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Mom had driven us this time, not wanting to talk with a driver who could overhear. I dropped into the passenger seat next to her. My heart thumped hard, but I dipped my hand into my purse as if I were making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything back at the café.
Iwasn’there just for her ends. Not that I could let her find out my private purpose.
Mom’s gaze took me in assessingly. “That was a short meeting. What happened?”
I exhaled in a rush of frustration. “The Blood Hunter isn’t interested. She seemed suspicious about the fact that we’d reached out at all, and after she heard my reasons, she told me she just wanted you to leave her alone and then walked out.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That kind of a snub? I knew she was inexperienced, but…” She shook herself, but anger still simmered beneath her next words. “There are only three women in the Devil’s Dozen. You’d think she could at least recognize the potential value in having each other’s backs.”
“According to her, she doesn’t want anything to do with the politics in the Devil’s Dozen.” I knit my brow. Now Ireallywanted to know why that woman had claimed her spot at the table. She didn’t seem to have any more interest in fulfilling her expected role than I did.
Mom scoffed. “She’s taking that attitude, is she? No idea how much guidance she’s losing out on that I could have offered.” Her tone darkened. “Well, she’ll regret throwing my generosity back in my face when she finds herself without any chair at the table at all.”
A quiver ran through my veins. There. She’d just openly admitted that her end goal was to displace at least one of her colleagues.
My mouth had gone dry, but triumph sparked in my chest all the same. Because in my purse, my phone was recording this entire conversation. I now had a concrete record of Mom’s illicit plans.
“We don’t need her,” Mom went on as she started the engine. “The fewer who join us, the less we have to share. Someone like her doesn’t deserve her piece of the pie.”
“I’m sure you’ll find other people who’ll stand with you,” I said, careful not to indicate any personal support of her plans.
“Oh, I already have.” A cruel smile curved Mom’s lips. “And when it’s time,allof the others will regret their choices.”
TEN
Quentin
Go figure.The muscle head had picked what must be the most rundown rink in the state of Texas for the three of us to practice.
My nose wrinkled reflexively as I took in the dingy arena. Several of the fluorescent bulbs fixed to the ceiling were flickering; a couple were burned out. The boards around the ice were smudged and in a couple of places outright cracked.
The stands hadn’t fared much better. We tramped past a section of benches that were cordoned off with caution tape because the seats had slanted right off their bases with massive dents.
The smell of stale sweat and grease from fast food wrappers left in the stands made my stomach turn. As we reached the boards, I couldn’t hold back a complaint.
“This is it—seriously? This is the best arena you could find in all of Austin?”
The massive man who was apparently Lou’s gang bodyguard or something like that swung around to fix me with his intimidating glower. My stance tensed, but I stared right back at him.
“The point isn’t to skate in luxury,” he said in his dark rumble of a voice. “The point is to keep a low enough profile that you all don’t getkilled.”
Jasper let out a huff and hunkered down on a bench to pull on his skates. “I’m fine with those priorities.”
My lips pulled into a grimace. “There wasn’t anything even alittlebetter maintained? Who knows if this ice is even—”
Rafael cut me off. “It’s this or nothing. Up to you whether you skate.”
He swiveled and marched back up to the door where he was going to keep watch.
I watched him go and let my gaze sweep over the dank space again. My stomach knotted.
The vibe of this place wasn’t exactly unfamiliar. If anything, it reminded me way too much of the rink where I’d first trained as a kid. The crappy place near home that mostly got used for low-rent birthday parties and community center lessons.
My skin itched uncomfortably with the sense of having been sucked back into the past. I’d moved on to better digs than this in the years since then.
But I couldn’t see that continuing to argue with Rafael was going to change my situation—other than it’d make him and the other two guys who’d grudgingly agreed to loop me in on this mission even less friendly.
I hadn’t had the opportunity to do anything to actually prove my worth since I’d told them what I’d seen happen to Lou back in Boston. No doubt Jasper was chomping at the bit for any excuse good enough to send me packing.
