Vester magically catches up to me before I even leave Wolf's Landing, rounding out my posse of bodyguards.
"Lucas really needs to stop sending you out so much," I tell him with a frown. "Vanessa needs you around more."
Vester's laugh cuts through the crisp winter air—a deep, rolling sound. Coming from him, it's unfamiliar and out of place. Vester isn't really a laugh-out-loud kind of guy, at least around me.
He chuckles, or smirks, or smiles, but I don't think I've ever heard him belly laugh like this before.
"You must not know my wife very well," he says, slowing his pace to match mine. "Vanessa's a control freak."
"What? Vanessa?"
We pick up our pace, settling into a slow, steady jog toward the perimeter breach. My bodyguards mostly follow behind, but two range ahead by about fifteen feet.
