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Eli stared at me a moment longer and I sighed. “Fine, a lot dizzy,” I grumbled, finally accepting the hand he offered as he led me to the couch.
“What happened?” he asked, sitting down next to me. “I didn’t see anything get near your head….”
“No, it’s not that.” I shook my head and grimaced, immediately regretting the motion. “My medication is, generally, very great and helpful for keeping me alive, but it does come with side effects, and… some days are worse than others.” I shrugged. “It’s that simple.”
Eli paused for a moment, mouth twisting into a frown. “Well… that sucks,” he finally said.
I couldn’t help but laugh, grateful he hadn’t tried to offer me some platitudes about ‘it’s better than the alternative’ or some shit. “It really does,” I agreed, stifling a yawn. “All of the late nights probably aren’t helping, though.”
Eli grimaced and I just shrugged, giving him a small smile. “I knew what I was doing, Eli. I’m a grown girl, and I can make my own choices — even if they are sometimes ill-advised.”
“At least you can admit it, I guess.”
“Oh, like you’re much better?” I arched a brow. “You would barely even take care of your shoulder if no one made you.”
Eli opened his mouth to argue before he stopped himself and shook his head. “We can work from the couch today,” he decided instead. “You have your laptop; I have mine. There’s a lot of research we have to get through.” He paused and leveled me with a dark look. “But we are definitely getting to bed at a more reasonable hour.”
“Fine,” I agreed, stretching my hands over my head. “But I need something to eat before I even think about… well, thinking.”
“Sure.” Eli got back to his feet, padding over to the kitchen. “Is grilled cheese okay?”
I balked slightly. “You don’t have to keep feeding me, you know. Even like… a piece of fruit is fine. An apple. Banana. I’m not picky.”
Eli rolled his eyes. “I’m a bachelor, but that doesn’t mean I’m entirely incompetent,” he replied, pulling out a pan. “I am eating a grilled cheese. I will make you one, and if you don’t eat it, then that’s your fault.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at how mulish he was, but honestly, a grilled cheese sounded good. As soon as I started smelling the warming butter and toasted bread, it started sounding even better.
“Have we received any more information yet?” I asked, watching him flip the first sandwich neatly.
“No.” Eli flipped the second sandwich with just as much grace. “But I believe my father should be coming over shortly, so he might have something to share. We’re trying to be careful about who could hear us.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed, my mouth practically watering by the time Eli returned to the couch, offering me a plate with grilled cheese, chips, and a pickle. I grinned despite myself. “The service around here is pretty good,” I teased, happily crunching on a chip.
Eli shrugged, clearly trying to withhold his smile. “Crisps would have been better than chips,” he argued, taking a bit of his pickle. “But in a pinch, these will do.”
“Crisps,” I huffed, nudging his knee with mine. “Sometimes I forget you’re British.”
It was his turn to laugh, sounding gently amused. “The accent doesn’t give it away?”
“Well…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just part ofEli. Everyone down here has an accent, as far as I’m concerned — and I like yours better than the local one.”
Eli smiled to himself. “Noted,” he said and took a bite of his sandwich.
We had just finished eatingwhen Nic showed up. Eli had brought the dishes to the kitchen, and his father looked almost startled to see me on the couch. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?” he asked, slightly abashed. “Eli gave me a keycard while we work on this case….”
I offered him a small smile and waved him in. “Not at all. We just finished eating.” As far as I could tell, Nicholas had more of a right to be in his son’s condo than I did.
He sat in one of the chairs across from me, his brows furrowing a little. “Bad night?” he asked.
“Do I look that bad?” I replied, laughing when his cheeks flushed pink. I felt a little bad, but only a little — he should know better than to comment on that sort of thing. Wasn’t he courting Fiona Silverstreak or something? I offered him a small smile. “Just feeling a bit rundown. A side effect of my medication,” I hummed. It wasn’t something I was ashamed of — it was simply a fact of life for me.
Eli joined us again, offering me a glass of water before he sat down with his own. “Did you or Remus turn up anything new?” he asked, taking a sip before setting his cup on a coaster.
“Well… for better or worse, we have quite a long suspect list,” Nic sighed, opening his bag to pull out a list for us. “Even though the donation van is largely a charity organization, we’ve been able to get a list of donors and volunteers for the past three years. I assume that’s far back enough.”
I gave a nod, reaching for the page. “I can only find wolves missing for the past six months, give or take, but it’s good to have some buffer.”
“We haven’t whittled it down at all,” Nic added, looking a bit apologetic. “I’m sure some of those people have moved or passed on. I don’t think they’re all wolves, though Remus said he’d revise the list later after checking pack records.”
