“I just saw Brick.”
“Brick?”
“The cop that was supposed to be on our side. He was talking to a Hunter, the lead Hunter.”
Kilo whips his head around, but they’re probably only specks behind us now. “Did it look like a cordial conversation?”
“Much too cordial for my liking.”
“So he is working with the Hunters?”
“It would seem so.”
“Did he see us?”
I shrug. “I don’t think so.” I sigh. There is so much to debrief with Grimm tomorrow. I’m already exhausted. My house comes into view, and I stop. I should be weary of men after the night I just had, but Kilo did save me. It’s probably not an issue that he knows where I live. “Well, this is me.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“Thanks to you.”
He smiles. It’s so cute. I can’t help it. I lean in, kissing him square on the mouth. He stiffens in surprise but parts his lips and kisses me back. It only lasts a moment before he pushes me away, laughing. “Alright, why don’t you go to bed, and if you still want to kiss me tomorrow, give me a call.” My cheeks heat. Shit. What the fuck was I doing? I just tried to convince him I wasn’t a slut like Wood implied, and now here I am, kissing him like I can’t control myself. I sigh. “It’s the alcohol.”
He laughs. “I know. Have a good night.”
I throw my head back. “Thanks again. Sorry for kissing you.” I walk toward my front door.
“Don’t be sorry!” he yells. “Just save it for later.” I turn around just in time to see him wink.
Surprisingly, I make it into my house with a smile. After everything that happened tonight, you’d think I'd be in tears, but it makes me happy to know all men aren’t pigs.
5
Piggy Problems
Isteadymyfootstepsasthe mountainside comes into view. One of the good things about meeting at the cave is that I can arrive in my human form and clothes. With my hangover this morning, shifting would have hurt like a bitch. I would deserve it, though. I was drunk last night, but clearly, I wasn’t drunk enough because I remembereverything,at least I think I do, and I’m horrified at myself. I’m not going to take the blame for Wood’s monstrous actions, but I can’t believe I let my guard down completely when I planned to investigate if Wood was covering up the Hunters' murders. I shouldn’t have trusted him enough to drink alone with him, but I guess since I’d been with him, alone, so many times before, I had a false sense of security. Like yeah, maybe he’s kidnapping women, but he wouldn’t do that tome.I’m an idiot.
And then there was the whole Kilo situation. I can’t believe I kissed him after everything he just saved me from. Sure, he’s good-looking, but I don’t know if I would have been so ready to fall into his arms without encouragement from my previous martinis. He called me beautiful and told me all these sweet, sappy things, and now I’ve led him on. I have enough men in my life causing havoc. I don’t need another, even if he seems like a good guy.
From now on, I’ll do whatever it takes to find out where the missing women are. I owe it to them. I’ve already spent enough time dicking around.
Kilo must have spilled the beans to Grimm because, low and behold, my phone rang off the hook bright and early at eight fucking am. Grimm’s low voice scraped against my tender brain, informing me we must meet at the caves in an hour before abruptly hanging up. I didn’t have time to grumble and request more time.
Now, here I am before the inconspicuous wall of stone. I tap on a section three times. To someone who doesn’t know, it looks like a regular section of a mountain wall covered in vines, but if you were to look very closely, you’d make out the subtle outline. The door swings open, and Jeremy, Grimm’s nephew, steps into view.
“How ya’ doing kid?” I ask as I enter the cool cave, and he closes the door behind me.
“Shit,” he replies.
I spurt a laugh. “Why?”
“My uncle is making me do all this random work. Filing papers, cleaning his office, this is supposed to be my summer break, and he’s ruining it.” We walk side by side down the stone walkway, lanterns adhering to the walls illuminating our path.
“Sorry to hear that, but hey, maybe you can put the work on your resume.”
He gives me a disgruntled look. “I’m going to college next year. I can’t say I worked for the Werewolf Minister on my applications.”
“Maybe leave the werewolf part out, but you can definitely say you did office admin work. I bet Grimm would vouch for you if you needed a reference.”
