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A whisper of magic and the wards fell. They quickly slipped through the door and inside. The apartment was open and airy with tall windows to let in the light and a view of the vast city of at least a million people from all over the realms. Hel lifted the invisibility magic off them both and listened. It was silent, not a creak or patter of footsteps.

He wasn’t here.

“We’ll have to wait.” He plopped down on the soft blue sofa and propped his boots up on the glass table in front of himand crossed his ankles. On every wall Rogue had some sort of academic award or shelves of textbooks on the law. The decor was stiff, but he didn’t expect more from the prick.

Thane walked into the kitchen with wooden butcher blocks for countertops and red brick along the walls and picked up a glass bottle with a wine label from the goddess of the harvest. A moment later he set it down and moved over to a fruit bowl. “It’s fresh. And the wine is unopened. They’ve been here recently.”

“If I didn’t already know that I wouldn’t have brought us here. He came here thinking we wouldn’t know of this apartment.”

Leaning up against the honey-wood countertop, Thane crossed his arms. “Why isn’t Valeen with us?”

“She’s been through a lot recently, and why would I ask her to do what you and I can?”

“You mean, she might have a problem with your methods.”

Self-righteous bastard.He chuckled and took out a civar, watching the end light and smoke roll upward before he put it to his lips. He hated and loved the habit. The smoke calmed his nerves and that darkness that often wanted to fight its way to the surface, but he was irritated he relied on it so much. “If she had such a problem with me, I think she’d be in your bed, not mine.” Thane’s jaw muscles twitched and his eyes hardened. He opened his mouth to speak, and Hel lifted a finger. “I’d rethink whatever it is you’re going to say. She’s my mate, my wife, and if fate wasn’t a cruel bitch, she would have never been with you at all.”

“Well, fate is cruel, and she was.”

He took a puff off his civar and slowly blew out the smoke. “Save the anger for Rogue. We’re on the same side now, cousin. Just like old times.”

“You’re actually going to kill the ogre girl?” Thane said, smartly changing the subject. It wasn’t an argument either of them would come out of unscathed.

Hel lifted a shoulder. “That’s what I said I would do. You know, one of the reasons I brought you rather than my wife was so I didn’t have to have this discussion.”

“She’s young, and it’s not her fault.”

“She’s a damn ogre.” Since when did everyone get so sentimental? “And we’re at war. What did you expect to happen? We’d all sing songs and dance together? Shit, Thane, you’re the god of war; you know full well how this works.”

He turned to stare out the windows. He knew the horrors of war just as much as Hel did, more even. It must be part of the reason he wanted to be called Thane and not War, he knewtoowell.

“I’m the god of war because no one can best me in combat and I have a mind for battle strategy not because I like war. Besides, I’m not the same person I was.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” He flicked the ashes off his civar onto the seat cushion beside him. The little embers burnt tiny holes in the fabric. “You’re fucking soft.”

He shot him a glare. “Are there even any lines you won’t cross?”

“Can’t think of any,” Hel said, and laughed when Thane rolled his eyes.

“You know, you used to care about more than just revenge.”

“That was before I had everything taken from me.” He rested his arms on the back of the cushy couch and let his civar dangle between his lips. “Would I kill this half-ogre girl and not ever think about her again? Yes.”

Voices and footsteps outside silenced them. Hel signaled Thane to move behind the door while he waited on the sofa with his hands behind his head. A female’s laugh came through as itopened, then thetap tap tapof heels. She didn’t even notice him sitting in her common room before she turned to the kitchen. Rogue, however, stood frozen like he faced his own death.

He did.

Thane shoved the door closed behind Rogue, causing him to jump and twist. He wore a similar dark brown suit to the last time he’d seen him, only this time Hel spotted a shiny piece of chain mail peeking out from under the collar of his shirt. He backed away from Thane and into a side table knocking over an oil lamp that shattered on the floor.

“Who are these people?” the lady asked from the kitchen, sliding behind the countertop as if it could save her. Her fear practically coated the room. At least she had survival instincts.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Rogue demanded.

“Rogue,” Hel said with his best, charming smile. “The clock has run out. The timer is out of sand. Your three days are up. I hope that’s clear.”

“Get out of my house.”

“You thought we wouldn’t come. How unfortunate for you.”