“At first I thought he was a pig who doesn’t know how to clean up after himself. But look at that,” I said, pointing at the closet. “No shoes, hardly any clothes, and not a single jacket. There’s no travel bag, and what immortal or even human doesn’t have luggage?” I leaned back on my hands. “He split.”
Christian leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms. “Viktor should have sent someone to the club.”
“It doesn’t matter. He won’t get far without a vehicle. Even if he did manage to get out of the city, we can check clubs and tattoo parlors since he has a special gift for imprinting light. If he took a bus, Wyatt can look into that. He mentioned coming from Manchester.” I shook my head. “Why did he cut and run? Even if he dumped a few of the bodies, he wasn’t the one who murdered them. Flynn’s a hustler, not a killer.”
“He’s just as culpable as everyone else involved. Your friend made his choice to become a declared outlaw. That means he’ll never have his life back. Bounty hunters will consider him an easy target.”
I tossed a sock on the floor. “I need to wrap up a few things at the club. There’s a bartender who might have information on Flynn’s whereabouts.”
“Need a lift?”
“No. I can flash there in less than three minutes.”
He shook his head and lowered his arms. “Why must time to a Mage always be relative to how fast you can run?”
I stood and shook out my tousled hair. “I can tell by your excitement that you don’t want to tag along. I need to check out of the hotel anyhow and grab my stuff. Meet you back at Keystone?”
“After I search the house. The little shitebag might have left behind a scrap of paper with an address.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? Too bad Flynn’s smarter than that.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his soft lips.
Christian returned the featherlight kiss. “You make me feel things,” he said softly.
I got tingly just thinking about all the places his mouth had kissed me during our recent shower, but mentally exhausted, all I really wanted to do was finish my errand so I could curl up in a warm bed and sleep. After a drink.
Or two.
* * *
My hotel staywas on Viktor’s card, so I decided to swing by the front desk and let them know I was checking out. Once I made it to my room, I changed out of my boots and into a comfy pair of sneakers. The boots were too sexy to be flashing all over the city in. I had loads of money in the satchel I’d hidden in the closet, so maybe a cab ride was in order.
After collecting my things, I headed up the street toward the White Owl. The tops of the buildings were gilded in sunlight. Living in the country, I’d forgotten how beautiful the city was at dawn. The brisk walk got my blood circulating, making me forget the temperature was in the fifties. When I reached the club, most of the staff had left, and they were closing for the day.
“Simone!” I waved and caught her attention on her way from the staff room.
“Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with her presence.” She gave me a curt smile.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” I said, looking at her oversized hoodie with the New England Patriots logo. “I guess you’re finally rid of me. I came by to clean out my locker.”
She arched her eyebrows. “You’re quitting?”
“Yeah, I guess this just isn’t the job for me. Maybe I’m better suited as a bodyguard or something.”
She tilted her head to the side and gave me a sly smile. “I can see that.”
“Have you seen Flynn?”
“He left hours ago.”
“I need to speak to him.”
“Did you try calling?”
I shifted the bags to my other hand. “I stopped by his house. It looks like he split town. He has something of mine.”
“That sounds about right. If he has something of yours, you’ll never see it again.”
