Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 20 - King of the Castle

HELL YES GUYS YOU WON. I SUGGEST YOU GIVE @misslizz1984 AND @ayeitsjustellie A ROUND OF FREAKING APPLAUSE. SIT BACK AND REST ON YOUR LAURELS AND ENJOY YOUR TRIPLE UPDATE.

Chapters 2 and 3 coming out at 6pm and 8pm GMT.

More rogues had arrived at the castle. A lot more rogues, if the number of tents in the field was any indication. I counted more than thirty, which had to be at least three more raiding teams. If so, we had seventy fighters -- enough to see off any pack which came calling, and maybe even two packs.

And I had promised to pay each and every one of them ten thousand pounds.

Shit?

Lee parked in the same place as before, and no sooner had we pulled to a stop than a figure left the castle, trekking towards us at a grudging hurry. All I could see was a head of dark hair, but I was positive that it was Mort. I climbed out of the car and stretched my cramped muscles while I waited for him to arrive.

We let Alex out of the backseat. He had sat nicely, refrained from grabbing the steering wheels and hadn't tried to attack us from behind, but I had engaged child lock as a precaution. He ducked his head against the rain and stared at the castle. "What the hell kind of place is this?"

A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. "You had it right. This is a hell kind of place. Well, flockie hell, rogue heaven."

"But there are dozens and dozens of them," Alex began slowly. "All in one place. And you've been here — what, a week?"

"Four days."

"Shit, then how?"

"A common enemy," I said, nodding graciously at him. "That's you lot."

"And a whole bunch of money," Lee put in happily. "We'd forget our differences for tener, let alone thousands."

Alex snapped his head back towards us at the mention of money, and he frowned, but he didn't actually ask. It was satisfying in a way, because I knew it meant he didn't expect a straight answer. He went back to examining the steady trickle of people walking between the castle and the tents.

"We should've blindfolded him," Lee muttered at me.

I shrugged. Yes, we should have, but it was too late. "He won't tell anyone."

"That, I believe," he agreed, watching Alex's head swivel back and forth, squinting at the distant figures of rogues. "He's in deep shit."

Finally, Mort decided he was close enough and cupped his hands to his mouth to shout, "Eira wants to talk to you. It's kinda urgent."

That got Alex's attention. He came to stand at my left shoulder, while Lee slunk his way to my right. To the untrained eye, we might look like friends.

"Mort..." I called back, grinning once again. Then I tapped my temple and spread my hands out in a question.

He spat out a stream of curses and rubbed his face in exasperation. "Wasn't bloody thinking, was I?"

"Ah, well," I admonished over the sound of Lee sniggering. "Least you got some exercise."

Of course, Eira was perfectly capable of mind-linking me herself; she probably could have managed it to Wyst, let alone the other end of a field, but if Mort had been following her like a lost puppy, I was sure she had jumped at the chance to send him off.

"Woo-freaking-hoo." Mort took a couple steps closer to peer at Alex then stopped dead in his tracks. "Who's that? And why does he stink like a flockie?"

I rolled my eyes, because Mort had met Alex on Silver Lake territory, however briefly, and he really needed to start learning scents. We told the kid what had happened a Wyst while we walked to the castle, and he cheered with all due enthusiasm at the part where the flockies got thrashed, much to Alex's annoyance.