Once I handed off the scroll, Hekate was gone and back within another minute.
Unlike certain impatient, one-eyed bastards, Jeremiah is busy doing his job.
And I don’t know, honestly. Surprise me? I am admittedly starving.
I told you to eat breakfast, idiot.
Beg your pardon? I most certainly did indulge in the most important meal of the day. Consider my ego bruised that you don’t recall.
Did you at least get something on the way to work?
No ma’am.
Ew. Gross.
Don’t call me that, I’m only twenty-three.
I’m aware. So, are you coming by for lunch, or are you gonna stay in the hallway and continue to lecture me about my inconsistent eating habits?
I’ll be there in half an hour.
Do try to be gentle on the freshlings in the interim. You get awfully grumpy when you’re hungry.
Let the record show that they’re supposed to be scared of me. Intimidation is part of my job description.
Give your bird a rest and let me go get us lunch, you loquacious fiend.
My bird?? Excuse you? Her name is Hekate.
Kieran!
Fucking pedant.
See you soon, gorgeous.
Fates help me. What the Hel was I supposed to do with this man and his audacious nonsense?
Go fetch him some sustenance, I suppose.
Rolling my eyes again, I hoisted my bag back over my shoulder and made my way toward the Market District.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
KIERAN
Itoyed with the scrap of parchment between my fingers while giving Jeremiah Fairchilde approximately half of my attention.
Whilst my lieutenant was giving me the rundown on the scouting mission he’d just returned from, I found myself distracted by the lovely loops of cursive held within, and the way Arken’s handwriting somehow managed to capture her perfect essence.
Fates, I was fucking obsessed with that woman. It was maddening, the chokehold I found myself in the moment she landed in my bed. The moment she kissed me. Hel, I had been strung out over Arken Asher from the moment we met.
A distant part of me questioned if this was the right thing, this…whatever the fuck it wasthat she and I were doing right now. I struggled to put it into words. It was indescribable, nothing felt accurateenough to explain it…but at the moment, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It had been hours since I’d left her bed with the taste of her still lingering ever-so-sweetly on my tongue. I wasn’t sure if I could still taste it now, or if that was just wishful thinking. Attempting to be subtle, I glanced down at my pocket watch before shoving it back into my coat.
She should be here any minute now…
“And there’s still no sign of the Pyrhhan agitator, though no further gatherings have been observed,” Jeremiah said before crossing his arms and raising a brow.