“Speak,” he commanded.
“Fine.” I sighed. “Elder Cleric Amandine is not involved, as you heard last night, Nix.” I turned from him to the comm unit and Trinity. “She’s pissed someone went after you and Faith. She sent Crayden to find out about Optimus Cell Level C. He’s now dead, which makes his searching, well, a dead end. I have no idea where that is, but that’s pretty darn specific. She said they’re keeping an unauthorized prisoner there. A high priority, top-secret prisoner and she sent someone to find out what the hell is going on. She’s an ally.”
Trinity sucked in a breath. “I’ve heard of that place before. That’s where Wyse tried to send Faith. You think it could be Mom?”
“Based on the fact that I’m now wearing that guard’s blood, yeah, I think that’s a safe bet. Elder Amandine does, too.”
“Shit.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Get back to the palace,” she ordered. “Now. Let Leo and his dad handle this. Get the hell out of there.”
“I don’t think so, Trin,” I replied. “Someone here killed Crayden. Someone here knew he was asking questions. We have enemies here, and I intend to find them. I said I would meet with Elder Amandine in the morning.” It felt a little odd talking with Nix kneeling before me, staring at me like I was a work of art. A fascinating, sexy, goddess. No one looked at me like that. Ever. I had to clear my throat and tear my gaze from his face. “If it’s not Mom in that cell, I’m betting someone here still knows something about her disappearance.” I had a gut feeling about this one. It was Mom locked up. I knew it. But I didn’t want to get Trinity’s hopes up. Or mine, for that matter. Somehow, not saying it made it easier to keep moving.
“Okay. I’m on it,” she replied.
“No.”
“You can’t stop me and I can’t stop you.”
I grinned. Couldn’t stop myself. “Sounds like old times.”
Trinity laughed. “Come on. Come back to the palace. You said yourself Elder Amandine isn’t in on it. You should come in now. It’s too dangerous for you there.”
“No, it’s not. I’m fine. And with Crayden dead, someone’s got to watch her back.”
“And who is going to watch yours?” she countered.
“I will, of course,” Nix replied.
I eyed him, knowing now I wasn’t going to get away from him so easily. From the gleam I saw, the clenched jaw, I had a feeling I wasn’t breathing without him next to me.
“No.” I raised a bloody hand. “I’m not finished. This is a big place, Trin. There are more players than just the one elder. Since she’s a good guy, then someone else has to be in on it. I’m in deep here and I’ve got help from a head elder. I dyed my freaking hair,” I replied, eyeing her carefully. She knew that was a big deal. “I can learn more.”
I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that with Nix here, but I had to get Trinity satisfied and off the call and then I could deal with him.
She sighed and I knew I had won. I ignored the caveman kneeling before me, looking up at me, staring at me like he’d never seen anything so beautiful. He lifted a hand to my hair and ran his fingers through the black strands as if he’d never seen hair before. I was waiting for him to grasp my neck and strangle me for how I’d gotten away from him.
What was wrong with this guy? Why did he think I was his mate? I mean, I was so-so, at least average in looks. Maybe. My eyes were too narrow and my nose had a weird bump near the top. My lips were too thin and I had no boobs to speak of. For being a twin, Faith got it all in the looks department. What the hell was he looking at like that?
His hands slid under the long hem of the tunic I wore; the heat of his hands seeped through the material of my pants. Higher and higher he moved, not slowly and not with too much haste, as if he were savoring the journey, until he cupped me.
His eyes flared, his jaw clenched as I knew he felt how damp the fabric was and what that indicated.
I moaned because his hand felt soooooo good.
“Trin, I’ve got to go.”
“But, I need to—”
I disconnected, let the comm fall to the floor.
Yeah, I needed to do something too, and it was Nix.
I didn’t want him here. Obviously, the stubborn Aleran male had zero intention of letting me just go about my business. And now he would hover, with Trinity’s blessing. I had no chance of getting him to see reason. And based on how quickly he’d tracked me down, he wouldn’t be easy to shake off my trail.
But, at the moment he was working my pants off and that was more important than anything else in the world. Thank god he’d closed the door behind him.