“Remi came to America for her.” I arched a brow. “He’s marrying her.”
“Mr Weber decided to stay at the compound, with an acquaintance, rather than join Miss Greenlea near Columbia University or her family's estate. What does that tell you?” Hart's rumbly tone was full of chastisement.
“It tells me that humans are complicated.” I was put my hand on my hip. “Don’t ask me. My knowledge of human reasoning is as big as Tinkerbelle’s dildo.”
Jae snorted. Hugo blushed. Hart rolled his eyes. Davenport stepped forward, putting himself between Remi and Alicia—whether it was subconscious or on purpose, I would never know.
The commander clapped his hands together once, and the team silently began to file into one of the matte black armored trucks at the end of a row of cars. Alicia and I trailed at the end of the line, unaware of the choreographed movement.
“It’s Frankie, right?” Alicia moved daintily, looking down at her feet when she walked. I would too, if I was wearing heels on uneven terrain.
I tried to make my smile as genuine as possible. “Corporal Gardiner, at your service.”
Jae snickered, but he did not turn around. I reached forward and punched him between the shoulder blades. The Nephilim did not react.
“So which of the guys are you with?” Alicia whispered as Hart moved to the doors at the back of the truck.
My eyes flicked over the men of Team P, everyone was something other, they could hear the redhead even if they pretended not to. Only Remi seemed blissfully unaware as he climbed into the passenger seat, next to Davenport, and fired up his laptop.
“That’s a difficult question.” I hedged.
Alicia's head cocked to the side. Her face turned shrewd. “How so?”
I caught Hugo's eye on the other side of the truck as we all settled in our seats. Two ledges ran vertically down the carriage, separated by a large steel trunk in the middle of the vehicle. The driver and passenger seat were set apart with a thick mesh. Hugo made a movement to get up when he saw how uncomfortable I was. Hart put his hand on Hugo's chest, and I gave the werewolf the stink eye.
“I’m with all of them,” I said coyly.
Alicia's eyes widened minutely. Her neck flushed, but her face did not change color. “All of them?” She repeated, her voice steady.
“I’m on their team.” My words were slow. Sounded out. The redhead looked like she had received a blow to the back of the head. “I'm with Team P.” I clarified.
A few seconds passed as the truck began to move. I bounced up and down before I buckled my seatbelt across my chest. Everyone else did the same.
There was utter silence as I wordlessly pleaded with one of the men on the other side of the vehicle for help.
Then Alicia Greenlea surprised me. She threw back her head and roared with laughter.
“Oh!” She parted her lips, her eyes were childishly wide. “You meant that you're on Team P! Not that you're with them.” Her hand rested on her chest, and she relaxed. She turned away. I had already been dismissed. I opened my mouth to clarify when Hugo cleared his throat and shook his head.
Fine. I could play nice.
I was wrong. I was going to kill the woman and leave her body for the black bears.
We'd parked around the back of the coffee shop where the email had initially been sent, but the workers of Beanies had directed us to the person that rented the apartment above the shop.
The name on the lease was a dead end. It was obviously fake. Remi's online search had stalled, so Team P had gathered to continue the investigation in person. A team had already swept the apartment, and they had found something interesting enough to call in Davenport.
We hadn't even stepped over the threshold before Alicia decided to show off.
“Come on.” She nudged Remi's shoulder with her own. “Let’s set up a protection spell. With the two of us, it will be easy.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Remi glanced over at us. “Maybe an anti-Demon ward? A salt line over the threshold should work.”
I didn’t like that Remi looked so unsure of himself. I thrust my hands into my pockets to avoid flipping her off.
“Remington, you have to use your magic. A Witchling is worth nothing if they can't do spells.” Alicia chided.
“Alicia...” Remi warned.
Alicia's eyes turned conniving, but her smile was fixed. “We need to test the compatibility of our magic.” She argued. I thought that she was going to stamp her foot, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t.
Davenport stepped forward. “Perhaps test your magic another time.” He suggested gently, but there was no room for argument. “Remi, up here with me. Alicia, stay in the van. Rest of you, follow behind.”
Alicia opened her mouth to argue. Davenport shut her down with a look.
The apartment was empty and cleared of all dangerous magic, but every man prepared differently as we walked up the steps. Remi's fingers spread as if he was readying himself to fling a spell. Davenport slid a gun from the chest holder under his fitted dark jacket. Jae's eyes glowed, and Hart stiffened.
Hugo sidled up to my shoulder, as Davenport pushed into the residence and strode in like he lived there.
“Why bring Alicia if you're just going to leave her in the car?” I asked Davenport as we poured into the hallway.
“The Greenlea’s have demanded that I watch their daughter and keep her safe. They also stipulated that the large donation they made to my compound was conditional on the amount of time Alicia spent with Remi.” He explained in a dry tone.
“It's about money, boss?” Jae sauntered up to us. His hands were in his belt loops as he rocked on his heels.
Davenport glanced at Jae. “How else would I pay you enough to sate your addiction to erotic novels?” Davenport's lip twitched.
Remi hooted. “He’s got you there, Jae.” He said as he clapped him on the back.
“Mock me all you like.” Jae's eyes twinkled. “I’ll just tell everyone about that book you borrowed from me—”
Remi slapped his hand over Jae's mouth and pulled him back into the room as Jae's protests were muffled by Remi's fingers.
Davenport pinched the bridge of his nose. “I expect this sort of deviant behavior from the incubus—”
“Hey!” Hugo straightened.
Davenport continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Hart. Make sure they don’t kill each other.”
The solemn man dipped his head and followed Remi and Jae into the living room.
“Deviant, huh?” I teased.
“Don't start,” Davenport growled and marched away. I held up my hands in surrender despite his retreating form.
“You get under his skin.” Hugo murmured, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear.
“I do, don’t I?” I preened.
The living room of the apartment looked like a typical rental. Beige walls. IKEA furniture and a cheap polyester carpet. The only thing that was slightly out of the ordinary was the longest wall was completely papered in various photos, connected with red marker and scribbled notes. I squinted as I stepped forward, my fingers paused before they made contact with the grainy black and white picture of my host. Frankie Gardiner's face was circled a dozen times. The eyes were completely scratched out.
“Do you think it's a stalker?” I wondered. “I once wore a stalker for a day. His name was Finley Ryan. He'd masturbated on some sorority girl when she was asleep. Her dad was an important actor or something.”