Without any further explanation, she walked away leaving us with just those four words. Sighing, I went to push my glasses up but forgot I wasn’t wearing them. I’d gotten so used to wearing them at the school that it felt strange to be without them now.
“I’m to assume you’re my new partner?” I peered down at the younger man. I’d seen him around the base but had never had the pleasure of working with him. He seemed to be more of the analytical type than the hands-on in the field type. Which must have been why President Saito had paired us up together.
“Yes, that’s me. Weaver.” He stood and swiped his hand on his pants before offering it to me. “I look forward to working with you on this mission. I’ve heard only great things about your leadership.”
I shook his hand, not knowing how else to respond.
“So, I’ve been looking over the mission and what you’ve gathered so far, and I think we are going about this the wrong way.” He pulled out a tablet and started tapping the screen, overly eager to show me what he’d come up with.
“I think if we cross-reference the student body with those that have known affiliations with supernaturals that have been most vocal against the new ways of the council, and then make a data base of all their known associates around the academy, we can narrow down our field of search greatly.”
Peering down at the screen in his hands, I could see the beginnings of a list of names already. “So… you’re not going to enroll in the school?”
Weaver’s brows furrowed as he pushed his glasses up on his face. “I don’t see any reason to. I can do all of this without ever once stepping foot on campus. And any data I can’t get online, you can look into since you’ve already established an identity among the students and faculty.”
I nodded, unsure on how to respond to how prepared and logical he was being about all this. It wasn’t something I was used to when working with Jack. She was the ‘stab first, ask questions’ later type. Something I loved as much as I hated it because it always ended with me worrying about her.
“Then I will send you a link to the shared database, and you can look it over and let me know if there are any names that stick out.” Weaver grinned and held his fist out to me. “We’ll have these fuckers in the bag by the end of the week.”
I glanced at his fist then back to him before walking away.
Weaver might be more analytical and put together than Jack was, but that didn’t mean that I had to interact with him any more than I had to. Sure, Weaver was the better partner for this mission on paper, and yet all I could think about was that I wouldn’t see Jack’s face every single day.
I hated it.
Chapter five
Tate
ThoughI’dgivenoffa relaxed persona to Jack and Julian back in the alley, anxiety actually fueled my blood stream, making my stomach twist into knots and my lip ring sting from where I’d been pulling on it so much.
It wasn’t unusual for Kyren to take out someone who had insulted or harmed me or Jack. I’d even helped him a time or two. Except this time he was being reckless, showing his powers when so many humans were near.
I shook my head and sighed, tapping my fingers on my steering wheel. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Jack, who hadn’t said a word since we’d gotten into the car.
In fact, I’d expected to have to drag her away from the bloody scene kicking and screaming. Yet she’d been the one to suggest we go eat.
Not that she had suggested any place to go or talked to me at all since then.
“So…” I dragged out, fiddling with my lip ring as I spoke, wincing and forcing my hands back on the wheel. “What are you in the mood for? Mexican? Italian? I know this great pizza place on Fifteenth and —”
“I’m actually not very hungry,” Jack interrupted, shooting me a guilty grimace. “Can you just take me home?” When I didn’t say anything, she quickly continued, “I’m sorry to cut our date short. I just… need some time to think.”
I bobbed my head. “Sure, yeah, I get it.”
As I changed directions, I swallowed down my disappointment and, if I was honest, relief. I wanted to spend more time with Jack. This was the most I’d been able to see her in weeks. Besides the odd text and phone calls, Jack had mostly kept to herself.
As someone who had spent the last five years with Kyren, I knew brooding when I saw it. And Jack had definitely been well on her way to winning the championship for the longest brood in history.
I had wanted to pull her out of the dark cloud she’d created around herself by taking her out. Unfortunately, it hadn’t turned out the way I had hoped and now, I really needed to find Kyren. If he was blood thirsty enough to cause that big of a mess in public, then I couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling right now.
“Do you want me to come in?” I asked, turning to her once we arrived at her front door. “I don’t mind. Your dads don’t scare me that much.” I gave a self-depreciating laugh.
Half of me wanted her to say yes and the other half needed to be at Kyren’s side.
Jack shifted in her seat to face me, her hand going to my cheek. I leaned into the feeling of it, wanting to bask in her touch. “As entertaining as that would be, I think I just want to be alone for a bit. Is that okay?”
I nodded, lifting my gaze to hers. “Always. Just don’t let this weigh on you too much.”
