Page 73 of This Monster of Mine

Truth.“I wouldn’t have thought you’dneedanyone, Tetrarch Kadra. Least of all, me. Over a month ago, you were contesting my appointment at the Aequitas.”

“And we’ve been bound ever since.”

“Right,” she scoffed, trying to clip her bag to the saddle. “Bound to a Petitor all of Ur Dinyé knows you didn’t want.”

A breath. Then, his arms bracketed her, taking the saddlebag and buckling it in place. The air filled with the scent of oranges and road dust, ink and crisp parchment.

“I didn’t want a Petitor,” he said slowly, and the words didn’t cut. Not when she’d already lost so much. “I wanted you.”

Her numb shield fractured. Trapped between a horse and a man whose very being seemed to be granite, she swallowed a thousand variations of the same question and nodded.

“If you say so.”

Kadra’s brow creased, sharp eyes staying on her for a long moment before he got on his mount. She followed him onto the road, the question reverberating with every hoofbeat.Why?

Dismounting at Decimus’s home, Sarai took in the scene with wary eyes. The dilapidated but cozy domus she remembered was in shambles. The front door had met a quick death at someone’s boot, the nameplate wrenched off. Half the roof tiles were shattered. She counted the horses tethered around the perimeter with disquiet.Five visitors.

“What happened here?”

“My people have been monitoring Decimus since our visit.” Kadra secured their mounts.

“To see if he was in danger, or see if he was dangerous?”

“Both. Initially, he showed no sign of either.”

A crash sounded from within the home. She jumped, realization dawning. Despite Jovian’s death five months ago, no one had sought to harm Decimus. Trouble wouldn’t have come to him without being prompted.

Dread gripped her. “What did he do?”

“Got deep in his cups and accused the Metals Guild of murder,” he said dryly, looking amused when she cursed. “They’ll have found a pretext to make him regret it. Our presence will limit the damage.”

Shit.They didn’t even have a petition. She raked a hand through her knotted braid. “So what you’re saying is that our powers are limited.”

The look he gave her was equal parts sardonic and grim. “The law says so.”

At the sound of a scream within, she exchanged a look with Kadra and darted inside. The house was in disarray, the furniture sliced andshattered in an ugly show of temper. She’d believed nothing could top Marus’s drunken rampages, but this was far worse.

A Guildsman in the middle of smashing a vase sighted them and sneered. “Looks like you’ve friends in high places, Decimus.”

Kneeling by another Guildsman’s feet, a bruised Decimus lifted his head, features ravaged by tears. “Tetrarch Kadra,” he sobbed.

“Tetrarch Kadra,” a familiar voice echoed. Leaning against a wall, Helvus raised a hand covered in rings, at least ten necklaces glowing around his neck.

“Helvus.” A cold gleam lit Kadra’s eyes. “I heard you were harassing a citizen.”

“Of course not.” Helvus didn’t sound fazed. “This is a misunderstanding. Decimus, here, has misunderstood his rights. We’re rectifying the issue.”

“What sort of misunderstanding involves destroying his home to rectify it?” she demanded.

Helvus raised an eyebrow. “Not the girl who told you off before the Aequitas. Tetrarch Kadra, you’re more forgiving than I thought, letting her putter about.”

“Am I?” Kadra’s smile had every hair on her body rising on end.

“Well, she’s living with you.” Helvus whistled. “I suppose we all have ourpreferences.”

Kadra gave her a cursory glance as if just registering her gender, and something in her chest crumpled. “Some of us more than others.”

She deflated, numbness creeping back in.Of course he doesn’t care. She hadn’t expected anything. He was ice through and through. But today, her veneer of stability was thin. There was an abyss below her feet, and she was clinging to the precipice. Because none of it mattered. She spent over fifteen hours every damned day delivering a one-woman performance of a competent Petitor only for people like this embodiment of greed to treat her as if she were still a tunnel rat.

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