His mouth twisted slightly. “Look, I’m sure Bramble filled you in on my situation here. I’m happy to be your guard, but only if you genuinely want me, not because you feel sorry for me.”
Ah, okay. “You kicked ass, Lauris. You saved my life. I want you as my guard.”
“I did, didn’t I?” He grinned at me, teeth flashing white in the moonlight, but then his grin faded. “Have you heard from her?”
I didn’t need to ask him to clarify. It was obvious he meant Bramble. “No. I’ve sent her several texts. No reply.”
He ran a hand over his silver hair. “Yeah, I went into Leyton looking for her last night. The usual haunts, but no sign of her.”
“Elijah said she’d come back when ready.” An empty feeling filled my chest because I hadn’t heard from Elijah either. Like Elijah, Bramble had quickly become a friend to me, but she’d been betrayed by the person she’d trusted and loved the most. She was hurting. She needed time. “She’ll be back. She has to come back.”
He nodded, his mouth turned down.
“You miss her, don’t you?”
“Pfft, like a hole in the head.”
“Do you usually go searching for a hole in the head?”
He sighed. “Point. Bramble’s a pain in the neck, but she’s always there for me.”
The atrium came into view, dark and forbidding, and with the moon hiding behind cloud cover the glass looked black and dead. The door was slightly ajar and the sound of fist hitting leather drifted out to greet me.
Yeah, I knew that sound. I’d heard it many a time while training with Dean or Fee.
“I’ll wait here,” Lauris said.
“You can come in.”
He shook his head. “Atrium is off limits to anyone but witches.”
Weird. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
I headed into the gloom. No lights on, just slivers of stubborn moonlight that managed to pierce cloud cover. Sloane bounced from foot to foot amidst the shafts of light, smacking the punching bag with her fists over and over. She’d stripped off her long-sleeve polo shirt that was part of the Elite uniform and was in a white vest that showcased her rounded shoulders and ripped arms. She was powerfully built, and I got the impression she worked out hard, but this…this was no workout. The half-empty bottle of whiskey propped on the fountain ledge gave it away.
Sloane wasn’t working out, she was working shit out of her system, fighting demons only she could see.
This was about Brie.
It had to be.
It was almost nine. I was early. She’d probably wanted this time to herself, but fuck it, I was here.
She slapped her palm against the punching bag to halt its swing. “I said nine p.m.”
“If I’d known you’d be getting drunk and punching shit I’d have come earlier.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “You’re not funny, cupcake.”
“Wasn’t trying to be.”
I clipped over to the fountain and swiped the bottle.
“Help yourself,” she said dryly.
I took a swig, reveling in the taste of raspberry lip gloss and the burn of alcohol.
Sloane unwrapped her hands and flexed her fingers. “You ready for patrol?”
“Are you?”
Her jaw flexed and she fixed her intense blue eyes on me. “I’m fine.”
“Course you are. ’Cause I’m sure you regularly drink whiskey and beat up on a punching bag before a patrol, right?”
Her eyes narrowed and she sucked on her bottom lip as she approached me. “I know what you’re trying to do, cupcake, and I appreciate it, but I’m not into talking about my feelings.”
I shrugged and handed her the bottle. “Me neither. So how about we go kick some revenant ass and get a proper drink afterwards. This whiskey sucks ass.”
She snorted. “It’s a cheap brand.”
“Yeah. I can tell.”
She was so close now, and the scent of raspberries was strong on the air. Her shampoo or body wash, maybe? Definitely her lip gloss. My gaze dropped to her mouth. She had a nice mouth. A sexy mouth.
She gripped my chin and forced my head up so our eyes locked. “Look at me like that again and I might take you up on your body language.”
What? “No, I—"
“Hey!” Jessie stood in the doorway. “We headed out or what?”
Sloane tugged on her polo shirt with a smirk. “Let’s do this.”
The drive into Leyton was a silent one. Sloane broke it as we parked opposite Orion’s.
“Cora, you stick with me,” she said. “Same format as last time. Stay on comms, stay safe. We might have our work cut out for us tonight. The Order has no clue we’re back up in numbers and the revenants will be out in force.”
“Can you take them all out if they are?” Lauris asked.
Poppy opened her backpack and tipped it slightly to showcase the crystal inside. “We got amplification if needed.”
Sloane took a shuddering breath. “We play it safe. If things get hairy, we get out.”
“And leave the revenants to party?” Jessie’s lip curled. “No fucking way.”
Sloane rounded on her, eyes blazing. “I will not lose another witch.”
“And I won’t let Brie’s death be in vain,” Jessie retorted.
They bristled, eyes locked.
Poppy sighed. “Brie wouldn’t want humans to be hurt, but she wouldn’t want us to get hurt either. We play it smart and we assess the situation.”
Sloane’s eyes flinched. “You follow the chain of fucking command, that’s what you do.”
Jessie’s jaw ticked. “Let’s just get this done. I need a fucking drink.”
Oh boy.
We exited the vehicle, headed into the club, and split up like the last time, except this time Lauris shadowed Sloane and me as we made a circuit of the upper levels of the club. I knew what to look for now, but the place was devoid of revenant activity. In fact, the place was devoid of any human activity.
What the hell. “Sloane, this place is dead.”
She frowned and pulled her mobile from her pocket. “Orion. Yeah. Your business failing or something?... Shit. Why the fuck didn’t you tell me…No. Never mind.” She hung up. “A new club’s
