Although I wasn’t watching Olivia’s face, I could sense her frustration and discomfort. “I’m the director of this office. I deserve to know what’s going on around here. I’m not a landlord leasing office space to you and Kassin.”
I tossed the note on top of the books. “Look, I’m not the one cutting you out of the loop. I don’t know half of what’s going on myself, or why, and I’d tell you everything, but I don’t trust that Tom wouldn’t cut out my tongue if I did. His group has done far worse to me already.”
“What do you mean far worse?”
I sighed. Although I’d threatened to go public with everything I’d learned about Le Confrérie, I didn’t feel like sharing all with Olivia when she was venting her anger on me. “Let’s just say I didn’t get my freaky powers by some accident of birth.”
Olivia pressed her lips thin. “No, I wouldn’t think so.” She fell silent a moment, pacing in front of the plaque hanging behind her desk.
For the Gifted Have a Duty to Protect Mankind.
I wanted to spray paint a corollary beneath the motto: Except When The Gifted Decide to Screw Them Over Instead.
Olivia’s anger was mellowing into more of the same generalized anxiety that plagued the rest of the building. “He’s been meeting with the magi a lot.”
“Tom?”
“Tom.” She quit her pacing and rested her hands on the back of her desk chair. “Did you know about that?”
I shook my head. “Which magi?”
“Xander, and whoever Xander has brought to the meetings.”
Olef, I wondered? Olef and his visions concerning me? Shit. If Tom knew about that…
Oh, who was I kidding? I’d already made the connection between the so-called prophecies in Tom’s book and the visions Olef had described. Why should I think Tom wouldn’t know about it too? Better to assume that I’d be the last to know anything. It was more likely the case.
I sucked on my lip, irritated by Tom’s note, irritated by the way Olivia watched me and irritated that I’d ever met Olef. If he hadn’t frequented the diner where I used to work, he’d never have been able to identify me in his visions.
I was done here. “Tom wanted to meet with me this past week, but we never found the time. I came back here to help with the Eric Marshall case. Not because Tom Kassin and his secret society has some hang-up about me. I’d just like to be able to do something for Eric’s family.”
“Fine. Go. I have real work to do.” Olivia sat down, sounding cross.
I picked up the box. “Great, and don’t worry. I won’t mention to Tom that you went through the box of top-secret books he left for me.”
She scowled at me as I left. I didn’t turn around to see it, but I could feel the burn on my back and taste her annoyance.
Chapter Seventeen
“Jess?” Bridget had to say my name twice before it dawned on me that she was speaking.
I snapped upright and blinked. “Um, yeah. Sorry.”
We were supposed to be discussing our next moves on Eric’s case, but despite what I’d told Olivia a couple hours ago, my head wasn’t into it. I wanted to help, truly. But all I could think about was Tom’s books and what Olivia had told me about his meetings with the magi. Couple my own anxiety with the anxiety that coursed through the building, all feeding into my nerves, and I was wired and irritable.
And utterly, hopelessly distracted.
I put my pen to my notepaper, but I had no clue what Bridget had said. My brain had given up on the conversation after I’d shared my adventures with Gunthra and Shawna yesterday.
“Go home,” Bridget said.
“What? No. I’m here to help.”
“Jess, your body is here, but your thoughts are with that box Agent Kassin gave you. It’s obvious, and since he’s the highest-ranking Gryphon around, you should attend to what he needs. You’ve been a big help on this case, but we can handle the next steps without you.”
I dug the pen tip into the paper in frustration, but Bridget had a point. I wasn’t helping anyone at the moment. “You’re sure? It’s just I can pick up on all the anxiety around here, and it makes it hard to concentrate.”
“I’m positive.” Bridget took my pen away before I hurt anything. “Go home. I’ll call you when we need you. If you want to help and get the chance, keep asking questions around Shadowtown.”
“Right, okay.” I felt crappy about cutting out, but I wasn’t doing any good here. That was for certain.
Taking Tom’s box with me, I left. If I couldn’t dedicate my day to finding Eric’s goblin, I’d dedicate it to reading Tom’s books. I didn’t like that he’d probably think his BS flattery had nudged me to it, but against my will, I’d grown curious. And what happened in Buenos Aires wasn’t BS. Cities were burning like Olef had said they would. I still wasn’t willing to forgive and forget what The Brotherhood had done to me, but if there was the slightest connection between Tom’s crap and Olef’s legit visions, I needed to know.
Without all the anxiety at HQ screwing with my head, I was focused. Ready. So it just figured that as I entered my building, my plans were upended.
Because my attention had been on Tom’s books, I hadn’t noticed the shadows lurking behind the apartment building door until one of them clasped a hand over my mouth.
In surprise and fear, I dropped the box. Even as I did, my brain identified the cold insecurity caused by the creature’s touch. A sylph. Fuck. I should have seen this coming after the attempted arrests yesterday.
I struggled, slamming a heel down on the asshole’s foot and about to wedge an elbow into his gut when a second sylph emerged from the dim alcove beneath the steps. He was on me in a flash of silver hair. His knife shone dully in the low lighting.
“I wouldn’t,” he said, holding the blade to my throat.
I might have risked it if I had Misery on me, but alas, my knife was in my apartment. Mental note: If I survived this, use Tom to get me special permission to carry my own weapon into the Gryphon building.
While I thought of useless ideas for the future, the sylph behind me wrapped his free arm around my torso, pinning my arms down, and now a second knife was poised to stab me in the gut if I moved badly.
The first sylph with the knife kicked my box aside. “Upstairs. Assym wants a chat with you.”
Who else? Slowly, I was recognizing the sylph’s face. He was one of Assym’s thugs.
Awkwardly, the three of us made it up the stairs. The sylph who was holding me grunted with each step, and I felt the cool knife blade through my thin shirt with every movement. Guns would have worked better, I wanted to tell them, but I also didn’t want to give them ideas.
Assym waited for us, pacing on the landing outside my door. Impatience and cold fury were written all over his flawless face. “It’s about time.”
“You said not to damage her unless necessary,” the sylph holding me said. “She fights.”
Unless necessary, huh? Did that mean Assym still thought he could addict me one day? How much could I get away with before he declared that hurting me was necessary?
Assym must have read my thoughts or gotten the gist through my emotions. “I can cause you quite a bit of damage without ruining you permanently, satyr’s pet. I just want your soul intact. I don’t care if your body has scars.”
Oh hey, satyr’s pet. There was a blast from the past. I hadn’t missed being called that.
I ignored Assym’s bodily threat because I was intrigued by the one to my soul. So Assym didn’t know what I was or what I could do. I’d really thought the news would have traveled by now, but maybe Dezzi had commanded Lucen and Devon to keep their mouths shut. It was easy enough to believe that anyone who’d overheard their joking about my council initiation at The Lair wouldn’t have taken them seriously. But the question, then, was why? Why didn’t Dezzi want this to spread?
Because you’re a freak, Jess. An abomination. Dezzi only wants you on her council so she can control you, but even that won’t save you. One day, Assym will have you just like he’s promised.
That was the sylph’s magic talking, reminding me that I wasn’t immune to pred power when they touched me.
I squirmed, and the knife blade at my gut sent me its own gentle reminder—that this was the wrong time to be contemplating Dezzi and the satyrs.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t speak because the sylph still had a hand over my mouth.
Assym turned his icy glare on me. “I can’t decide whether you were very brave or very stupid to move into our neighborhood. Did you think your friends in the satyrs would continue to protect you?”
Actually, Assym, you have no idea what my friends in the satyrs might do for me. But since I couldn’t speak, any witty one-liners that came to mind had to be silent. That pissed me off. Trading barbs with Assym was the only fun he provided.
Assym resumed pacing the length of the tiny landing. At his sides, his hands opened and closed, and his fingers twitched. Nervous. The silver-haired asshole was nervous. “You’ll leave off this investigation with the Gryphons if you know what’s good for you.”
He motioned to the sylph who was holding me, and the thug removed his hand from my face. Finally, I could breathe again. The sylph kept the knife on me, but I didn’t even care about that as I gulped down the musty air.
“Do you understand?” Assym asked. “Quit the investigation if you want to live here unscathed.”
“Then your people need to quit attacking their own addicts.”
To my amazement, he laughed once, sharply. “You have your priorities all wrong, satyr’s pet.”
“What does that mean? My priorities are protecting humans from your pathetic goons.”
“I will deal with my people. The Gryphons need to stay out of it, and if I find out you haven’t, next time we meet we’ll see how much you can bleed without dying.” Assym flicked his wrist a second time, and the thug released me completely. With a shove, I went flying into my door.
As I got up, the sylphs disappeared down the stairs. I cursed and pounded my fist into the wall.
After I caught my breath, I pulled myself together and retrieved Tom’s box. Assym and his thugs were gone, but that was little consolation. There was no way I could sit here and calmly read about the end of the world. I was shaken and needed company. Steph would be at work for another two hours, so I headed to one of the few places in Shadowtown where I felt relatively safe.
The Lair would be busy tonight, but it was too early yet for Friday’s crowd to form. I slumped on my favorite stool with my head on my arms while I waited for Lucen to finish his conversation. He came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders, and I let out a contented sigh. Sometimes sex had nothing on a good massage.
Luckily, Lucen excelled at both.
His breath tickled my ear when he spoke. “Little siren, if something wasn’t bothering you so much, I’d remind you that you owe me some make-up sex.”
“I think you owe me. You were the one being unreasonable.”
“Whichever. So long as this ends with your naked body curled around mine, I’m happy.”
I closed my eyes. “Yup, just keep rubbing my shoulders a bit longer first? I’ve had a weird day, and that doesn’t count waking up to your phone call.”
“I can guess. You’re tense, and as I said, something’s bothering you.”
“Assym ambushed me in my building. I spent some quality time with one of his sylphs holding a knife at my gut.”
The rubbing stopped abruptly. Damn it. “What? Are you okay?”
Groaning, I straightened and pressed a hand to Lucen’s clenched jaw. “Yeah, but he’s gone, so calm down. I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Damn right, you will. Then I’m gathering some friends and dealing with him. I’m sick of the sylphs and their shit.”
“You know what?” I grabbed his hands before he could get away. “You’re not. Because we don’t need to start a pred-on-pred war here too. Let Buenos Aires hog the newsfeeds for a little while. Okay?”
That actually seemed to cool Lucen’s temper. He still looked ready to punch someone, but his shoulders slumped. “Yeah, true enough. Let’s talk.”
I took a quiet corner table, and he brought over a coffee with a shot of Baileys in it for me and a beer for himself. “How do you do it? Is it your magic? You drink and eat whatever you want, and you’re still sporting those abs.”
“You mean these?” He grinned, lifting his shirt so I could admire them. “We’ve been over this. I’m amazing.”
I poked him in the amazing with my nail. “Show off.”
“It would be a sin to hide them.” He slipped into the booth across from me, and his expression turned serious. “Nice distraction, by the way, but what about Assym?”
There wasn’t much story to tell, but I shared everything. “I think he was nervous. So what is it—Buenos Aires? The Gryphons are freaked out over that. Dezzi called a council meeting about it. Is everyone losing their shit?”
Lucen contemplated his beer. Three drops of condensation snaked down the glass before he responded. “I’m not sure it’s Buenos Aires that’s tying up Assym’s knickers. It probably hasn’t helped any more than it’s helped ease our concerns, but…”
I let two more drops of condensation fall before I pressed. “But what?”
“I shouldn’t be sharing Shadowtown gossip with you since you haven’t agreed to be on the council.” His smile was thin but mischievous.
“Uh-huh. But you know you’re going to so get it over with. The longer it takes, the longer until that sex happens.”
Lucen kissed my hand. “Very persuasive. Fine. Something spawned that fighting in Buenos Aires. The question is who arranged the something.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You know things I don’t? Why are you more interested in the who than in the what?”
“Because the who might be more important. Remember when we discussed whether the furies were trying to start fights here?”
I drank heavily of my coffee, wishing I’d asked for something stronger in it. “That was a theory, yes. So the idea is that the furies tried to start trouble here, and when that failed, they tried in Buenos Aires?”
“It’s possible. Framing you for those murders, implicating the magi—it could have boiled over into something nasty real fast. It’s kind of a miracle that it didn’t. Conditions in Buenos Aires could have been riper for success.”
“But why?”
Lucen yawned. “That’s what no one knows, and until we know that, this is all idle speculation. But something seems to be up. Raj left town two weeks ago.”
“Raj is the fury’s Dom, right?” I’d met him once, and that was enough. His appearance—never mind his personality—could alone explain why people had once called preds “demons”. He was a walking nightmare among the nightmares. “What does him leaving town suggest?”
Lucen laughed, this time without humor. “That’s the thing—no one knows. But it’s very strange for a Dom to leave their domus. Unheard of more accurately. If Dezzi had important business that had to be taken care of elsewhere, she’d send Devon. That’s a lieutenant’s job. For Raj to go off on his own and leave his lieutenant in charge? Damned if I know what would require that.”
“High council kinds of business?” I didn’t have much of a clue about pred hierarchy, but Lucen had explained that each race had a council they answered to and that made the decisions that were then passed down to each domus. It was part of how they policed and governed themselves.
“Possible. Even so, it would be unusual for Raj to leave. Anyway.” He yawned a second time. Last night’s lack of sleep must have been catching up to him. “Everyone’s been on edge since what happened with the furies last
month, and Raj’s vanishing act only upped the tension. It’s going to make people act more and more stupid. Lucrezia was a prime example.”
I bit my lip, remembering Dezzi’s former number two. She had never spoken of the specifics around me, but Lucen was right that she’d been jumpy about something. It was purportedly why she’d tried to overthrow Dezzi. She’d claimed Dezzi wasn’t doing enough to protect people.
“Everyone’s twitchy, and that’s why the goblins and sylphs are draining their addicts,” I muttered.
“That might explain it. Have you gotten any closer to finding the ones responsible?”
I frowned into my coffee. “No, and time is running out. It’s been five days. Not to mention that I now have Assym’s death threat hanging over me if I don’t quit.”
“One day I will strangle Assym with his own flowing tresses. But I can’t object to his notion. You should quit.”
“Don’t start.”
“And moreover, you should join the council.” He grinned at me. “It’s the ultimate protection from Assym. He’ll lose his half-baked mind when he hears about it.”
I smiled. “That’s true. It might be the biggest inducement yet.”
A shadow fell over our table as someone approached, and then Devon dropped into the booth next to me. Uncomfortably aware of his body, I shifted over until I hit the wall, leaving myself trapped.
Devon’s cool blue eyes seemed to laugh at the distance I’d tried to put between us. “Do I smell bad?”
Nope. You smell like cloves, and I don’t like that I can smell it and what it does to me.
Being backed into a corner by him and Lucen made me feel way too much like I used to feel in the presence of any satyr. Dangerously aroused, like I might say or do something I’d regret later.
“I enjoy having my space,” I said.
“Since when?” He raised an eyebrow, and I could tell from his smirk that he was thinking of that time at Purgatory when I attempted to tear off his clothes. Which, of course, now I couldn’t stop thinking about either. “I’m trying not to be offended, but it hurts.”
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