Page 47 of Till Death

“That is quite enough,” I said, pointing a firm finger at the little beast. He whimpered and dropped the meat to the floor, tongue hanging. I buried my hands into his soft fur, scratching behind his dark copper ears until his leg began twitching. “Yes. You are a good boy, aren’t you? A good, naughty boy.”

He pressed his nose to my face and licked, chicken breath ruining the bath I’d had, but it was worth every second.

“I’ve always wanted a dog,” I said.

Maybe an animal would have loved me loyally. However, my father never agreed, and it wasn’t a battle I was willing to have as a child. Somewhere along the years of becoming Death’s Maiden, I’d let the dream go.

“I think he likes you,” Quill whispered, daring to step into the room.

“They say dogs are excellent judges of character.” Hollis stepped out from behind the door, as if he’d been there to protect her, just in case.

“What does that say about Orin and what happened last night?” she asked, peeking at his room again.

“I don’t think hellhounds count, Quilly,” he answered, patting her on the head. “Best take the chicken back to Miss Elowen and see if there’s anything to be salvaged.”

She groaned, shoulders slumping as she grabbed Boo’s collar, swiped the chicken from the floor, and pulled her dog to the hall. “I’m going to be on dish duty for a week, thanks to you.”

I waited until she’d gotten all the way down the stairs before I asked, “Is she Paesha’s daughter?”

Hollis laughed. “No. But I can see why you think that. She and Paesha have a special bond. There’s a lot in abandonment that only those who have been through it can understand. But she’s really all of ours now. Lady Visha gifted her to the Maestro, but he didn’t know what to do with her. The Syndicate takes care of her, but she’s her own person. She’s got an old soul, that girl.”

“So, she’s just alone?”

He tucked his hands behind his back, dipping a chin. “I think we’re all a little bit alone. Don’t you?”

I hated the way his piercing gaze felt so personal. As if he truly did know something about me.

“Some of us chose to be alone, Old Man.”

“Yes. And some of us are plagued by it.”

Orin hadn’t left the house. I’d been hoping to follow him again, but, though I paced in my room, waiting for him to make a move, it seemed he knew it and sat idle out of spite.

The second I opened the door, he did the same, leaning on the frame with one arm while tenderly holding his stomach with the other as he lifted a brow. “Going somewhere, Maiden?”

The way his dark glare pinned me to the spot irritated me. I couldn’t see the murderer in those eyes. Perhaps because I loathed seeing it in mine.

“Am I not allowed?”

“Thank you for asking permission,” he answered with a smile curling his lips. “I think you better stay here today.”

“It was rhetorical,” I shouted after he shut his door. “I’ll leave if I damn well please.”

“But where would you go?” Quill’s shy voice from the other end of the hall surprised me.

Her muted footsteps were not nearly as loud as the limp that tormented Hollis most days. But the surprise came from her choice to speak. She hadn’t spoken to me again after the chicken debacle with Boo. Likely because Paesha kept her at arm’s reach. The Huntress couldn’t control the dog, though, and he’d plowed into my borrowed bedroom every single morning, burying his wet nose into my cheek until I crawled out of bed and snuck him a handful of whatever food I’d managed to sneak away. Mostly for his loyalty, but also because there was something so soothing about being enjoyed. As if the world surrendered to me just a teeny bit.

Quill didn’t live solely in the Syndicate house. She had a strange attachment to the Maestro, and, though I wanted to figure that out, as well, I couldn’t solve the mystery of my new husband, find the true Life Maiden if it wasn’t him, and start poking around Drexel Vanhoff without inviting more trouble than it was worth. I’d have to pick my battles.

“That’s the beauty of adulthood, kid. You can go wherever you want, whenever you want.” I raised my voice. “Take notes, Husband.”

She’d vanished back down the stairs with no more questions, and I hadn’t pushed.

Through the following week, I’d made small talk with Hollis and had been as gentle with Quill as I could be, but she was still completely terrified. The mind of a child was innocent. But their mouths were loose and their secrets easy to coax free. She was my target.

Lying in the garden, when the back door slammed open and her sweet little voice called for her pup, I pressed my lips together to hide the smile from a well-laid plan.

“Boo!” she shouted, hands cupped around her mouth as she faced the river.