33. Beck

W e liked giving Ronan a hard time for wanting Ollie to tell him everyone's business, but we all loved hearing it. For instance, I was fascinated with Neco's side hobby. He was going to be killing the man who hurt Rowena tonight. Keeva and Neco were right. I didn't think I could kill someone who wasn't actively trying to kill me, but I wanted all the details when Neco did it.

Lucy and Ollie were trying out something new at the Whispering Raven. They had Lethia's sister and her friends making music. They started two nights ago, and they were already a hit for us and the tavern. Our regulars wandered over, eventually realized the drinks there were good, and then they went home and talked about it.

Some of the men who thought they were too good to pay for sex came to watch Sabina sing, got a little drunk and turned on because Sabina and her girlfriends were gorgeous, and surprise! They walked next door and paid for sex. The Trulos District was paying both businesses handsomely, but also, some of the merchant workers who weren't as rich had also shown up.

I should have been sleeping. Everyone else was, but I was waiting for Neco. He strolled in like he'd just been taking a carefree walk in the moonlight and didn't have a single drop of blood on him. He was dressed in all black, but he always was. Fucker didn't even have a cloak on to disguise his face.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Not here," Neco said, cocking his head towards his bedroom.

I followed him and I had so many questions. Neco was pretty distinctive. He was giant, and he wore an eyepatch. I had no idea how he was slipping in and out of the Trulos District without getting caught. Neco sprawled on his bed with his hands behind his head and he had no right to look that sexy. Neco and me couldn't happen again. Lucy wouldn't like it.

"How do you get in and out of the Trulos District without your face covered?"

"By not covering my face. I look like I'm not hiding shit. One of the tricks to not getting caught is not looking like you're up to something. Keeva taught me to fake the accent. I'm terrible at it, but no one has noticed yet. The Barons can't keep track of their men and they don't bother learning names unless they consider them important. If someone asks what I'm doing, I name drop my father and say I'm on business for him. They let me go about my way. That deadbeat piece of shit might as well be useful for something."

Fascinating.

"Is he dead?"

"As dead as they come. The interloper struck while I was there. He didn't hit the Trulos District this time. I have to pass through Lower Cutwart to get home. They are poor, but not Guttertown poor. He butchered a family there. Those people have slightly more than we do, but compared to the rest of Nestran, they have nothing. There's no reason to hunt there unless you're a psycho doing it for kicks."

Shit. Lower Cutwart bordered Guttertown to the West. It was about the only border the humans wanted to share with us. It was shifter territory North and South and the ocean to the East. Lower Cutwart was about as far as we could go without being spat on or accused of criminal mischief, but they didn't like us that much, either. I guess Lower Cutwart folks consoled themselves at night by saying at least they didn't live in Guttertown.

"Did you find out anything about the victims?"

"Some of the town folks said the family had a teenage girl who was quite beautiful. She was getting a lot of marriage prospects. Even some of the Baron's sons were interested in her. The Baron's daughters can't marry down, but they'll make exceptions for the boys if the girl is pretty enough. They treat the women like property. They said this girl was pretty enough to have gotten that exception. She's dead along with the rest of her family and they said whoever did it butchered them."

"Sounds like a clue."

"Could be. The only way I'm going to get information about the other victims is to get Old Man Aimes drunk and even drunk, he's a sly bastard. He's going to want to know why I'm so curious. It'll look suspicious."

"You could always ask Ollie. That goofy fucker has a way of getting everyone to spill their guts."

I said that, but Ollie wasn't a goofy fucker. He used that pretty face and his position at the tavern to extract information. He was also pretty cunning. He could piece together tidbits from one side of a tall tale and get the actual story. Ollie was a lot smarter than we gave him credit for.

"I'm pretty sure the teenage girl is important. I was going to go back tomorrow and ask around. I stayed in the shadows because everything was still fresh. Want to come with me?"

"Um, yes?"

Because I might be fascinated with Neco and Keeva being assassins, but I was pretty sure I didn't actually want to kill anyone who wasn't trying to kill me. Stopping a serial killer who was butchering entire families?

That actually sounded like a lot of fun.