“Crap. Okay, gimme a sec, peanut. I need to give Ulma something.”
“Can I have cereal?”
“Sure. I’ll help you in a minute.” I sat up as she climbed off my lap, then I stood, grabbed the envelope of money from the table—being sure not to bend over because my ribs were killin’ me—and ran out the front door, yelling, “Ulma!”
She was already on her own porch, but she turned around at the sound of my voice.
I ran across the street and up to her steps, and said, “Thank you for sittin’ with her last night, Ulma.”
She waved that away. “It’s fine. You need me again tonight?”
Cringing internally, I asked, “Is that a problem?”
She sighed. “Nah. I got you, Hiro.”
“Thank you so much, Ulma, really.” She waved me away again, so I held out the envelope and said, “This is everythin’ I owe ya, plus enough for tonight and the rest of the week.”
“You got a good bounty last night, huh?”
“Yeah. Sucker got me good in the ribs, but it was worth it.”
She eyed me. “You need me to take a look?”
“Nah, but thanks anyway.”
She hesitated as she took the envelope from me. “You still got enough for food?”
For food? Yeah. For rent? Nah, not even close. But I nodded. “Yeah, it’ll do for now. I’m gonna grab another assignment tonight.”
She eyed me for another moment before sighing. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Hiro. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I sent her my most charming smile, which made her roll her eyes at me and snort, then I chuckled, headed back to my house, and called out, “Alright, peanut, we’re gonna eat some cereal, get dressed, and go grocery shopping.”
“Can I push the cart?” Rasha was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of her and milk spilled all over the table.
Stifling a sigh, I asked, “Did you make yourself cereal?”
She grinned and nodded. “Ms. Ulma taught me how to pour.” The gallon of milk was practically the size of her, so it was no wonder she’d spilled it everywhere.
“Good job, Rasha.” I kissed the top of her head, then grabbed a rag to clean her mess up. We’d buy some groceries and get her oxygen tanks refilled today, and then I’d have to get another bounty before buying anything else. At least last night bought me a little more time.
Walking into the bar, I grimaced. If Ellwood didn’t show up tonight, I was going to be pissed. I didn’t want to waste any time not working on my next mark, but I had to make sure Ellwood wasn’t going to come near my family again.
I couldn’t even afford a drink, so I asked for a water—in a cup so they didn’t charge me for a bottle—so I didn’t look like I was just prowling the place as I waited. With the cup in hand, I found an empty table in the back corner so I’d see when the witch walked in.
Thankfully, he only made me wait about ten minutes before showing up. As he scanned the bar and found me in the corner, I couldn’t help but admire his physique. He was lean but muscled in a way that showed he worked for it but likely didn’t lift weights. He was thinner and shorter than me by a good half a foot, which I admittedly liked. I liked my partners smaller than me, whether they were men or women. Partners? Why the hell would I even be thinkin’ that word in the same sentence as Basil?
Shaking that away, I kept my eye on him. To be honest, Basil’s body wasn’t the only thing he had going for him, either. His long dark hair, braided back on the left side, framed his pretty face and brought out those dark eyes. He had a menacing feel about him when you first laid eyes on him, but when you got up close, you could tell that was only a front and that he actually seemed to care about people.
But he was a witch, so even if he wasn’t one hundred percent evil, he still had it in him. Witches weren’t good. They were evil bastards that manipulated you and ended up hurting everything you loved. They always did.
“Grim,” Ellwood said as he made it to my table and sat across from me.
“Ellwood.” I leaned on my elbows and said, “I know it was you.”
He actually winced and stared at me with something that looked like an apology, like he was ashamed of himself. But witches didn’t do shame, so it must’ve been fake. He said, “I’m really sorry, Grim. I didn’t…”
“You didn’t, what? You didn’t mean to follow me home?”
He cringed. “No, I did, but I didn’t realize…”
I tapped the wooden table with my finger. “Listen to me. If you come near my daughter again, I will kill you.”
He didn’t even blink at that, he only nodded. “I know… I’m sorry I followed you, and I’m sorry I took so many of your bounties. I didn’t realize… it’s just, you’re always such an asshole, so I decided to be a jerk back, but if I’d known you had a kid you were taking care of, I never would’ve taken your bounties.”
I blinked at that, sifting through everything he said before I ground out, “I don’t need your charity, Ellwood.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t talking about charity. You took those people down, and I took them from you. You should’ve gotten the bounty for them, and I’m sorry I didn’t let you.”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at him, trying to figure out his angle. Was he just sayin’ all that to get me to let my guard down? Probably. But to what end? “What do ya want from me?”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean? I don’t want anything.”
“Everyone wants somethin’, witch. I’m just tryin’ to figure out your play.”
“I’m not… Mother of All, Grimsby, I’m not trying to get anything from you. I followed you because I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to hurt anyone with that damn hobgoblin venom. When I realized you were only trying to help those dwarves—”
“Half-dwarves,” I corrected, though I didn’t know why I cared.
He blinked at me, then slowly gave a nod. “Yeah, them. After that, I kept following you because I honestly thought you were bad news. I never meant to… I never wanted to make you feel unsafe in your own home.”
He actually sounded truthful, but for all I knew, he was a good actor. Still, some part of me wanted to believe him.
Basil pulled a pouch off his belt, and I tensed, waiting for attack, but all he did was pull out a bundle of money and said, “Here. All yours.”
“What the fuck do ya think you’re doin’?”
He sighed. “Helping make up for the things I took from you.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“So what? You need it, so take it.”
Every cell in my body tensed as anger overtook me. How dare he come in here, riding on his high horse, and throwing money at me. Who in the hell did he think he was? “I’m not takin’ your fuckin’ money.”
Basil jerked back at my anger. “Why not? I don’t need it and you do. Take it.”
“I’m not some charity case for you to throw money at to make yourself feel better. I don’t want it.”