It rang and rang. After twenty more rings, I hung up. The feeling that had started with the sphinx’s news changed from slightly concerned to outright worry.
I tapped the phone against my lip as I considered my options. There weren’t many. Jerry had fired me, effectively ending our relationship. I owed him nothing and there was no reason to stick my nose where it probably wasn’t wanted.
“Where are you going?” Inara’s voice rang out as I started for the door.
My silence answered for me.
There was knowledge on her face as she flew closer.“You have a date with the vampire.”
“But—”
“Leave the half-blood to his business.” Her words were harsh. Her face softened.“Jerry wouldn’t want your interference on his behalf anyway.”
For half a minute I thought about arguing, or at the very least ignoring her. In the end, I sighed, conceding she was probably right.I’d gotten in trouble more than once by sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.
“Are you going to help the sphinx?” Lowen asked, changing the subject. More than once he’d acted as peacemaker, smoothing over the rough spots when Inara and I butted heads.
“I don’t see how I could,” I said, letting the matter go for now.“I’m not a detective, and Hermes has services similar to that.”
The last thing I wanted to do was set myself up to cross him. I had to believe whatever his reason for closing the service, it was temporary.
“Similar, yes, but not the same,” Inara said.“I doubt your former boss would take you to task should you choose to find the sphinx’s lost scroll.”
I gave her a questioning look.“You think I should do this? Aren’t you usually the one telling me to keep my nose out of other people’s business.”
She gave me a haughty look.“He’s offering to pay you. Those others never did. We both know you could use the money to keep this roof over our heads.”
I suspect it was worry over the supply of hummingbird nectarI’d been providing them drying up that motivated her rather than the threat of losing the apartment. They were small and easily overlooked. They could live here for months with no one the wiser.
“The job at the gas station is beneath you. At least this will be more in keeping with your status,” she observed, her chin tilted up.
“What status?” To my knowledge, I had none. I waved a hand before she could answer.“Never mind. This is all pointless until I find out what Liam wants.”
Inara shook her head and rose from the shelf, her wings moving impossibly fast as she flew back the way she’d come.
I grabbed my bike, using a rope wrapped around its frame to lower it to the ground.
“I’ll pull the rope back up and make sure to lock up,” Lowen said from the doorknob. He balanced on it as I prepared to descend.
“Thanks,I’ll be back soon.”
“We’ll see,” Lowen said.“Don’t worry about this place. Inara and I will protect it until you return.”
I nodded and stepped out. The ground rushed up to meet me. I landed with a thump, not nearly as lightly or gracefully as the sphinx. Still, I was in one piece and nothing was broken.I’d take that as a win.
I unwrapped the bike, then waited as the rope slithered back inside. I didn’t know how the pixies managed to pull it up, considering it weighed much more than them. I never asked. The door swung shut in the next moment.
My home as safe as I could make it, I rolled the bike to the street, pulling up short at the sight of the man waiting for me there, his long, rangy frame leaning up against the twin of the black Escalade in the lot at my back.
“What are you doing here, Nathan?” I asked.
CHAPTERTHREE
Nathan gave me a lazy smile, lifting one of the two take-out cups he held and handing it to me. I took it with a frown, balancing the bike against my hip.
“I’m your chauffeur for the night,” he said, stepping away from the Escalade. He matched the car, dressed in black jeans and a tight black shirt that outlined his wide shoulders and muscled arms.
Nathan was one of Liam’s men, and also the vampire who’d been responsible for my lessons over the past few weeks. He was the opposite of Sir Grumpy Pants in many ways. Blond and handsome, it was rarer to see him frowning than smiling. His lips always seemed to be tilted in a half-smile, as if in response to a joke only he knew.
