires. Come on. We have work to do.”

I took a deep breath. The void field snapped into place. I held my hand out. A broom rose from the ground and I fastened my fingers around it, feeling the worn, warm wood. I was home. It was time to soothe wild wolves and examine corrupted corpses.

*

The wolf waited for me on the second-floor balcony, in the spot I had come out to meet him in the middle of the night. It seemed like so long ago, but it was only a few days. I stepped out on to the balcony, Beast weaving around my feet.

Sean leaned against the wall on the left side of the doorway. He saw me. His eyes flashed amber, catching the light. He didn’t say anything. Apparently, it was up to me to start the conversation. That was only fair. My errand almost got him killed, and without him I would’ve died on that Baha-char street.

I heard you killed some people and put their heads on sharpened sticks. I wanted to check to see if you are feeling okay… It was probably best to start with something simple.

“Hi.”

“When you are in the inn, I trust you with my life,” he said. “When you are outside, you have to trust me with yours.”

“I do.”

“That means when I say run, you run. You don’t argue. You don’t cry. You do as I tell you, or we both die.”

Oh. It was that type of conversation. I crossed my arms.

He faced me. “I trust you to do your job. You have to trust me to do mine.”

“I trust you. I don’t trust your priorities.”

I wanted to reach over and pull that stone-hard expression off his face.

“My priority is making sure you survive.”

“Exactly. My priority is keeping my guests safe. They’re not always one and the same.”

“The Hiru was safe at the inn,” Sean said. “Your insistence on bringing the tank in because you wanted to impress him—”

“It wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was about trust. I promised to retrieve the tank. I had to come back with it.”

“— endangered you, me, Cookie, and Wilmos. Instead of concentrating on retrieving the tank from Wilmos’ shop, I had to carry you.”

“I’m sorry for inflicting this horrible burden on you.” I regretted it the moment the words left my mouth.

“It also endangered everyone in the inn. If you had died, Maud wouldn’t be able to hold off the Draziri. The Hiru would die.”

“My sister would’ve done just fine.”

Beast barked by my feet, unsure, but feeling the pressure to provide canine support. Sean ignored her.

“I have skills and abilities you don’t. More, I have experience.”

“So do I.”

“I’ve watched you kill,” he said. “You kill only when you have to. Of all the responses to a threat you face, killing someone is the last choice for you. For me, it’s not a choice. It’s instinct. I don’t think about it. I see a threat and I neutralize it. Of the two of us, I’m better equipped to handle an attack outside of the inn.”