I pulled out my phone, which I’d hidden in my bra, to contact the Guild and arrange transport of the apprehended mark. I let my Penelope glamour dissolve away.
“How’s that hand regenerating, Van Zant?” I asked as I raised my phone to my ear.
He sneered, his dark eyes flashing with fury.
Back in Boise, I completed the paperwork while Van Zant was processed and then stood outside the Guild in the dark with my phone, refreshing my bank balance every few seconds.
The bounty money showed up at ten minutes to midnight. I stared at the number for a few seconds, reveling in the satisfaction of it, before stuffing my phone back into its pouch.
They money had come too late to keep the apartment, and it wouldn’t have been enough to sustain me and Lochlyn for more than a couple of weeks, anyway, with what I already owed on Vincenzo’s repairs and back payments on rent and utilities. In spite of the exception Gus had swung allowing me another shot at Van Zant, I was still on probation with the Guild for failing to complete the object-find assignment. That meant no real cash flow for at least a few weeks.
I saw the writing on the wall, and it said in big block letters that I was going to have to spend some time at the fortress.
It was okay. I already had the start of my nest egg that would fund my move back out of Faerie. In the meantime, there was work to be done on behalf of the New Gargs, and in my new role as the Order’s champion, I had some clout. It was an important time for my people, and for the near future, I’d focus on doing some good for them—for us.
I revved Vincenzo and sped toward the doorway that would take me to San Francisco and my home-for-now in the stone fortress.