“What is it?” Graves appeared behind him in the doorframe and glanced around, his piercing blue eyes taking the same path. He stopped abruptly when he spotted the plant hovering an inch above the floor.
Crap.
Should I teleport out? They’d hear the audible pop but wouldn’t be able to see me. If I did, I’d safely escape but would lose the advantage of them not knowing I had a way of becoming invisible. If I stayed, maybe shrank down into a corner, they’d eventually leave, and I’d be able to walk away without them ever knowing I’d been here.
Graves approached the table. I stepped out of the way, careful not to run into anything else. He held up the plant and studied it. “This was Lulu’s. She’s the most powerful air elemental I’ve ever encountered. Perhaps she put some sort of charm on it to never break.”
“No, you fool. I smell the scent of her call. It’s her.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think? The quint.”
Shit.
Alec spread his arms and felt the air. “This is why we can’t find her or any of her followers. They’ve mastered some invisibility spell. She’s still here. I feel it. I feel her presence.”
Eww, dude. Gross. I didn’t want him feeling anything of mine. I wanted so badly to set him on fire, possibly bury him up to his eyebrows in the ground, or maybe attack him with another corpsenado. Attacking him wouldn’t help the situation, but it sure as hell would make me feel better.
I couldn’t take the chance he’d get off a lucky shot that would not only hurt like hell, it would also hurt the guys thanks to our wards. They’d all come rushing to my aid by teleporting in and getting themselves sent to Carcerem for defecting. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Daddy?” Vanessa Graves walked into the office and gave him a look as he circled inside the room. “What are you doing?”
Both Alec and Virgil had their arms extended as they felt around the room for me. I could dodge two of them, but if she joined in the search, I’d be forced to teleport out. I couldn’t avoid three sets of hands reaching for me. It wasn’t that big an office.
“Not now, princess. I’m in the middle of something.”
“Come now, Virgil. Your princess may have news.” Alec, shockingly enough, stopped searching for me to give Vanessa his undivided attention. For what could possibly be the first time ever, I was happy to see her.
And so was Alec, judging by the fresh spark of disgusting interest in his gaze as he scraped it over her body. She visibly shuddered and inched back, looking away. I didn’t like her and wanted to cut the bitch just about every time she opened her mouth, but at that moment, I wanted to jump between them and protect her from the predator now eyeing her like she was on the menu.
“Please, princess.” Alec’s use of her nickname didn’t carry the same meaning and seriously gave me the creeps. I could only imagine how it made Vanessa feel. He closed the gap between them, causing her to stiffen. When he lifted a lock of her raven hair and held it to his nose, I threw up a little in my mouth. “What news do you bring?”
She looked to her dad with wide, pleading eyes. He seemed more interested in searching for me than in the fact his daughter was being objectified and nearly assaulted by a man twice her age and creepy AF.
“Daddy?” she squeaked out, her voice weak, shaking in fear. I feel you, sister. I may not like you, but I will jump in to save you if Alec touches you again.
Finally, Graves acknowledged her, spotted how close Alec stood behind her, and straightened. “Alec, we’ve talked about this.”
“Not out in the open,” he growled and rolled his eyes.
What the actual fuck? That was how Daddy protected his little girl? Not by beating the snot out of the creeper clearly freaking her out, but by giving him permission to assault her behind closed doors? I was seconds away from grabbing Vanessa and teleporting out, just to get her the hell away from Alec’s wandering hands and her own father’s compliance with it.
“Continue the search. I’m going to have a little chat with your daughter. Come, princess.” Alec waved for her to enter his office. “Let’s see what you have to offer.”
That did it. If Virgil Graves wouldn’t protect his daughter, I would. I reached for her hand. At the same time, Alec took her other hand to lead her into the room. I couldn’t teleport while he touched her, or I’d take him with us.
Time for plan B.
I snuck into the room with them right before he closed the door and stayed as close as possible to Vanessa without giving away my presence. Alec pulled her over to one of the chairs by his desk and sat her down, his hands lingering on her shoulders. He gave them a caress before and stepping around to take a seat at his desk.
Now was my chance. I reached for Vanessa’s hand and nearly had it in my grasp when what Alec said stilled me. “Any new messages in that cartoon of hers?”
Cartoon? He called my beloved webcomic a cartoon? Now I had to kill him. But that wasn’t what had me frozen in shock. He knew about the messages. How’d he know about the code and the cypher and all the carefully hidden gems I’d worked so hard to place inside each webisode?
There was only one way—I had a spy on the inside.
“She posted a new one,” Vanessa announced proudly, like it was some sort of secret. It was on the internet, Einstein. “We haven’t been able to crack it, but we will. I’ve got two MEs on it.”
“Are you sure they can be trusted? Most of those dilutes are sympathizers of the quint.”
She fluffed her
