“You owe me a blouse,” Eerie said before standing up and clicking out of the room on his heels.
“You really don’t have to buy him a blouse,” Saint said.
“I’m still going to get him one,” Teddy said, knowing himself.
“I’m gonna go and get some sleep,” Heir said. “I got back from a case and got roped straight into this.”
“Sorry, man,” Teddy said, but Heir just clapped his shoulder in passing before disappearing upstairs.
“Well,” Trace said, “that was fucking delightful. I’m gonna go do literally anything else.”
“I haven’t got a case currently,” Saint said, trying to act casual. “Wanna go work on our mystery some more?”
Teddy immediately nodded, following Saint out of the room and toward his car. A distraction was what he needed.
They piled in, Teddy moving a stray takeout bag off the seat. “I thought you told Echo you stopped eating here after they fretted over that news article about there being microplastics in the food for three weeks straight.”
“What they don’t know doesn’t hurt them.” Saint grinned. “The fries just hit. Sue me.”
“At least get rid of the evidence.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got busy.” Saint shoved his key into the ignition.
Teddy peered into the back seat as he buckled up, spotting more bags and receipts here and there. “Too busy for the past month?”
“It’s not so bad. They’re all empty, I just haven’t gotten to recycling yet. I’ll do it tomorrow, Mom.”
Snorting, Teddy rolled his eyes, shoving the bag in his hand into the back with the rest of them.
Saint pulled out of the spot and set them on a familiar path. Teddy had lost count of the number of times they’d visited the same addresses, but until they worked this out they wouldn’t stop.
He peered out of the window, his mind wandering from mysteries to the inevitable slippery slope.
What was Wren doing right now?
“So…” Saint broke the silence between them. “Tell me to piss off, but…I’m gonna guess this sudden downfall of yours has something to do with a certain Slatehollow counterpart of mine.”
Teddy froze in his seat for a second before turning his head toward Saint and staring at the side of his face as he drove, calm and collected as ever.
“What? Didn’t we already do the intervention?” he asked, but his voice came out shaky. Nobody knew about Wren. Nobody but Trace knew anything about Teddy’s messy departure from Nexus.
“We were in the same cohort, man,” Saint said. “You were glued to that little sprite constantly.”
“We were never…”
“No, you were never obvious to everyone. But I learned early on to have my eyes on everything and everyone because of Eerie. I’m pretty sure I’m the only reason he’s a cursebreaker and not on PUMA’s most wanted list.”
“He’s not that bad.” Teddy scratched the knees of his jeans with his short nails, stomach turning at the idea that someone knew.
“You’re right. He’s worse. And don’t change the subject. After you came back from Slatehollow I read the case files to inform myself about this new development of cursebreakers suddenly catching curses. Still terrifying, by the way.”
Teddy had to agree. The shockwaves were still rippling through the other cursebreaker departments, despite Nexus’s assurances.
“Anyway, I looked their team up and, well, he does have a face that’s hard to forget.”
Porcelain skin flashed before Teddy’s eyes, contrasting beautifully with dark hair and that white braid Teddy’s fingers remembered the exact weave of. The scent memory of dirt, forests, and rain assaulted him, and that glowing mark that framed Wren’s eye like a celestial painting written in the sky eclipsed everything.
Unforgettable.
