“I didn’t trust Neal, but I didn’t think he would be stupid enough to work with Aric.”
I somehow resisted the urge to point out that I had thought the name Rica was suspicious as hell from the moment I saw it as we hurried down Decatur Street.
Caden’s hand was wrapped firmly around mine as we cut around groups of people strolling on the street. When we’d left Thieves, I expected everyone to be running screaming from the building since the fight had not been quiet, but when we slipped out the back door, I could hear the conversation from the bar area. Those people had no idea that a fight to the death had just taken place with a freaking flaming sword.
Caden stopped suddenly, beside a sleek black SUV parked a block from Thieves, and opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
I looked at the SUV and then at him. “You have a car.”
One eyebrow rose. “Is that so surprising?”
“Not as surprising as the flaming sword,” I muttered.
He shot me a bland look, and I climbed in and buckled up. I watched him jog around the front of the SUV. He was behind the wheel in seconds, glancing over at me as he hit the ignition button. The moment our gazes connected, they held and I let myself just for a couple of seconds really think about what had just happened.
Who I’d just seen.
“It’s him,” I whispered as the engine rumbled. “Aric was the Ancient who attacked me and my mother.”
Caden reached over and cupped my cheek. He didn’t say anything as he drew his thumb along my jaw.
“I can’t believe it.” A messy, raw knot of emotion formed in my chest. “It was him.”
“I’m sorry. I really am,” he said quietly. “And I know how badly you want to hunt him down, but you need to stay away from him. I don’t say that because I doubt your skill or determination, but he is deadly and he is dangerous. He is as old as me, Brighton, and I’m positive he hasn’t spent a day fasting.”
A horrible thought occurred to me as his words sunk in. I pulled back. “Did you… did you know it was him?”
“No.” He looked away, his gaze flicking to the rear view mirror as he pushed the SUV into reverse. “I’m not surprised. The bastard is sick and cruel, but I did not know.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed him and I didn’t know how to process that right then. I didn’t even know how to deal with coming face to face with the Ancient who’d ripped into my mother’s throat and torn through my skin whilelaughing.
“We’re going to have to involve the Order in this.” He eased away from the curb. “With Aric behind the missing younglings and using whatever the hellmortuusis, we’re going to need all hands on deck.”
Hell. I knew what that meant as I shifted my gaze to the window. “I can’t promise you that Miles will listen to me. They don’t think I’m very… useful.”
Caden was quiet for a moment. “What if the information came from Ivy?”
“They would listen. I can call her. Tonight.”
“We also need to go to Tanner.”
“Now?”
Caden clutched the steering wheel as he focused on the narrow street congested with cars and people. “Now. Call Tink. We’ll pick him up.”
I glanced down at myself as I pulled my cellphone out of my clutch. “Do we have, um, time for me to get changed?”
“Yeah, we’ve got time for that.”
Calling Tink and getting off the phone quickly wasn’t exactly an easy endeavor since he had a million and one questions, but I managed to get off and then I called Ivy.
She answered on the second ring. “Hey, Bri, what’s up?”
“Um, a lot. Like a lot.” I started quickly telling her about what had just gone down. “We’re heading over to Hotel Good Fae now to talk to Tanner and Faye.”
“We’re actually a couple of miles outside the city now,” Ivy replied. “We’ll be there shortly after you.” There was a pause. “And I hope we find some time to talk later.”
“About…?”
