Sticks and Stones

Chapter Thirty-One

All Caspian wanted to do was kick his shoes off and flop down on his bed. His easy, simple mission had turned out to be one of the worst nights of his life. The plan was to sleep, recuperate, then deal with Lorcan and Claudio in the morning.

Apparently, that was too much to ask for.

He turned on the balls of his feet, spotting a dark-haired man with runes all over his body.

Emilio had come to say hello.

How does this fucker know where I live? Better question—why is he at my house?

Cas knew Emilio's address because Rosa spoke too much— that and he'd had help from the tracker--  but Rosa could barely get a word out of Emilio to start up a conversation. It couldn't be the barmaid who'd led him here.

I can't be doing with this.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Emilio stood across from him, body tensed and spitting feathers.

"Do you live here?"

"What are you doing here? Isn't torturing me during work hours enough for you?"

"I said do you live here?"

Hmm, faced with that volume and that tone, Cas saw the resemblance between the brother and the sister.

"And I said what are you doing here?" Caspian pressed. "You're the bastard coming in guns blazing. If you want your questions answered, then you'll answer mine first."

Impossibly, the bounty hunter got angrier. Caspian could feel it rolling off him, polluting the space between them.

"I'll ask you this one more time. Do. You. Live. Here?"

Cas said nothing. He wouldn't say a word until he knew what this guy's deal was.

Except that wasn't good enough for Emilio.

With a lethal coolness, he pulled his daggers out of their holsters. He flipped them once, ready to launch them at Cas.

"The knives, really?"

What did I do wrong?

"You don't scare me Emilio."

Why am I being punished like this?

"If you've got a problem, take it up with me during work hours. Now's not a good time."

"Answer the fucking question!"

The first knife was thrown. Cursing, Caspian ducked under it. The blade lodged itself into a tree.

"Listen here, dipshit." Caspian's patience was thinning. "I've just come from a fight with seven warlocks where my entire crew for the damn night died. I'm not in the mood to be fucked with."

Emilio spat as he spoke. It was like he was foaming at the mouth, rabid. "You know my sister?"

Not tonight. Please not tonight.

He couldn't deal with this tonight. Not when his body was so wound up with tension. Not when an hour ago he'd been sure he was going to die.

"Little brunette. Dark eyes. Big mouth. I've seen her around."

"You know her name?"

What is it with all the questions?

Emilio being here made him wary. Emilio searching him out at all put him on edge.

"Hard to forget when she never shuts up."

Emilio didn't like that much either. He grabbed another knife from God knows where, ready to launch them too.