Page 136 of Lady of Ashes

The man tensed as Finn and Callan began to follow. “Ivan said not to trust anyone else. Only the angel.”

“It is all right. They are with me,” Tava said soothingly.

The man shook his head. “No. Just you.”

Tava glanced over her shoulder at him, and Callan shook his head. There was no way they were going to let her go off by herself with this man.

Tava bit her lip, turning back to the man. “I am sorry, but if they cannot come, I cannot help.”

“He said you would help,” the man said, a hint of rage bleeding into his plea.

“And I want to help,” Tava replied. “If you can just tell me what is wrong with him.”

“I need you to come see,” he insisted.

“If the shadow was with her, would she be allowed to come?” Finn asked from where he still stood between the man and Tava.

“I only trust the angel,” the man ground out.

“Just let me go see—” Tava started.

“No,” Finn said, before Callan could say it himself.

“You said you would help me, not hinder me,” Tava said harshly.

“I am helping,” Finn replied, his voice low. “Something is off here, Lady Tava. Not one other person has insisted on it only being you.”

“They do not trust outsiders,” she argued.

“You need to come with me,” the man said, his anger growing. “My kid needs you.”

“She is not going with you alone. If he needs help that badly, you will let us accompany her,” Finn said calmly.

“She said only her,” the man insisted.

“She? Who is she?” Finn asked, his hand dropping casually to his side, within reach of his weapons.

Tava had caught the slip though as well, her entire body stiffening as she pressed into Callan’s side.

“I mean Ivan,” the man said, stumbling over his words. “He said only her.”

“Who sent you to retrieve her?” Callan demanded.

The man’s face morphed into ire, his lip curling up into a sneer. “It don’t matter. It will be reported back that the prince’s whore was seen here with other men.”

Finn had the man’s coat ?sted in his hand in the next heartbeat, a dagger at his throat. “I will not ask again: who sent you to retrieve her?”

“Fuck, man!” the man cried, as Finn dragged him down a side street and pressed him up against a wall.

“Who?” Finn demanded, throwing his elbow up and knocking the man’s head back against the bricks.

A startled cry escaped Tava, her hand clamping over her mouth.

“A woman,” the man bit out. “She gave Ivan liquor and me coin. Said when she came here, to get her to the laundry place and she’d take care of things from there.”

“What did she look like?” Finn asked, his dagger pressing into the man’s throat and a bead of blood welling.

“She wore a hood like you fuckers!” the man spat. “I don’t know. I need the money. I got mouths to feed. She said she’d come with me if I told her I needed help. That my kid needed help.”

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