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N eco’s family was one of the most important things to him, so I wasn’t all that shocked he stole me from the tavern to present me as Lucy and someone important to them. It would make Theda happy and it was probably stupid since she was a kid, but I really wanted Rowena to like me.

We hung out for a while and Neco lied through his teeth about being completely done with his father and serial killers. Unlike Goran, I wasn’t a snitch, so I wasn’t going to tell Theda a damned thing, I’d just make sure he never got caught.

Neco brought me straight back to the tavern because he knew it was important to me and we could make a killing tonight at this party. Our kitchen wasn’t that big, but it was packed. The Madame had rolled up her sleeves and was baking sweets.

Ugh. The Madame and Keeva were both amazing cooks, but only one decided to do that professionally. Having the Madame bake for the Whispering Raven was a huge honor because she only usually did it for her girls and the kids at the brothel.

“So, I did a little meddling,” the Madame said.

“The Whispering Raven can’t fit everyone in Guttertown at the same time and everyone is going to come out for this.

The people with food stalls are going to drag them into the square near the brothel and the tavern.

Some people in Guttertown don’t drink or pay to fuck and they should be able to celebrate, too. ”

“Good call! Thanks.”

Because yeah, a lot of people did drink in Guttertown, but there were some that didn’t.

Some came in because we had decent food, but they weren’t frequent guests.

They came a little more often now that we had music, but yeah, all the merchants in Guttertown should be out for this.

Everyone should have something they enjoy at a party and everyone should get a chance to make a little money.

It was weird, but there wasn’t actually much for me to do. My infusions had been bottled while I was away tracking the Ghoul. Ollie rigged up something to make the Bloody Mary base easier to prepare.

I was pretty sure most of the recipes Basselt had been whipping out were Theran. I was going to ask him to teach me, but they were delicious and going over really well with customers. The Madame was mostly just waiting for the bread to be done so she could put her goodies into the ovens.

Yeah, and everyone knew better, so Mom was sitting on a stool sipping hot tea with whiskey. I could hear someone pounding on the door because I locked it and I couldn’t imagine who it could be.

Guttertown knew the party was later. Trevils and Leodos were the only people outside of Guttertown that I could imagine would want to be here and we always made exceptions for Aimes. They were all here.

Neco was hovering when he answered the door with me. It was one of Folcard’s men, based on the crest on his arm, but he wasn’t here for me. He had a summons for Neco.

Fuck. Did Neco take care of the name he was given? Did I screw Neco over when I was sticking it to my father?