assures me that we will not have a problem once you are there.”
“Caliana?” I repeated.
Kyden arched a brow. “She’s a vampire.”
“Oh, right.” I gave my hand a wave. “The whole glamour thingy-mi-jiggy.”
“Yes, the glamour thingy-mi-jiggy.” Hadley laughed.
I noticed she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were quickly scanning Kyden’s body—slowly ran over every curve of his muscles. My teeth ground together and my muscles flexed with jealously. “Ahem,” I said loudly.
She met my gaze, and the desire running through her eyes was fierce. “Yes,” she purred.
“Please keep your mouth shut,” Zia said sternly.
Okay so maybe I put my foot in my mouth a few times and Zia knew it. Resolved, I swallowed back my remark and looked at Kyden, who had a barely contained smirk on his face. I quickly punched his arm. “It’s not funny.”
He laughed loudly and flinched. “Oh, but I think it is.”
Hadley looked confused. “Sorry, have I missed something?”
I shook my head, sighing deeply. “No, nothing. Please continue.”
She studied me, then her eyes widened with understanding. “Are you two together?”
Kyden nodded. I remained silent, afraid if I did anything, Zia was going to be very unhappy with me.
“I hadn’t heard,” Hadley said. Then, surprising me, she took my hand in hers. “I apologize. If I had known then I would have kept my eyes to myself.” She glanced at Kyden. “One has finally stolen your heart. I never thought I’d see the day.” Her gaze met mine again as she smiled softly. “I meant no disrespect.”
My smile in return was unencumbered. It was nice to finally meet someone from Kyden’s past that wasn’t a complete bitch and didn’t rub it in my face that they had been together. “It’s fine. Sorry, I…”
She raised her hand to stop me. “Think nothing of it. I would do the same. Trust me.”
“Can we go?” Ryker grumbled off to the side. “I am about to be sick.”
Ryker’s your G.I. Joe type, rockin’ bod, handsome face. To me, though, he was just Ryker. A tough-ass Guardian. Apparently, now that this situation had upped the ante, Talon felt the need to bring Ryker onboard to help.
Fine with me! The more help, the better.
“Ryker!” Hadley exclaimed, her face lighting up. Obviously, Kyden wasn’t the only one Hadley had a fancy for.
Ryker pushed forward and stopped just a few inches away from her. “Been a while, Hadley. You are looking…” his gaze lingered on her body, “…well.”
She laughed flirtatiously. “Working for the FBI is a cushy job. It leaves the body in good form.”
“That it does,” he purred.
Now I was on the verge of being sick. “Okay, let’s go.”
“I’m going with you,” Ryker said, staring heavily at Hadley.
“I will join you also,” Zia added.
“You all need to change. You can’t go in looking like that,” Hadley told us firmly.
“What? You mean walking into the FBI half naked is inappropriate?” I said sarcastically.
She laughed and gave me a knowing look. “Nexi, if you walked in looking like that, I am pretty sure Kyden here would see just how lucky he really is, he’d spend an hour fighting off half our squad.”
* * * *
When thinking of the FBI, I think scary, dangerous. Not, your everyday white-collar business suits. Not that the building didn’t look fantastic sitting along America’s Main Street—it did. It was just your typical commercial building. The only thing that made it awe-inspiring at all was its sheer size. We think supernaturals are a problem—the fact that a government needs a building of this magnitude to control their criminals is mindboggling.
“This is the J. Edgar Hoover building?” I asked, staring at a large cement building with hundreds upon hundreds of windows.
“You were expecting something different?” Hadley asked, a hint of amusement lit her tone.
“Actually, yeah. Considering what goes on here, I was expecting something a little more brilliant.”
“It does the job.” Then, she stopped walking. “I almost forgot. Here put these on,” she handed us name badges.
Immediately, I burst into laughter. The card was obviously from the CIA. Just the thought of me being in the CIA was way too funny to keep in. I clipped it to my pantsuit and followed behind the others as they started forward, but I had to say, “Nice to meet you, Special Agent Mueller,” I laughed reading the name on Kyden’s card.
He smirked in return.
We made our way into the front entrance. Hadley passed the guard sitting at the table and gave him a little wave. He gave a firm nod back, then approached us, eyeing