Page 83 of A Wild Darkness

“I don’t know.” I jump over the back of the couch, heading toward the sounds. It’s coming from the suitcase. It’s the earpieces! “It’s my earpiece,” I tell her, ripping at the inner lining of my bag.

“Oh!” She drops behind the couch and reaches for her bag. “I forgot about mine.”

“Sebastian,” Hayden’s voice comes through, pulling my attention away from Stevie’s dress inching up. I grab the clipped speaker and put it on.

I clear my throat. “Hey, man.”

“How’d it go?”

“It went as well as it could have.”

“So, do you know who you’ll take out first?” Hayden asks.

I glance at Stevie, whose bright eyes are fixed on me. She must have put her earpiece on while I wasn’t looking. “Um, Stevie and I haven’t discussed it yet, but I’m thinking either the one who calls himself The Poisoner or the one who refers to himself as The Lurker.”

Stevie lowers to her knees at my side, her sweet scent floating past my nostrils, causing my eyes to squeeze shut to focus.

“Look, we’ll talk it over and get back to you guys. But I think one of them would be an easy first target,” I say.

“Sounds good, man.”

“Oh, and the tracking devices?”

“They’re working. We’ve clocked both your asses on the tracking system,” he assures me before we end the communication.

I turn to Stevie. She’s smirking, and a calmer expression has transformed her face. Looks like the wine is hitting her, and it sends many inappropriate thoughts into my mind. None of which I can act on. “You seem better.”

Her nose twitches a little. “I’m much better. Can you believe we had a cocktail slash wine slash dinner experience with a bunch of crazy serial killers?”

“Yeah, we did. And now we have to talk about who we’re offing first.”

Stevie brings an unstable finger up to her lips. “Hmm. I think Larry, our lurker friend.”

That’s what I was thinking. Her confident input makes my chest feel lighter, but I need more information. “What makes you say that?”

“He looks weak, maybe even insecure,” she states.

A single corkscrew curl falls over her eye.

I gently push it away with the back of my fingers. “I agree. He’ll be an easy first target.”

Stevie’s eyes close as the back of my knuckles glide down her jawline. “I need to shower,” she whispers.

“Okay.” I drop my hand and remember one of the items I brought in my bag. “But I want to show you something first.”

Her face suddenly lights up. “Mm-hmm?”

I reach around to the back of my suitcase and pull on a few more loose pieces of fabric, exposing a vial, liquid, and syringe.

“What is all this?”

“Drugs.”

“Oh, man.” She breathes through a yawn. “You’re intense, Sebastian. But I guess we can do some tonight.”

I smile, taking it as a compliment. “Thanks? But they’re not for us.”

“Oh. Of course, of course,” Stevie says, scrambling to her feet. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”