Luna of Rogues

Part 56 - Assassins

Rhys raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "You mean the Prince of Anglesey?"

"Yes, a nice lad by all accounts. Anyone but Jeff," Rhodric muttered.

"What about me? What if I want some family bonding?" I asked with a grin.

"Go find your twin. I'd imagine Kara from New Dawn would be a good place to start. You too look too similar not to be related," he told me, very unapologetically.

"Gee, thanks. You're very helpful."

My search for a long-lost twin had been put on the back burner because I was focused on scaring my rogues back into order. It might have been that all I needed to do was visit Kara, find out where she had grown up and therefore know whether or not we had shared a womb for six months. But for now, I had other priorities.

Rhys stumbled over a tree root, making my heart jump in my chest. He landed heavily on his injured arm, groaned and remained lying on the ground. Rhodric just shook his head, smiling.

"Don't be so dramatic. If you walked this far, you can damn well walk the rest of the way."

"Father of the year," Rhys grumbled, but he picked himself up to meet Rhodric's eyes.

A throaty chuckle was Rhodric's only reply.

When we neared the camp after a very long walk, Ollie was there to greet us with a squad of hardened fighters in wolf form. They fell in around the three of us as an escort. My second in command gave me an exasperated look.

"Fion told us you were in danger again," Ollie explained.

"Is there anyone Fion didn't tell?" I teased.

Ollie rolled his eyes at me. "She was worried. Can you blame her? I mean, Rhys is covered in blood."

"I'm fine," Rhys said defensively.

"Yes, he is," Rhodric agreed. "And now that you two are safe, I need to go back."

I whirled to face him in alarm. "Go back?"

He shrugged at us. "Jeff takes a very long time to calm down. I should keep an eye on him."

"Alone?" I demanded.

Rhodric smiled, making me think he knew something we didn't. "Oh yes. I'm the only person he won't attack."

"He killed his daughter," Rhys muttered. "What makes you think he won't kill his son?"

"It has nothing to do with sentiment," Rhodric said. He turned to leave before we could quiz him any further. "Good night, kids."

"Night, Dad," I replied with a resigned shake of my head.

"I didn't leave that gate open so you could get yourself killed, Skye," Ollie told me as soon as Rhodric was out of earshot.

"Hello? Still alive, aren't I?"

Ollie gave me a sympathetic look. "I say this with all respect for you, both as my friend and my boss, but I've seen corpses who look better than you do right now."

"Nonsense," I said, attempting to tame my tangle of hair into something a little more presentable. It was probably the bruises covering my neck that were bothering him most. Jeff hadn't exactly been gentle.

"As for you, Rhys," Ollie began.

Rhys turned his head, giving his friend a cold stare. I was surprised Ollie's kidneys didn't liquefy on the spot. Rhys's lips spread into a more dangerous version of his usual grin.

"Well ... you look just fine," Ollie stammered out.

Rhys raised an eyebrow at me. "And that's how it's done."