little, as if I’d correctly answered. “It’s the nature of our positions that sometimes we’re forced to be too involved in the world. This is our little respite. If you need solace or shelter, or you can’t find me, come here. You can find help. Oh, and there’s one more thing: I’ve got something for you in my car.”
I was curious what that might be, but the walk back took all my concentration. Carefully, we retraversed the stones back to his car, where he dug into his backseat, finally pulling out a glossy paper bag, which he handed to me.
“What’s this?”
“Swag,” he said.
Eyebrow raised suspiciously, I peeked inside the bag. Inside were Midnight High School T-shirts in two colors, a hoodie, and a windbreaker featuring the MHS mascot, a spider.
I closed the bag and looked at him. I did have one problem in regard to swag.
“What?” he asked.
I figured I might as well be honest with him; he was my partner, after all. “I’m living with Ethan.”
Jonah opened his mouth and closed it again. “Ah. I see.”
“Yeah. So I have to be careful. Really careful.”
“The Lake Michigan–sized fit and all. Yeah. That’s part of the RG cost. The benefit, of course, is that the world is a better, safer place.”
“Of course.”
“While we’re here, any developments regarding Oliver and Eve?”
“There are, as it turns out,” I said, and quickly filled him in.
“What’s your next step?” he asked.
“Honestly, I’m not really sure. I think we’re at a dead end unless Jeff comes up with something else.”
He nodded and climbed into his car. “He’ll come up with something. Keep me posted.”
I gave him a little wave as he drove away, then climbed into my car and let it warm up for a moment before pulling out of the parking lot and back into my life.
* * *
By the time I arrived at the House, we were minutes away from the GP ceremony. Bag in hand, I climbed out of the car, but then stopped to think.
Taking a bag of RG swag into the House might not be the best idea; the House was chaotic enough without adding more drama. I unlocked the trunk of my car and stuffed the bag into it, somewhere between the padded gloves I’d used twice for a kickboxing class, the blanket I kept for winter emergencies, and the emergency road kit that hadn’t been opened in all the years I’d had the car.
A car squealed to a stop in front of me, parking parallel.
I put a hand on my sword, but it was Lacey who got out of the car. Still tall, still blond, still effortlessly attractive. She slammed her door shut, and then began walking toward my Volvo.
And she looked very, very happy.
“Well, well, well,” she said as she approached. “I guess we all have our secrets, don’t we?”
My heart fell into my stomach. Oh, God, was the only coherent thought I could manage. What had she seen?
“Our secrets?” I asked, slamming the trunk shut before she came around the car.
She walked around and leaned against the car, a hip against the metal, then crossed her arms and leaned forward just a smidge.
“I know where you were,” she said. “I know where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing.”
I felt sick with panic. She’d seen me and Jonah, and she knew about the RG. But there was no turning back. I could only hope against hope that she didn’t yet know why I’d been there.
Keep bluffing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know damn well. I saw you in the parking lot. I saw you with him.”
My anger sprouted quickly. “Did you follow me?”
“I’m keeping an eye out for my Master and his House.”
“Your Master does just fine on his own, and his House is in good hands.”
“That’s not how it looked to me. And I can’t decide which betrayal I find more disturbing—that you’re betraying him for Jonah, or that you’re doing it tonight, one of the most important of his very long life.”
I swallowed down a burst of guilt and fear that she was correct. But I bluffed just as I’d been taught to do.
“I’m betraying no one,” I said. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” she said with a cunning smile. “Great. Then let’s go talk to him about it right now and clear the air, right before the GP ceremony. You truly have excellent timing.”
“Maybe you could mind your own business.”
“Maybe you could stop screwing around