Everafter Series 2 - Nevermore by Nell Stark, Trinity Tam

“The case I’m working has our detectives swamped. I thought I’d help out.”
    I didn’t buy that answer for a second. “By snooping around up here with no backup?”
    Olivia’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “You’re the one who barged into a dark alley like some kind of vigilante.”
    “I’m the vigilante? You don’t have a badge either.” I frowned. “Is this still about what happened to us? Are you going after him solo?”
    “What? No. That trail has gone cold.”
    “So then what’s this all about? Why the cloak and dagger?”
    Olivia took a few steps closer and lowered her voice. “I think I’m on to something. And it’s really big.”
    Deep in my brain, the alarm bells grew louder. Something really big. What if Olivia wasn’t being tipped off about Sebastian’s questionable business practices or the Consortium’s shady legal dealings, but about the very existence of Weres and vampires?
    “What kind of ‘something’?” I asked, trying to sound skeptical.
    Olivia shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure. But it seems like some kind of very large, and very secret, crime syndicate.”
    “Like the mafia?”
    At that, Olivia’s stubbornness kicked in. “That’s all I’m going to say, Val, okay? This is part of an ongoing investigation.”
    “Sure, okay,” I said, trying to placate her. My internal alarm had quieted; while Olivia appeared to be aware that the Consortium constituted some kind of corporate entity, she hadn’t yet put all the pieces together. The secret was still safe. For now.
    “Do youknow anything about this?” Olivia abruptly switched back to her interrogator mode. Maybe she was trying to throw me off guard.
    I laughed. “You think I have ties to some crime syndicate?” But when her expression grew stony, I held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “Look, you’re aware that I’m friends with Sebastian. But as far as I know, he’s just another high roller with a business that caters to the elite. He’s a playboy and a hedonist, but not a criminal mastermind.”
    I took a gamble then, and pointed to the building I’d just left. “Gwen, who lives here, is one of the techs in my lab. She’s got a nasty flu and doesn’t have anyone to take care of her, so I brought over some soup.” Crossing my arms, I tried to look indignant. It was an easy expression to muster in Olivia’s presence. “Happy?”
    Looking slightly deflated, Olivia rubbed at her eyes in an uncharacteristic show of fatigue. “Yes.” Her smile was rueful. “Sorry, Val. I’m letting this one get to me.”
    “Well, hang in there. And be careful.” When she nodded, I tried out a tired grin. “So, Counselor, are you going to charge me with something? Or can I head back downtown?”
    At my banter, Olivia squared her shoulders and even managed to roll her eyes at me. “Of course. Go home. What a bizarre coincidence, huh?”
    “Yeah,” I said, willing to bet that deep down, neither of us actually believed that. Shade suspected her drugs of infecting Weres with whatever it was that had killed Gwendolyn and Martine. Olivia was being fed information by some elusive source that kept leading her back to Weres and vampires. And Alexa was missing in action.
    No, I thought fiercely as pain seared behind my eyes at the thought. Alexa was fine. She hadn’t been near whatever danger had infiltrated New York. She was going to come home tomorrow, and when I had to convince her to go away again for a while, she wouldn’t be pleased but she would understand.
    “See you around, Val,” Olivia said, jolting me from my descent into panic.
    “Yeah,” I replied, willing the words not to tremble. “Take care.”
    I waited until she was out of sight to pick up my gun. As I stood, I patted my pockets, just to reassure myself that both the pills and Shade’s blood were still safely where they belonged. I would go home and catch a few hours of sleep before heading to work early in the