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I was about to ask him exactly that when Kaden pulled me into his side again.
Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Don’t talk too much.
“I don’t need you to stay out of my way. I’ll win regardless,” Kaden said.
“Only because I’m too bored to put up much of a fight. I guess I’ve grown comfortable in my situation,” Alec said, his eyes wandering back to me.
“Soft, just as you like it,” Kaden said.
Kaden was many things, but I couldn’t imagine anyone ever accusinghimof being soft in any way. He was all hard surfaces and sharp angles. Maybe that didn’t give you the same comforting feel as a warm Sunday morning, but I had to say, if things got ugly, I’d much rather have him watching my flank.
Watching my flank? Who was I becoming? I was an accountant. Maybe not at this very second, but I would be.
“Well, you won’t get any competition from me—not here for that one anyway. I’m here for a different person,” Catherine said, having moved her attention from Kaden to the crowd.
Who were these people? Were they from a competing organization? Were they from Nowhere?
“Enjoy the party. I believe we’ll retire early tonight.”
“You’re leaving?” Alec said.
“Yes. Consider it a gift,” Kaden said.
Chapter Eighteen
Ididn’t ask any questions as we left the party, not willing to slow down our departure for even a few seconds. It wasn’t until we were back in the car, the scenery flying past, that I weighed whether I wanted to know who those people were. Well, of course Iwantedto know, but should I ask? Knowledge was power, but sleep counted for something too, and I was too tired to find out something else bad.
It would be nice not to hear anything disconcerting for at least a day, so I toyed with the idea of remaining silent. Except I couldn’t take that liberty, good or bad, if I wanted to get out of this. All I wanted to do was sleep for a solid day, but I had to ask anyway.
“Who were those two people at the party? Competing organizations?”
That might’ve been leading the witness. Would he lie to me? It surely wouldn’t be the first time. Probably not the second, or third…
“Those two work for a couple of different gods. Sometimes we have competing interests.” He looked at his sleeve as he said this. “Dammit. I liked this jacket. I knew I felt something spill on me when we were walking out.”
Gods? Not even one god, but multiple? Of all the times he had to be forthcoming with answers, this was the one time that a lie would’ve been preferable. This new situation, job, whatever it was, was swimming in a cesspool of danger.
“Can you see that?” Kaden asked, holding out his arm. “This designer is long dead. I can’t get another.”
“Doesn’t that cause a problem? Do you want to be in direct competition with gods?” I asked, hoping my tone of voice imparted the level of seriousness this subject deserved.
If I was associated with his organization, this wasn’t good. I wasn’t going to war with gods for these people. I didn’t want to have beef with some random deities that might be able to strike me down with lightning.
He smirked, as if I’d amused him enough to soften the blow of losing his favorite jacket.
“They’re not overly powerful ones. Tonight wasn’t a big enough target for anyone to get their feathers ruffled. Everyone knows the game.”
Everyone but me. This was another day of work for him. I wouldn’t be sleeping tonight, again.
“And nobody gets upset about that?” I asked.
“They don’t care that much. This is a game to them. You saw them. Did either appear that interested? They’ve got another billion people lined up to play with.”
If they weren’t that big of a deal, why didn’t we do the job? Why did he walk away?
“Or did you have another goal in mind?” This hadn’t been about seeing whomIcould tinker but getting a read on whether they’d met me before. To see if I was a spy for one of their organizations?
“Perhaps,” he said, confessing enough to confirm my guess.
