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Gen left me in the cell, but we made up. Well, sort of. I told him everything about the dark websites I had access to, and in return he was still in the doghouse. Sort of. I asked for the Lydent 101 book to read—it was best to know what I was getting into with the law and everything—and a blanket and pillow. If I had to stay in this shitty cell, it might as well be in comfort.
The only guy who had called me back was Nox. He did it right after Gen left. It was as if he knew when the right time to call would be. When my phone vibrated and the name Dickhead One came up, I instantly answered, "You owe me, Nox."
"Babe-"
"Do not call me babe; only I can use that name. Did you fuckin' know Gen was in ‘mate status’ with me? Because, for some reason, I think you did."
He sighed. "I can explain."
I sat on the edge of the bunk in the cell and gestured to no one as I spoke into the phone. "By all means, fuckin' explain."
"We were still sorting things out. We didn't want to complicate everything further by telling him."
"Well, what about me? All of this has landed me in a shit load of trouble and now I'm in a fuckin' Lydent jail."
"What?"
"And do you know who put me here?" I hissed with all my pent-up anger.
"Hell, do I even want to ask?"
"Gen Fuckin' Caleb."
"Shit."
"And, buddy, if you don't come and bring me cookies and whatever other shit that I want, you're going down."
He was quiet for a moment, then asked with confusion laced in his voice, "Wait—what?"
"Cook-ies, Nox." Then I eyed the toilet in the far corner. "And a Chinese screen divider. I don't want to pee out in the open. It's not my thing."
"Okay-okay, wait a second. Why are you even in there?"
I told him about the Lydent FBI agent and how he and Gen made a compromise concerning where I was to be jailed until the appropriate time to question me.
"Okay, shit. Just hang on, and I'll talk to Gen."
"Good luck. I still want that stuff. And tell the others to call me!"
He hung up before I could request anything else.
An hour later, I had a screen for my toilet, blankets, pillows, cookies, the Lydent 101 book, a tablet to watch movies and play games, a fuckin’ floor rug (Justin was awesome), and a cooler full of ice and soda. My guys loved me. I even had a curtain hanging from the bars, twisted in knots at each post a quarter of the way in on each side with tiny sparkly lights threaded through. It was a bit much, and I may have taken it a bit far, but... It. Was. Awesome.
Each one of them had come in a flash during a free moment—they were still on a mission—and dropped something off. Gen Caleb being the first to come back with the book, pillows, and blankets. He profusely apologized and said that he'd be back to check on me at lunch time, if not sooner, with an update. Next was Cameron with the tablet. Then Thad with the cooler of ice and soda. Justin came with the curtains, lights, and rug. Nox was last with my divider and cookies.
None of them stayed, but all of them said they'd be back. I just had to keep busy and hope I could get out of here sooner rather than later.
Afternoon arrived and so did lunch with Gen, who shimmed in with takeout and an update. I was seriously getting the royal treatment, but late afternoon proved to be much different when the door outside my bars and to the right beeped and squeaked open.
Unsure what to do, I dropped my tablet on the bed beside me and twisted around until I saw black shoes, crisp pressed pants and a fuckin' leather belt with a brass buckle, a blue shirt with an unbuttoned coat, and a scowl on a man who could make any woman's heart jump... but mine stayed still. Damn those warrior guys of mine.
I felt a flutter of something, a tickle at my temples. It was nice. "Ms. Dolton?"
I got up off the bed and stood there as I took him in. "Yep."
He fingered the curtains and glanced at the rug and everything else inside before coming back to me with a raised brow. "Comfy?"
I went on the defense and folded my arms, tipping my head slightly to the side, before giving him a short and pointed answer, "No."
His eyebrow dropped, and he stared at me for a moment. "You are–"
I interrupted him. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name... sir."
He gave a brief nod. "Of course, Agent Hoax Tobin."
My lips curled upward, ready to aim and fire. "Hoax? Like a malicious deception kinda Hoax?"
He inclined his head. "I admit, it is an unusual name."
"Hm-hm," I agreed. "There's no, ifs, ands, or hoaxes about it."
He sighed. "Caleb did tell me you were quite a... talker."
That pissed me off and had me curious. What else did Gen Caleb tell this Hoax man about me?
"All good things," he murmured in response to my thoughts.
Well, shit. I pointed at him. "Your talent. You can read thoughts."
"Impressions that you leave behind, yes. Thoughts or mind speak, no."
I was curious. "What do they call that?"
He gave a cute, crooked grin as his eyes twinkled with amusement. "I forgot that you are new to our world. Of course, I'll explain. I'm an Inkloir and have the ability to see past imprints of memories in others. Not the future, like Mr. Harnail, but useful just the same."
I stood there taking in what he was saying. "So... you can see into my memories?"
"Yes."
I shifted uncomfortably. "How far back?" I worried about Nox now.
"Days. Sometimes even weeks, but it all depends on if the giver of the memories is willing or not. Things will go smoother if the giver doesn’t fight it."
The light flutter at my temples and the base of my skull left me. I stepped back. "Holy shit! You were in my mind the whole time?"
His mouth pursed. "I won't do it again without your permission."
I pointed at him. "You better the hell not."
"Fire," he muttered, eyeing me. "You are full of it. Even your hair is the color of it."
"Taken." I bit off. "Go find yourself your own Lydent female. This one has all the male testosterone she can handle."
He chuckled at that. "I'm sorry, that was out of line. I wasn't insinuating that you let me join you in your bond group. Only that Caleb will have his hands full with you."
I gave him a sharp look. "And you think that's better?"
He didn't answer but changed the subject. "Now, Ms. Dolton, I'm going to ask you some questions." He set down the case he'd been carrying and pulled out a pad of paper along with a pen.
I eyed him suspiciously. "What, no magic writing pen?" I challenged.
Surprised, his gaze darted up as he clicked the pen for writing and held onto his pad of paper. "No. In my profession, not many people know about us, so I have become accustomed to not using magic or light talents outside the Lydent communities. I do it to keep the humans and others on this world from finding out about us and to keep the Lydent race safe.”
The way he said it made me pause. "What do you mean by 'others on this world'? Are there more than just the Lydents?"
He inclined his head as if to say ‘yes’ but went on to ask other things. "When's the first time your contact contacted you?"
"You're deflecting," I murmured, struggling to calm down. I was curious about who these 'others on this world' were and why he was drawing back. I had to be careful if I wanted to know more. And I did want to know more.
Hoax gave a ghost of a smile, acknowledging silently that I had caught him, but... maybe he wanted that? "Your contact?"
I went back to pacing, speculating why he wasn't suggesting that Eric was my contact like Nox had mentioned yesterday in the courtroom with the council. Was he trying to prove that Nox lied? That made me nervous. Keep it simple, Tracy. The man only asked me about when the first time my contact reached out to me; he was not demanding I tell him who they were. "Three years ago."
"Okay, and why did she reach out?"
She? At one point in time I thought my contact might have been a 'she' too, but things had changed. I had to tread carefully with this one. "My contact reached out because I had been asking questions about my friend’s disease. They didn't have answers but directed me to resources."
"And... did these resources help your friend?"
I paused my pacing and turned to him. "No.”
He tipped his head to the side, giving me a calculating stare. “And what about the betting on the mud wrestling you told Gen Caleb about? Do you have the site’s URL so I can look into it?”
Twisting my lips, I gave him his answer. “I gave that info to Caleb when I told him. Ask him for it.”
He righted himself. “He must have forgotten to give it to me.”
I sighed. “Are we done here? I need to use the bathroom, and I’d rather do it without an audience."
His gaze narrowed in on me as if trying to discern if I was in fact telling the truth. He closed his notebook with a loud clap and tucked it back in to his briefcase. "Very well, Ms. Dolton. I will be back tomorrow with Carly Phillips and see if you would feel more comfortable with her. For now," he said with a tip of his head, "I'll give you your time. Good day."
I hustled to the bars. "Wait!" But it was too late. He had already turned to leave, and the bastard shimmed. So much for not using magic.
I was startled that the agent had left me. I didn't expect I'd get off so easily, but he’d said Carly would come and meet up with me. Would she know what Nox did? I reached for my phone in my pocket and tried to call the guys again. This time Thad picked up.
“Hey.” His gruff voice caressed my senses. I wasn't sure if I had interrupted something work-wise or not, but I was glad he picked up. “You doing okay there? Need anything else?” he added when I didn’t immediately answer.
I sighed. “An FBI agent was here. A detective of some sort asking all these questions.”
“Okay,” he eased. “Don't stress out. You knew he was coming. Gen told you that, right?”
“Yes.” But I worried about Nox. Would he have told Thad?
“Just tell him what you know so you can get out of there. Gen doesn’t do things without reason. If he let that FBI agent near you, he did it knowing you’d talk with him.”
I snorted. “Gen Caleb also threw me in jail.”
“And I didn't like it either, but Gen doesn't make decisions without thinking them through. That's the reason Gen is in the position he is today. That's why he is one of the Lydent Generals. So trust me when I say this, if he knew about the Fed, he must have a plan, or he feels like whatever you might say would add value to the case. Now, as to why you’re in a jail cell, they didn't want you to run away,” he pointed out at the end.
My bit my lip with indecision because I knew things that Gen and Thad didn't. Taking a chance, I mumbled into the phone, “What if there's something you’re not aware of that might possibly hurt someone?”
Thad said nothing for a moment, but then he cursed. “You fuckin’ know.”
“Yeah.”
“If we're talking about the same thing, don’t say anything. You didn’t, did you?”
I clammed up, offended and on the defensive. Hot prickles chased down my shoulders and my neck with his questioning. “No, of course not. It's not my thing to tell,” I answered roughly.
“Sorry-sorry.” He sighed. “I didn’t mean to offend you, okay?”
My shoulders dropped as my defensiveness withered. I drew into myself as I peered around the small space.
“Thad...” I hesitated before I blurted out what I wanted. I was uncomfortable asking.
His voice went rough, like he knew this was something serious. “Yeah?”
“Nevermind.”
“Juju, ask.”
My face softened at the nickname. “No.”
He chuckled at that. “Come on, I won’t bite.”
“Much,” I muttered before I asked him anyway, putting myself out there. “I’m going to be alone here all night. Will you come and stay with me?”
It hurt me to ask, to be vulnerable like that, but I’d gotten used to one of them with me while I slept. It was either them or the tub, and there wasn’t a tub here. I didn’t feel safe even surrounded by these bars. Anyone could shim in at any moment.
“All right, baby,” he said, and I didn't even mind that he called me that. “I'll be there in a little while.”
Emotion rose, and I felt my eyes prickling. Shit no. Can’t do that. “Thank you.”
He growled. “You don’t need to thank me. We’d do anything for you.”
My lips twitched and a few tears slipped over. I knew on some level that was true. Then I looked around the space, needing to lighten the mood. “Like putting me in Lydent jail?”
He let out a quiet chuckle. “You keep bringing that up, and it’s going to get old quick.”
“But the guilt will always remain.”
“Don’t worry, there are years to come to even the score. I’ll even help.”
“You’ve said it. Can’t go back on it now,” I quipped.
He gave another chuckle. “Why would I?”
My heart warmed.
“Gotta go, Juju,” he said. “But I’ll be there later.”
We said our goodbyes and hung up. I dropped the phone into my lap as my heart gave a painful squeeze. I had shown weakness. I’d practically begged Thad to sleep with me tonight. Careful of the bunk above me, I leaned back on the bottom bunk bed and groaned, curling into myself. What was I going to do now?
I waited for Caleb to come back or that nasty FBI agent, who really wasn't nasty but made me nervous, but they didn't return. I ended up falling into an uneasy sleep until a hard body cocooned against mine, soothing me into a deeper slumber. I scented cinnamon when arms curled around me, and I gave a mental sigh. Thad.