Page 80 of Untethering Dark

Cupping a hand over her mouth, so that only Mutter could see, Astrid whispered, “Violet smoke? He’s been charmed into compliance.”

Perchta nodded her head in agreement.

“I don’t know why.” Tanner blinked and shook his head, as if clearing it of fog. “The guarantee of living is fine and all, but anyone who needs to promise you that shouldn’t be trusted as far as you can throw them. I should know. The number of times I’ve been on the other end... Probably should’ve fought, or something. That’s more my style, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

He blinked again and his shoulders slumped, his demeanor relaxing. “We took the deal.”

When Cigarette Man explained how they’d heard something massive barreling their way and that Heldin had concealed them all, his tone grew progressively giddier. “Oh, to see that big ugly brute’s face. Sniffing around and getting all huffy. Bet nobody shows him up like we did.”

A ghastly and unexpected peal of laughter followed.

“Mr. Tanner’s already getting slaphappy,” Perchta interjected. “It’s a side effect of the truth serum.”

“Delightful.”

“It took three wolves to get Heldin up here...” The sentence trailed off, his head lolling back. “Heehee.”

“She’s already here.” Astrid clenched her fists. “Explains how these Idioten managed to evade us for so long.”

“She told me I needed to get more.” Cigarette Man kept talking, his voice badly slurred. “More wolves means more people. ‘But they need a week of rest,’ she says. Pfffft. ‘They’ve been rotting in Hell for forever,’ I says. ‘Who wants to wait a week?’ And that’s when you found little old me.”

“Verdammt.” Perchta rose quickly. “I need to find Oskar.”

“Go on. I’ve got everything handled here. Make sure Oskar’s safe.”

Turning back to the poacher, Astrid asked one more question. “Why did you break in here to steal my hair?”

Something flashed across his eyes, an emotion she couldn’t read, but his smile broadened. “‘Cuz, I think it’s pretty, Blondie.”

There was a loud knock at her front door. “Astrid, it’s Johanna. Just bumped into your mother. Everything okay?”

“Not sure yet.” Astrid let her in. “She’s off to find Oskar.”

When Johanna entered, her eyes lasered on Cigarette Man. “You the swine slaughtering wolves?”

“One of them. There’s five of us. Our very own pack! HEE! HEE!”

“He’s deranged.” It wasn’t an excuse, just facts.

Johanna charged forward and punched him square in the face—his head slamming against the chair back with a loud crack.

He spit blood. “Whatcha do that for?”

Astrid frowned at the bloody spittle. Taking his winter coat, she tossed it over the mess and mopped it up from the floor with her foot. “I thought we weren’t supposed to mark him.”

Johanna deadpanned. “Oops.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

My sweet darlings.

Arms folded, Astrid smiled as she watched Fritz and Liesel play with a bright red ball, butting it around the pen with their heads. She was reluctant to spend another second inside, trapped in the company of Cigarette Man, whose temperament soured as he came down from the ridiculous effects of truth serum.

She even stuffed a rag in his mouth and put a burlap bag over his head. All very satisfying things, but his sheer presence sullied her mood. She wanted to stick him in her shed and leave him out there away from her personal space, but there was no heat.And evidently that kills people.

So here she was. Run out of her own home.

If it weren’t for Johanna’s plans to bring him in, or her own tactical reasons for keeping him around—in case further intel was needed—she’d have just hacked him up and left him for any wolves left in the area, including the one rescued earlier that day. Poetic justice and all that.

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