Lyre’s eyes soften as they land on me. My mouth wants to smile, but I hold back.
“And?” He looks at the engine. “Is it bad?”
I sigh. “Worse than bad, my car blew a gasket. I can’t fix it without parts.”
Lyre’s eyes flash with something that looks a lot like respect. “So, if you had the parts, you’d be able to fix it?” He lifts his brows.
“For sure. I have a toolkit in the trunk. I don’t have the parts I need, so I can’t.” A new gasket will cost a small fortune. I had enough money for another week in the motel. Now I’m going to have to buy that part. At least I’ll still have my car.
“Thanks for your help earlier dealing with that harpy,” Suit and Tie says, grudgingly.
“Sure thing,” I say. “Thanks for helping me with my car,” I reciprocate.
“I’m heading out,” he says to Lyre.
“Be careful!” I blurt. “That harpy is after you and anyone else like you. You’re a dragon demigod, and therefore I’m assuming you have powers. She wants your power.” I need to lay it out there.
“You told her about us?” Suit and Tie snarls at Lyre, his finger coming up.
“No, he didn’t!” I yell, getting ready to get between them.
“I didn’t.” Lyre shakes his head. “I told Morgan about me.”
“That you’re not human is obvious to someone who has any knowledge of non-humans,” I say.
“What knowledge do you have?” Suit and Tie asks, eyes narrowed.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
“How convenient,” Suit and Tie throws out.
“You have those who you need to protect. So do I. It’s as simple as that!” I don’t like this guy.
Lyre gets between us, and I realize that Suit and Tie and I are almost chest-to-chest. “Bolt is good people,” he says to me.
I push out a breath, trying to calm down. I finally nod, and Lyre relaxes some.
Then he turns and faces Bolt – the name suits him. “Ease up…please. Morgan is with me.”
“Fine!” Bolt says. “I worry about you. That’s all.” Okay, so maybe his asshole behavior is coming from a good place. I can accept that…to a degree.
“Lyre and I have an understanding,” I say. “We’re working well together.”
“An understanding…” He gives his head a shake. “That’s what worries me,” Bolt mutters.
Lyre elbows him. “Leave it,” he says.
“Lyre didn’t tell me anything about you…or any of the others,” I say.
“No one said anything about others.” Bolt glares at me.
I’m convinced there are more, but I leave it alone. “I put two and two together when I saw you at the hospital. The harpy did too. She was watching from the parking lot. She saw you together. I knew as soon as I saw you,” I tell him. “When you leave here, you need to make sure you’re not being followed. Take the long route home or to your office. Be overly cautious. Call if you’re concerned.”
He glowers at me.
“Listen to Morgan,” Lyre urges.
“You don’t even know her,” he growls.
“I know her well enough.”
“What are you going to do about the car?” he asks.
“We’ll take care of it,” Lyre says.
“Be safe!” Bolt says to Lyre, who nods.
“You too. We’ll stay in touch.” Lyre holds up his phone.
Bolt nods once and walks to his car. Seconds later, his engine is purring and he’s pulling off.
“Don’t take it personally,” Lyre says to me. “Bolt can be…an ass.”
“I don’t care what Suit and Tie thinks of me,” I say. “I have a job to do. Like I’ve told you before, I’m not here to make friends.”
“Suit and Tie?” Lyre chokes out a laugh.
I watch as Bolt drives down the road. “Here I was, thinking you were arrogant.” I look back at Lyre, whistling low. “I was wrong.” I look over at my car and pull in a breath. “I’ll need a couple of hours to take care of this.” I touch my car. “I don’t want to leave you, though. Not now.”
“Are you saying you’ll miss me?” He smirks.
I roll my eyes and then laugh. “You wish! Maybe you are more arrogant than Suit and Tie, after all.”
His gaze softens. “You sort your car out. I’ll be fine. I think the harpy is gone.”
“You think?” I give him a look.
“You don’t think so?” He raises his brows.
“Nope, she won’t stay gone for long. Not after catching wind of your friend. You need to warn the others – because I’m sure there are more of your kind - how persuasive harpies can be. How manipulative. Men are most at risk.”
Lyre gives me the stink-eye. “Are we going to go down that road again?”
“No! I’m not teasing you. You know her. She’s coming after them and they have no idea who this woman is and what she’s capable of. That’s all. You are still the one she has in her sights, so that she can get to them, but you are all at risk.”
“I know. Bolt is aware.” He nods, looking thoughtful. “Thanks for helping him.”
“Of course.” He’s being so sweet, I almost don’t want to ruin the moment. “Who’s in the maternity ward,” I have to ask. “You’re a heart surgeon, not an OB-GYN and yet you’ve been going there an awful lot lately.” I watch him closely to see his reaction.
His eyes flare with uncertainty for a moment. “I have a patient in maternity; she just had a baby.”
“And Suit and Tie happens to have a friend in maternity at the same time as you’re seeing a patient there?” I’m not buying it.
“Yes. That’s right.” It’s all a bunch of BS. The guy still can’t lie for shit, and I find it endearing.
I push out a sigh. One of us has to relent at this point. If we’re going to beat the harpy, we need to start trusting one another. “I belong to a group that keeps watch over non-humans. There are several hundred of us in the US and many more across the world. We exterminate the creatures who prey on humans. You’ll be shocked at how often it happens. All those missing persons reports are not all the work of serial killers. Or they are, but they’re mostly not human killers.” I pause to let it sink in. “We keep a close eye on everyone…or try to.” I haven’t heard of these dragon demigods, and Tom doesn’t seem to know much about them either, so I’m betting they’re okay as a species. I’m praying they are. I find I’m liking and trusting Lyre more and more. “I’ve been with this group for seven years. I was recruited into the organization. A drug addict tried to steal my bag one day, and I held my own. Broke his nose and put him down. It turned out that the addict wasn’t entirely human. He was a vampire and money for drugs was not what he was after. My boss saw the whole thing go down and was impressed. I’ve been partnered with Andy for three…” My voice breaks a little. I clear my throat. “We need to start being honest with each other if this is going to work. Otherwise, this harpy is going to keep the upper hand. I left the organization to chase after Lilith. As of a couple of weeks ago, I’m a free agent. I need to know who is in that maternity ward. You need to be honest with me.”