Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(40)

Lukas frowned. “He wasn’t going to come quietly.”

He had a point. I scanned the room and saw a roll of duct tape on the edge of one of the desks. Grinning, I grabbed it and waved it back and forth.

“What’s that?”

I bent over Tony and went to work. “This is the coolest invention of the twentieth century.” Once Tony was secured, I handed Lukas the roll.

He peeled the edge back, letting it dangle from the tip of his finger in awe. “This is amazing.”

I took the tape from him and gave it another wave. “Awesome,” I corrected.

“What?”

“This is awesome. Use the language of the land, gramps. Jeez. Didn’t you have slang back in the stone ages?”

“Awesome,” he said, as if trying the word on for size. “And that means amazing?”

“Yep.”

He nodded and wiggled his finger. “We had slang in 1882. Do people still use ragamuffin?”

I choked back a giggle. “Um, no. No they don’t. Ragamuffin? Seriously? That’s such a lame word!”

He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head. “Sometimes, I want to beg you to put me back in the box.”

“Aren’t we the High Drama Dude?” I toed Tony again and put the roll of tape back on the desk.

“Is it strong enough to hold him?”

“It’s strong enough. Trust me. The captain of the football team used this stuff to hang our rival school’s mascot from the sign in the quad. I’m not known for my school spirit, but it was pretty damn funny to see a dude in a purple chicken suit suspended mid-air.”

“You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

His grin widened, and the butterflies came rushing back. “You really are.”





Chapter Sixteen




Getting Tony out of the school was easy. The teachers in the lounge were far past noticing anything. With Sloth gone, hopefully they’d go back to normal sooner rather than later. Between Lukas and me, we were able to drag Sloth across the tiled floor with little trouble. He slid along nice and easy against the well polished floor. Once outside, though—that presented a challenge.

My options were limited.

Public transportation wouldn’t work. I couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse as to why two teenagers would be dragging around an unconscious, duct taped man in a dirty designer suit.

Carrying him was out of the question. Tony wasn’t a small guy. Even with Lukas helping, we’d end up doing more dragging than actual carrying. There was a human in there—I didn’t want to give him road rash.

Really, there was only one option. Mom. I pulled my cell out and dialed the office. This wasn’t exactly how I pictured presenting my victory, but unfortunately it was all we had. But even that didn’t work. The machine picked up on the fourth ring and I hung up.

“No answer. Makes sense, though,” I said to Lukas as I punched in her cell. “She and Dad are out hunting down the Sins.” It went right to voicemail. I snapped the phone closed and stuffed the cell back in my pocket. “Well, now we’re officially screwed.”

I stepped from the brush and glanced up and down the street just as a red Mustang turned the corner. It slowed, horn honking twice as it pulled alongside the curb. “Hey, beautiful, lookin’ for a ride?”

Great timing—wrong person. With the way he’d acted earlier, it was probably a bad idea to even consider this, but I was desperate. The longer we stood out in the open, the better the chances were of someone happening along. “Hey, Garrett…Yeah.”

The Garrett Girl Charmer beamed out at me from inside the Mustang. “Well then hop on in.”

This was the tricky part. “Um, actually, I have a few people with me, too.”

“Assuming you mean your shadow,” he grumbled.

“Lukas is here, yeah, but I’ve also got someone else…it’s a work thing. One of my mom’s alternative cases.”

Garrett, as far as I knew, had no idea about Penance’s supernatural underground, therefore had no clue what an alternative case meant, but I seemed to have his interest.

He perked up a little. “A work thing?”

I turned and motioned for Lukas. He appeared from the bushes, dragging Tony along.

“Dude…” Garrett put the Mustang in park and jumped from the car. “Is he like a criminal or something?”

I moved to help Lukas. Together, we lifted Tony off the grass and leaned him up against the side of the car. “Sort of. Deadbeat Dad. The family paid us to find him. Kind of like yours.”

Garrett nodded and opened the back passenger’s side door, moving to the right so we could set Tony inside. Before I could stop him, Lukas made his way around to the other side and slid in next to Tony, forcing me to take the front seat.

Great.

Thankfully the drive was short—and silent. Garrett kept his eyes on the road and hadn’t tried to grab anything or profess his undying love. He did however, keep glaring into the backseat through the rearview mirror. I couldn’t tell if he was looking at Lukas or Tony.

He pulled the car alongside the curb in front of the office and killed the engine. Whatever Vida’s touch had done, it seemed to have worn off. Everything appeared to be back to normal. “Listen—about before…”