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“Assuming they are more like Vesper than her neighbors seem to be,” I murmured, my eyes shifting to hers for a moment. “Can I trust you?”

She let out a laugh and shook her head. “You’re funny, princess. I see why Vesper likes you. Not at all. But a deal’s a deal, no?”

A deal’s a deal.

Brushing her off, I made my way to the door, overlooking the perfectly pristine front yard and carefully placed lawn decorations. It wasn’t as grand as my father’s palace, but I could recognize when someone was obsessed with their appearance in the same way.

They have something to hide.

The door opened before we even made it halfway.

A middle-aged human man opened the door to greet us. His hair was peppered gray, and his face was full of wrinkles, but his body seemed strong. He held himself up straight, his physique obviously well-trained. He looked like a normal human. Even dressed in casual human clothes that raised no alarm bells.

But it was his heart that had me pausing.

It was too steady. Just like Vesper’s.So it is a family thing.And if I was guessing right, Vesper would have learned everything she knew from the man right in front of us.

And then there was something black peeking out of his collar and winding up his neck. Because of the high collar of his shirt, I couldn’t make out much, but it looked to be an intricate tattoo.

A smirk pulled at my lips.Was he the one who sent her to kill me?If so, I couldn’t help but imagine how surprised he was to see meshow up at his door.

I reached into my coat pocket and handed the contract to Cedar.

“Is Vesper around?” I asked, giving him a sweet smile. “I have an offer for her.”

He wasn’t fooled by my tone.

“Whatofferare you talking about?” he asked, eyeing Cedar warily.

“A contract for her services,” I explained. “If you let us talk to her, I’m sure she could fill you in?—”

“I’m the head of the house,” he said, his voice gruff. “All contracts go through me.”

“Straight to the point,” I said with a smirk. “I’m guessing I don’t need to bother introducing myself.”

I motioned for her to bring it to him. Maybe I couldn’t trust her, but she had to be right about this family.

“No,” he grunted with a frown. “I could smell your stink from down the road.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how open his hatred for my kind was. I jerked my head toward him, signaling for Cedar to deliver the paper. He watched her approach, his body growing stiff.

“We really enjoyed Vesper’s company, and I’ve come to offer her a position. Room and board included, plus pay for her services as mypersonalguard,” I explained. “If I had known about her discharge, I would have intervened before she could leave, but I have been…preoccupied these last few days.”

Dealing with the intricacies of Vesper forcing a sword through my husband-to-be’s chest, to be exact.But judging bythe look on his face, he might have been annoyed if I shared that fact.

He grabbed the folded paper from the witch, his eyes taking her in critically before unfolding it.

“I didn’t know the Castle family hired witches now,” he said under his breath.

“And contract killers now, too,” I piped in, my smile widening as he met my gaze. “For a year, if she agrees.”

The man looked up at me again, his gaze calculating. There was movement in the house. I could hear the shuffle and the extra heartbeat, but couldn’t make out exactly who was in there. It was far too quiet.

Another trained one.

“If you know that, why would you let her back in?” he asked.

“Ireallyenjoyed her company,” I answered in a sickly-sweet tone again. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on killing her.”