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I don’t care what Rick or Zander says. I know she’s hiding something, and while Kratos being in her corner should have helped me to feel relieved, all it did was push me farther. We’ve known Kratos for years, and he’s never given anyone the time of day, but somehow after two meetings with Jade, he’s acting like a regular guy.
It wouldn’t be so odd for anyone else, except maybe Rick, who I also might add is less broody around her than usual, but that’s not as crazy as Kratos for me. And while Zander isn’t at all shocking in his behavior, it’s still annoying the ever-loving hell out of me.
As if my thoughts have called them to me, I hear none other than Zander and Jade enter the library. I have to force down a groan of frustration which is easier said than done.
I rub a hand down my face, my eyes falling closed as I do, making me realize, not for the first time, that I’m exhausted. I didn’t sleep last night as I dug into her background. I had hoped to get some sleep today while she would have been busy with Zander, but Kratos killed that plan when he called Rick early this morning for us to bring Jade to the club again. When we got back, Jade headed down the hall to her room, and since I already had my laptop on me from the work I did, I chose to go anywhere that she wasn’t, hence being in the library now.
I’m not dumb. I know that I need to leave Jade alone. I can’t afford to piss Froggie off after everything we’ve done to get where we are. Hell, I don't want to get on Kratos' bad side either with how he seems not only to tolerate her but like her, and honestly, I would rather not be arguing with the guys. But I know! I know there is more that she isn’t telling us, and unknowns are dangerous in our line of work. I won’t be taken advantage of again.
So I need to stay away from her until I know what I’m up against because right now, seeing her sets me off in a way that I’m not used to, and I can’t afford to be going off at the mouth with her every other day.
I open my eyes, and half expect to see them here in my space, but when I look around, they’re nowhere to be seen. They must have decided to stay in the main room of the library for now, and I’ll take it because between my lack of sleep and annoyance at this situation, I’m not sure I can handle going toe to toe with either of them, let alone both of them right now.
I sigh as I reach for my coffee again before remembering it’s empty. Fuck, going to get more is so far out of the question now.
Instead, I refocus on my laptop, where it sits in front of me on the table, and dive back into my so far fruitless searches on the tiny demon who has entered our homes and lives.
* * *
After a while,I’m so far into my work that I forget about them being in the library. Every once in a while, I can hear them whispering together, her giggling at something, pages turning, and furniture being rearranged, but for the most part, they are quiet.
The next time I pull myself away, I check the time only to see that it’s been much longer than I realized. It's now closer to midnight. I sit and listen for a moment, but I don’t hear anything, not the slightest hint that they are still in the other room, and really I’m not surprised with how long it’s been.
I stand up and stretch, my bones and joints popping in protest of having sat in the same spot for so long, but it feels fantastic on my stiff muscles. I snatch my cup up on the way around my small table and head out to find more coffee and hopefully a quiet house. I probably should get some sleep at this point, but I still have nothing, and going to bed with nothing feels too much like failure to me. I just need something, anything.
I make my way around the corner from the little nook I’ve claimed as my own over the years and almost drop my mug in shock at the sight in front of me.
The main area of the library is a vast circular room, with book sleeves built into every wall and oversized chairs scattered around the space for someone to be able to fall into a book. The area may be used the least in the house, but Clair is nothing if not thorough in her design and wanted people to have the choice to sit if they wanted to.
There are a few nooks like my own that lead off to tables for research and one that leads up to a loft with a low ceiling. It still has children's books from when Rick was small. We used to build forts up there when we were younger, but we hardly ever read the books. Well, Rick did. Zander and I were more likely to start chucking them at one another or building them into towers to see who could make a bigger one before they fell.
I shake myself from the memory and focus again on the site in front of me. Zander’s lying on one of the large chairs upside down with his feet hung over the back and his head hanging off the edge, his hair damn near touching the floor beneath him, which isn’t that outside the realm of normal as far as Zander goes. What is abnormal for him is that he appears to be reading the book in his hand, like actually reading it, not just looking at it.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zander read a book in all my years of knowing him, which is, like, his whole life. Hell, he hardly reads his school materials. The closest I’ve seen him come to reading a book is when he studies a car or motorcycle manual. At this point, he’s been working on them for so long that he knows what he’s doing. So it’s been a while since I’ve seen him need a manual.
Jade is just a few feet from him. It appears he pulled the chair away from the wall to be closer to her. Again, not shocking.
What is shocking is that books absolutely surround her. I stand there for a moment, just letting my eyes wander from book to book as I try to understand why but none of it adds up.
She has every different type of genre by a bunch of different authors. Some are fiction, and others are non-fiction, as if she couldn’t choose just one book.
Right now, she is nose-deep in a large book that I can’t see the cover of. She has it on the floor under her face as she lays on her stomach, feet in the air like a child. Her face is completely blank as her eyes track down the page before she flips it and continues. She’s either a very quick reader, or she’s skimming; honestly, I can’t be sure. There are two stacks in front of her, one on her left and one on her right, and my curiosity almost has me asking aloud what each stack is before I realize that they haven’t noticed me yet, and calling attention to myself is not at all what I want right now.
I make it as far as the door before Rick decides that pulling attention to me is precisely what he wants to do.
I kept my eyes mainly focused on Jade as I made my way to the door, and because of that, I completely missed Rick, who was standing in the doorway with his shoulder leaned against it, the picture of ease as he also takes in the odd scene. My focus was so completely on her that when I see him, I startle enough that I’m not only embarrassed but scrambling to hold my cup. This is the second time in less than ten minutes that I’ve almost destroyed my favorite mug, and I’m too tired and annoyed in general for that to happen without me throwing fists about it.
His lips turn up in the slightest smirk as he watches me try to collect myself. Yeah, laugh it up, asshole, but he doesn’t pull his eyes away to look at me.
I huff out a breath as I ready myself to deal with them because even before Rick speaks, I know that sneaking out of here for coffee is no longer an option.
Obviously, Rick has a reason for being down here, and as odd as the display is, I doubt he came here just to watch them. He was probably just as caught off guard as I was and decided to watch for a moment before he got back to business.
“Kratos just called.” He says as if he was able to hear my thoughts.
Jade’s head pops up so quickly that it would probably be funny if it were anyone else. She’s damn near impossible to sneak up on. Trust me, Zander has been trying all week and failing miserably. The closest thing I’ve ever seen to a ninja when he’s sneaking around, and not even he can get her. Whatever book she was reading was enough of a distraction that she didn’t even notice either of us was here.
She pulls herself off the ground to sit cross-legged in the same spot she was just lying. As she looks up at us both, I can see the frustration clear on her face at the realization that we were able to go undetected, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.
