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Clarence squeaked and smacked into Binx’s side making her steps falter so she almost fell into the brick side of Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia.
“Grove,” Binx growled.
Grove winked at her. “You’re welcome!”
Binx pushed him—gently, for the shifter—so he twirled and staggered a few steps, cackling the entire time.
Clarence circled Binx like a worried mouse, first brushing off her shoulder and then brushing off Tutu’s wall, as if they’d somehow defaced it.
I stood awkwardly in the middle of the sidewalk for the entire show, too stiff and awkward to meld into the scene they’d created for the benefit of the shadow.
Binx shooed Clarence away, then planted her back against Tutu’s—an indication we weren’t going to be moving anytime soon and pointedly looked away from Grove, giving her a clear look in the direction we’d come.
The pupils of her eyes grew as she stared into the shadows, her night vision adjusting to give her a better look. “Hey!” She barked, abruptly straightening. “Who goes there?”
The street was still but I caught sight of a shape in the shadows. It didn’t move.
How do we want to approach this, when we’re supposed to seem like we’re not overly concerned about the street?I wondered.Maybe we should radio it in, so we can tell Team Watchers without walking up to their SUV.
I fought the impulse to glance at the van—they hadn’t given us the signal yet. Probably because they were wondering what we were doing.
Enough time had passed, however, so I could reasonably turn around to look in the direction Binx was growling, which I did.
The mist rising off the warm streets gave the air a soupy consistency that was tough to see through, so I didn’t spot anything that seemed off.
“Oooh, Blood—better draw your gun!” Grove all but shouted.
Orrin immediately stepped out of the shadows. “So sorry I alarmed you,” he said, an enigmatic smile hovering on his lips.
My magic swamped my system preparing me for another chase. Orrin, the fae we knew was behind the attacks, was here. On Goldstein.
Why? Was he really planning to try another attack?
He was dressed passably casual in a gray, tunic-like shirt with charcoal gray athletic pants—apparently, he’d learned from when I’d chased him that black was a no-no.
No hood today though. Why is he being so obvious?
“Orrin?” Binx whispered. “What is he doing down here? He can’t be that stupid to make another attempt when Blood almost got him last night!”
I drew my gun—Grove’s shout was a perfect excuse, and there was no way I was going to be weaponless around our perp—and swapped to a defensive stance.
Orrin, in response, raised his hands. He stayed where he was, directly across the street—almost close enough to the squad’s SUV that he could have touched it with his foot if he stretched enough.
“That was a nicely done intimidation tactic, Grove,” Clarence whispered. “It worked perfectly to lure him out into the open.”
I blinked trying to understand exactly what Grove had done and how it was an intimidation tactic—was it because he was announcing we were armed?
Supernaturals usually underestimated firearms—to their detriment.
I’ll ask later.
Binx narrowed her eyes as she pushed off Tutu’s and stood shoulder to shoulder with Grove. “What are you doing down here this late?” she demanded.
“Walking,” Orrin said. Since he couldn’t lie as a fae, he was going to be very selective with his words. “Is that outlawed in Magiford?”
Grove puffed his chest up and hooked his thumbs on his belt—looking all kinds of ridiculous that I was pretty sure was on purpose. “This area is under investigation!” he bragged.
Binx looked like she wanted to strangle him for saying that, but it wasn’t like his response was unexpected.
