Page 58 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Ryker

“Good day to you too, Father. I see you’ve picked up a new hobby.”

He glowered at me as he jerked off the gauntlet. I thought he might throw it at me, but he stopped himself from doing so.

“Has falconry always interested you?” I inquired.

“You always think you’re so smart.”

“I’m trying to make polite conversation. Apparently, that’s not appreciated today.”

“Where have you been?”

“I’ve been here before, but you were at the palace. Otherwise, I’ve been doing what I always do—whoring and searching the Revenant Woods for the Hooded Robber. It’s a fantastic time.”

“I’ve sent men in search of you, but no one has seen you in the whorehouses lately.”

I kept my displeasure over this revelation hidden. I couldn’t have this asshole hunting for me and looking into my life.

I paid Dalia well to tell anyone who asked I was sleeping with her, but she wouldn’t lie and say I was there when I wasn’t. That was too easy to disprove and would get her killed.

“As I said, I’ve also been hunting for the Hooded Robber. There are whore houses in the woods too.”

“The fuck there are.”

“Some of the finest establishments I’ve ever visited. Any woman who can survive those woods is someone worthy of fucking. They’re wild.”

Despite his irritation with me, he couldn’t hide his curiosity.

“Did you send men into the Revenant Woods after me?” I asked.

“I did.”

“Did they return?”

“No.”

“Well then, it’s not my fault your men are trained so poorly that they can’t handle some ghosts and monsters.”

His jaw clenched as the look I recalled well from my childhood descended over his face. If I’d still been a boy, he would have whipped me unconscious for that. If he tried to now, I’d kill him, and we both knew it.

“So, your hunting skills are still so incompetent you haven’t caught the thief yet? Why did the ghouls ever fear you?”

He’d tried another tactic to cut me, but I shrugged it off. “Because I made them scream with my lightning. If I catch the thief, I’ll do the same to him.”

“You’re worthless.”

I clasped my hands behind my back and smiled at him. “Is that why you’ve been waiting for me to return, Father?”

He sneered before running a hand through his dark blond hair and stalking closer to me. He was a large man, broad through the shoulders and chest, but I outgrew him centuries ago, and I’d kill him in a fight. We knew this, but my father wasn’t looking for a fight.

“There’s a female lightning bearer in the realm,” he stated.

“So I’ve heard.”

“How did you hear?”

“I do occasionally venture out of the woods and into the towns. Besides, news like that spreads, even in the Revenant Woods.”

“Does it spread amongst the thieves and murderers? Is that who you’re socializing with now?”

“I don’t ask what they are. When I seek information, they tell me the news.”

It was obvious he didn’t like my flippant reply. Good.

“Did you know of her existence?” he demanded.

“Whose existence?”

I knew who he meant, but I enjoyed the flush of red rising across his cheeks.

“The female lightning bearer,” he bit out through his teeth.

“Why would I know of her existence?”

“You share the same ability and could recognize it in her.”

“And you share the same ability with many of those in Tempest; do you recognize it in all of them?”

“No, but this is different.”

“How so?”

“There are only two of you.”

“And there are thousands who also control the rain like me, but I wouldn’t recognize one of them until they brought forth the rain. I’ll know who she is if she unleashes lightning in front of me. Until then, I don’t know who the woman is and don’t care.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not?”

“ Everyone in Tempest wants to know who she is. Something such as her has never existed before.”

“I’m aware.”

“She stands against Ivan and must be stopped.”

“Stopped… or brought to heel?” I inquired.

“She has a lot of power.”

“So do I.”

“You’re not using it against Ivan and hiding who you are.”

“So, you’re determined to find her so you can keep Ivan safe?”

My father scoffed. “There’s more to it than that.”

“Please, enlighten me.”

“She can do incredible things.”

“I’m aware. I have the same ability, and I know what it can do, but what does that have to do with anything?”