to figure out the massive puzzle before her. The thought of losing her own Hunters because she failed to help them infuriated her. There had to be a way to help them. Her eyes went to Chrissy, their only real hope of figuring out what was wrong. The exhausted human and her makeshift lab weren’t going to fix something requiring a team of scientists and real equipment.
They needed money. Lots of it.
Chrissy went to Aiden, who sat on his bed.
“To the best scientist-slash-doctor-slash human I’ve ever met,” Aiden said, raising a pretend glass to Chrissy.
“I haven’t slept in three days!” Chrissy snapped out of nowhere. Normally the calmest in the room, her outburst drew the attention of everyone. “Be still, Aiden.” She drew his blood with less grace than she usually did Zoey’s.
“Go sleep,” Zoey said.
“Not until you give me blood, Zoey. I will figure out what’s wrong with you Halflings if it kills me.” Chrissy’s jerky movements and short temper made Zoey flinch away.
“You get stabbed every night and are afraid of needles?” Aiden asked, chuckling. “Not that I blame you.”
“Yeah, well …” Zoey turned her head away when Chrissy tied a piece of rubber around her arm.
“I went to M.I.T. to build shit,” Chrissy said, snapping a needle into place on the syringe.
“You dropped out of M.I.T,” Zoey reminded her.
“She’s using the big one,” Aiden observed. “She must like me. I got the little one.”
Zoey braced herself.
Chrissy was not gentle, but she was quick. Zoey grimaced and held a cotton ball over the crook of her elbow. Chrissy wrapped a piece of gauze tape around it and left for the room next door, where she stored more worn out medical equipment they’d found in dumpsters.
“Off we go before she comes back with more needles,” Zoey said. “C’mon, Aiden. Exchange is at ten tonight.”
The incubus obeyed and trailed her and Vikki out of the warehouse to a black van. He climbed in back with Zoey while Vikki drove. Zoey sagged, tired already, and she hadn’t gotten through the most difficult time of her day. The moon seemed too bright, as cheerful as Aiden was, which agitated her even more.
In a matter of eight weeks, her dream of killing things had turned into a nightmare about how she was going to feed those who bought into her vision. Preoccupied with the ill Halflings and financial aspects, she paid no heed to where they drove. In the back of the van with Aiden, she sat, staring at the opposite wall, waiting for the answers to appear.
The incubus appeared exhausted. His body was healing and he dozed.
She had the urge to ask about Declan then the sudden idea to send Aiden back with her phone and get another one.
Not that it mattered. Declan found her anyway and with low funds, she didn’t need to toss another hundred dollars down the drain just to have him find her new number the moment she got a new phone.
Her cell vibrated. She tugged it out of her pocket.
Grant is legit, Declan replied.
She stared at his message, once again at a loss as to what to think about it and wishing there was more without knowing exactly what she wanted. It wasn’t an apology or explanation. That would infuriate her, because there was no way to make what he did right. But would it hurt him to try?
Her palms were damp at the idea of seeing him again. Her body always responded to him when he was within sight, and she wasn’t about to let her physical need overwhelm her mental pain. No, he wasn’t going to get off that easily by seducing her body without winning over mind.
They reached the rendezvous point – a small park east of Greenbelt, Maryland – and the van rolled to a halt. Vikki always parked facing the street in case something went wrong.
“Shit,” she mumbled from the front seat.
“What?” Zoey asked immediately, leery of an ambush.
“I think Bio-Mom wants Aiden as much as the Enforcers do.”
Zoey’s stomach sank. She didn’t want anything to do
They needed money. Lots of it.
Chrissy went to Aiden, who sat on his bed.
“To the best scientist-slash-doctor-slash human I’ve ever met,” Aiden said, raising a pretend glass to Chrissy.
“I haven’t slept in three days!” Chrissy snapped out of nowhere. Normally the calmest in the room, her outburst drew the attention of everyone. “Be still, Aiden.” She drew his blood with less grace than she usually did Zoey’s.
“Go sleep,” Zoey said.
“Not until you give me blood, Zoey. I will figure out what’s wrong with you Halflings if it kills me.” Chrissy’s jerky movements and short temper made Zoey flinch away.
“You get stabbed every night and are afraid of needles?” Aiden asked, chuckling. “Not that I blame you.”
“Yeah, well …” Zoey turned her head away when Chrissy tied a piece of rubber around her arm.
“I went to M.I.T. to build shit,” Chrissy said, snapping a needle into place on the syringe.
“You dropped out of M.I.T,” Zoey reminded her.
“She’s using the big one,” Aiden observed. “She must like me. I got the little one.”
Zoey braced herself.
Chrissy was not gentle, but she was quick. Zoey grimaced and held a cotton ball over the crook of her elbow. Chrissy wrapped a piece of gauze tape around it and left for the room next door, where she stored more worn out medical equipment they’d found in dumpsters.
“Off we go before she comes back with more needles,” Zoey said. “C’mon, Aiden. Exchange is at ten tonight.”
The incubus obeyed and trailed her and Vikki out of the warehouse to a black van. He climbed in back with Zoey while Vikki drove. Zoey sagged, tired already, and she hadn’t gotten through the most difficult time of her day. The moon seemed too bright, as cheerful as Aiden was, which agitated her even more.
In a matter of eight weeks, her dream of killing things had turned into a nightmare about how she was going to feed those who bought into her vision. Preoccupied with the ill Halflings and financial aspects, she paid no heed to where they drove. In the back of the van with Aiden, she sat, staring at the opposite wall, waiting for the answers to appear.
The incubus appeared exhausted. His body was healing and he dozed.
She had the urge to ask about Declan then the sudden idea to send Aiden back with her phone and get another one.
Not that it mattered. Declan found her anyway and with low funds, she didn’t need to toss another hundred dollars down the drain just to have him find her new number the moment she got a new phone.
Her cell vibrated. She tugged it out of her pocket.
Grant is legit, Declan replied.
She stared at his message, once again at a loss as to what to think about it and wishing there was more without knowing exactly what she wanted. It wasn’t an apology or explanation. That would infuriate her, because there was no way to make what he did right. But would it hurt him to try?
Her palms were damp at the idea of seeing him again. Her body always responded to him when he was within sight, and she wasn’t about to let her physical need overwhelm her mental pain. No, he wasn’t going to get off that easily by seducing her body without winning over mind.
They reached the rendezvous point – a small park east of Greenbelt, Maryland – and the van rolled to a halt. Vikki always parked facing the street in case something went wrong.
“Shit,” she mumbled from the front seat.
“What?” Zoey asked immediately, leery of an ambush.
“I think Bio-Mom wants Aiden as much as the Enforcers do.”
Zoey’s stomach sank. She didn’t want anything to do
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