I was inclined to agree, but I was also curious what he hoped to achieve by assaulting an officer who wasn't under our control. I probably would have just told the poor kid who he was trying to arrest and let the fear of our names—my name—do its work.
"We’d better go," I sighed. "Dealing with law enforcement is pretty fucking low on my to-do list today."
Cass grunted a sound of agreement. "Or any day. Come on." He jerked his head to the back of the house. "I parked my bike around back. Your car is too far away."
"Stalker," I muttered, but followed him anyway. He pushed through a back door and strode down a short path to an alleyway behind. He swung a leg over his gorgeous motorcycle, then jerked his head for me to get on.
With absolutely no hesitation I climbed on, sliding in close until my throbbing core was firm against his ass and my legs bracketed his. I certainly wasn't the kind of girl to be any biker’s bitch, but I could definitely see the appeal.
"Hold on," Cass told me as I wrapped my arms around his rock-hard abdomen. A cop car had just rolled past the end of the alleyway, and a second later, its lights flashed on. "Let's give this fucker a tour of Shadow Grove."
I could have sworn he laughed then—an actual laugh. But it was right as he revved the engine of his bike, so maybe I was imagining things. Either way, my grin was wide as we tore out of the alley, straight past the cop car with my ponytail streaming.
A high-speed chase was a much better use of my Monday than sleeping anyway.
12
It was almost disappointing how easily we ditched the cop on our tail, but Cass didn't seem to be in any great hurry to deliver me back to my car. Instead, he took the mountain road behind Shadow Grove, racing around the tight corners with expert handling and speed.
He was getting no complaints from me, either, as his muscles bunched and flexed under me with each shift of the bike. I was definitely seeing the appeal of being a passenger rather than driver. Fuck me.
"What are we doing up here, Cass?" I asked when he slowed to a stop at Eagle's Rest lookout. He flipped his kickstand out, and I climbed off to shake out my limbs.
He swung his leg over the bike as well, then wrapped his hands around my waist. "This," he said, then instead of lowering his face down to mine—flat sneakers had me a full foot shorter than him—he picked me up off the ground to kiss me.
A flash of shock rippled through me, then I wrapped my legs around his waist to keep from being dropped as I kissed him back. He tasted of scotch and mint with a faint hint of tobacco and used his lips like a weapon—exactly what I'd been imagining since meeting him years ago.
But my phone started buzzing incessantly in my pocket, and I groaned with frustration.
"I need to check that," I told him, my hands on either side of his face and my face just an inch from his.
His eyes narrowed. "Do you, though?" Punctuating his point, his hands tightened where they'd slipped to my ass and his lips found mine again.
For a moment, I let him sway me, kissing him back as my phone stopped buzzing. But then it started again, and I unlinked my legs from around Cass, pushing away.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I took a couple of strides away from temptation, then answered the call.
"Zed," I said in greeting.
"Boss," he replied without any hint of teasing in his voice. "I'm at the city morgue. There's something here you need to see."
I didn't ask questions. If Zed said I needed to see something with my own eyes, then he meant it. Dread curdled through my guts and I breathed a short sigh.
"I'll be there in half an hour. Do you have a copy of the reports yet?"
"Working on it," he said, sounding annoyed. "See you soon."
He ended the call, and I turned back to Cass. The sexy, inked-up bastard just stared at me with his arms folded over his impressive chest.
"Duty calls?" he guessed, his dark gaze running over my face and pausing on my mouth like he was still thinking about kissing me again.
I jerked a nod, shoving my arousal aside. Business first, always.
Cass didn't ask anything more, just got back onto his bike and waited for me to climb on behind him before revving the engine.
We didn't speak again for the whole drive back into Shadow Grove, and Cass took me directly to my car in the covered lot near Nadia's Cakes. Instead of just dropping me off and leaving, though, he parked beside my Range Rover and waited as I popped the trunk open and hunted out a change of clothes. It was one thing for Cass—who I wanted to get naked—to see me dressed so casually. But if I was showing up at the city morgue in official capacity, then I needed to look the part.
Luckily, I kept a bag of spare clothes specifically for times like this.
His eyes remained glued on me as I swapped my hoodie for a leather jacket—luckily, my sports bra was black, so it worked as a "top" underneath—and my sneakers for a pair of black patent leather Louboutin’s. Then I slid into my driver’s seat, leaving the door open as I flipped my mirror open and applied some heavy mascara, winged eyeliner, and blood-red lipstick.
"Just like that," Cass commented in a low rumble, "Hades is back."
I arched a brow at him, pulling my messy ponytail free to weave my thick hair into a tight french braid. He wasn't wrong, though. Changing my appearance went a long way toward focusing my attitude.
"You got a problem with me as Hades, Cassiel?" I asked in a cool tone, sliding back out of my seat and taking two steps closer to him. My heels clicked on the concrete floor, and I already felt different. Less emotional.
Maybe that was why I liked Lucas so much. He seemed to still see the real me through my Hades facade.
Cass just watched me with a wary cautiousness that stung a bit. He also didn't answer my question, and I didn't know whether to be offended or not. Then he ran his gaze over my body from head to toe and shook his head.
"See you around, Red," he rumbled, swinging his leg over his bike and kicking over the engine.
I turned my back on him, going back to my trunk to tuck a couple of spare ammunition clips in my pockets. The roar of his bike faded away as I got back into my seat and slammed the door, and I allowed myself a small spike of disappointment before pushing it all aside.
Business first.
Personal life... later. Maybe. If later ever came.
It was only a short drive over to the morgue at the county medical examiner’s office, so I was only a couple of minutes later than I'd told Zed. He was waiting for me outside, not a good sign, and he was smoking. An even worse sign.
He straightened up when I got out of my car, dropping his cigarette to squash it under his boot. I didn't comment on it, though, just arched a brow at him as he fell into step with me. He gave me a grimace, then opened the front door for me to enter ahead of him.
The metal detectors beeped as we both passed through, but neither one of us stopped to surrender our weapons. Enough of the city was still under my control that the guard on the door just turned the beeping off and pretended like it'd never happened.
"What am I walking into here, Zed?" I asked in a low voice as we made our way down the long corridor. We'd visited the morgue often enough that we knew where to go without needing someone to guide us.