“It’s all candy to me.”
“Well, someone needs to keep that candywrapped.”
“Enough with the air quotes,” Blue said to Wyatt as she joined us from the dining hall. “You’re not even using them correctly.” She cast a critical gaze my way, and I noticed her bare feet. “Thought I might find you here. When I lost you in the subway, I went to see if Claude knew anything, but he had already left for work.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “Something came up. Does anyone know where Viktor is?”
“Reviewing the video,” Wyatt answered. “Just the first half,” he added with a deliberate wink. “He wants everyone to sit tight and keep our phones on.”
“Everyone being you and Shepherd?”
Wyatt adjusted his loose beanie. “Claude’s here. When you didn’t show up at the club, he went looking, and then Viktor called him home.”
Viktor must have been preparing a raid. I needed to get up there and fill him in on the details.
“Hey, wait up. What happened to the other girl? Did they kill her?” Wyatt grilled me as he followed.
“This is private. Stay down here. I mean it, Spooky.” When I rounded the stairs and went up to the second floor, I raised my voice. “I’ll break into your vending machine and fill it up with kale chips!”
He groaned, and I no longer heard his footfalls. Wyatt responded well to threats, so we had to be creative. If there was one thing I had learned around Keystone, empty threats were unicorns. We delivered on our promises, and we had all been on the giving and receiving end.
When I reached the second floor, my boot kicked a red marble that went skittering across the floor. Hunter’s toys were land mines, and I kept waiting for Gem to become the first victim. I reached Wyatt’s office and found Viktor sitting in front of the computer, Shepherd hovering over the desk.
“What do you make of that?” Shepherd asked.
“I don’t see,” Viktor said.
“Let me rewind. There’s usually a basement button, but where do the other two below it go?”
When I cleared my throat, the two men turned to look at me. “I need to speak to Viktor. Alone.”
Viktor nodded at Shepherd, who obligingly left the room.
I sat down in another computer chair and rolled up to Viktor. “I didn’t know they would make me fight. I tried everything to get out of it, but they would have thrown me out and scrubbed my memories.”
“You did fine.” His grey eyes settled on mine. “Is the woman alive?”
“Yes. They don’t allow killing. Apparently that’s the only rule.” I flicked a nervous gaze at the frozen video, hoping like hell Wyatt had told the truth about not having recorded the sex part.
“There was no audio,” Viktor said, confirming my suspicions. “I will need the names and everything discussed.”
“Okay, but can I ask you something first?”
“You may ask.”
“Why did you send my father to give me the necklace? Why not Blue?”
Viktor scratched his ear. “Wyatt received the special order at the last minute, and we had no time to waste when he tracked your movements. I couldn’t risk someone recognizing one of us—especially Shepherd, who had been at the club. The man you were walking with knows Claude, and anyone Breed who might approach you would gain his suspicion.”
“So you put my father up to it?”
Viktor chuckled. “He kept calling to check on you, and then he shows up out of nowhere. This was a chance for him to see that you were fine. People never suspect humans to be involved in our affairs, so knowing a trusted human can be of great value.”
“He should have left it at the front desk of my hotel.”
“The plan was to give it to you on your way to the club, but Wyatt saw you heading a different way. Your father had a microphone in his ear, and Wyatt made him run to meet up with you.”
I didn’t bother correcting Viktor that people didn’t wear microphones in their ear. His English was very good, but it wasn’t unusual for him to choose the wrong word.
