Page 5 of Choosing Jenny
He sighed, almost theatrically. “I’ll answer your questions, if you’ll answer mine. I hear you’re involved with a human and an Orne, of all people.”
He cannot know what they mean to me.I scoffed a laugh. “Involvedis the wrong word.”
“Oh?” His brow lifted. “What is the right word?”
“We’re fucking. Nothing more.”
“Huh.” Rex folded his thick arms across his muscled chest. “A human I can understand. I’ve recently met some who have quite their own appeal. But anOrne? Those backward savages? You’ve always had a thing for the weird ones, haven’t you?”
I gave him a pointed look. “How else would you and I have hooked up in the first place, if I didn’t have a thing for the weird ones?”
He laughed. “Touché.”
“I answered your question,” I said, keeping the conversation on track. “Now you answer mine. How are you back?”
“Justice’s special project worked quite well,” he said in a smug tone as he proudly gestured to himself. “What do you think?”
That I want to be on my estate, far from you.But old me, the one Rex remembered, would have played the game. I eyed his body, which I knew he’d expect. “Impressive. You’re taller, more muscular—”
“Bigger.”
“Remains to be seen,” I said, knowing damn well what he was insinuating. “But how did you get the new body? Did Noc conjure one for you?” The palace magician had to be involved somehow.
“No. This body belonged to a Jar Elvironri, some nobody farmer who lived in Grenevar. Can you believe they grow them this handsome there?” He flashed a grin. “A shame, really. This face belongs immortalized on a statue, not hidden away on a damned farm. Noc did him a favor.”
My stomach twisted. “Exactly what favor did he do for Jar?”
“He pulled Jar’s ghost out of his body,” Rex said casually. “And put mine in it.”
The hair on the back of my neck rose. It was a terrifying thought. “Where is Jar’s ghost now? Could he come back?”
“Not a chance,” Rex said, sounding pleased. “Noc executed his ghost. I’m not going anywhere.”
A chill slid down my spine. “A relief,” I lied.
I realized the entire approach to dealing with Justice needed to be adjusted. Simple regicide would not be enough. Noc Prisberd had to die first, or else he could resurrect Justice and we would be back to square one, at best.
“It’s good to be back.” Rex stretched his neck and arms, that cocky smile spreading. “Though I am curious about you, Malice. Have your human and the Orne made you soft?”
I tensed. “What are you talking about?”
“The men in Credo’s house,” Rex said, eyes narrowing. “When I asked if you wanted to kill one before I slaughtered them, you declined. Why?”
“There was no reason to kill them,” I said in a flat tone.
He laughed, a harsh, biting sound. “Since when does Malice Ripper need a reason?”
“They could have been useful—”
“Their job was to care for Credo Bateen. Credo Bateen is dead.” He picked at a piece of invisible lint on his sleeve and spoke dismissively, as though the caretakers had been nothing more than the lint. “If I would have left them alive, they could have spilled state secrets, or told people what had happened to Credo. Their utility to the realm was over.”
“And what, exactly, had happened to Credo?” I pressed. “Why was he sick? What made him catatonic?”
He merely shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”
“Justice told you to execute his own father, and you didn’t ask why?”
He rolled his eyes. “I was given an order, Malice.”
