Lifting my gaze, I saw Miles leaning against the wall, staring at me. I waited a second and decided to make use of the fact that he was being a creep. “Can I ask you a question?”
“If I say no, you still going to ask?”
“Probably.” I twirled the pen between my fingers. “The crystal that Val came back and took from here. What is the significance of it?”
One shoulder rose, but there was a forced casualness about it that I didn’t trust. “Just a piece of shit gem that doesn’t mean much.”
“Then why would she come back and take it if it’s nothing?”
He shrugged. “Probably because she’s a dumbass and thinks it holds some value.”
Okay. Yeah, I wasn’t believing that for one second, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to tell me anything else. I got back to filling out my report, and when I peeked up again, he was still being a creep. I sighed. “What?”
Miles smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You and I don’t really know each other.”
I tilted my head. “To be honest, no one really knows each other in the Order.”
“Except you and Val. You two knew each other fairly well, and she betrayed the Order and is now dead.” He pushed off the wall, approaching the table. “Fell off a roof. Huh.”
There wasn’t a single part of me that missed the fact that he didn’t refer to Val as the halfling.
“And you’re close with Ren. You two are dating.” He sat in the seat across from me, which sucked, because that meant he wasn’t planning to leave anytime soon. “And now he’s MIA. An Elite member missing. That’s odd.”
I dropped my pen. “Where are you going with this, Miles?”
“Nowhere, really. Just thinking out loud.”
“Can you not do that?”
The chair squeaked as he leaned back. “You know what else I can’t not do?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Your double negative is confusing as hell.”
“I can’t shake this feeling I’ve had for about three years that there is something very, very off about you.”
My breath caught as our gazes locked.
“David trusts you. He even likes you.” Miles’s stiff smile slipped from his face. “I don’t know why, but I don’t trust you, Ivy.”
I didn’t look away as I tensed, but hey, good to hear David actually did like me. “Well, thanks for letting me know your personal, irrelevant opinion of me. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, smirking. He leaned forward, placing his elbow on the table. “I’m going to be real cliché as hell, too. I’m keeping my eye on you, Ivy.”
Chapter Seventeen
I finished my report, which was just a generic breakdown of events leading up to Val’s death, under the watchful eye of Miles. I managed to ignore him and not spin kick him upside the head when I left. I pushed the episode with him to the back of my mind. I had other things to stress over.
Namely Ren.
The prince.
The fact my womb was a walking time bomb.
I caught a ride over to the warehouse district, to Ren’s place. As I rode the industrial, cage-style elevator up to his floor, I worked through the multiple scenarios of how this could play out. If Ren wasn’t here, I didn’t know what to do next other than scouring the streets for him, but I knew I’d have little luck. After living in New Orleans for three years, I knew the streets could swallow people whole. And if Ren was at his place? Oh gosh, I’d probably just cry out in relief, hug him, and then scamper off. If he was at his place, avoiding David and my calls, he didn’t want to be found.
My heart was bouncing all over as I walked up to his door. My hand froze as I went to knock on it. Fear held me still. Ridiculous. I could face down a pack of rabid fae, but I was too scared to knock on Ren’s door?
I rolled my eyes.
Rapping my knuckles on the steel, I stepped back and waited . . . and waited. I knocked again and waited probably five minutes. Nothing. Either he wasn’t in there or he spotted me through the peephole and wasn’t answering. Either way, I felt sick to my stomach.
I gave up and went back down the elevator. Outside his apartment, I fought to not give in to the panic building in my stomach. I needed to refocus, and since I was close to Flux, I decided that was better than nothing. And it would totally be worth David’s glare when he saw me.
It took me about fifteen minutes to get to the stretch of newish buildings and old warehouses converted into clubs and restaurants. There was no missing the fact that some serious crap had gone down at the club. Blue and red lights lit up the street, casting alternating colors along the shiny windows of the nearby buildings.
My steps slowed as I neared Flux. Yellow police tape spanned the area, roping off the entrance to the club. Reporters were being kept at bay by several police officers. I scanned the crowds but didn’t see David or any other Order member. Remembering the back entrance where Ren and I saw the fae talking with the officers, I skirted around the crowd and cars and headed for the alley.
Walking past the stone benches and potted plants, I stopped and peered around the corner. Several dark SUVs blocked the doors. There was a back entrance where food service and staff entered. One that I doubted would be easily—
“Hey.”
Swallowing a yelp, I nearly came out of my skin as I whipped around. Glenn stood behind me, dark brown eyes wide and brows raised. “Holy crap, are you part ninja?” I exclaimed. “I didn’t even hear you walk up behind me.”