He looked at the handsome man still in bed, all dark skin, long, dark, braided hair, and eyes green enough to make an emerald mad with jealousy. "Nothing," Rath replied and gingerly picked himself up off the floor, holding fast to the rickety bedpost, swaying slightly, but managing not to fall. Between the rude wake-up and being told his days were numbered again if he didn't come up with an alarming sum of money again. Jen gave him a smile full of malice and silver teeth, then was gone with the slamming of the door.Īs morning wake-ups from Friar went, that could have gone worse. The massive figure who'd knocked Rath to his knees gave him a parting shove to the floor. Have it to me by final bells." He signaled sharply to the other figures in the room. You have today, plus three, because I'm feeling just the slightest bit sorry for you. You know where to find me when you have the money. "You should have agreed to work for me back when you were worth something, Rat. "Oh, I don't want to ruin the fun he'll have explaining." Friar patted his cheek. What had his father done? Rath was going to kill him for real this time. "Why the buggering fuck does my shit father owe you fifteen slick?" Even if Rath earned a steady income every working day of the year, which he definitely didn't, he wouldn't make more than just over two slick. That was enough to knock the last dregs of sleep and alcohol right out of Rath's system. How much does my worthless father owe you this time?" "I do not bother ladies unless absolutely necessary," Friar cut in, scoffing as though he'd never committed an act of violence in his life, let alone against a woman. "If you've bothered my mother about this-" "Not such a good morning for you and yours." "Good morning, Friar."įriar smiled bitingly. Rath dragged his eyes up, keeping his roiling stomach under control only from long years of practice, and glared through bleary eyes at the large-ish man looming over him like a gilded manor.Ī gilded manor soaked in enough perfume to drown a whorehouse, but nobody said that to the Friar of East End if they wanted to keep their teeth. Why was still unclear, though he could make a damned good guess.
Well, that narrowed down who was after him. Then someone bigger got a good knock in, and Rath dropped to his knees, disoriented, pissed off, and entirely too hungover to do much about it. Getting to his feet, Rath started swinging, and he was big enough and swung hard enough that the overeager assailants finally backed off. He grunted as his head was slammed against the floor again, kicking out wildly, somewhat mollified by the pained cry of the goon he managed to hit. That included the time someone had thrown boiling water on him and left him with burns that had taken ages to heal. Over the course of thirty-three years, Rath had been woken up in a number of unpleasant ways.īeing dragged out of bed by angry people out for his blood was his least favorite.
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