He gave us a dark frown but stepped away and spoke to someone else. A few moments later, he returned. “Right this way.”
Nereus was sitting on the same sofa he’d been sitting on last time. His clothes were rumpled, and the dark circles under his eyes told us he wasn’t even sleeping enough for a paranormal to function.
A group of human guys was standing in front of him. Every single one of them looked like they could bench-press my car. They studied us, and we studied them right back.
“This is FirstCall Security.” Nereus waved a hand. Evie tensed beside me, but her expression stayed carefully neutral.
“We can return later if you’re in the middle of a meeting,” she said.
Nereus began to nod, and then he seemed to actually see us.
“You found something.” He shot to his feet.
“We believe we spoke to Ilayda.”
One of the guys from FirstCall sneered. “Unlikely.”
Kyla cocked her head. “Do you have a problem?”
The guy stepped forward. “Do I have a problem with you muscling in on our investigation? You’re damn right I have a problem.”
Surely he knew it wasn’t just their investigation? One glance at Nereus’s face let me know he’d definitely made the terms of their agreement clear.
Someone just couldn’t handle healthy competition.
The biggest guy elbowed him. “Enough, Carl.”
Carl stepped back, but the scowl didn’t leave his face.
Evie ignored it all. “We performed a spell, linking Ilayda’s laptop to her phone.”
Nereus seemed to sway.
“A spell? You’re a bunch of witches?” Carl’s large friend let out an ugly curse.
These assholes just couldn’t shut their mouths. Kyla snarled, low and long, and the entire room went silent.
“A she-wolf?” Carl’s voice was pleasingly high, and I hid my smirk.
“You’re fired,” Nereus told them. “Leave.”
They all gaped at him, but he wasn’t fucking around. The room began to darken with Nereus’s rage, and Carl gave us a look that promised retribution as he backed toward the door.
“He’s going to be a pain in our asses,” Kyla predicted.
Once the guys were gone, the room lightened, and Nereus watched us out of cold eyes.
“Talk.”
We filled him in. He sat eerily still, as if he was dreaming and afraid to wake up.
“She’s in the light fae realm?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We’re not sure,” I said. “She was either distracted, or someone found her with her phone.”
