by Helen Scott
“What do you mean by a couple times?”
“He had a bookie whom he could only reach via e-mail, and sometimes when his phone was dead, I’d let him use my laptop. If he had gone snooping, then he could have found something. Theoretically, of course.”
“I see.” Cin’s anger was rising. Her mom was hopeless when it came to guys. She always trusted the wrong ones. Cin remembered Chad, the guy before Preston. He’d tried to get Cin into bed when he thought her mom wouldn’t notice. Fortunately for sixteen-year-old Cin, her mom did notice and she never saw Chad again.
“So Preston is absolutely the only one who could have figured out about Aster?” Guilt rolled in Cin’s stomach at interrogating her mom like this, but she needed to get the information and get out of there before her head exploded.
“I think so.”
“I’ll go speak with Preston, then. Where is he holed up these days?”
“I’m not sure. We haven’t spoken in some time.”
Thad’s voice startled Cin. She’d almost completely forgotten he was there. “Do you have something of his? Or something he handled a lot?”
“He left behind a few things. I can go and get something, if you like?”
“That would be great. I would like to take it with us, if that’s all right with you, my lady?”
“Of course. Anything to find my baby girl.”
Cin had to bite her tongue, literally, to prevent a snarky response. Neither of them were her little girls, just her wards.
Her mom rose from the couch and went upstairs, leaving the two of them alone. Cin still wasn’t sure what Thad was, but she knew he had lied. Okay, well, not so much lied as withheld information. She had almost slept with him, and he could be a monster, for all she knew. She really needed to date more, and then she wouldn’t be falling all over the first guy who showed interest.
“Cin—” Thad’s voice rumbled in her direction.
“Not right now. I’m mad at you.”
“Hyacinth, do I hear you being sassy to my guest?”
“It’s all right, my lady. I don’t mind,” Thad said, turning his head in the direction of her mom’s voice.
“You may not, but she was raised with better manners than that.” Her mom gave her a pointed look. “Here is a lighter and a poker chip. They both belonged to Preston, and I believe he would be fairly annoyed to know he left a poker chip here. You can probably use it to track him, provided you are capable of such a thing?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Cin watched in stony silence as Thad worked the location spell. Her gaze had fallen flat, like she couldn’t see him at all, and it irritated the hell out of him. He knew he shouldn’t let it bother him, but it did.
Thad had never encountered anyone like Cin before, and the fact that she had some magic in her that had never manifested made her even more interesting. She was a puzzle. He liked puzzles and was very good at solving them.
Her eyes narrowed in on the lighter vibrating in Thad’s hand. He slid it over the map and watched where it came to rest. The metal of the lighter hitting the hood of Julie’s car sounded like an echo. When he picked it up and looked at the map, he knew exactly where someone like Preston would be.
Cin’s arms crossed over her chest, and she pinned him with a glare that all but shouted he better tell her what he found out from the spell and fast. He folded the map up and tucked it back into Julie’s glove box. The soft shush of the car door closing seemed like the only sound around them.
She hadn’t spoken to him since she told him she was mad at him. He knew she had just found out something that she never expected and needed time to process. Logically her behavior made sense, but all he wanted to do was shake her and make her see things from his side. It wasn’t like he could tell anyone and everyone that he was a siren. They only met recently. Neither of them were ready to divulge their deepest and darkest secrets yet, right?
“I think he’s at the casino. It’s the place that makes the most sense.”
Cin nodded at him.
“Are you sure you’re up for this now? We could come back—”
“Now.” Cin hardly even opened her mouth to speak to him. It was more a growl that came out through gritted teeth. Thad was slightly worried for Preston; he wasn’t sure what Cin would do if he was the one who had sold out her sister.
Thad held out his hand.
Cin’s glare practically burned him.
“Don’t give me that look,” he snipped at her. “I don’t have to jump us there right now. I’m doing this to help you and your sister, whom I’ve never met!” She continued to glare at him. “I could make you listen to me until you understood why I didn’t tell you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I’m seriously considering it.”
“I need to talk to him. I can’t take all of this happening and Aster being in trouble; it’s killing me. It’s like I can feel the danger and pain that she’s in. If we don’t find her soon, then I don’t know that she’ll still be around to find.”
Just like that, all the frustration that Thad felt flew out of his mind. “Come on, then.”
He jumped them to the back of the casino and was able to glamour them enough that they didn’t startle any of the workers nearby. It was a challenge, and he didn’t have Dem’s level of skill when it came to making himself, or part of himself, invisible. It didn’t usually work, so Thad breathed a big sigh of relief. He tugged Cin’s hand, and they walked around to the front of the casino. Even from outside, they could hear the music and the sound of slot machines, or at least he could.
Thad detested places like this. They were designed to play on people’s weaknesses and seduce them out of their money. He didn’t mind betting on a game of poker with his brothers every once in a while, but this was not his cup of tea.
“Shall we?” Cin asked, hooking her arm in his and pulling him toward the doors.
“You owe me for this. I hate casinos.” Thad harrumphed at her as they walked in. They were immediately assaulted by a riot of color and sound.
“If my mom . . .” Cin paused and seemed to collect herself. “If Julie’s exes are anything to go by, then he’ll probably either be by the blackjack or poker tables. I doubt he’d be around the slot machines of the roulette. She wouldn’t date someone like that.”
“I had no idea that people could be so devoted to a type of gambling.”
“It’s called an addiction for a reason.” Cin’s coldness seemed to be receding as she talked with him.
Thad let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and followed her to the half-moon tables where people were playing blackjack. To the left of the section of blackjack tables, Thad could see the bean-shaped poker tables and knew their quarry was close. He repeated the incantation for the location spell under his breath with the lighter in hand and felt the vibration get stronger as he turned toward the blackjack tables.
“This way.” He nudged Cin, who was scanning the crowd.
Surveying the people there, Thad figured if the man had been dating a woman like Julie, there would be a certain level of propriety in his dress. He couldn’t imagine a goddess would ever be with someone who hung out in jeans and T-shirts, oh no. It was easy to see from the way she dressed and from the neat, luxurious style of her home.
One man caught Thad’s eye. He was wearing a suit and tie done with an Eldridge knot. Most of the other men around him were in suits, but none of them had taken the time to do anything other than a simple knot with their tie. He would be willing to bet this was their man. As he turned a little more, Thad caught a glimpse of a pocket square in the jacket of his suit. He would be stunned if this wasn’t Preston.
“That’s him, right?” Thad asked, nudging Cin.
“The guy with the fancy duds?”
Thad nodded.
“Nope. Mom—Julie likes her men a little rough around the edges.”
“Interesting. I never would have guessed.”
“Come on, I think I see him.”
Cin pulled him toward the next blackjack table and stopped next to a man with greasy black hair and a patchy beard. His flannel shirt was covered by a jean jacket, and his hands had mud under his fingernails. Definitely not what Thad expected.
“Hey, Preston.”
Chapter 12
Thad watched as the man jerked around, a scowl painting his features as soon as he saw Cin.
“Hyacinth.”
“You know I go by Cin.”
“And you know I go by Mike when I’m not around your mom.”
“Mom is weird about names like that.”
The dealer coughed, and Preston glanced around and tapped on the table. She pulled a card from the shoe and placed it next to the two cards on the table. Thad watched Preston’s shoulders slump in defeat. The jack was the last thing he needed with the hand he had, but that was what he got. The dealer took his chips, and he spun around.
“You’re always bad luck, Cin. Why’d you have to go an’ screw up my hand like that?” He was agitated and pushed past them.
“Mike, don’t walk away. I need to talk to you. You know I’d never interrupt a hand if I didn’t absolutely need to. Come on . . .”
Preston shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and headed for the door. Cin and Thad trailed after him as he studiously ignored Cin’s pleas.
“Preston Michael,” Thad’s voice rang out. He had taken a guess that Michael was his middle name, and from the way the guy stopped, like he’d smacked into a glass wall or something, Thad knew he’d been right.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” Preston asked, turning around, getting in Thad’s face.
“I’m the guy who’ll make you listen to what Cin has to say, whether you want to or not.”
“How ’bout not. I don’t need to hear what her mom has sent her little messenger girl to say. Now get outta my face.”
By that point, they were on the street and Preston was about to hail a cab. Thad grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.
“Now you can either come with us around the corner, or I can dislocate your shoulder. Your choice, but either way, you are going to listen to what Cin has to say.”
“All right, all right. Call off your attack dog, would ya?”
“You’ll come with me?” Cin’s voice was clear with an edge of anger that made Thad look at her. Any doubts he’d had earlier about whether or not Cin would do damage to get the information from Preston vanished like mist in the sunshine.
“Course I’ll come. Ya didn’t need to threaten me.”
“Apparently we did. And we will again if you make a run for it.” Her voice was like a razor cutting through any misconceptions Preston might have had.
“No running from me. Got a bum knee, remember?”
“Come on.”
Cin stalked off around to the alley between the casino and the other buildings on the block that they had come up earlier.
She stopped about halfway down and waited for Preston to catch up.
“I have one very simple question. Did you sell Aster out?”
“Sell her out?” Preston’s face paled.
“She’s been kidnapped.” Cin ground the words out as Thad stood behind Preston, blocking him in. His nose protested the venue choice as the strong scent from the dumpster surrounded them.
“Why would I sell the kid out?” Preston said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Money? Contacts? Pay off a debt? You tell me.”
“I’d never hurt the kid. You gotta believe me.”
“No, I don’t.” Lightning fast, her fist whipped out and connected with his jaw.
“Shit, woman. That’s assault, you know!”
“What’s assault? Did something happen?” Thad’s voice rumbled as he closed the distance between him and Preston.
“Yeah, you blind idiot, she punched me.” Preston swung around and noticed the red sunglasses.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t realize you were actually, you know . . .”
“Blind?” Thad chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah.” Preston backed away from him.
“I’m not.” Thad smiled, letting all his teeth show in a way that he knew Preston’s subconscious would see as a threat, before he lifted his sunglasses and stared down at the stuttering man. “My eyes freak people out.”
“Holy shit, man! What’s wrong with them?”
Cin’s hand on his shoulder twisted him back around to face her.
“None of your goddamned business what’s going on with his eyes. Tell me who you told about Aster. I know it was you. Just tell me and save us both a lot of hassle.”
“I didn’t tell no one.”
Cin’s eyes flashed with anger as Thad heard her fist connect with his stomach. “Don’t make me knee you in the dick. Just tell me.”
“I can’t,” he gasped as he clutched his abdomen.
“Won’t,” Cin said, going to hit him again as he flinched away.
“Can’t!” He wheezed in pain. “They’ll kill me. They’re everywhere. You don’t understand the shit I stepped in.”
“You better wipe off your shoe and explain it, or else I’m going to run out of patience.”
“Seriously, Hyacinth. You don’t want to be involved in this.”
Cin grabbed his jacket collar and hauled him into a more upright position and stared straight in his eyes. “Well, I don’t have a goddamned choice, do I? Someone’s got to go after Aster, and luckily I have this guy to help me, but first you’ve got to spill.”
“I’m dead if I tell you. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah. I do. I’m sorry for that, but if you don’t tell me, then Aster is dead, but she’s tortured first, for however long they see fit. So, no offense, but if I have to choose, I choose Aster.”
“And if I have a choice, I choose me!”
“Yeah, but see, you don’t have a choice, do you? I’m not giving you one. I won’t let anything happen to my baby sister!”
Cin glanced up at Thad, and he could have sworn her eyes were completely black. When she looked down at Preston, he didn’t seem to care, though, so Thad figured he was seeing things. Maybe these sunglasses were messing with him. He was so used to looking through them that the red lenses didn’t bother him anymore. In fact, the world almost felt more normal when they were on, or at least he was better able to handle it.
“Fine. If I die, it’s on you, bitch. You and your mom can rot, for all I care, but I do feel bad if they are hurting the kid.”
Cin released the hold she had on the collar of his jacket, and Preston stood a little straighter and pushed the long greasy black hair out of his face. For the first time, Thad realized that the man’s beard was shot through with gray. He was older than Thad had initially thought.
“I owed this guy from some poker. It’s never been my game, but I thought he was an easy mark. He played me well an’ good. I lost everythin’ I had on me, so I bartered what I could share, even lost my truck. Anywho, he started to lose, started to show that he had a bad hand an’ I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. He probably thought I was easy pickings, and to be honest, I was.”
“Enough with the sob story. Who was this guy?”
“He goes by Norman. He looks like a dweeb, but he’s pretty freaking terrifying when you cross him. See, I’d bet that I knew of something supernatural that could make someone a lot of money. Needless to say, I lost, and when I tried to make something up, he came after me. Put me in the hospital. So course after the beatin’, I gave the kid up. Couldn’t hold out any longer, ya know? He warned me they’d come for me if I told anyone, so thanks for that.”
“What did you mean when you said they were everywhere?” Thad rumbled. The story made sense so far, but how could one random guy be everywhere?
“He said the Order will eclipse everything. It’ll block out the sun and moon and will be all the world knows and all it wants to know. He was talkin’ crazy, but it was the scary cr
azy, not the harmless kind. And if this Order or eclipse or whatever is everywhere and sees everything like he said, then I figured it couldn’t hurt to follow his instructions.”
“What’s he look like? How can I find him?” Cin practically growled at Preston.
“He looks like a dweeb, like a square, totally unnoticeable. I’ve seen him at the poker table in the corner every night since he swindled me. It’s like he wants to rub salt in the wound. I’ve always left before he did. Gotta be somewhat conscious for work.”
“You paid him with information?”
“I wish I could say I’m sorry for it, but he would’ve killed me if I hadn’t told him. He could tell when I was lyin’. It was like he had a superpower or somethin’.”
“You better not be lying to me, or I’ll come back and let the big guy loose on you.”
Cin looked meaningfully at Thad, and when Preston glanced over his shoulder, Thad did his best version of an intimidating snarl and rolled his shoulders forward. The man in front of him paled and seemed to visibly shrink.
“Just don’t tell them it was me, yeah?” Preston’s eyes were wide with fear.
“Your name won’t pass my lips.” Cin smiled sweetly at him and kicked him in the shin.
“Jesus, what the hell was that for?” he yelled, clutching his leg.
“For throwing my sister to the wolves.”
Cin spun on her heel and walked away, with Thad trailing after her. That had been quite the show. He’d half expected to have to be the one to muscle it out of Preston, but it turned out he was just there for intimidation. He smiled a little to himself, loving the fact that Cin wailed on this guy. She was no wallflower; that was for sure.
“Can you magic us into my apartment? I need to grab a dress to wear tonight.”
“Tonight?” Thad didn’t normally rush into things. He preferred to prepare, scope out locations, track whoever he was meeting. It was what made him the brother with the least number of scars.
“Well, we need to go back to the casino if we want to talk to Norman and track down who he turned Aster over to, don’t we?”
