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7
Kaige
I couldn’t sleep.Again. Of course, that might have had something to do with my drinking habits. The staff kept the mini fridge in my bedroom well-stocked with energy drinks, and I was in the habit of guzzling them throughout the day whenever I had the urge. My last one had been just before dinner, and a restless buzz was still tickling through my veins.
At least it was a pleasant night to be up. A warm summer breeze licked over me where I lay swinging in the hammock tied between the trunks of two of the biggest trees around the side of the Noble mansion. Crickets chirped in an erratic melody. A smattering of stars and a half-moon peeked between the leaves overhead. Ridiculously peaceful. Maybe I’d manage to drift off for an hour or two right here.
The shadows around the edge of the house shifted, catching my attention. I sat up slowly, my eyes narrowing, my instincts kicking into gear. The unmistakable form of a body darted past the shrubs lining the front walk. Was somebody trying to break in?
But no—the figure was headed away from the house. Whoever it was moved stealthily, folding into the shadows so deftly that if any of the men who patrolled the grounds at night had looked that way, they must have missed it. Interesting. A worthy opponent.
I smiled to myself, all possibility of sleep vanishing under a jolt of adrenaline. I hadn’t had a mission in weeks, and honestly I’d been dying for an assignment. I missed the rush that came with it, but Wylder had me keeping a low profile after what had happened with Titus. He didn’t want to give anyone the chance to accuse me of screwing up a job until my name was cleared.
I clenched my teeth at the thought. I didn’t care about proving anything to anybody except him, but it would be nice if people didn’t think I went around murdering my colleagues—no matter how much of a prick they were—for no good reason.
Tracking the figure’s movement, I stayed still on the hammock. When the person dashed from the bushes toward the brick wall that framed the sides and back of the yard, I squinted to get a better look.
It was a woman. Her hair was tied back in a braid, and she was wearing clothes that covered all of her body except her arms, but there was no missing the shape of the perky mounds on her chest outlined against the faint moonlight.
I was so arrested by that delightful sight that it took me a second to recognize who it was.
Mercy Katz cast a glance up and down the road before jogging out of sight past the wall. Huh. Where was the Claws’ princess heading in such a hurry and so secretly? I got to my feet, itching to find out.
I couldn’t deny that Mercy had caught my eye the moment she had walked into the party, her chin raised, fearless and demanding Wylder’s attention. There weren’t many people in this county who’d talk to the heir to the Nobles that way. Most of the women around here started babbling or simpering the second he was in their vicinity. If I hadn’t respected the guy so much, I might have found it annoying. But hey, there was always plenty of action for me too.
Loping after Mercy, I reached toward my phone. Should I alert Wylder that his “Kitty Cat” was on the prowl? Maybe she’d given up all hope of him joining her revenge plan after all. I wouldn’t really have blamed her after the mind-numbing chores he’d been putting her up to. Just today, he had made her pull out the weeds in the back lawn using just her hands. I shook my head, my mouth twitching with amusement when I remembered the death glare she’d shot his way.
But she’d followed through, as gorgeous and defiant as ever. She seemed pretty serious about proving herself.
What if all that had been for show, and she had ulterior motives after all? She could be sneaking off to meet some co-conspirator.
After a moment’s debate, I left my phone in my pocket and continued after her. I’d look like an idiot if I raised the alarm for no reason, and half of Ezra Noble’s staff saw me as an idiot already. Anyway, I’d find out more if I saw where she went first.
And a chase would be more fun.
Around the fence, I caught sight of her farther down the street, heading toward the corner. I hustled after her, setting my feet as quietly as I could and keeping close to the trees at the edge of the neighbors’ lawns so she wouldn’t notice me.
It was harder to hang back far enough heading down the steep slope that led to the busy downtown streets below the hill. I let Mercy get more of a lead, but my gaze never left her.
Just as she reached the bottom, where traffic was whizzing by, she raised her hand. My muscles started to tense with the thought that she might have had plans to meet someone behind our backs, but a moment later, a striped car pulled up to the curb. She’d only been flagging a cab.
Of course, that cab could be taking her somewhere Wylder would want to know about. As she popped into the back seat, I hustled the rest of the way down the hill.
Thankfully, there were plenty of taxis cruising around downtown at this time of night, hunting for bar-goers who needed a safe ride home. I spotted one about to zip right by me and dove into the street in front of it.
The tires screeched, the hood tapping my thighs as it just barely stopped without knocking me over. I grinned at the driver through the windshield, my adrenaline spiking just the way I liked it.
“Y-you almost died,” the cabbie stammered.
“But I didn’t.” I bounded around to dive into the back. “I need a ride. Follow that yellow-and-green taxi that just stopped at the lights up ahead. I’ll pay you double if you step on it.”
Money could grease plenty of wheels. The driver got over his shock just like that, and in moments we were rumbling after Mercy without her any the wiser.
To my surprise, Mercy’s taxi headed out of the city and into the Bend. Wouldn’t Colt’s men be on the hunt for her there? My suspicions prickling to the surface again, I leaned forward in the seat as if I could figure out Mercy’s intentions if I stared at the car hard enough. What was she doing walking back to the den of the tiger?
Wylder didn’t bother doing much business directly in the Bend, but I was pretty sure the part we’d ended up in was former Claws’ territory. Mercy’s taxi stopped in a residential neighborhood, and I asked my cabbie to pull over at the other end of the street. After handing him a wad of cash, I got out and covered the rest of the distance on foot.
Mercy had disappeared into the backyard of a big brick house farther down by the corner. I frowned, venturing closer. Movement flickered in the shadows, and then suddenly she was bounding off the high branch of an oak tree onto a second-floor balcony.
