My legs too weak to hold me any longer, I crumpled against the wall and would’ve ended up on the floor but for Nicky’s arm going around my waist. He stowed his gun, then wrestled Sasha away from me. “Turn her loose, doll,” he urged. “It’s all right. I got her.” It was only then I realized the cat was yowling with rage at being nearly squeezed to death in my panicked grip. With a gasp, I relinquished her to Nicky.
The next thing I knew, Nicky was half carrying me from my apartment building and shoving me into the front seat of a black Escalade. When we’d managed to put a few miles behind us, he slowed down a little and glanced over at me, his face drawn. Seeing me shivering in the passenger seat, my teeth chattering, he cranked up the heat. But it didn’t matter what temperature it was in the car. The chill in my bones had nothing to do with the cold.
Chapter Five
“You doin’ okay over there?”
I started at the sudden sound of Nicky’s voice, sending Sasha scrambling over my shoulder and into the backseat with a yowl of protest. I swallowed hard, considering his question, then nodded. “I think so.”
He glanced over at me and gave me his patented half grin. “That sounded convincing.”
I attempted a smile. “I’m a bad liar, I guess.”
“Yeah, well, I guess there are worse things to be bad at.” He waited a beat, then asked, “So, you got anywhere you want me to take you?”
I thought for a moment. Any other time I would’ve had him take me to Red’s, but she and Nate were at the hospital for the night. Besides, the last thing I wanted was for her to find out about this latest development before I knew what was going on. She had enough to worry about without adding my safety to the list. And a hotel was out of the question—I’d left in such haste, I hadn’t even grabbed my coat, which had my credit cards in the inside pocket. So I shook my head. “No, I don’t have anywhere to go,” I told him. “And I’m not going back to my apartment without Nate Grimm. Or maybe a priest.”
Nicky chuckled a little. “Got it. Well, forget about it—I got somewhere you can stay.”
We sat in silence for a few moments longer before I had to ask the question that had been burning in the back of my mind since the moment I saw him standing there in my living room like some dark knight in shining armor. “How did you know?”
He cast a quick glance my way, his brows drawn together. “Know what?”
“That I was in trouble.”
He shook his head a little. “I didn’t.”
Now it was my turn to frown. “Then why were you there?”
He shifted a little in his seat and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “I need your help.”
My brows shot up. “So you figured breaking in to my apartment was the way to go about asking me?”
“The lights were off,” he said by way of explanation. “I thought you were asleep.”
“So . . .” I said, drawing out the word as I tried to follow his logic. “What? You thought I’d talk in my sleep or something?”
His lips twitched, but I couldn’t tell if it was from amusement or annoyance. “You do talk in your sleep—”
I jerked back a little, my eyes going wide. “How the hell do you know that?”
“—but I never get much intel that way. I just needed a look at your report from tonight.”
“My report?”
“Yeah, I needed a recap of everything that happened. I gotta give you credit, doll—you’re the best.” He sent a grin my way. “You don’t miss a thing.”
I felt a little flutter in the center of my chest at the compliment but quickly shoved it aside. “Thanks,” I said, my tone cautious, “but how do you know about my reports? Or my sleeping habits, for that matter.”
“Anytime I lose the trail of that motherfucking bloodsucker, I drop in to see what you’ve got on him,” he said with a shrug, as if breaking into and entering my apartment while I was asleep, hacking into my computer, and reading confidential reports was all in a day’s work. Of course, considering I was riding in the car with the head of the Tales’ most powerful crime syndicate, it probably was.
“You’ve been tracking Dracula,” I guessed, figuring that was the motherfucking bloodsucker he was referring to. “That’s what you’ve been doing for the past two years?”
At this, his chiseled jaw tightened, the muscle twitching. “Not at first,” he said, his terse tone contradicting his shrug. “I went looking for Sebille Fenwick’s body first. My gut told me things weren’t over yet with that bitch.”
“You were right,” I told him, the image of Sebille’s fetid, maggot-ridden face flashing through my mind.
“Yeah, I heard about that.” He gave me a nod. “I owe you one.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t me. It was Lavender Seelie. All I did was stick my nose in where it didn’t belong and nearly get myself killed.”
“Yeah, well, no offense, doll, but I’m getting the impression that’s your MO.”
There was no judgment or censure in his voice, but still I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. He was obviously referring to my colossally stupid decision to go chasing after strangely undulating shadows earlier that night. Nothing says dumb-ass quite like walking straight into a vampire ambush. “If I waited to call in for backup all the time, I’d lose my lead.”
He laughed full-out this time, the sound a deep rumble so velvety and soothing it brought goose bumps to my skin. “I think you’ve been hangin’ out with Red too much. She’s rubbin’ off on you.”
“So, why don’t we get back to the part about you breaking into my apartment on a regular basis,” I snapped, not entirely sure why his comment about Red had made me angry. She was rubbing off on me. Over the last couple of years I’d become more reckless, more headstrong, and much less willing to take anyone’s shit. Plus, I’d become an unrepentant potty mouth, casting aside my milder curses for the much harsher, more colorful versions she used and finding it completely and utterly liberating.
“What about it?” Nicky asked.
“Why didn’t you just tell Red what you’ve been doing and ask to help in our investigation?”
He gave me a wry look. “Same reason you’re doctoring your reports so she doesn’t find out that Vlad Dracula’s been a very busy boy.”
“Point taken.” I cleared my throat a couple of times before adding, “So, why the whole alter-ego thing? They’re calling you the Spider, you know.”
He grunted but was grinning. “Yeah, I know.”
“I won’t give you up,” I assured him. “You saved my life tonight, so I figure I owe you. But the Agency has your number. It’s only a matter of time before they make the connection and track you down.”
He grunted again, but this time there was no mirth in it. “Those fuckin’ guys couldn’t find their asses with both hands and a compass. I’m not worried about them.”
“You should be,” I protested. “They’ve been chomping at the bit to get their hands on a Tale to carve up and study. Al’s been able to protect us all so far, but if they find out one of us is a criminal—”
He sent a dark look my way.
“—who’s interfering with their investigations, I don’t know that Al will be able to do a whole lot.”
His jaw went tight again, the muscle twitching ominously. “Don’t worry about me, doll. I can handle myself.”
Well, I couldn’t really argue too much with that after what I’d seen tonight, but I had a feeling Nicky’s skill would only take him so far. Statistically, at some point he’d slip up. And the Agency was good at waiting.
“You know, you can’t keep doing this alone,” I told him, trying a different tactic. “It’s not safe. You should’ve come to me sooner.”