Page 33 of Veiled Justice (The Other Detective #1)

Einar’s mind was not a happy place. He knew he was going to die and he was furious that it would be at the hands of the weakling, Krieg, who’d had to creep around in darkness and tie him to a chair to beat him. If the fight had been fair, Einar would have destroyed him.

He wished the coup had moved faster. He wished he’d never taken Katz’s damn contract.

What a pathetic piece of shit Katz was, what a fool.

Signing on the dotted line for both Quintos and Carnforth?

Pathetic twat! He’d been so eager to prove he could pull off this PR stunt, the likes of which they’d never seen before.

People would talk about the two parties for years, especially those who had witnessed the deaths.

They would be the height of entertainment, like a black tourney or a Roman gladiator fight.

No matter the century, man would always be fascinated by death.

The memory of Helga’s death replayed in Einar’s mind. He'd spiked her champagne just before the fireworks. This off-the-books contract was the most lucrative he’d ever taken, two million to kill one of his own. He’d have done it for a quarter of that.

He’d enjoyed fucking her, but she’d been foolish if she’d thought his heart was involved.

She wasn’t even close to being worthy to be his mate – she wasn’t even mate enough for Krieg: she was just young, nubile and na?ve, perfect for the role of sacrificial lamb.

He’d kill her and then he’d use her death; he’d show the rest of the den that Krieg was so weak he couldn’t even protect his own goddaughter.

He and Helga had been outside waiting for the fireworks to start when the drug had started to take effect.

He’d leaned close to her. ‘Just hold on to me, baby,’ he’d crooned as he helped her walk forward.

He gave Katz a nod; the wizard looked so damned excited it was a wonder he didn’t cream his pants. Maybe he did.

Einar walked her to the prearranged spot. When she stumbled again, he gave her a firm push and let her fall. Her nose crunched so he turned her over and cleaned up the blood so as not to offend the posh guests.

When he drew his knife, her panicked eyes met his.

She was conscious enough to know what was going on and he found that he regretted that a little.

‘It won’t last long,’ he’d murmured. He didn’t promise it wouldn’t hurt because it would, but he’d make sure it didn’t last long. He owed her that much.

A throaty laugh made him look up as Louisa Carnforth sauntered over in a black ball gown, her mask still across her eyes. She was accompanied by Quintos and Katz.

‘How delicious to make them kill themselves.’ She clapped her hands. ‘Genius, Quinty! I must follow suit. Make a note, Katz. We’ll have to get a dryad in. That one Daddy uses.’

‘Kane? Of course, Louisa. I’ll line it up,’ Katz said obsequiously.

‘Last-minute changes, Louisa?’ Quintos teased. ‘Worried because you can’t possibly measure up?’

She laughed again. ‘Not at all. You know I love to keep things … flexible.’ Quintos leered at her and the two exchanged heated glances.

Einar grimaced and cleared his throat. ‘Shall we?’

‘Impatient to kill your lover?’ Quintos quipped.

‘Oh!’ Louisa clapped her hands. ‘That is divine! You get extra points for that, Quinty.’

He smiled. ‘Thank you, my dear. I knew you’d appreciate the elegance.’

‘Oh but I do.’ She stepped forward to look at Helga then gave the immobilised ogre a finger wave.

‘Hello, dear. Thanks for defending me earlier. I’m sorry I won’t be doing the same for you.

It’s just a fact of life, darling – you’re either a shark, or a fish.

And you’re a sweet little minnow. Time for you to stop swimming. ’

She winked and stepped back a little, but not far. ‘I want to see the life leaving her eyes,’ she told Quintos.

‘Bloodthirsty little whore.’ His tone was affectionate and Einar realised that this whole thing was little more than a twisted foreplay for the two of them. Freaks.

Suddenly there was a commotion. Squiggins strode forward with another woman in tow.

‘I found her snooping in your office!’ he said, as he joined Quintos.

He had a knife to Verona’s throat although she seemed to be giving him no trouble.

‘I gave her a little of that serum you supplied, Quinty, the one that makes them more compliant. It seems to be working. She hasn’t even tried to run away. ’

Quintos sighed. ‘We can’t kill her – she’s Volderiss’s hussy. I’m going to make millions from him.’

‘Gosh,’ Louisa said throatily. ‘Listen to you talking about killing her already and you haven’t even got this one under your belt.’ She nodded at Helga.

‘You’re right. Let’s get this show on the road. An oath will deal with the vampyr. Let’s do what we came for. Kill the ogre, ogre.’ He snickered.

On cue, the fireworks started to go off. ‘Do it,’ Louisa urged Einar. ‘I want to hear her scream.’

Einar drew his military-issue dagger and started stabbing.

Immobilised by the Imbarum, Helga couldn’t scream but tears fell from her eyes.

Louisa leaned forward, knelt on the grass and licked one away.

She straightened up, smacking her lips with delight, and fixed her gaze on Helga until the light left the young ogre’s eyes.

Einar felt a weird and alien feeling he’d rarely felt in his life: regret.

Quintos turned to Verona. ‘You will give me your oath that you will not speak or communicate in any way about anything you saw here.’

Robotically, Verona repeated, ‘I will give you my oath that I will not speak or communicate in any way about anything I saw here.’

Louisa pouted. ‘It’s not as much fun when you use magical vows. It’s not really getting away with murder if we can’t tell anyone about it.’

‘We’ll add it to Pride,’ he promised with a wink.

She giggled coquettishly. ‘Just you wait for my party, Quinty! Everything is going to be bigger! Better! It is going to be so delicious. I have all sorts of plans.’

He looked at her indulgently. ‘I have no doubt. Now come on, let’s get back inside before anyone misses us.’

‘What do I do with the body?’ Einar asked.

Louisa tittered. ‘Make sure it’s found. It isn’t getting away with murder if no one knows she’s dead. Plus the drama of the Connection coming is half the fun! Oh! I want a souvenir! Katz, get me one of her fingers.’

Katz nodded, though he looked less than enthusiastic. He watched as Louisa and Quintos walked, her rubbing his tented trousers.

‘Cut off her pinky,’ Katz said to Einar. ‘Take it and yourself to Nocturne Circle. I told Squigsy he could use you in Wrath.’

Einar frowned. ‘That wasn’t in my contract.’

‘For two million pounds, you’ll do anything I damn well say. You’re mine for forty-eight hours. It looks like I won’t need you for the second death, so off to Nocturne you go. Got it?’

Even though Einar wanted to rip Katz’s head off his pubescent shoulders, he nodded. ‘Got it.’