to leave. “Ryu, you can get a ride back to the hotel with Enrique; he lives near Borealis. That okay, Enrique?”
The short, stocky man Anyan hollered at nodded his head, causing Ryu’s scowl to grow darker. I shrugged when he glared at me. Ryu should’ve known he wasn’t going to win this battle and left well enough alone.
Julian, Anyan, and I walked toward the exit and out into the parking lot, and this time there was no question about whose eyes were on us.
Just as we were getting into the car, Anyan’s cell rang.I got in the passenger’s side and belted myself in as I listened to his half of the conversation.
“Hello?… Hey, Cap… Yeah, we’re on our way… Cool, thanks for calling… See you in about forty minutes.”
Anyan grinned at me as we pulled out of the parking lot and took off down the main drag that led out of Plano. “That was Cappie; we’ll have dinner over there.”
I thought about the dinners at the Alfar Compound. They ran a short, intense gauntlet between formal and very, very formal.
“Do we need to change?” I asked Anyan, looking down at my black T-shirt, gray hoodie, jeans, and purple Converse. None of which were particularly clean after a long day in abandoned torture facilities.
Anyan eyeballed me from the driver’s seat. “Nope, you look perfect, Jane.”
I snorted at the word “perfect,” and his big mouth creased in a slight smile.
“I look perfect for running to the grocery store, Anyan. A really ghetto grocery store. Maybe a dollar store. I didn’t bring anything fancy, but I could still clean up…”
“I can take you to the hotel if you want, but honestly, you look fine.”
I studied the barghest’s stark profile, giving him my best skeptical look from the darkness of the passenger seat. He ignored me.
“This from the man wearing the Eukanuba shirt?”
Anyan chuckled. “I left the tux in my saddlebag, sorry.”
When I laughed, his iron-gray eyes flicked toward me, and I felt his gaze like a caress. My laughter stilled and tension sprang up in me like a small dog.
Anyan’s big hands also tensed on the wheel, and I wondered if he felt it, too, whatever was between us… and then he swore. Then laughed.
Confused, I finally noticed he was watching the rearview mirror. I turned in my seat but saw only headlights, and Julian, who was blinking at us in the dark.
Once again, I’d completely fucking forgotten he was there. I thought of my own life after Jason, and how I’d hidden in plain sight for so many years. We were both people used to hiding, it seemed, and that made me unaccountably sad.
“Oh, Ryu.” The barghest chuckled, bringing me back into the moment. “So predictable. Hold on, Jane, Julian. We’ve got to lose an Alfar spy…”
And with that, Anyan floored the SUV. The colossal car might have looked staid and decorous, but it kicked like a pissed-off mule.
We were darting down country roads that had grown dark, going way too fast. Anyan would turn the SUV on a dime, sending me crashing into either his big bulk or the car door to my right.
“Sorry,” he’d mumble each time I banged into him. But the barghest didn’t sound apologetic, he sounded gleeful.
At one point, I realized that Anyan was playing with Ryu. The engine wasn’t roaring like it had been, and I could see Anyan watching in the rearview as the car slowed.
“Oh, Ryu… Of all the cars there, why’d you steal Enrique’s piece of shit?” The barghest laughed.
I couldn’t believe it.
“Would you stop taunting him?” I chastised, using mybest mom voice. “We have a dinner party. With important people. And you’re playing tag.”
Anyan attempted to look suitably chastened, although it didn’t reach his eyes.
“All right,” he grumbled. “I’ll put him out of his misery.”
Wrenching the wheel to the left, I smacked into him again as we made a series of complicated hairpin turns on an insanely curvy road. The next thing I knew, we were parked behind a
The short, stocky man Anyan hollered at nodded his head, causing Ryu’s scowl to grow darker. I shrugged when he glared at me. Ryu should’ve known he wasn’t going to win this battle and left well enough alone.
Julian, Anyan, and I walked toward the exit and out into the parking lot, and this time there was no question about whose eyes were on us.
Just as we were getting into the car, Anyan’s cell rang.I got in the passenger’s side and belted myself in as I listened to his half of the conversation.
“Hello?… Hey, Cap… Yeah, we’re on our way… Cool, thanks for calling… See you in about forty minutes.”
Anyan grinned at me as we pulled out of the parking lot and took off down the main drag that led out of Plano. “That was Cappie; we’ll have dinner over there.”
I thought about the dinners at the Alfar Compound. They ran a short, intense gauntlet between formal and very, very formal.
“Do we need to change?” I asked Anyan, looking down at my black T-shirt, gray hoodie, jeans, and purple Converse. None of which were particularly clean after a long day in abandoned torture facilities.
Anyan eyeballed me from the driver’s seat. “Nope, you look perfect, Jane.”
I snorted at the word “perfect,” and his big mouth creased in a slight smile.
“I look perfect for running to the grocery store, Anyan. A really ghetto grocery store. Maybe a dollar store. I didn’t bring anything fancy, but I could still clean up…”
“I can take you to the hotel if you want, but honestly, you look fine.”
I studied the barghest’s stark profile, giving him my best skeptical look from the darkness of the passenger seat. He ignored me.
“This from the man wearing the Eukanuba shirt?”
Anyan chuckled. “I left the tux in my saddlebag, sorry.”
When I laughed, his iron-gray eyes flicked toward me, and I felt his gaze like a caress. My laughter stilled and tension sprang up in me like a small dog.
Anyan’s big hands also tensed on the wheel, and I wondered if he felt it, too, whatever was between us… and then he swore. Then laughed.
Confused, I finally noticed he was watching the rearview mirror. I turned in my seat but saw only headlights, and Julian, who was blinking at us in the dark.
Once again, I’d completely fucking forgotten he was there. I thought of my own life after Jason, and how I’d hidden in plain sight for so many years. We were both people used to hiding, it seemed, and that made me unaccountably sad.
“Oh, Ryu.” The barghest chuckled, bringing me back into the moment. “So predictable. Hold on, Jane, Julian. We’ve got to lose an Alfar spy…”
And with that, Anyan floored the SUV. The colossal car might have looked staid and decorous, but it kicked like a pissed-off mule.
We were darting down country roads that had grown dark, going way too fast. Anyan would turn the SUV on a dime, sending me crashing into either his big bulk or the car door to my right.
“Sorry,” he’d mumble each time I banged into him. But the barghest didn’t sound apologetic, he sounded gleeful.
At one point, I realized that Anyan was playing with Ryu. The engine wasn’t roaring like it had been, and I could see Anyan watching in the rearview as the car slowed.
“Oh, Ryu… Of all the cars there, why’d you steal Enrique’s piece of shit?” The barghest laughed.
I couldn’t believe it.
“Would you stop taunting him?” I chastised, using mybest mom voice. “We have a dinner party. With important people. And you’re playing tag.”
Anyan attempted to look suitably chastened, although it didn’t reach his eyes.
“All right,” he grumbled. “I’ll put him out of his misery.”
Wrenching the wheel to the left, I smacked into him again as we made a series of complicated hairpin turns on an insanely curvy road. The next thing I knew, we were parked behind a
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