His face turned entirely too serious as he began holding up his fingers, listing his grievances. “One, you’re my teammate until this mission is complete. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Leo doesn’t do hang-outs, and I’ve been desperately isolated. Imagine being a social butterfly, and then having your wings chopped. That’s been my life for two years, and I’m taking what Ican get. Also, I visited you in thehospital.We’re basically besties now.”
I wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or a slight.
“And two, I may be a flirt, but that’s just my personality. You’re definitely not my type, no offense.” My jaw dropped, and Reed shrugged. “Trust me when I say, this little expedition isn’t for me. I just very much enjoy fucking with Leo’s head; it’s my tax for all the bullshit he’s put me through.”
“How is this fucking with his head?” I sighed before tucking myself back behind the curtain of the dressing room. “You get one more; red or blue?”
Reed had gotten into the habit of making passing comments that I wanted to pause on—but I never let myself go there. He was a tease, and mischief definitely followed him wherever he went. Every word he said was taken with a grain of salt.
I could hear Reed humming before he snapped his fingers. “You’re both so incredibly dense that I want todie.And blue—it makes your eyes pop.”
“You’re the most dramatic person I’ve ever met, do you know that?” I called back.
He wasn’t wrong, though. Blue definitely complimented me, and the shade matched my new equipment perfectly. I looked in the mirror at the final pick; a velvet, sapphire cocktail dress that ended above my knees and clung to every curve I’d forgotten existed on my body. Rhinestone chain straps held up the swooping neck at the front, then trailed down my bare skin until the material gathered and hung just above my low back.
I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, exposing the length of my neck, and I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually dressed up, or gone out. In my daydreams, I could wear and do whatever I wanted. But in reality, I’d worked myself to the bone to ignore my grief over Joon’s death, and wallowed insweatpants alone in my room on weekends. When was the last time I’d felt pretty, or sexy?
Maybe that’s why I’d bawled my eyes out when a ten-year-old comparing me to a dragon. I sat in the cave of my apartment, horded books, and grew horns. Giant-lizard behavior was in my DNA, apparently.
When I came back out, Reed was already standing, clapping as he let out a low whistle. “Delicious, enchanting, a true seductress. This is the one.”
I threw my head back and let out a laugh—a real one, nothing fake to assure others that I was okay, nothing that screamed this-is-definitely forced-and-I-can’t-wait-for-it-to-end. Reed was carefree, and that was what I needed. It took too long to realize that I had friends; I had support, and they each played a different role. Reed was the fun one; the one that made reality go away and mid-day shopping sprees sound like a good time. Part of me wished that Leo was there, that he’d open himself up to Reed too, and finally let go.
He’d shown me pieces of himself when I was in the hospital. There was a nervousness to him that I hadn’t recognized before; he stumbled over his words, and interacting with others outside offightingwas an entirely foreign concept. But he was kind—he rallied my people, and stayed by my side, even when he didn’t have to.
Leo deserved a support system, too.
He just needs a little more time.
Reed gave me that Cheshire cat smile. “Don’t get me wrong, street clothes look great on you, butthisis the type of outfit that will have men begging you to step on them. Splinter is going down because of a babe in blue—fucking poetic, if you ask me.”
I scoffed. “I’m not sure about that, but let’s hope so.”
“Lycean has no idea what’s coming for him.”
“Absolutely not,”Leo scowled with crossed arms.
We stood in a hotel room that overlooked a small city, more run-down brick than towering skyscrapers like Nightmyre. Connecticut was even calmer than I’d thought it would be. Agents with the VIA had already set up their computers and equipment, and I held still as they strung wires through my dress, watching as they did the same with Leo’s black button up.
Our mission seemed simple enough; I’d get close enough to Lycean to pull him in and get the information we needed, and Leo and Reed would be my backup, watching in case anything went wrong. But Leo was testing my patience—again.Every time we took a step forward, he pulled us back fifteen feet.
For some reason, I assumed the whole ‘being an absolute rock when I was terrified’ thing meant that we were getting somewhere.
Wrong.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected. A compliment, a nice smile,anythingbut the hostility that flared in his red eyes. It pissed me off how my own raked down his frame; Leo was huge, and his all black outfit clung to every plane of muscle. The only color was the watch on his wrist, glowing orange with one dose of coolant in case he decided to light the Crowns Club on fire.
Accidentally. Not decided. We have made progress; he is not a monster. Don’t go into disaster-judgement-setback mode.
We were going through a phase, maybe.
“Okay,Dad,” I rolled my eyes, framed with smokey makeup that made the blue stand out even more than usual. In a perfect world, he’d compare them to butterfly wings again, and my heartwould do that squeeze thing that made me slightly confused and unsettled. “You don’t get a choice.”
In my personal opinion, I was fucking hot, and I deserved a standing ovation for how well I balanced in my heels. Had I always been so praise-driven? Was I developing a new kink?
“She needs to attract his attention,” Reed sighed beside me as he held out a hand in my direction. “That’s exactly what this will do. Alex will have them drooling, and then we’ll have the information we need. Easy, simple, no fire involved. See how nice that is? Tonotend up destroying something during a mission?”
I put my hands on my hips, still having to look up at him even though I’d gained at least five inches with my shoe choice. Unfortunately, I was already regretting that decision. My ankles and toes were screaming.
