It was so quiet on the other end I could probably hear a cricket sneeze.
Then Dez cleared his throat. “That was a very unexpected question, Trinity.”
My entire face scrunched up. It was a random question, one I really didn’t want to have to ask, but asking Dez was far better than calling up Thierry or Matthew and asking them. “I’m just curious.”
“Or asking for a friend, right?” His tone was as dry as the desert.
“Yeah. Definitely asking for a friend.” I turned and bent over, gently knocking my head off the cool granite of the counter. “So do you think Gideon would know or could find out?”
“I can ask,” he said, and there was a pause and what sounded like a door closing on his end. “Look, um, I don’t know how to say this without just coming out and saying it.”
I stopped beating my head off the granite, leaving it resting there.
“But if Trueborns and Wardens are biologically compatible, I don’t think after what you went through with Gabriel that any, uh, pregnancy would be...viable,” he explained while sounding like he wanted to scrub his brain with a wire brush. “I’m just saying, you know, in case you’re thinking that, but if you’re worried, there’s this thing called a pregnancy test, which can be picked up at just about—”
“Oh my God, I know that.” I lifted my head. “And I know that after what happened with Gabriel, there’d be no chance of that being an issue.”
“Then why would you even...?” His inhale was audible through the phone. “Trinity.”
I cringed again. “Okay. Well, I need—”
“Don’t you dare hang up that phone,” he interrupted. “You saw Zayne again, didn’t you? What in the Hell happened? What—?” He cut himself off with a curse, and when he spoke again, his voice was uncomfortably gentle. “Did something happen? Did he do something?”
Oh my God, I knew what he meant.
I returned to banging my head off the counter. “Nothing that I didn’t actively and wholeheartedly partake in happened.”
More silence greeted me.
“This is awkward,” I said.
“No shit,” he shot back.
“And I would like to pull a T. Swift, and remove myself from this narrative.”
“This is your narrative, Trinity.”
“I know,” I muttered. “Can you just ask Gideon for me? Because honestly, I have no idea if it’s even possible for Trueborns, and I would just like to know.”
“For curiosity’s sake.”
“Sure.”
His sigh was so heavy that I was surprised it didn’t rattle my phone. “Yeah, I’ll see if he knows.”
“Thank you.” At this point, I was half lying on the counter. “I’m going to get off here and drink some bleach. I’ll let you know what happens with our lead.”
“Trinity?”
“Yes?” I whined.
“Be careful,” Dez said, his voice soft again. “Just be...just be damn careful, okay? Zayne means a lot to you. I know he does. He means a lot to us, too. But you mean the world to everyone else, and if something happens to you, there won’t be a world.”
* * *
Cayman showed up shortly after the most awkward conversation known to man. I didn’t let myself think beyond the next minute as we left the apartment. Too much was up in the air and too much depended on what wasn’t guaranteed. The Crone may have already left the city. She may still be at the hotel but ask for something I couldn’t give in return for her aid; after all, I didn’t expect her to just help me out of the kindness of her heart. She could possibly refuse. I kept my mind blank as Cayman and I rode the elevator down to ground level. He didn’t have a car, but ordered Uber Black.
“It’s the only way to Uber,” he told me, straightening his sunglasses as a black town car pulled up to the curb.
My foot bounced the whole way to the hotel as nervous energy built and mingled with my grace. I felt like an exposed live wire when we arrived at the familiar hotel.
“I’ll wait for you at the apartment,” Cayman said. “Call me when you can.”
“You’ll answer this time?” I opened the door.
He nodded. “Thoughts and prayers.”
I shot him a look from behind the sunglasses, and he was still chuckling when I closed the door on him. I turned around as the sleek car pulled away from the curb and walked across the sidewalk, out of the still oddly cool air and into the near frigid temps of the hotel lobby. I made a beeline for the elevator and, once inside, hit the button for the thirteenth floor.
Stepping back so I stood in front of the doors, I was motionless, sunglasses still shielding my eyes and hands at my sides. When the elevator came to a smooth stop, my racing heart finally calmed. I walked out and into the hallway, following it down to where it curved, and finally the restaurant came into view. I could see lights on behind the tinted windows.
Part of me couldn’t believe I was here. After the last time, I really hadn’t planned on coming back. Inside was nothing more than a cemetery in my opinion.
Pulling the sunglasses off, I tucked one of the arms into the collar of my top and then glanced up and to the left, where a camera Roth destroyed had been. It had been replaced. Another good sign. I opened the door. There was no breezy jazz music playing. No clinks and clangs of dishes and utensils. My eyes had a bit of trouble adjusting to the dimly lit interior, but I recognized the woman behind the hostess table, and based on the way the dark-haired woman muttered an impressive stream of curses under her breath, she recognized me.
“Rowena—”
“Just so you know,” she cut in. “I am not cleaning up any messes this time. I was finding ash in places ash should never be for days.”
Considering that the ash she referenced was human remains of her fellow coven, I was thinking there really was no place that stuff should’ve been, but whatever. “Hopefully there’ll be no reason to leave a mess behind this time. Is the Crone here?”
Rowena didn’t answer for a long moment, but then she nodded curtly. She motioned for me to follow her.
Thank you baby alpacas everywhere.
We walked past the wall that blocked the dining area, and I tried to see everything that I could as quickly as possible. The restaurant looked a lot different from before. All the booths had been stripped out, along with all of the tables and chairs, all except one round table. It sat under a glittering chandelier, and there were three chairs. One was occupied.