The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(8)

I shrugged. “I can't do that, sorry. Team rules, and I'm already on probation.”

Bridget hummed a noise, then snapped her fingers in front of my face, startling me into backing up a step. “There. Now the decision is taken away. Off you go, back to my daughter, and be safe in the knowledge that the agents won’t find you in Canada. At least, not anytime soon.”

I scowled at her use of magic without asking my permission, but deep down appreciated the choice being taken from me. As I was already on thin ice for secret-keeping, I'd been careful to be upfront about everything I possibly could be. Not that this was a huge thing, and it would only lead to more questions that I couldn't answer... so yeah, I was sort of okay with her spell to stop me talking.

“See you tomorrow night!” she called after me as I made my way back to the yard to rune-circle my way back to Toronto. Hopefully no one had really noticed my weirdness earlier... I wasn't keeping secrets per se, but I also wasn't ready to tell the guys about my struggles. Austin knew, and I'd tell Kitty Kat soon. That was all that truly mattered at the moment.





3





Kit





The trip to Toronto had been uneventful. Totally and utterly uneventful, and the small—totally insane—part of my brain was actually a tiny bit disappointed when we reached the high-rise apartment building that was our destination.

Not even so much as a light tail that needed to be lost along the way. Maybe Jonathan was losing his touch? Or maybe Alpha Team, my team, really were the best he had.

Either way, I found the lack of violence, death, and kidnapping somewhat... unsettling. If not for the violent nightmare I’d had the night we arrived, I’d have thought we were in some sort of alternate universe or something.

A light tap on my bedroom door jolted me from my thoughts, and I whirled around, gripping the two outfits I had been agonizing over.

“Kit are you...” Wesley trailed off as he poked his head into the room and found me standing there in just my black lace underwear with what was probably a look of sheer terror on my face.

“What’s happened?” he asked, rushing in and cupping my face in his hand. “Are you okay? You feel scared. What’s going on?”

His face was full of concern, and his eyes left mine to dart around the room, looking for danger.

“Nothing,” I admitted a bit sheepishly, mentally kicking myself for not having tried harder at blocking my emotions from the guys. Changing them had given them an all-access pass to what was going on inside me. Only River hadn’t gotten a ticket. Some days, it sucked. “I just...” I stepped back from him and held up the garments in my hands. “I couldn’t work out what to wear. Jeans or a dress?”

Wesley cast another cautious look around my room, like he wasn’t all that convinced I’d told the truth, then finally returned his ice-blue eyes to me.

“Well,” he started, then took a long look at the underwear I had picked out. “Whatever you’re comfortable in.”

“Ugh, Wes!” I made an exasperated noise and glared at him. “That’s not helpful. Just tell me where we’re going, and then I can dress appropriately!”

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Wesley grinned and took the dress from my left hand to inspect it. “Nah, wear the jeans,” he decided, tossing the little black cocktail dress onto my bed.

“Not that I wouldn’t love to see you in that.” He nodded to the dress and quirked a sandy blonde brow at me. “But for what we’re doing, jeans will be a safer bet.”

“Interesting,” I murmured, my eyes narrowing at him in suspicion. “You know, I thought I was supposed to take you out. It’s your birthday after all...”

“Yes, but I asked you. So, get dressed and let’s go. We don’t have all night,” he reminded me, and I pouted a little. Internally. Pouting was not nearly as sexy on a twenty-one-year-old woman than some would think.

River had been satisfied that we’d effectively shaken Omega from our trail, so in the morning the seven of us—me and my six guardians—would continue on to the next safe house and leave Lucy and Elena behind.

Lucy was beyond furious at me, and I didn’t blame her. I’d pulled my ace in the hole, Elena’s safety. So the two of them would move into the penthouse apartment of this building, which was owned by Vali. Or by one of his many aliases.

“Okay, so somewhere that jeans are more appropriate than a dress...” I mused aloud as I wiggled into the tight denim. Wes watched me dress, not bothering with false modesty, and I didn’t expect him to. Even if I hadn’t been semi-dating all six guys, they’d all seen me in my underwear plenty of times before.

“Bowling?” I asked off the top of my head. Not that Wes really seemed like the bowling type, but I’d really never been on a date date before, so how the hell did I know what was the norm?

“Uh, no.” He gave me a quick grin of amusement, a blush staining his cheeks as I tugged a luxuriously soft, black cashmere sweater over my bra. It was a low-cut V-neck, and the light padding in my bra created some serious cleavage.

Perfect.

“Flats or heels?” I asked, hoping to get another hint out of him, but he just shrugged.

“Whatever you want. Either work.” He blinked at me, the picture of innocence, and I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.