The mere fact that Jonathan had requested blood samples from the guys sort of confirmed my fears that there was something shady going on with him, and the last thing I needed was for their blood to suddenly register as anything other than human.
“Got them all,” I confirmed for Cole, then hesitated as I was closing the fridge back up. On a lower shelf, a plastic bag containing a wad of sapphire-blue fabric caught my eye, and I bent to pick it up.
“What is it?” Cole rumbled, and I could tell he was growing impatient. The idea had been to move the camera back into alignment before the security office noticed anything was off about it, but the longer we took, the less likely we were to get away with it.
Making a snap decision, I tucked the bag of fabric inside my leather jacket and zipped it closed to hold the contraband in place.
“Come on; I’ll show you outside.” I snapped the lock closed on the fridge and rejoined Cole near the door. “Good?”
Cole nodded, having just realigned the camera, and the two of us retreated out of the building the same way we had come in. Within minutes, we were back in the open and making our way toward River’s shadowy form waiting below a tree.
“That was quicker than I’d given you two credit for,” our stoic leader commented as we rejoined him, and all three of us casually wandered back toward the housing building. Nothing screamed suspicious like running or creeping after you’ve left the scene of the crime. Nope, we were just three people out for an evening stroll, dressed in black. Given it was still the tail end of winter, that wasn’t the craziest thing to see.
“Successful mission?” he asked quietly, and I nodded while linking my arm with his good one and cuddling in for warmth.
“What was the other thing you grabbed, Vixen?” Cole murmured, keeping his voice low and soft.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure; that’s why I grabbed it.” I chewed my lip, pressing a hand to my chest where I could feel the plastic packet inside my jacket. “But I think it’s the dress I was wearing the night I healed Vali.”
9
“Nice work!” Wesley exclaimed as I tossed him the vials of blood. “Camera locations were all still correct then?”
“Sure were; spot on.” I watched as he dumped the contents down the sink then washed out the tubes with water.
“Vixen picked up something else on the way out though,” Cole prompted, pulling out a chair for me to sit at the dining table beside River while Wesley looked at me with surprise.
“Uh, yeah.” I unzipped my jacket and pulled out the plastic packet to hand to Wesley. “I’m pretty sure that’s the dress I was wearing when I healed Vali. Which means that”—I indicated the red-brown stains on the fabric as Wesley unfolded it—“is Vali’s blood.”
A large square had been cut from the section of the dress that had the thickest concentration of blood, and I stared, transfixed by it. The last time I’d seen that dress had been on the Omega jet after Jonathan and I had left Vali’s parking garage in a wash of blood. I’d cleaned up and changed in the bathroom, then tossed the dress in the trash. And yet, here it was.
“It’s not as bad as it seems,” Wes reassured me, refolding the fabric and replacing it into the bag.“If this blood was from his gunshot wound, then it’s pre-dragon blood. It shouldn’t show anything more than human, same as River’s. I wasn’t totally sure about mine and Caleb’s, but we knew for sure Cole’s wouldn’t register as human DNA anymore, so safer to switch them all rather than run the risk.”
My gaze flicked to Cole. “What about Vali’s mom? Would her DNA show as anything other than human?”
“Because she was Romani?” He scratched at the dark stubble on his cheek. “Maybe? Depends whether Romani are supernaturals in the same sense of the word, as in not human, or just...”
“Humans with foresight?” I finished, and he grunted.
“They clearly found something interesting, or why else keep the dress in the locked fridge?” Cole murmured, seeming to be thinking out loud. “Vali’s going to need to lay low.”
“Shouldn’t be hard for a lizard,” River commented, and a growl rumbled from Cole’s chest. “Kidding, mate! There’s not much to be done for it now. It’s late and Kitten starts school in the morning, so we should all get some sleep.”
“School.” I cringed. “Make me sound more like a little kid, why don’t you?”
“Vixen, you’re way too sexy to be a little kid.” Cole gave me a heated look and a wink that sent shivers coursing through me.
“Am I sleeping where my suitcase got put?” I asked River, indicating the bedroom I’d woken up in earlier in the day, when Wesley had been wrapped around me half-naked...
“Yes, that can be your room if you’d like. It’s a five-bedroom apartment, so until Austin gets back from San Fran, there is no real issue with rooming.” River cocked his head. “Unless you want to stay with one of us?”
“Tempting,” I murmured, licking my lower lip, running my eyes down the sharply dressed Englishman, and remembering his earlier promise of consequences. “But I think if I did, I wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight. With any of you.” I glanced over at Cole and Wesley, and Wes blushed.
Standing from my seat, I did an awkward little wave and head bob, then said, “Well, good night, then.”
The three of them watched me with what seemed to be a mix of amusement and confusion while I quickly retreated back to my bedroom and closed the door between us. Once alone, I leaned my back against the door and closed my eyes against the embarrassment of that moment.
What the hell was that, Kit? “Well, good night, then?”
Navigating the etiquette of dating multiple men was going to be the death of me. Or maybe we all needed to have an open discussion about it like adults? Hah, surely not.
If that had been just Cole and River, I had no doubt I would have kissed them both good night. Hell, I probably would have done more than that because my ability to say no around them was getting worse by the day. But throwing Wes into the mix had me off guard. Until just days ago, I hadn’t realized he was interested in me at all. I’d even thought maybe he was into Lucy for a while there, which was understandable seeing as she is awesome. Lucy also had a fluid sexuality, or so she liked to tell me.
Considering this afternoon was really the first time we had, ah, progressed things, I hadn’t really had a chance to speak with him and work out where he stood on the whole sharing aspect. Until we had that conversation or he made his feelings clear like River, Cole, and Caleb had, it didn’t feel right to go kissing the other guys in front of him. Or him in front of them.
Maybe that was a conversation we should have had before bed, but I was being an ostrich. So much bad shit had happened lately, I just wanted to bury my head in the sand for a bit.
My jaw dropped open in a long yawn, and I realized just how damn tired I was. I stripped quickly out of my stealth outfit, then crawled into bed wearing just my tank top and panties.
Who knew what day one of spy school would bring? Maybe I might even make a friend! Yeah, right.