“And that’s not enough? I’ve seen what you can do to people.”
“I cultivated an atmosphere of respect birthed from fear. For a time, it worked, but lately there have been grumblings. Pockets of insubordination and disrespect.”
“Like, what Brickmore did to me?”
His jaw clenched. “Exactly. That should not have happened to you.”
I shrugged. “I’m over what happened.”
That wasn’t true. I wasn’t over it. In fact, the last week or so I’d spent most of my waking moments worrying about when Brickmore, or any of the other guards, would try something like that again. I’d had nightmares about being dragged out of bed and into an unbalanced fight that were so vivid, I’d woken up drenched in my own sweat.
But I wasn’t about to tell him that.
“Why didn’t you reprimand him, anyway?” I asked.
“The Warden intervened.”
“The Warden?” I scoffed. “I’ve met that twitchy-eyed asshole. I find it hard to believe he has a say in what you do?”
The Horseman’s face darkened. “More than you know,” he said, walking around his desk and slowly sitting down. “But I did warn him about interfering with you, and I took D-Block out of his rotation.”
“That explains why I’ve seen him more in my dreams than in person.”
He frowned. “You have?”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know how much time we have, but the last thing I want is to spend it talking about Officer fucking Brickmore.”
A pause. His eyes fell upon me, holding against mine and then slowly travelling down. “And what would you like to talk about?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Not that. Someone’s trying to kill you. Take your mind out of the gutter.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s in the gutter.”
“It is if it’s not focused on what’s happening around you. You need to figure out who is siphoning those bullets from your storage and smuggling them out of the prison. I thought you knew everything that went on at Harrowgate?”
“Evidently there are blind spots.”
“You need to figure them out. Find out who’s causing them, where they are, and how you can unveil them.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re concerned for my wellbeing?”
“Mostly I’m concerned about all those innocent supernaturals who could find themselves on the wrong side of those bullets… but sure.”
A slight grin swept across his lips. “I’ll take that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe I’m the one having to constantly tell you to focus.”
“So far in the last 24 hours I’ve been chased, shot at, and I had to dig a bullet out of my shoulder. I think I’m allowed some levity.” His voice lowered as he spoke, as if to drive the point home. I couldn’t help but feel a little excited by it, even if I didn’t understand why.
“You… dug one out of your shoulder?”
The Horseman reached into a pocket and presented a slightly warped bullet cap. It still looked a little red, and it smelled like his blood—strong, metallic, and strangely sweet. “I was lucky to have only been hit with one. My magic couldn’t reject it, so I had to get it the old-fashioned way.”
“I can’t say I’m not impressed… but that only makes it more important that we figure out how they’re leaving your prison. It was bad enough when Coalition thugs were using them, but now gangbangers, too? Can’t you just go down there and crack some skulls or something?”
He turned his eyes up at me, dark against the dimness, but sparkling with inner gold. “I can’t.”
“You can’t? I find that hard to believe. You’re the Horseman. You own this place.”
“I don’t. This is the Warden’s domain, and as much as it may look it, I don’t have the free reign everyone thinks I do.”
“Then tell him. Someone should find out about this—” the Horseman slammed his hands against the desk.
“Don’t you understand?” he growled. “I can’t trust anyone. Not my people, not the Warden, not the Coalition. I can’t trust anyone but you, and I’m starting to think that’s also a mistake.”
“It’s not,” I blurted out. “It’s not.” I walked up to the desk. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ve wanted to kill you. A bunch of times, but I mean who hasn’t, right?”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice one of my own knives going missing?”
“I guess not… but I never used it on you.”
“Obviously.”
“And it came in handy in my fight. The point is, for some reason I don’t quite understand, I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” I shut my eyes and turned my head up. “And that means you can trust me with what I’m about to suggest.”
The Horseman angled his head to the side and brought his thumb to his lower lip. “What’s that?”
“You can’t get around the prison without being noticed because you’re all big, and scary, and… Horseman. I get that. But I can.”
“You can?”
“The Serakon are night hunters. We live in darkness, hunt, eat, fight, and fuck in darkness. But we also know magic.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You do?”
“We do. Most Serakon hunt and fight with our hands; something about wanting to feel every break and snap in our prey’s necks. Magic is always last resort for most of my kind… but I’m not like the rest of them. My magic is strong.” I grinned. “Maybe even stronger than yours.”
He ran his thumb across his lip and set his hand down on the desk. “I doubt that… but that’s not why I’m going to deny this stupid idea.”
“Stupid?” I gaped. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think you’ve truly considered your suggestion.”
One of my hands flew to my hip. “I haven’t? Enlighten me.”
“First of all, the idea of you sneaking around the prison is foolhardy at best. There are checkpoints at every corner, armed guards, gates requiring keys.”
“All problems you can help me overcome.”
“Secondly, some of those guards are capable of piercing most kinds of magic obfuscation. If they catch you, they will kill you.”
“I doubt if they’ve ever come across Serakon magic. And if you wanted to, you could pull those guards off rotation right now. It would only take a phone call.”
“Thirdly, you’re going to find it difficult to access any of those powers with that thing around your neck.”
I stared at him carefully. “Also, not a problem you can’t fix.”
“I’m not removing your collar.”
“No? And why not?”
“Because if I do, what’s stopping you from bursting out of this room and fleeing into the night?”
“You are, first of all. And secondly, I already told you. It’s in my interest to find out who’s smuggling these savage weapons out of the prison. I can’t do that if I leave this place, or if you kill me for trying to leave this place.”