The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow (The Guild Codex: Unveiled #3)(4)
“You think I might hurt other members?”
Again, he assessed me. “The first rule of the Crow and Hammer is ‘don’t hit first, but always hit back.’”
My eyebrows rose. “Let me guess. That rule won’t apply to me.”
“It applies to everyone, including you. There is no situation in which a person is not entitled to defend themselves. However, as one of the more powerful mythics in the guild, you have a responsibility to consider the appropriate level of force to use against others.”
My fingers slipped into my pocket and curled around my switchblade. I wasn’t used to being counted among the powerful. Wasn’t I a weak witch with nothing but a switchblade for protection?
“Our third officer, Felix Adams, will supervise your rehabilitation. To start, you’ll have twice-weekly meetings with him here at the guild, and monthly meetings with the three of us. You’ll also be required to attend the guild’s regular monthly meeting.”
Twice weekly? I hadn’t had to meet with my parole supervisor that frequently since my first two years out of prison.
“Agent Morris indicated that you want to continue living at your current residence near Coquitlam?” Darius asked.
“It’s an animal rescue nonprofit,” Morris offered. “Saber volunteers almost all her spare time to running the rescue.”
“I don’t run it,” I corrected. “I just help out.”
“I have no issues with you continuing to live there on the condition that you attend all your meetings with Felix,” Darius said. “As per MPD requirements, however, your residence will be subject to short-notice inspections by your rehabilitation supervisor.”
“How short notice?” I asked.
“An hour.”
Morris crossed his ankles. “Plenty of time to hide a body.”
I shot him a disbelieving look, then refocused on Darius. “Anything else?”
Darius leaned back, his gray stare probing. “Felix will be your rehabilitation supervisor, but every guilded here is also assigned a mentor—an officer they can go to with questions and concerns. Their mentor is also responsible for their mentee’s guild responsibilities, training, and discipline.”
I bristled at “discipline.”
“To keep your guild membership as separate from your rehabilitation as possible, Felix won’t double as your mentor. Instead—”
A rap on the office door interrupted him.
“Come in,” Darius called.
The door swung open and a man breezed in—tall, athletic, tousled copper-red hair, and a generous sprinkling of freckles across his fair skin. A smile flashed over his face as his blue eyes landed on me.
“Is this the newbie?” He swung around my chair and perched on the edge of the desk in front of me. “Not what I was expecting.”
My hackles rose.
“Miss Orien,” Darius said, “this is Aaron Sinclair, our fourth officer. He will be your mentor at the Crow and Hammer. He’ll help you settle in at the guild.”
Aaron grinned again. “On a scale of one to badass, how strong of a druid are you?”
I pressed my lips together—and before I could think of a response, a ripple of shivery-cold power pulsed against my side where Ríkr was hiding. Frigid cold plunged over the room and thick frost formed on every surface, encasing us in bright white. The three men stiffened as the subarctic air sparkled.
Ríkr, I silently admonished.
I will expound on all the ways this charade of justice is an insult when we have the leisure, he replied. Unless you give me leave to freeze them solid this moment?
Aaron’s shocked exhalation puffed white, his eyes wide. “Whoa.”
Morris turned to me and his eyes were even wider, but not with shock. “Saber, there’s a kryomage I really need you to crush with fae ice magic. It’s my dying wish. Please.”
“You’re dying?” Aaron asked.
“I’ll die of happiness when she turns Agent Park into teeny, little Vincent crystals.”
Darius cleared his throat, and when I turned, my instincts flared, that sense of danger returning in a flash.
“Miss Orien, the Crow and Hammer is a guild of second chances. You aren’t the first ex-convict to join, and among us you’ll find reformed rogues, delinquents, troublemakers, trouble magnets, and more. Many members are rough around the edges.” He sat forward in his seat, his attention fixed on me like the unyielding press of a blade. “You won’t be the only one who’s defensive, aggressive, anti-authority, or provocative.”
I met his stare.
“There are mythics here who share similar backgrounds to you. How you respond to them will determine whether they become companions and confidants, or adversaries.”
I opened my mouth to retort that how they reacted to me would determine that, but I hesitated. Was this more of that “reacting with appropriate force” thing he’d mentioned?
Darius leaned back. “Aaron, why don’t you give Miss Orien a quick tour? That will be enough for this evening. We can give her a proper introduction on meeting night.”
“Sure.” Aaron pushed off the desk. “Come on, Saber.”
I rose to my feet, and when my eye level came within inches of my new mentor’s, he blinked in surprise, caught off guard by how tall I was. The frost on his shirt had already melted, and a faint hiss of steam emanated from his t-shirt.