"Or me stealing his hoof pick," I said, feeling a flash of guilt quickly followed by a surge of anxiety. "It's the same thing, and as long as I give it back... " He wouldn't press charges, but it would get his attention, and that's what I wanted.
Ivy poured the last of the juice into a glass and rinsed out the container. "All this aside, I've never heard of it," she muttered suspiciously.
"It's been in his basement." Nick turned back to the blueprints. "Passed down."
Pierce and I exchanged knowing looks. But you ve heard of it? I questioned silently. "Sounds like you've had your eye on it for a while," I said, brushing the used bits of herbs off the counter and into my hand.
Nick gave me a familiar smile that used only half his face. "I have. It's worth a fortune."
Glass in hand, Ivy was the picture of tense belligerence. "You just said it was worthless."
"It is worthless, but public image is worth a lot more than money to Trent," Nick said.
Pierce leaned forward, breathing into my ear, "I don't set much store by his story."
I stifled a shiver at his breath on my skin and Jenks's warning wing draft on my other side. Unfortunately I agreed with him, and after muttering to Jenks that I had this, I turned to dampen a washcloth. My back to Nick, I asked, "So... if it's been in Trent's basement for generations, how did you find out about it?"
Nick was silent. I turned, jaw tightening as he looked at me innocently. Far too innocently. His eyes dropped, and my pulse quickened as Jenks pointedly cleared his throat. "It's amazing what you hear when you ask the right questions," Nick finally muttered, rattling the papers. "Will you get out from behind me, Ivy? You're giving me the creeps."
My expression wry, I exchanged a look with Ivy as I ran the cloth over the center counter. Moving slowly, she shifted to stand in front of him, setting her glass down right on the sum he was figuring in the margin. "If you even think about crossing us... ," she threatened, and Jax spilled a frightened green dust.
Using two fingers and a thumb, Nick moved her glass, letting it drop the last quarter-inch, hitting with a thunk that almost spilled it. "You can have the painting," he said, tossing his hair from his eyes as he looked up. "That's not what I'm after."
Pulse fast, I stood with the center counter between us, the damp cloth in my hand. "What are you after?" I asked, and Jenks hummed his wings in agreement.
Nick's eyes were placidly blue as he looked at me. "A clean slate."
Pierce grimaced, but I only laughed as Jenks darted from my shoulder, his dust shifting to silver. "Dream on, rat boy," he barked. "You think we've been eating fairy farts for breakfast?"
Ivy sat before her computer. She was scowling, making me feel even more uneasy. Shaking the towel over the sink, I draped it over the spigot and turned. I knew Nick. Pierce might believe Nick was doing this to get back in my good graces, but once we were in Trent's compound, Nick was going to add a little to his own personal agenda and steal something that was going to move this stunt from teenage double-dog dare you to grand larceny. I knew it. Jenks knew it. Ivy knew it. And if we knew it, we could plan accordingly. Stupid ass of an ex-boyfriend.
I had to get Trent and the coven together and threaten them both with going public with their dirty laundry unless they backed off. Trent wouldn't agree to a meeting unless I had a door prize, one sensational enough to get his attention, and innocent enough that he wouldn't try to kill me.
"I can get you your canvas," Nick said, his voice even. "All you have to do is get me into the main compound. The rest is easy."
That's all, eh? I found a finger stick in the silverware drawer and broke the safety seal with a sharp snap, slamming the drawer shut. "I can get you in," I said, poking my finger and massaging blood to the tip to invoke the demon doppelganger curses. "I have. I can do it again."
Nick sighed. "I'm not talking sneaking into the public areas with a landscaping truck. I'm talking high-tech security in the basement labs."
Ivy snorted, and I made a moot face at him. "I'm not playing tiddledy-winks