Page 115 of Roguefinder

He sniffed. “Americans.”

Jesse looked toward the foyer, suddenly alert. Emile looked with him, their heads turning at the same time. Two sets of chocolate brown eyes fixed on the kitchen doorway, their profiles so similar it might have fucked with my head if Emile hadn’t been so…French.

“Stefanos is here,” he said softly.

A moment later, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the house. Footsteps sounded, and Stefanos entered the kitchen.

“I guess knocking is optional,” I said.

Stefanos smiled and set his small bag on the floor. “Caleb. It’s good to see you again.”

I went back to slicing. “Okay.”

Stefanos sat at the table and gestured to Jesse’s bandaged stump. “Ertem will be able to help with that.”

“Who’s Ertem?” I asked.

“One of the elders on the Council,” Jesse said.

“No thanks. We don’t want their help.”

Stefanos regarded me. “We’re not the enemy, child.”

I set down the knife. “Yeah, calling me that isn’t exactly giving me warm fuzzies.”

Jesse looked like he fought a wince. “Caleb.”

I looked at Stefanos. “You want a sandwich?”

“I’d love one. The airlines don’t serve meals anymore. It’s a travesty of the modern world.”

I built his sandwich. “What can this Ertem guy actually do? I thought the hand would grow back on its own.”

“It will,” Jesse said. “Ertem is a healer. Without his help, the regeneration could take months. He’ll speed it up to days.”

Days was good. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jesse’s hand on the floor of the dungeon.

Stefanos looked at Jesse. “Emile told me the abbreviated version. I would like to hear everything from you. Leave nothing out.”

Jesse told him, covering the hunt to find Pyotr, his transformation, the vials, our capture, the blinded werewolf, the operating room, Carlo’s revenge and choking fit, the fire, Alessia’s confession.

“The choking fit was undoubtedly a geas,” Stefanos murmured.

Jesse paused his story to look at me. “G-E-A-S. Gesh. It’s Fae binding magic.”

I nodded as I worked, sandwiches accumulating on the counter. Stefanos had a lot of explaining to do, and I could only hope he knew what the fuck was going on with the Fae woman we’d seen outside the opera house. As if things couldn’t get any worse than body-snatching Latvians and vampire torture dungeons.

Jesse continued his recital of events. When Jesse finished, Stefanos looked at me. “You had a premonition of the opera house burning?”

“No. I was joking when I said it.”

“And yet it came to pass.”

I wiped my hands on a towel, any response I might have made dying in my throat. Because what the fuck could I say? My jokes were coming true. That was a thing I did now.

Stefanos turned back to Jesse and Emile. “Alessia had the name of Carlo’s business partner right. But she was almost certainly spelling it wrong. It’s not Dun.” He paused. “It’s Donn. D-O-N-N.”

Jesse gave a curt nod. “Fae.”