Eighteen

“Sir, I assure you, there is no explanation for how this all happened. It’s just a blur at the point,” Knox explained to his dad during a video call.

Iris stood nervously by his side, her sweaty hands clutched tightly behind her back. She hadn’t said a word since the call started.

“Iris?” her dad asked from behind the screen. “Do you have anything to say?”

“No, sir. We’re not sure what happened.” She gulped, wiping the sweat from her upper lip.

“Do you two have any idea how awful this is?” Her dad raised his voice. “Belinda is going to hang this over our heads. Like we owe her something.”

Their dad was right. With Belinda, everything came with a price and for the life of her, Iris still couldn’t figure out why Belinda helped them last night.

Iris painfully sighed. “Well … there’s something else.” Her voice was wavering.

“Yes.” Her dad drew out the word.

“I’m not so sure if Belinda really killed that actress or those people at Rodeo Drive.”

“Have you lost your mind? You actually believe her?” Her dad’s face burned red as blood, even through the computer screen.

“I’m just saying there’s a possibility that it wasn’t her,” Iris explained, running her fingers through her hair.

“Well, wonderful.” He threw his hands up. “So Belinda didn’t kill those people, and she saved you guys. Did she become a freaking nun too?”

Iris flinched. “I don’t really have any answers, Dad, I mean, sir. I just think we need to do some more investigating. Also, she was, like, super powerful last night. I mean she’s always powerful, but her spells seemed … amplified.”

Her dad’s eyes turned to stone. “Knox?” Max said sternly. “Is this true?”

“Yes, sir.” Knox nodded his head.

“Well, you guys need to figure this out,” he shouted. “Iris, this doesn’t look good for you. The actress’s death, the murders at Rodeo Drive, and now this? I’m going to need some answers to bring to the board.”

“All right,” she interjected. “I’ll get you some. Promise.” She hoped she could follow through. The call ended abruptly and Iris let out a long breath.

“This is a freaking mess,” Knox said. He kicked the ground and clenched his fists.

“I know.” She paused, taking a seat on the couch in her father’s office. Knox followed suit.

“By the way, have you heard from Mom at all since she went to Spain?” Iris asked. For some reason, she was worried. It wasn’t like her mother to not call and check in.

“No,” Knox said, scratching his head. “Have you?”

“Not at all.” Iris stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Her mind was racing. “She’s okay, right? I’m sure Dad’s heard from her. He’d probably say something if he hadn’t?”

“Yeah. I guess.” Knox shrugged his shoulders. “But Dad’s been so caught up in whatever he’s doing in Wales, who knows if he’d even notice.”

Iris was taken aback. It wasn’t like her brother to say anything about their father. But she agreed with him.

She let out a long breath. “So what do we do about this Belinda nightmare?”

“Well, I don’t know about you,” Knox huffed, “but I’m grabbing Dex and some Jack Daniels and we’re taking it easy today.”

“Booze?” Iris playfully smacked her brother on the back. “You’re only eighteen. I just don’t think you drinking is a good idea. How are you going to lead us if you’re all drunk?”

Her brother had two modes: full throttle, or nothing at all. He’d never been a balanced person, so Iris found it hard to believe that he could moderate anything addictive. And naturally, this concerned her.

“Look, I rarely drink, okay,” Knox assured. “And I would never drink on the job. Plus, Dad’s not here, Mom’s not here, and yesterday a witch saved our freaking lives. I think I’m allowed a drink or two and a day off.”

Iris knew she wouldn’t win this battle with her brother so she shook her head and left her dad’s office before she got even more worried.

She walked down to the W.H.O. underground in search of Professor Alavaraz. She wanted to know more about Belinda. Had she ever saved a human before? Was her power always this strong? How exactly did she sacrifice Marilyn Monroe?

She figured if she could understand the witch, maybe she could figure out if she was lying or not.

“Hey, killer,” Deacon said, coming up behind Iris like a ghost. He snickered as he stood behind her.

She turned around quickly. “Leave me alone, you skeez,” Iris said venomously.

Deacon Wexler stood at about her height and was incredibly cocky. Iris couldn’t really stand the guy, but being a son of W.H.O. board member Gerald Wexler had its perks. Otherwise, he would never be here, witch-hunting gene or not.

“Looks like your brother and your boyfriend aren’t here to protect you, huh?” Deacon gave her a smug look.

Iris jumped. “First of all, I don’t need Knox to protect me. I have no freaking problem kneeing you in the balls so hard your chances of children are completely screwed. Second, Arlo is not my boyfriend, and even if he was, it’s none of your freaking business.”

“Well, good. For his sake.”

“What the hell is your problem, Deacon?” she said through her gritted teeth. “You’ve never said two words to me before, now you’re all on my ass!”

“Maybe I’m just sick of you getting special treatment because you’re Max Bently’s daughter.”

Iris rolled her eyes.

“Really?” she said. “This coming from the boy who is such a poor Hunter his dad keeps him in the classroom just so he won’t screw things up in the field?”

“You know,” he continued, “maybe I’m a little pissed that you let an actress get killed on your watch.”

Her eyes broadened and her mouth hung open. “That wasn’t my fault,” she shouted.

“I guarantee you, none of us guy Hunters would have let that happen.”

Iris’s muscles tightened. Her skin flushed and a rush of energy coursed through her veins like an IV of caffeine. “Excuse me?”

“I mean how could a witch even get past a Hunter?” he asked with a stark tone. “What, did you take a break to reapply your lipstick?”

“No.” She flushed.

“There’s a reason a girl has never carried the gene, Iris. You’re not meant to be a Hunter. You and your mom should just hop on a boat back to Colombia and eat tacos or whatever.”

Rage. Iris never truly understood the term. But standing there in front of Deacon, she wanted to kill him. The worst part? Because of his father, only Deacon was bold enough to say this to Iris’s face. And if he felt this way, there was a good chance other Hunters did too.

“So what are you going to do, Iris?” Deacon said, raising his brows. “You gonna hit me? Or are you going to go apply some more makeup?”

Iris tightened her jaw and she stood there silent, nearly growling under her breath. She was ready to pounce and give this asshole a punch to the gut like he deserved.

“Hey. There you are,” Arlo said, walking up beside them.

Iris gasped. She was caught off guard, probably because she was focusing so hard on not killing Deacon.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Arlo said. He turned to Deacon. “You’re Dickhead, right? Or is it Deacon?”

“Ah. Well, if it isn’t her knight in shining armor.” Deacon smirked.

Arlo flinched. “No way she’s mine, dude,” he retorted.

“Really? Didn’t realize you were such a pussy.”

Arlo tilted his head to the side. “Well, you’re a real treat,” he said with a laugh. “Hey, Iris, we need to go upstairs. You’re brother has some assignment for us. You know since we are real Hunters and all, in the field, not just a C-grade schoolboy like this prick. Have you even been on an assignment before?” Arlo asked Deacon.

Deacon turned white. Looked like Arlo hit a nerve and in that moment, Iris was grateful for it.

“I’m guessing that’s a no.” Arlo turned to Iris. “Let’s go.”

Iris gave Deacon one last glare and followed Arlo up to the main house.

“What is with that guy?” Arlo asked as they walked up the stairs.

“I don’t know,” Iris said with contemplation. “Maybe he’s just pissed because he’s still waiting for his balls to come in. Where’s Knox sending us?”

“Nowhere. I just wanted to get you away from that jerk-off before you killed him.”

“Would that really have been the worst thing in the world?”

“No. But you wouldn’t want to throw away your career over an asshat like that. You’re too good at your job.”

Her eyes beamed and Iris finally let out a grin, feeling the rage seep from her body. They barely made it up the top of the stairs when the doorbell rang.

“That’s odd,” Iris said, pensively.

“You don’t get visitors often?”

“Not through the front door. The Hunters use the underground entrance. Coming through this way is just reserved for family.”

“Nice. So I’m family, then.”

Iris lightly chuckled before opening the front door. She gulped in horror to find Belinda standing on the other side. Instinctually, she threw on her glasses and pulled out her gold knife.

“Oh put your knife away, Buffy, I’m not here to fight,” she said with a seductive smile.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Iris asked. She blinked in confusion. “And how did you even get through? We have Oras protecting this place.”

“One of the young Hunters was up by the fence and I convinced him to let me in and take down the shield,” Belinda said, nonchalantly. “It was like taking candy from a prepubescent baby.”

“What?! How did you get them to do that?” Iris wondered if it was Deacon. She wouldn’t be surprised but she wouldn’t think he would be that stupid.

“He didn’t have his glasses on.”

Okay, maybe he was that stupid.

“Look, to your credit. It usually isn’t,” Belinda explained. “I’ve tried a handful of times and have never been able to get in before today, so.”

“This can’t be happening.” Iris put her hand to her forehead and took a long breath. “So why are you here?”

“Well, I’m not here for you.” Belinda turned her attention to Arlo. “I just want to see if Arlo wanted to have coffee with me?”

Iris felt like she couldn’t breathe. A witch wanted to grab coffee with a Hunter? That’s definitely a first.

“Me?” Arlo said, pointing to his chest. He sounded as surprised as Iris looked.

“Yes. You.” Belinda effortlessly flipped her gorgeous butterscotch locks.

“I don't freaking think so,” Iris snapped. The words just flew out. Maybe it was Belinda’s perfect hair, or her perfect boobs, or maybe it was her perfect lavender eyes, but Iris felt a twinge of jealousy. But of course, she didn’t want Arlo to know that. So naturally, she backtracked. “I mean … You can do whatever you want. If you want to go to coffee with her, then go to coffee with her.” She hesitantly pointed at the witch.

“Do you want me to go to coffee with her?” Arlo asked in almost a whisper.

“I’m not saying that I want you to go, but I'm saying that you can,” Iris asserted. She was starting to sweat and hoped Arlo didn’t notice.

“Okay,” Belinda interrupted, “this is getting weird. Look, Arlo, I’m going to be at The Coffee Bean on Wilshire at 2 p.m. and it’d be awesome if you joined me. But, I put my number in your phone so if today doesn’t work you can always text me when you’re available.”

Iris flinched. It was the same coffee shop where she met Silos a week ago.

“How did you put your number in my phone?” Arlo asked, searching his pockets.

“Magic.” The witch smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Well,” Belinda cooed. “I’m gonna go. TTYL.”

Iris blinked as she watched Belinda flitter away to the witches’ white Range Rover and drive out of their gate. The car’s engine roared loudly and Iris could feel the exhaust make its way into her lungs.

“I can’t believe she would come to the Fortress like that,” Arlo started. “I mean—”

“I think you should meet her,” Iris said, interrupting him.

“Excuse me? You want me to go grab a coffee with Belinda?”

“Yes. We can have a wire on you and just maybe we can figure out what is really going on here. It’s not ideal, but I think it could work.”

“I don’t know,” Arlo said, resting his hand on his chin.

“Well, if you’re uncomfortable, you really don’t have to do it,” Iris assured.

“What about Knox?” Arlo asked. “Shouldn’t we run this by him first?”

“Knox is taking a day off today so he and Dex can get wasted. I’m guessing we have his permission.”

“Iris, I don’t know. I mean, I … Well … I’d like to maybe go for coffee with … maybe you, not Belinda.”

Iris’s heart caught in her throat as she stared at Arlo standing before her. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, why she was so guarded toward him and why she was so willing to send him to the wolves.

Arlo reached over to Iris, slowly pulling off her aviators. His eyes looked exceptionally green today. Brighter than yesterday and the day before. The perfect emerald that nearly glowed in the morning light. He reached behind her, pulling her necklace out of her shirt and tracing his finger along the gold chain.

“So you really want me to do this?”

She swallowed hard, desperately searching to say something, anything.

“Yes,” she finally said.

“All right. Then, I’ll do it. For you.”