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I caught a glance of Arden and Jagger in the rearview mirror. They were still holding hands, Arden’s head resting against his shoulder. Jagger was completely calm and serious in a way I rarely saw from him. Arden calmed his chaos without extinguishing it entirely, something I’d never thought possible.
Once we were close enough to Tommy’s, we pulled over and cloaked ourselves to get into his building without being noticed. The one enforcer we had with us scoped out the building first, then gave us the go-ahead when it was clear. We were being overly cautious. It was just an apartment building, but I had no idea what Tommy was capable of—if he was even there.
We went around to the back door, getting past the lock with a quick spell. It was an odd hour on a weekday, but hopefully, that meant Tommy was there, trying to lay low.
We went up the dingy stairwell to the second floor, then made a left toward Tommy’s apartment. The building had a run-down open-air courtyard in the middle, where some fae were hanging out and drinking. Someone leaned against the railing of the hallway, yelling down to the person below before disappearing into his apartment. Having so many witnesses around wasn’t ideal, but their numbers were small enough for us to subdue them if necessary.
The enforcer made quick work of the lock on Tommy’s door, pausing for a moment before flinging it open. He checked for imminent threats before we followed. I didn’t want Tommy to come out swinging, especially since our enforcer was acting as the front line, but I also didn’t want the apartment to be empty. Maybe Tommy was in a back room, hiding?
We stepped inside, with Lex shutting the door behind us. The apartment was just as dingy as the rest of the building, with worn floors that needed replacing and a faint musty smell, like no one had been living there for a while. I checked in the bedroom, which just had a mattress on the floor and a lamp.
“You guys find anything?” I asked.
“Nope. He hasn’t lived here in a long time.” Lex sighed.
“I’m going to ask one of the guys outside.” Jagger uncloaked himself, frustration written all over his face. Maybe I’d thought too soon about Arden calming his chaos.
“Wait,” I said, but he ignored me and burst out the door. All of us followed, staying cloaked.
“Woah, what the—! You can’t just—!” the man who had been yelling at the group downstairs said, backing up against the wall as Jagger crowded his space.
“I need you to tell me where this man is.” Jagger showed him the image we had of Tommy that we’d pulled from our official records.
The guy held up his hands, his face white. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before!”
Jagger huffed, then shifted into his demon form in a flash. He was terrifying enough as a fae, but the fangs, red eyes, and gigantic black wings that sprung from between his shoulder blades nearly made the male faint.
“Are you sure about that?” Jagger moved his wings as if he were trying to hide the fae from view.
“I’m really sure! I swear!”
“I don’t believe you.” Jagger grabbed him by the collar and flew up and over the open courtyard. Everyone below scattered like ants. “You’re absolutely sure? Or are you covering for someone?”
I glanced at Lex, who had also uncloaked. He gripped the railing as if he was going to jump off and shift into his dragon form to stop Jagger from doing something impulsive. We didn’t have time to waste, but Jagger causing a scene wasn’t going to help us. And Lex’s gigantic dragon form destroying half the building wasn’t going to help, either.
“Wait, wait! Don’t drop him!” a smaller female shouted as she burst out from her apartment. “I know where he is! Just don’t drop him!”
Jagger hovered over the courtyard for a moment before putting the fae in his hands back onto the second floor. The moment the fae’s feet hit the ground, he bolted back into his apartment. Jagger shifted back into his fae form, still irritated.
“What do you know?” I asked the small female.
“I know that Tommy hasn’t lived there in a while. But we hook up sometimes, so I go to visit him at his new place,” she said, her voice quaking. “It’s underneath this restaurant ten minutes from here called The Dragonfly. He’s around at off hours, so I don’t know if he’ll be there.”
“Find out where that is,” I told the enforcer. “Let’s go.”
We piled back into the SUV, the air thick with tension. Arden was trying not to wring her hands in her lap and failing, and Lex was uncharacteristically serious. Once again, we stopped at an inconspicuous place and got out, walking the rest of the way. The Dragonfly was less seedy than I expected, though I was surprised to see that it was on the ground level. Most businesses with apartments underneath had a basement level.
“Stay cloaked,” Jagger said to Arden as we approached the restaurant. She hadn’t removed her spell from before.
“I can defend myself. I’ve been practicing.” She glared at him, and he glared back, as if they were communicating without words. “Fine. I’ll stay cloaked unless I absolutely have to.”
Jagger’s shoulders lowered. “Good.”
I pushed ahead into the restaurant. It was empty besides a male and a female behind the counter. They backed up when they saw us, showing us their hands.
“Have you seen a man named Tommy?” I showed them the picture. “A source said he lives downstairs, but I don’t see a basement.”
The male pointed toward the back, his hand shaking. “There’s a hidden back entrance. The gate is on the ground. He was there the last time we checked.”
