Dead Drop (The Guild #2)(93)
Kai frowned, then glanced at the knife again. “I guess… I’ll go find somewhere else to be.”
Sabine beamed. “Atta boy. Now you’re getting it.”
I snickered a laugh, unable to help myself, but Kai quickly shifted the mood by grabbing me around the waist and pinning me to a wall. My feet couldn’t even touch the ground as he savaged my mouth, his kisses stealing my sanity as I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer.
“Ahem,” Sab fake coughed, and I reluctantly pushed Kai away.
“I’ll be back soon,” he murmured against my lips, brushing soft kisses as he carefully set me back on my feet. “I love you, kaikohuru iti.”
He didn’t wait for my response—no doubt still not wanting to hear my weak, bullshit denials—and strode out of the house. A moment later, we heard his motorcycle kick over, and Sabine gave me a wide-eyed look, her hands on her hips.
“Danny DeLuna…” she teased, grinning with delight, “did he just say that he loves you?”
I wrinkled my nose, biting back the dumb smile that wanted to cross my face. “He’s delusional.”
She barked a loud laugh, shaking her head. “I think you’re the delusional one, Dan. What about Leon? That kiss from him was equally scorching. Fuck me, I feel like I need a change of panties from just watching that.”
Rolling my eyes, I went to the kitchen to grab us snacks and drinks, and we made ourselves comfy in the living room. Sabine peppered me with questions about Kai and Leon the whole time, but I gave her very little in response. Not because I didn’t want to share with her, but because I was an awkward, emotionally-stunted dumpster fire.
“Did you question that guy from last night?” she finally asked, changing the subject.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s the trash Leon is taking out.” Sabine’s eyes widened, and I grinned. “Sabby, you should have seen him work. It was like fucking poetry; he got that prick singing like a nightingale in six minutes flat.”
She cracked up. “Oh my god, you guys are made for each other. You can’t decide if you’re impressed, turned on, or jealous, huh? Sick fuck. So what was the result?”
“All of the above,” I muttered, sipping my drink and remembering the blow job he’d claimed after I shot the guy.
Sabine snickered. “I meant what info did you get? But good to know, pervert.”
“Oh, the info. Right. He was Guild and tasked with killing you in whatever way possible. Just a good thing he was beta-level, otherwise we might not be having this conversation.” I toyed with the edge of my lip, thinking through how much I could tell her. But, given she was also on Blanchet’s radar, it seemed idiotic to keep her in the dark.
Her small frown was serious as she placed her glass down. “Tell me what I need to know,” she said softly.
I nodded, inhaling deeply. “Alright. A lot of this is just guessing, so feel free to give me your take on things if you see something I’ve missed.” I gave her a quick rundown of what we knew of Project Remus, because that was our best explanation for why Blanchet was killing off mercenaries. Sabine and I were both raised in Guild orphanages in France, both born the same year. For all we knew, she was a Remus baby.
She was quiet while I gave her the facts, then stayed silent a few moments after I was done as she processed and thought it over.
“So… we’re assuming that Blanchet is killing off Remus babies?” she asked, and I nodded. “But he doesn’t know enough about the project to know exactly who to kill so… he’s just covering all bases and killing anyone the right age, who grew up in Guild facilities?”
I frowned, thinking. “Yes? But maybe I’m wrong on that. He might also be going after anyone who knows about it or was involved or… shit, I don’t know. I honestly can’t work it out, but if we can find Layla’s data cache, I feel like it will be the missing puzzle piece we need.”
Sab nodded, then tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling for a minute. “And the guy at Meow said she had an uncle here in Shadow Grove? Have you spoken to him?”
I winced. It was something I’d asked Leon earlier when he’d filled Kai in on the whole Layla-Remus thing. “We can’t.” I sighed. “Leon killed him a couple of years ago.”
Sabine wrinkled her nose. “Whoops. Okay, but if he lived in town, maybe she hid the data here somewhere.”
“Fuck, I hope so,” I admitted with a laugh. “Otherwise, I’m shit out of ideas.”
Sabine gave a thoughtful nod. “Tomorrow morning, go see Nadia. If anyone knows, she does.”
My brows rose. “From Nadia’s Cakes?”
“The one and only. She’s a sly old bitch and knows everything that goes on in Shadow Grove. Trust me, she’s your best bet for info. Just… maybe don’t take the guys? She’ll only be helpful if you’re nice, and those two don’t seem capable.” She shot me a wicked grin. “To anyone other than you, I mean. I bet they can be real nice to you.”
I whacked her with a pillow, and she shrieked.
“Hey, have you spoken to Jude lately?” she asked when her laughter subsided. “She’s been crazy worried about you.”
I winced. “No. I’ve sort of been avoiding anything to do with the Guild lately.”