Chapter Eight #3
“Ah, I see. That makes sense. Can’t help you, but it makes sense.” He smiled and did a quick salute. “So if you’ll just point me toward the exit, air’s getting a bit tense.” He jerked his head toward Sera who had let go of Kieran’s arm, only for him to slip toward the farthest side of the room.
“Thought you were always in need of funds? We can pay. More than the hundred it took to get you here, anyway.” Gideon countered.
Miles laughed. “Well, I mean, you’re not wrong. I do often find myself more south of flush than I’d prefer. But what you’re talking about would cost a pretty penny. Say, five.”
“Hundred? Just to tell a guy something?” Gideon barked.
“To tell that guy something, and it’s five thousand.
I can’t just waltz up to my boss and go, ‘hey, so I was chatting with some chick, a Winter Fae politician, and the Captain of the godsdamn Watchmen the other day and they asked if I could pass along a note for ya.’ Do you realize how fast that would get me demoted?
Worse? You want me to take that kind of risk, you gotta make it worth the trouble. ”
“Wraith will want this information.” Kieran's voice carried through the room. He could not have moved further from her without going through the wall. Sera’s blood simmered.
“Oh yeah? Why don’t you run it by me and I’ll decide what info he wants. Unless…” Miles glanced around him like he was searching for something. “Have you been employed by Wraith for the past five years? Spent time with him? Call him by his first name? No? Then it’s my opinion we’ll be trusting.”
Kieran didn’t visibly respond to the sarcasm, though Sera hadn’t expected him to. Gideon, however, was glowering.
“You’re awfully cocky for a guy who accepted a hundred notes to follow a stranger to his home,” Gideon said through bared teeth.
Miles shrugged. “I liked my chances.” He eyed Kieran and then Sera. “Is your sister here a guardian, too? Cause if not, then I still like my chances.”
“Leave her out—” Gideon started to storm forward, but Sera stepped in his path. She would have been easily knocked to the ground, but he pivoted at the last second.
“Enough. All of you.” This macho-bullshit was getting out of hand. Miles was still grinning like this was an amusing interlude on a boring day.
“Yeah, enough,” Miles agreed from over her shoulder. Gideon growled low in his throat.
“All. Of. You.” She took a deep breath. “I am the one who needs your help, Mr. Harrow.”
“And now I’m listening.” He gestured to Gideon. “You should have led with her, by the way.” To Sera he said, “Now, why does the lovely Sera need me to give Wraith a message?”
She gathered her thoughts and courage, but no one spoke, thank the Divine.
“I need to break an arrangement with Cole Hawthorne.” It was risky to mention Cole’s name, but her read on Miles told her it was the right move.
Some of the chipper humor eased from his features, a more somber expression replacing his grin.
“Ah.” He shifted on his feet, appearing uneasy.
She guessed that Cole’s arrangements were well understood by those in that circle.
“I’m not sure how I can help with that, we’re not supposed to interfere with each other.
It’s a ‘you do your thing, I do mine’ type of deal.
But, for the record, Hawthorne’s a parasite. ”
Sera raised her chin, feigning a sense of bravery she didn’t fully feel. “I have strong evidence to suggest Cole plans to overthrow Wraith."
Miles let out a laugh, loud and obnoxious.
“That’s hilarious. Hawthorne wants to make a play for Wraith?
Cole couldn’t beat an infant. Wraith’s heavily guarded at all times.
He’s got an army willing to throw themselves into fire for him.
Hell, even I wouldn’t lose sleep putting a bullet into Cole’s slimy face. He’s hardly a threat.”
“He isn’t planning to fight, he’s planning something more underhanded,” Sera warned.
Miles paused briefly speaking. “So. You want me to tell Wraith that his top dealer is gunning for his position.”
“Exactly, no need to mention us at all. I…” Sera took a deep breath. “I just want Cole gone.”
“Lady, if you’re telling the truth, Cole will be the final sort of gone, if you get me.”
“How Wraith deals with the problem doesn’t concern me,” she said, her tone frigid. As she had said it, she realized she meant it. Let Wraith tear Cole apart.
Miles scratched at his neck. “Okay, I hear you. And I sympathize, I do, but let’s say you’re selling a story so you can take out Cole without getting your hands dirty.
While I wouldn’t be filing any complaints if Cole—” Miles drew a line across his throat with a finger, “I’ll be the one delivering the false info.
If it gets out that Cole was on the level, it would be bad for my own interests. ”
“Do you require more funds?” Kieran said, drawing Mr. Harrow’s attention.
“Is that an option, moneybags?” he asked, earnestly hopeful. “Cause cards on the table, that would be great.”
“I simply want this resolved. Hawthorne is a threat to people I’ve elected to protect. As soon as that threat ends, so does my obligation,” Kieran said.
“Heartwarming, truly. So, you’re really as cold as they say, huh?” Miles asked, though his tone remained jovial in a way that Sera wondered if he took any of this seriously.
“He’s not heartless—” Sera interjected, then she stopped herself and swallowed her next words. All eyes snapped to her and she carefully avoided meeting any. “Regardless, this is a serious matter, Mr. Harrow, will you help or not?”
“Oh, I fully grasp the severity of this whole thing, lady. We’re not just playing with fire, here, but a whole fucking inferno on top of a powder keg.
” He set his hands on his hips, his face shifting with unspoken thoughts.
“I don’t object on moral grounds, but more like I don’t want this to bite me in the ass. "
“Would seven thousand assuage your concerns?” Sera glared and Kieran added drolly, “Provided Mr. Blair is willing, of course.” She was not backing down on taking Kieran’s money. She’d taken enough already.
“Let’s not give him ideas,” Gideon murmured, and guilt needled into Sera’s gut. She had no funds, no means of getting herself out of this. The opportunist inside her, who kept her safe by conniving the charity of others, would normally have slept soundly having survived another day.
The charity of these two particular men, however, did not go down so easily.
“I can do seven,” Gideon continued, but with more of a grumble in his tone, “if it gets this over with.”
Miles’s cheeks puffed out as he slowly released a breath. “It helps, yeah. Then with the 13% taxes and a 25% tip, cause you seem the sort to appreciate a job well done—”
“And you seem the sort who doesn’t pay taxes,” Gideon countered.
“When I’m in the Captain of the Watchmen’s living room I most certainly do. Now, that’s… fifteen percent on seven thousand…” Miles held up his fingers.
“Oh for Divine’s sake, it’s nine-thousand eight hundred and eight-seven. Now can we please just move this along?”
Sera sensed Kieran next to her, the scent of pine and fresh air feathered into her lungs and wormed into her chest. She’d been drifting closer throughout the conversation, almost magnetically, and it was clear from the abrupt turn of his head that he sensed her as well.
And he was not pleased about it. He retreated again, but Sera was dimly aware that she had not crossed the entire room on her own.
She had not been the only one adrift with their thoughts.
She rubbed her arms like a sudden chill had just come over her.
His profile against the sunset streaming from the window was striking, holding her attention much longer than intended. She forgot where she was for half a heartbeat, until Miles’s jovial baritone called her back to the present.
“Holy shit, did you do that in your head?” Miles said with a chuckle.
“It’s a thing she does, but trust me, she’s right. She’s always right,” Gideon responded.
Miles stared hard at Sera for a moment, rubbing along his jaw before finally saying, “Hell. I can get the information to Wraith for,” he set his jaw as he continued, “For the original five.” The last part had been a grumbled whisper, like he had argued with himself and lost.
“Done,” Gideon boomed, his frown gone and his grin returning.
Miles rubbed his hands together. “That’s gonna have to be an advance, by the way.”
“Of course it is. Give me a second.” Gideon started to walk, but then stopped. “Hold on, how do I know you won’t just take the money and run?”
Miles shrugged dramatically, with his entire upper body.
“Guess you don’t. But,” his gaze moved to Sera and all his good-humor disappeared, “I do give my word to get your message to Wraith. I can’t promise anything will come of it.
Cole’s good for business and, whatever I think about him, he’s owed a certain measure of loyalty. It’s ultimately Teddy’s decision.”
“I suppose that’s the best we can hope for right now,” Sera agreed. Gideon left to see to the payment and Miles sat in one of the armchairs, legs extending to cross at the ankle and his hands settled behind his head.
“So. How’d you get an alderman involved in this?” Miles directed the question to Sera, his tone nonchalant.
“I…” She winced. “Long story.”
Miles pointed a finger at her. “Ah, I get you. That spark’s been primed to blow since you got here, so can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Excuse me?” Sera snapped, incredulous and irritated by the accusation that for some odd reason, fissured through her body as elation.