The male wolf’s eyes turned yellow for a second before barking out, “We will have an in-depth conversation about how not to talk to strangers and follow them out the back door.” Part of that conversation was very interesting.
“How did you know that he talked to a stranger and went out the back?”
The parents both looked at each other before the male dug his hand into his pants and pulled out a USB stick. “We have the video of that night in the store. It looks like a hooded figure walked in, picked up and dropped off a few items before talking to my son and following him out the back.”
The mother sobbed out, “And then he started to act differently. Talked back to us constantly, flashed his wolf at us, and was overall irritated until, one day, he didn’t come home from work.”
I thanked them for talking to us, assured them we would let them know anything we learned about their son, and went out the door. We met up with the others outside, talking between our cars.
“Ax, did you find anything?”
He shook his head. “Not much. I caught a whiff around the bushes, but it was so light that it might’ve been days ago. Not anything recent.”
Falcon spoke up. “I don’t think the parents are hiding anything. Her upset nature and the father’s worry were genuine.”
I pulled out the USB stick. “They also gave us video footage. I doubt we will get any faces or anything since they said it was a hooded figure, but at least we can see what it was they were doing in the store before they talked to the kid.”
I looked at Cosmo. “Next is Club X.” He grimaced as Rick groaned. I glared at them.
“What’s wrong with that place? I have never heard of it.”
I turned to Avery, facing him, as I told everyone present, “Club X is not a Syndicate-run club. It’s a human club for the upper echelon of the city, and they happen to invite some supes to come and party occasionally. They liked the thrill of having dangerous beings around them that are ‘domesticated.’”
While I tried not to let it show, I agreed with Cosmo and Rick about Club X. It’s annoying and a hassle to deal with those self-important humans that think they are invincible because of their station in life.
Rick decided he wanted to die tonight as he whispered, “It’s where she first ran into Tre, the mayor’s son.”
I jabbed Rick, hitting him square in the stomach, and he collapsed into himself as four sets of eyes were all on me. Rick whined as he lifted. I pointed at him. “You know what that’s for, so quit your whining.”
When the accusing eyes didn’t leave, I threw my hands in the air. “Oh, like you all haven’t had an ex you regret or one that was a little crazy.” All but Cosmo and Falcon stared at the ground. Well, three out of five was the majority, plus Cosmo knew about all my exes, so his glare doesn’t count. The only one with a leg up on me was Falcon.Damn it!
“Look”—I thought of a solution—“I think I have an idea. If we bump into the little weasel, we can take him out back and rough him up a bit, get him to spill the beans about any shady shit that’s happening there.” Almost like a flood light turned on, all of them had murderous joy splashed across their faces.
“I think you sold us on it.” Avery’s light, playful tone had a slice of darkness attached. “But I do want to ask... are you really okay with us bashing in your ex-lover’s face?”
A bubble of laughter spilled out, and Rick and Cosmo were smirking as they already knew the answer, but I wanted to make it very clear for the others. “He means nothing. Zip. Nada to me. His only sliver of worth is he’s the mayor’s son, so killing him is off the table because the Syndicate will get a lot of blowback from it.” Ax groaned as he crossed his arms, but I smirked, letting the evil-bitch side show. “Other than that, everything is fair game, trust me. I’m about seconds away from just saying we should kidnap him and stick his dick into a meat slicer until it’s just a stub and then fry the pieces up and feed it to him.”
That apparently was crossing the line as they all cringed and looked at me like I proposed we kill a child. My eyes flew to the sky as I turned around while whining, “I need more fucking girl friends.”
We split up again. This time, Falcon and Avery were in my car, and the dynamic was much different from before. Gone were the loud lyrics and exaggerated movements, in came a new game of Q&A between Avery and Falcon, each trying to one-up each other.
“So, I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t look guilty at the crazy ex question Rayla had asked earlier. Does this mean you have never had a girlfriend or that you have never been with someone who was crazy for you?”
Avery’s question was more on the personal side, but if it wasn’t pointed at me, I didn’t feel the need to step in. Falcon seemed fine, though. His face never wavered from his normal you-are-beneath-me stare as he set his hands on his lap.
“I don’t need nor want to attract women who are ‘crazy’ enough for me to regret. I also don’t let my dick do the choosing for me, so I do have a leg up on you there.” A piece of me wanted to laugh at the elegant burn, but my hand gripped the steering wheel a little harder than I needed to at this conversation.Be cool, Rayla. Be cool. They are finally treating you like an equal, so put that jealous bitch rage down and laugh it off like a dude.
I turned to do just that when Falcon was scratching a spot near his thumb over his gloves. When did he start wearing gloves so much? Is he a germaphobe or something?
“I resent that. My dick most definitely chose great candidates. Rayla is on that list, and she is amazing.” I hated that he brought me into this, but, really, it was a matter of time and the only way he could score in this weird game of theirs.
Falcon tipped his head back to Avery, and his cultured, sugary insult just fell out of his mouth like it was there waiting to be released. “I highly doubt your little friend is able to pick out a woman like Rayla, let alone use your practiced and overused charm to sway her to use you. So, tell me, which one is really in charge, then?”
I could see the fire in Avery’s eyes, the will to use his tongue to lash out was growing by the second, so I was glad I turned the corner into an underground parking garage and said, “We’re here.”
We exited the car, waiting for the others who were seconds away before we went into the elevators and double clicked the PH three times in rapid succession, and instead of going up, it went down. “All right, we’re just going to walk in and try to find Tre. If you find him, flag me down, and I will get him to come willingly so as not to cause a scene. Ax, make sure to still try and sniff out anything, but know that I highly doubt you will find anything. Places like these get swept like a crime scene as soon as the last person leaves.”
I faced the elevator, feeling a little underdressed in my skintight, leather mini-skirt, black corset bra, and black ankle boots, but fuck it. I hated these people and didn’t give a fuck what they thought of me.
