5. Spill the Tea
Spill the Tea
The words rush through me like a waterfall.
I must sway, because his hands are on my arms, steadying me, and I think I see concern flare in his eyes. I hate that it feels as if I’ve lost everything I’ve fought so hard for the moment I get near Micah. It’s exactly what I’ve always been afraid would happen.
‘I can’t.’ The words feel as if they’re pushing through water as I’m caught in star-swept eyes that pin me in place. ‘I have work to do. Work I should have been doing today. Do we have a deal or not?’
‘For one dinner with you, Evangeline, I would pay a far higher price.’ The words are low, almost seductive in his deep voice.
I blink and frown. He’s dead serious. He could be teasing and flirting with me, but he’s not. And God knows he’s damn good at it.
‘The crypto will be with the court first thing tomorrow.’ He makes no move to distance himself, and I’m far too aware of every part of my body at how close he is.
‘Not a stack of gold?’ The relief is making me light-headed and reckless. Or so I tell myself. Because I have no other reason for flirting with the man who broke my heart at nineteen.
‘That could easily be arranged.’ He’s laughing at me, and despite the shadows ghosting him, he looks almost human.
A few hours with him, even after all this time, is enough to shake me to my core. To rock the foundations of the world I have so carefully built. One dinner, I vow, and I will never see Micah Saint James again. The word danger was penned with him in mind.
Despite Micah’s clear disapproval of my driving all the way back to the city, I far prefer it to his suggestion of taking his hydro-copter and having my car returned in the morning.
So simple for those with unlimited wealth.
But I’m not going straight home, and I sure as hell am not about to tell him I won’t be tucked up in bed like a good girl by nine PM.
Dangerous as it is, I flick on my screen and skim my messages while flooring my baby down the dark, empty highway.
I keep my news and social feeds off- there’s nothing I need to know tonight, and I don’t want any stories about Jake’s arrest, or the murder of Jason Rodriguez, to negatively impact me.
I need a clear head right now. Seeing Micah again has unsettled me enough, and I’m not about to dig into that right now on top of it.
Tim has a lot of info to share, and Ruby wants to catch up over dinner. If I keep up this speed, I’ll make it in time. I send her a quick flicker, the words forming from my thoughts directly onto my contacts, and then I call my partner.
‘Are you driving?’ he asks, sounding concerned.
‘Yes, why?’ I’m being slightly snarky, even knowing he doesn’t deserve it.
I need to shake off the lingering effects of the past. I’m a grown woman acting like a love-struck teenager, and I hate it.
Pinning the blame on Micah when I chose to go to the castle to see him.
I got what I needed, and it was worth it.
Now I can shove it all back down again where it belongs.
In a cave, or a vault, or a chasm to the underworld.
‘You’re calling me instead of a holo,’ Tim says easily, referring to the projection of me that comes from his wrist micro.
But using the holo feature would mean also getting one of him, which is not conducive to driving at night.
Very few people make voice calls anymore.
It’s all holos and flickers. Phones have been obsolete for a long time.
Far longer than I’ve been alive, or even my parents’ lifetime.
‘Yeah, well, I’m driving back to the City.’ I take a turn too fast, but don’t slow down. All this adrenaline needs to go somewhere.
Captain Butch Buchanan knows of my connection to the Vamps in New York City, but he doesn’t know all the details. Likewise, my partner knows I have an in with both the Vamps and the Weres, but he’s never pried into the Vampire part of that equation, and I genuinely appreciate that about him.
Tim would never pry, but he’s my partner, and our relationship works well because of transparency, so I tell him where I’ve been and why.
‘Micah Saint James,’ is all Tim says in response.
I can almost feel him wondering how I know the head of the NYC Coven well enough to ask for five mil in crypto for my Werewolf boyfriend’s bail. Not a sentence I ever thought would filter through my mind.
But he only says, ‘Jason Rodriguez is a second cousin to some of the younger members of the family. It’s a bit convoluted.
He had to make his way up the food chain just like everyone else in the Cartel, hence his rap sheet.
But unlike others, he had more help to get out of trouble. And more protection from it.’
‘So do we need to be concerned with retaliation from them?’ Fuck it, that’s all we need.
Maybe it’s a good thing Jake is still in jail, at least for tonight.
I change gears and push the accelerator harder, wondering if I can fit in dinner with Ruby and hit the Rodriguez family later tonight with Tim.
‘Probably. But we can hope they’ll hold off on their own brand of justice because to go after Jake would be unwise, with the Pack to back him up. What are you thinking?’ I’m sure I can hear sizzling in the background, and my stomach rumbles in answer.
‘Can you get word to the jail? Warn them, just in case,’ I ask. ‘I’m meeting Ruby for dinner, then you and I are going to pay a visit to Papa Rodriguez and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.’
‘Sounds like a plan. Later tonight is probably better than the morning, anyway.’
The perfect time to catch Mr. Rodriguez unaware.
It helps that almost no one drives anymore, as I make it back into the city in record time.
Even the city streets are fairly clear, with only a few autocars around.
People prefer the speed and convenience of the Skyway.
I manage to grab a park close to one of our favorite places, a small Italian restaurant near my townhouse, and Ruby’s.
We live a few streets from each other in a newly gentrified area in this city that’s constantly changing.
The owners greet me like their long-lost daughter, even though it’s only been a few days since I’ve graced them with my presence.
Ruby has a glass of wine and garlic bread in front of her when I slump into a seat opposite.
‘You’re wearing the same clothes,’ she says to me, handing me a glass of red that has Micah flashing through my mind. I wonder how long it will be until I can banish him again. Except, I never really did.
‘You’re not,’ I deflect. ‘You look good.’
Her halterneck dress is red with black splotches, brown hair left loose to cascade down her back in waves.
Her mocha skin is perfect without makeup, but her red lipstick is similar to mine.
I should have told my partner to meet me here.
Maybe seeing Ruby dressed up would give him the push he needs to finally ask her on a date.
Watching them dance around their mutual attraction is painful at times.
‘What did you want to talk about? Or is this purely social?’ I sip my wine and sigh with pleasure. I need this, and I intend to savor it because one glass is all I can allow myself with a visit to a cartel boss planned for later tonight.
‘I’m sorry about Jake,’ Ruby says, her dark eyes filled with compassion. ‘This doesn’t mean anything- at least not legally, not yet- but I think you’re right that the print was planted. The angle is wrong for an index finger to be there on its own. It doesn’t feel right.’
Dr. Ruby Blue goes by facts, not feels, so for her to say that means a lot. I must let my surprise show, because she grins at me conspiratorially.
The restaurant owner, Mauricio, comes over to chat and take our order himself. I definitely need carb-loading after the day I’ve had, and it’s not over yet.
‘Anything else?’ I ask once we’re alone again.
‘The Wolf hair the bots lifted at the scene. I took a look at the holo-pics and vids they took in situ, and they were on top of the blood, not in the claw marks. It wouldn’t hold up in court, but it was enough to look deeper.
Not that I wouldn’t have anyway,’ she quickly reassures me, breaking off a piece of garlic bread.
‘And?’ I’m trying not to let my excitement rise too much. Ruby is the best at what she does, and I know she never says things without being one hundred percent sure.
‘So, I measured the claw marks- length and depth. Took molds. Standard practice. On the surface, they look like a Lycanthrope made them.’ Her hesitation tells me we’re onto something that could exonerate Jake. I lean forward, all my attention laser-focused on her.
‘But you don’t think they were?’ My mind is spinning with possibilities. A rival gang? Another cartel member? Planted by Janus? Although rationally, that seems like the least likely scenario. I force myself to refocus on Ruby and what she’s discovered.
‘What I think is that although there’s no question they were made by claws, there was far too much damage- broken tendons, ligaments, even some organ damage- for even someone as strong as an Alpha to have caused.’
‘Even in a frenzy?’ I pour us both another glass of wine. Tim can drive if I need him to.
A Werewolf frenzy happens when a Lyco is out of control.
It sometimes happens to new Weres if they don’t have support for the first few full moons, before they learn to control the Change.
Werewolves can Turn whenever they want, but the full moon is a non-negotiable, even for an Alpha.
A frenzy is highly unlikely in an older Were, and certainly not an Alpha.
Jake would never lose control like that.
‘Look, Eve, it’s possible that it was.’ She shrugs in apology. ‘I’m just saying that in all my experience with Lyco attacks, I’ve never seen anything like this.’
‘What about a human?’ I question the Chief Medical Examiner of New York- not my best friend.
Our food arrives, interrupting us, and the smell is enough to make me swoon in my chair.
‘You mean something mechanical to make it look like a Were attack? It’s possible. I can’t say for sure.’ She dips some garlic bread into her pasta sauce, eyeing me carefully.
Apart from DNA and claw match, it would be impossible to tell exactly which Were had done the damage. But it’s promising, and more than we had this morning. If nothing else, it gives Tim and me a better idea of what we’re after.
I eat in record time, partly from hunger and partly from the need to get moving again. Ruby understands. We share the same drive for answers and truth. Her with the dead, and me with the living- two sides of the same coin.