Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(92)
I smiled. “That almost looks healthy.”
He reached in his drawer. “We came to an understanding. Potatoes are good for you.”
Kira wrinkled her nose when he peeled the metal lid off a can of cheese dip. I admired her stunning hair, a summer sunset with gold burning at the ends. She wore a blue kerchief over the top of her head that tied at the nape beneath her hair. Sometimes I’d see her wearing a shawl when she wasn’t scrubbing the floors or cooking. Kira’s plain style may have seemed old-fashioned, but she blended in perfectly with our surroundings.
She lingered, eyes glued to the television. As if pulled by invisible strings, she drifted forward and stopped short of Gem’s chair.
“That’s a first,” Wyatt murmured, cupping his hand around the side of his mouth. “Usually she ignores the TV.”
“Maybe it’s because all you ever play are video games and action movies.”
He chuckled and swiveled in his chair a little. “Nice to have you back, Miss Black.” As soon as the words left his mouth, his cheeks turned a blotchy red, and his eyes drifted down.
Pity was never a sentiment I was fond of. “Better eat your fries before they get cold.”
When a musical number trumpeted from the movie, we turned to watch Kira again. She walked all the way up to the television and placed her hand on the screen.
Claude gave a secretive smile, probably from an emotional scent that only he could pick up. But perhaps the rest of us knew how magical something as simple as a movie could be.
I kicked the toe of my shoe against Wyatt’s chair. “Is there anything else about the case I should know?”
He lifted his can of soda and slurped the drops around the rim. “The buyer’s name is Temple. We don’t have anything in our files that links to that name. Vampire elders don’t like keeping detailed records on their own.”
“How do you know his name?”
He shrugged. “Mr. Anonymous. Sometimes hackers help each other out for a favor, but he didn’t ask for anything. Looks like someone’s playing on our side. Either that, or maybe he’s got it in for this guy. Anyhow, we got lucky the higher authority took interest. They’re practically throwing money at us to solve it and bring this guy to justice. See how everything works out? One fish jumps out of the boat, and another jumps in. Either way, we’re going home with a catch.”
“When?”
He looked at the invisible watch on his wrist. “If everything goes according to plan, you leave late tonight. I’m going to send out a text message in thirty minutes with the info you need. Pack light. Viktor doesn’t want you taking anything that you can’t carry in a backpack.” Wyatt yawned extra wide before dipping a fat potato wedge in the can of cheese dip. “Just pack the necessities. Socks, clean panties, ninja throwing stars…”
“Are we taking the van?”
“Negative. Christian’s car will draw less attention, and he’s already got the paperwork ready for it. I’m sure Viktor will give you the rundown on the way there. The border guards tend to ask a lot of questions, so Christian’s going to do all the talking, if you catch my drift.”
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t get someone who doesn’t want to look at him.”
He swallowed his bite and licked his fingers. “We usually have at least one Breed insider working the main thoroughfares, but you never know. If they’re wearing sunglasses, Christian will have his work cut out for him.” Wyatt belched again, and before Gem could chastise him, he quickly said, “In some cultures, burping is a compliment to the chef.”
Gem peered back at him. “Did you know there used to be a colony of Chitahs in Norway who believed that burping meant your soul was escaping?”
Wyatt shuddered. “If that’s true, I’ve been soulless since 1891.” He looked at me and winked. “That’s when I had my first carbonated soda.”
I shook my head. “Sometimes I forget how old you are.”
He jerked his neck back. “Old? In Gravewalker years, I’m only in my twenties.”
And he looked it. Sometimes I felt older than my actual age. Meeting people like Gem and Wyatt made me realize that who we are is a choice more than a result of years.
After my second encounter with Fletcher, I wondered who I would choose to become.
Christian hadn’t been able to stop pacing the halls since dinner. This situation was out of control. He’d been seething from the moment he suspected that Houdini had scrubbed Raven’s memory. What right did that Vampire have to meddle in her life after abandoning his youngling? No maker in their right mind would have sent his newly made youngling off to the morgue to make their death look real. Yes, the deaths had to be faked and documented, but that was a task the maker handled him-or herself. And now he appears all these years later to scoop her up and look like the hero by convincing her that going back to her Creator was therapeutic?
Jaysus. That shitebag had been toying with her from day one. Either he was a certifiable lunatic, or he was one of those ancients who allayed boredom by senselessly interfering with people’s lives. He must have been watching her all this time. It revealed a possessive nature that unnerved Christian, and he found himself glancing at every window he passed to check the locks.
Christian heard Raven and Gem chattering, so he followed them to Wyatt’s office. Instead of going in, he remained just around the corner in an adjacent hall. After dinner, he’d wanted to go after her and talk but feared it would only make the situation worse. Bringing up every memory they shared to see if Houdini had wiped it would only frustrate and anger her. It was safe to say they were all gone. Well, any moment that truly mattered. She was already suspicious of Christian’s motives, and if he were in her shoes, he’d feel the same. Without the memory of their intimate conversations and the link they shared to her childhood, what reason did she have to trust him?