Page 15

I hated going to Lower Cutwart and tried to avoid it whenever I could.

They were probably worse than Guttertown, but they shat on us worse than the other areas.

They were landlocked with only one river and not a lot of wells.

It was a lot harder to bathe in Lower Cutwart than it was in Guttertown, so a lot of them put it off as long as they could.

I could always tell if someone from Lower Cutwart visited the brothel and then stopped by my tavern for a drink because I had to open a window so people didn’t leave. My food and booze were top shelf, but the stench was downright offensive.

And I didn’t know how they lived this close to each other.

We shared a courtyard and garden with the brothel, but we didn’t share walls.

If someone was a screamer and they all were because the men liked that, I didn’t have to hear a damned thing when I was working or sleeping.

Everyone had to hear everyone’s business in Lower Cutwart.

Which meant it didn’t make any sense for the Ghoul to kill here.

I guess I could understand Neco since he got in without anyone noticing, took out his target, and got out without alerting the whole house.

The Ghoul took out entire families. Someone would have screamed.

Someone would have tried to run. Someone would have heard something.

I wasn’t Inspector Trevils and my accent was going to give me away as a Guttertown brat right away. These people had no reason to respect me and I didn’t need them to. I just needed them to get their heads out of their arses and realize my mom’s life was on the line and name drop the Barons.

I found the house. The family must have been wealthy by Lower Cutwart standards. They didn’t share walls with any neighbors and they were close to a well. They were still close enough to their neighbors that someone should have heard the entire family getting slaughtered.

So, before I traumatized myself and walked into a crime scene, I decided to talk to the neighbors. Except I took a step and ran straight into a giant. I stepped back and hissed at him.

“Fuck, Neco. Make some noise.”

Seriously, where did he even come from? He was the biggest man in Guttertown outside of Autar and Autar was loud as fuck. I hadn’t even noticed him sneak up on me and I made it a point to notice my surroundings at all times. The arsehole just smirked at me and I really wanted to hit him again.

“It occurred to me that you were going to ignore my very valid suggestion to stay out of this and let me handle it, so I decided to tag along.”

I grit my teeth because I knew I needed him.

I just really wanted to kick his nuts out of his mouth because I couldn’t figure him out.

Neco had never been heartless, and he had personal experience with Argent kids and their moms. He wouldn’t just let Mom die, but it was like he was trying to be friendly with me.

And that was the weird part because two days ago, we were mortal enemies who couldn’t be in the same room. I didn’t know what changed with him that he was being nice to me now.

“I meant helping me understand the Ghoul’s motivation not tagging along.”

Neco just shrugged.

“You’re thinking about it all wrong. We aren’t the same.”

“That’s debatable,” I muttered, stomping towards the neighbors’.

Neco caught up with me and I was just so pissed he was that tall because his legs were longer than mine and it was harder to ditch him.

“Beck and I already interviewed some of these people.”

“Why are you dragging my boyfriend into your shenanigans?”

“Because if he’s moved to Lower Cutwart, then Guttertown might be next and then no one but us will give a shit.”

“The Madame is perfectly fine and is going to live forever out of spite. My mother is the one who is sick. I can’t believe you involved Beck and keep trying to force me to sit out.”

“It’s different with Beck.”

“Let me guess. Because you think he’s more manly than me?”

I couldn’t believe I was even having this argument because one of the things I loved about Beck was that he oozed masculinity on the surface, but he was also just so sensitive and gentle.

He always seemed to know if you just needed to rant while he nodded and agreed with you or you wanted his advice.

It was a rare skill, but Beck definitely had it.

“What? No. Beck was trained by Panas and you weren’t. This isn’t Guttertown and they fight in packs when they want to beat someone they look down on. Beck and I know how to handle that with our fists or our words. Your dumb arse is going to fly off and get beaten to death.”

That was logical. And actually, a fair assessment sometimes. Most of the time, I avoided fights, so I didn’t get exposed, but other times, I just craved violence and snapped. It was different outside of Guttertown.

“Fine, but don’t get in my way.”

“I’m helping, Lance. The contract didn’t say anything about help. Despite what happened, I don’t want you to lose your mom.”

Ugh. That was the Neco whose room I used to sneak into at night and stay up for hours just talking. I missed that Neco and I had a feeling when this was all over, he was going to go back to being a dick to me.

And I wasn’t sure I could handle it again.