Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(36)
“As far as I know we have no current demon problem, especially since the Birrn was killed.” Truth. Technically. The Cresyl demons were also dead so, poof, no demon problem at this very minute.
However, the mauled body in the morgue?
Still a problem.
But she was getting the hang of maneuvering around his questions. She allowed her shoulders to relax.
“Is there any other problem connected to the demon death I should know about?”
“No.” That was the absolute truth. The less he knew, the better for her. She cheered silently when Storm turned onto Centennial Boulevard. A couple minutes and she’d be out of this truck. “Take the next left, then cross over Peachtree Street. I’ll show you where to park.”
He gave her a quiet nod.
Something warned her quiet was not necessarily an encouraging sign with him. He couldn’t have run out of questions, and she’d sparred nicely so far, if she did say so herself.
Bring it on.
When he reached a parking lot at the rear of a closed restaurant off Peachtree Street near North Avenue, she directed him to pull in and park. He should appreciate that the lot was empty, which allowed him plenty of open space for jockeying the motorcycle trailer.
As he parked the truck, his mouth quirked with that hint of a smile again, one that lacked any humor. “You want me to believe you live in this abandoned restaurant?”
“No. I don’t live here.” Evalle zipped her jacket up the last few inches to her chin and pulled her leather gloves on. She reached around to lift her helmet from the backseat. Every inch of her skin would be covered before she stepped outside. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Thank Sen. He’s the one who warded the truck so the sun wouldn’t affect you.”
Yeah, so the bastard could spy on her. She lowered the helmet to the top of her thighs. “I’ll be sure to do that.” She let her sarcasm flag fly high.
Other than the lifting of one eyebrow, Storm didn’t ask why she and Sen were like a cobra and a mongoose around each other. “First watch is scouting Piedmont for any sign of the Ngak Stone or anything out of the norm during the daylight hours. You and I are to take over for that team at dark. Give me your address and I’ll pick you up at eight.”
Did he really think that would work? That she’d tell him her address when she hadn’t let him drive her home? She had to find Isak, deal with a mauled body in the morgue, find the twins and talk to Grady first. “I’ve got a few things to do before I get to the park. I’ll meet you at the Piedmont Road entrance at midnight.”
No smile this time. Storm didn’t take the brush-off well. “Sen expects you to work with me.”
“Sen doesn’t own me, and VIPER doesn’t feed me or pay my bills.” She’d spoken softly, but he shouldn’t have missed the warning in her words.
“He is your superior.”
“Only in his mind. I answer to him because, as a Belador assigned to VIPER, I have an obligation to the team and I always honor my commitments.” She should just go along to get along, but she’d learned a few things after working around so many alpha males. The worst mistake she could make was allowing one to think he gave her orders. Storm was no higher in rank than her, even if Sen treated everyone else—even a Sterling witch no one in their right mind would trust—with more regard than Evalle.
For me, Sen brought in a two-legged truth serum who could track preternaturals.
But the bitch-witch had carte blanche.
Yeah, Sen was an idiot who let hatred blind him and make decisions he would one day come to regret.
Her thoughts went back to Storm and what he’d done to settle her panic during the meeting. Had he been giving her a sample of his powers, proving he could influence her at will? She hated being at anyone’s mercy and would not tolerate him using his powers or majik to get his way.
No one controlled her. Ever. She was free and she intended to stay that way. No matter who or what she had to sacrifice.
Storm turned to her, a picture of calm if you didn’t notice the anger kindling in his brown eyes. “You have a duty to VIPER, which means following orders even if you don’t like Sen. You don’t want to answer questions. You don’t want to meet at a reasonable time to get started. You don’t want to work together, period. Sen said no one else would work with you besides your buddies Tzader and Quinn. I’m starting to see why.”
Oh, that set her off. The others wouldn’t work with her over a birth defect she couldn’t help, and all of them were quick to rub her nose in it. As for Sen …
“Let’s get something clear, Storm. My duty requires that I follow the agency rules—just like every other agent—but no one dictates what personal information I share, like where I live or what hours I work.” Because if they knew, they could come for her, spy on her, or worse, find evidence to lock her up for eternity. “Not unless Sen wants to make that a new rule for all the agents to declare their addresses on a community database.”
“Look, I didn’t mean—”
She didn’t take a breath. “I also have a job at the city morgue, a position that allows me access to vital information we need, especially for containment to protect the civilians. If I don’t check in with my supervisor there tonight, I will lose my job, and you don’t ever want to know how hard it is to find a night job with flexible hours that pays over minimum wage. And in case you were born on the sun and haven’t noticed, it’s summer and the night hours are short.”