Christian shrugged. "So? I still like surprises."
I wondered, not for the first time, how these two men could be friends, spend significant time with each other, when they were very nearly polar opposites.
"I don't like surprises," I told Caleb. He knew that. Hell, everyone knew that.
He gave me his little shrug. "This surprise is unavoidable, so you might as well get it over with."
I studied him closely, though I knew that was pointless. Caleb was exactly as readable as he wanted to be. It could have been a mimic thing. I had no idea, since I'd never met another of his kind. I mused that it may not have been a bad thing. The thought of more than one Caleb in the world just boggled the mind.
Being enigmatic and hard to read was one thing, expecting me to go blind into some surprise situation was quite another. "I'm not walking into anything blind, Caleb," I told him frankly.
In a way, I trusted Caleb. He'd played reliable backup for me too many times to count, and he had obviously been actively involved in trying to find my sister, even without my having to ask. I had also played his backup many a time, so you could say we were even-steven.
Yes, I trusted Caleb to do exactly what he said he would, but only that. Him keeping secrets left too many gray areas for my peace of mind. I wasn't playing along until the rules were very clear. He knew me well enough to get that.
Finally, he caved, but he didn't look pleased about it. Like I cared. "Christian and I were in on the raid. You know, the one that attempted to rescue you. We found some of your goodies there, and we were also nice enough to scour the desert for you, at the spot where you were taken. We recovered most of your weapons. They aren't here. I'm keeping them at another location. Would you like to go get them?" He showed me his teeth in what the twisted bastard probably thought was a smile. 33
Now that was more like it. I nodded. "Let's do it."
CHAPTER TWO
Sociopath Chameleon Alien
"I have a druid tail," I told Caleb as I pulled away from the house. Christian was parked in the back of the house, where a small alleyway was attached to the garage. I'd heard his loud race car speed away before we'd even gotten into my car.
"Of course you do," Caleb responded, his tone dry. "And if I know anything at all about Dom, your gear is covered in tracking devices, and so is this car. We'll take care of it."
I sent him a look. Caleb's plans usually worked for what he intended them to, but I couldn't exactly count on him to take Dom's reaction into account. In fact, considering their history, I could pretty much assume that pissing Dom off royally would make Caleb's day.
"Is there a reason why we have to lose them so fast tonight?" I asked. I didn't like being tracked or followed either, but I wanted the trouble I would get for going straight off the radar even less.
"Your things are at a location that I would like to keep private. The druids keep enough damned tabs on me. My biggest weapon stash in town is not their business."
Fair enough. Couldn't blame him there. Knowing Caleb, he'd have things in that stash that would get him imprisoned for eternity or worse.
Of course, that didn't mean I wouldn't be catching all sorts of hell for losing my tail later. I would be worrying about that later, though, since I very much wanted my weapons back. It wasn't even a question.
"Make a left at the next light," Caleb told me.
I did, watching the car that followed rather closely behind me. Whoever had been put on tailing duty wasn't even bothering to be subtle about it. They must not have heard much about me.
"Make a right, here," Caleb said as I drew almost even with a small side street.
I had to swerve rather crazily to make the turn, since he'd given me so little notice. "Maybe you should have driven," I told him as I evened the car out, watching the dark SUV behind us careen wildly into the turn just behind us.
"This is more entertaining," he told me dryly, and I shot him a look. His expression was deadpan, of course, but I knew that he was being very literal. Caleb did seem to find it endlessly entertaining to mess with me. And the annoyed druids behind us would certainly be icing on his cake.
"Right," he said, and I had to make another sharp turn, even going slowly.
"Right," he said again, maybe two minutes later.
"U-turn," he said, when I had nearly passed another street.
"Dick," I muttered, but I followed his instructions.
"Wouldn't you like to know," he shot back without expression.