Chapter 952 & IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Kyyle blinked.

“What?”

“My ex-wife,” Noah repeated, dragging the second out for a moment. “Her daughter.”

Kyyle stared at Noah.

Noah stared at Kyyle.

Then the Apostle slowly blinked a second time.

“What?”

“She’s my ex-wife’s daughter,” Noah said, more firmly this time.

“I thought you said she was your—”

“I got distracted. You’ll have to forgive me,” Noah said sardonically. “I’m sure it would be considerably easier for me to bear my family history to you if I hadn’t overturned my plans specifically at your request, only for you to turn around and get me publicly humiliated while simultaneously drawing attention that none of us can afford.”

The confusion in Kyyle’s gaze was so strong that it actually seemed to drown out his suspicion. The sheer absurdity of the situation had strangled out any other thoughts he might have been having.

“That was your daughter?”

“No,” Noah said flatly. “She is my ex-wife’s daughter. Not mine. And I’ll thank you to remember that.”

Kyyle’s mouth twitched as a hint of amusement passed through his features. “That is unfortunate. It seems like there’s no lost love.”

“There is not,” Noah said, his lips thin. “Other than the amount I need to display for the purposes of the public eye. And part of that agreement includes not drawing attention to the fact that we have any manner of relationship at all. An agreement which you have just directly interfered in.”

Kyyle was full-on smirking, now. “Is that so? How embarrassing. Honestly, I had expected a far more interesting reason than this. You’re not a weak mage. So are you just this pathetic that you can’t arrange for the removal of a few offending problems? Perhaps you would like some assistance? I hate to see someone with so much taste so… troubled.”

Noah kept his features perfectly still as he leaned in closer to Kyyle. He had to handle this perfectly. If the Apostle picked up on even the faintest hint of concern for Emily’s wellbeing from him, everything would fall apart.

“You’d be welcome to try,” Noah said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. “And I’d thank your grave for the attempt. Do you really think I didn’t try my hand at exactly what you suggest? There’s an entire sea of corpses that rest at those women’s feet. But if you do decide to go, just make sure you leave those robes of yours with me. I figure they’d fit, and you won’t need them where you’re going.”

Kyyle paused for a moment. He glanced down at his clothing, then back to Noah. The amusement in his features had evaporated. He was serious, now. The warning about losing his treasured belongings had somehow hit far harder than literally anything else Noah had said.

Who would have thought that a bloodthirsty nutter like this guy would be so into fashion?

“Who exactly is her mother?” Kyyle asked.

“That, my friend, is not the question you should be asking,” Noah said. “Not if you want to keep your head where it is. There’s a reason the two of us have an agreement. My ex-wife is not someone you can afford to anger… and snooping in on her is a great way to do that. But that statement extends to me as well. Neither of us can get rid of the other. We generally just try to keep up pretenses and stay out of each other’s way.”

“That’s pathetic,” Kyyle said.

Which is exactly why you’ll believe it.

“Maybe,” Noah said. “But please, feel free to try for yourself. Get involved. I really don’t care. It’s not my hide at this point. I’ve done my part. And when they get rid of you, they’ll do it quietly. Just make sure you do that after our work is finished here. I don’t want the Truthseekers on my ass because your idiocy screwed up their plans. And you’ll need to explain to them why my performance today was interrupted.”

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“Your show being interrupted is the only reason we aren’t all exposed right now,” Kyyle growled. He shook his head. “Whoever your ex-wife is has you so whipped that—”

A swatch of fluffy white fur shifted past Kyyle’s shoulder. His head snapped to the side, surprise flashing across his features as paw landed on his shoulder. Mascot stepped out from thin air to take perch upon him. Before Kyyle could react to the cat’s sudden arrival, a convolution rolled through Mascot’s body. He let out a small retching noise.

With a nasty, raspy hack far closer to the cough of a life-long smoker on their deathbed than anything that a cat should have been capable of creating, Mascot coughed up several small objects.

They fell to the ground with a series of squishy splats.

And then Mascot was gone again, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.

“What the fuck?” Kyyle asked, spinning in search of Mascot. “I didn’t even feel it’s presence. Damn Aqua Terra’s interference. What was that? Did you see it?”

“A cat,” Noah said. He and Kyyle both looked down at the messy gift that they’d been left.

Even despite himself, Noah grimaced.

Lying in a pile at their feet were thirteen slimy, severed fingers.

The two of them were silent for a moment.

Noah’s brow furrowed.

Wait. Thirteen? Where did that little shit get this many fingers? Looks like from they’re all from the same person as well. Who the fuck is walking around with thirteen fingers?

“A cat,” Kyyle repeated, baffled. “On my shoulder?”

Noah nodded.

“Why?” Kyyle asked. “From where?”

“From nowhere,” Noah replied. “Which is, coincidentally, where it seems to have returned to. I’d take that wisely.”

“What meaning could possibly be taken from a magical cat appearing on your shoulder to hack up the contents of its lunch?”

The corner of Noah’s lip would have twitched if he hadn’t been so focused on keeping a flat composure.

Mascot, if I didn’t know what you’d been putting in your mouth, I’d kiss you.

“A warning,” Noah replied. “I’ll give you one guess as to who that cat belongs to.”

Kyyle blinked. Then his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He was definitely starting to buy into Noah’s story. Frankly, given Mascots little gift, it would have been a bit difficult not to. His timing had been impeccable. “You’re kidding me.”

“Do I look like I’m laughing?” Noah asked. “Does anything about this situation seem funny to you?”

“Your ex-wife is threatening me?” Kyyle muttered. “With a cat?”

“No,” Noah said. “She’s threatening me. It seems that she has mistakenly gotten the idea that we are allies. How unfortunate.”

Kyyle was silent for a second. His gaze lingered on the pile of fingers on the ground. Then it lifted back up to Noah. “Where did—”

“Don’t ask,” Noah said. “I don’t think any of us want to know the answer. That cat made it here, under Vivian’s nose, to deliver you that gift. I think that should be proof enough that you’re drawing the attention of beings that I can assure you we don’t want. Not now.”

“So I can see,” Kyyle said slowly.

“Just stay in your damn lane and out of my way,” Noah said. “It’s going to be a lot more annoying to herd your Apostles if you end up dead. And we’re going to need to work together to pull this off properly, especially now that you’ve ruined my original plan.”

Kyyle hesitated for a second. Then he inclined his head slightly. “I will remain out of this. I can admit that I did not expect you to be so deeply involved with the woman. I thought—”

“I don’t care what you thought,” Noah said flatly. “I’m trusting you to do your part. That’s it. Stay out of everything else, and I’ll do the same. Just herd your Apostles. And… speaking of which, where are they?”

“What do you mean? They’re here,” Kyyle said.

“Not all of them,” Noah said. “You’re running a skeleton crew. A bit risky, don’t you think? Given the scale of what we’re aiming for. Unless the others are somewhere near? The Truthseekers haven’t kept me fully in the loop of whatever you’re up to.”

“We won’t need more than this,” Kyyle said. “The others are… otherwise occupied. This isn’t the place to discuss it. We’ll speak when we meet up again. Assuming you’re still capable of doing that?”

“What, finding you?” Noah asked. “Easily. So long as you don’t grow drawing any more information than you already have.”

“I will. You’ve made your stance quite clear,” Kyyle said, raising a hand with a smirk. “Don’t worry. I know my weaknesses. I may be arrogant, but I am no fool. I won’t push where it isn’t worth the reward.”

“Good,” Noah said, starting to turn. “Then we’re done here.”

“One moment,” Kyyle said.

Noah looked back to him. “What?”

“What exactly did Revin want? As crazed as that man is, he never makes a move for no reason. And it wasn’t just screwing with me that he was here for,” Kyyle said. “Which means it was either you… or your Ex-wife’s daughter.”

I wonder if I could get away with trying to claim that Revin is my brother in law or some shit.

Noah nearly laughed at that. He managed to contain himself for long enough to shake his head.

“I can only guess. That sounds like something you should figure out before it starts causing trouble for all of us. I can’t believe that fucking idiot dragged the Executioner over to fight his battles for him. Who knows where Revin even got him.”

“Or how he got him to play along,” Kyyle muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “He was using the Executioner as a coat rack! That’s not something that Revin could have done on his own. Someone really powerful had their fingers in this. Is it possible that your ex-wife...”

“Quite,” Noah said, fighting his grin off. Kyyle had completely bought his bullshit. The Apostle was already filling in the gaps in the story with the existence of a very powerful slighted ex.

“Gods,” Kyyle said. “What kind of monster is strong enough to pull weight with even the Executioner?”

“Pray you never find out,” Noah replied.

I know I will.

Then he turned on his heel and strode into the crowd.