other, not less?â
The one time weâd talked about it. God knows whatheâd have discovered by now. I swear, every time I adjusted to this shit, the universe smirked at me.
âI found you,â Venec pointed out, sounding like he was talking about a particularly boring weather report.
Yeah. He had. How? I touched my wall, and was surprised at how thick it was. He found me through that? Hell. I thinned it a little, and the heat of his presence came through, like standing next to a sunlamp. We walked the rest of the block in silence, as I tried to adjust it so that I could tell where he was, but not feel like he was quite so damn close.
Except he was. His arm kept touching the sleeve of my leather jacket, and I would almost swear he was walking close enough that the fabric of my black skirt brushed his thigh more than once, but when I looked down, there was a professional foot-plus between us.
I thought about asking him where the hell heâd disappeared to, this afternoon, but didnât.
âItâs not our job,â he said again, finally. âTo save the world. Itâs not even our job to tell the world that theyâre in danger.â
I had no idea what the hell he was talking about now. But he wasnât really talking to me; I knew that even without the Merge. He was working something out in that twisty, very smart brain of his, and I was just the audience. So I just walked, and waited.
âI was followed this afternoon,â he said finally, not so much getting to the point as putting it aside. âHuman, but not Talent. He, Iâm pretty sure it was a he, or a very butch woman, followed me for almost an hour, alwayskeeping half a block behind. Didnât do anything, just watched.â
I thought about that for a few steps. âYou think it was the Bitch, sending someone?â
I didnât really think that naming Aden Stosser would summon herâ¦exactly. But I wasnât going to take the chance. Big Dogâs sister hated us, for reasons only she and Ian and maybe Venec understood, and had tried to shut us down before, first through intimidation and then direct attack.
Ben sighed at my use of the extremely unaffectionate nickname, but he didnât bother scolding us any longer. She had earned it. âMaybe. Ian swears the Council is watching her too closely, after the last dustup. Wonât stop herânothing short of a nuclear blast stops herâbut he expects sheâll go through the Council now, try to worm her way into influencing votes, keeping us from being recognized, maybe block anyone from aiding us. And that sort of manipulation is Ianâs territory, not ours. Thank god.â He shook his head, and I felt the overwhelming need to run my hand through those messy curls, push the dark hair away from his face so that I could see him better.
My fingers stayed locked by my side.
We were two blocks from my apartment, and I was starting to wonder where this was going. If he asked to come inâ¦what was I going to say?
The old Bonnie wouldnât have blinked: a hot guy with good manners, smart and built, and definitely interested? Duh! Only Iâd already determined that I wasnât the old Bonnie.
And I couldnât afford to take a tumble with Benjamin Venec. Not because I thought heâd fire me if things went bad. I knew better, now. That wasnât his style. I wasnât even worried that it would make working together uncomfortable, at least, not between the two of us. I knew me, and I knew him. It was the rest of the team. For all that they joked, I had a feeling that they would freak if they knew what was really going on, and Stosserâ¦
Did Ian know? Had Ben told him? My brain couldnât even go there. Anyway, I wasnât going to and he wasnât going to and that had been decided already. And even if they handled it fine, I chose my partners, damn it. I didnât need some mystical matchmaker shoving
The one time weâd talked about it. God knows whatheâd have discovered by now. I swear, every time I adjusted to this shit, the universe smirked at me.
âI found you,â Venec pointed out, sounding like he was talking about a particularly boring weather report.
Yeah. He had. How? I touched my wall, and was surprised at how thick it was. He found me through that? Hell. I thinned it a little, and the heat of his presence came through, like standing next to a sunlamp. We walked the rest of the block in silence, as I tried to adjust it so that I could tell where he was, but not feel like he was quite so damn close.
Except he was. His arm kept touching the sleeve of my leather jacket, and I would almost swear he was walking close enough that the fabric of my black skirt brushed his thigh more than once, but when I looked down, there was a professional foot-plus between us.
I thought about asking him where the hell heâd disappeared to, this afternoon, but didnât.
âItâs not our job,â he said again, finally. âTo save the world. Itâs not even our job to tell the world that theyâre in danger.â
I had no idea what the hell he was talking about now. But he wasnât really talking to me; I knew that even without the Merge. He was working something out in that twisty, very smart brain of his, and I was just the audience. So I just walked, and waited.
âI was followed this afternoon,â he said finally, not so much getting to the point as putting it aside. âHuman, but not Talent. He, Iâm pretty sure it was a he, or a very butch woman, followed me for almost an hour, alwayskeeping half a block behind. Didnât do anything, just watched.â
I thought about that for a few steps. âYou think it was the Bitch, sending someone?â
I didnât really think that naming Aden Stosser would summon herâ¦exactly. But I wasnât going to take the chance. Big Dogâs sister hated us, for reasons only she and Ian and maybe Venec understood, and had tried to shut us down before, first through intimidation and then direct attack.
Ben sighed at my use of the extremely unaffectionate nickname, but he didnât bother scolding us any longer. She had earned it. âMaybe. Ian swears the Council is watching her too closely, after the last dustup. Wonât stop herânothing short of a nuclear blast stops herâbut he expects sheâll go through the Council now, try to worm her way into influencing votes, keeping us from being recognized, maybe block anyone from aiding us. And that sort of manipulation is Ianâs territory, not ours. Thank god.â He shook his head, and I felt the overwhelming need to run my hand through those messy curls, push the dark hair away from his face so that I could see him better.
My fingers stayed locked by my side.
We were two blocks from my apartment, and I was starting to wonder where this was going. If he asked to come inâ¦what was I going to say?
The old Bonnie wouldnât have blinked: a hot guy with good manners, smart and built, and definitely interested? Duh! Only Iâd already determined that I wasnât the old Bonnie.
And I couldnât afford to take a tumble with Benjamin Venec. Not because I thought heâd fire me if things went bad. I knew better, now. That wasnât his style. I wasnât even worried that it would make working together uncomfortable, at least, not between the two of us. I knew me, and I knew him. It was the rest of the team. For all that they joked, I had a feeling that they would freak if they knew what was really going on, and Stosserâ¦
Did Ian know? Had Ben told him? My brain couldnât even go there. Anyway, I wasnât going to and he wasnât going to and that had been decided already. And even if they handled it fine, I chose my partners, damn it. I didnât need some mystical matchmaker shoving
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