Beckham cleared his throat. Reyna’s eyes were round as saucers.
“It’s fine,” Gabe said with a laugh and a wink. Typical Gabe. “It’s back under control.”
“Did you say you…put people to ground?” Reyna asked.
Gabe shrugged a shoulder. “All in a day’s work. Didn’t think I was all rainbows and sunshine, did you, sweetheart?”
“Going to find out how much of rainbows and sunshine I am if you call her sweetheart again,” Beckham threatened.
Gabe ignored him. “Yeah, well, motherfucking contact won’t respond. I keep getting rebuffed. I mean, it was a last resort to try to reach out to him anyway, but the dude could have had the decency to tell me to fuck off properly.”
“We weren’t expecting a miracle,” Beckham said. He almost sounded satisfied that Gabe had failed.
“How’s Brian?” Gabe asked.
Reyna winced.
“That bad?”
“Worse,” she whispered.
“He’s coming around,” Beckham said. “Just not too happy with himself.”
“I bet. He was a do-gooder type. Can’t see him being okay with killing all those people.”
“It gets easier with time,” Beckham said.
“Sure does,” Gabe said.
Reyna realized that she was in a car between two mass murderers. Neither of them in the least affected by the majority of what they’d done, and somehow killing people was the only thing she’d actually heard them agree on. Go figure.
* * *
—
“Are you sure we have to do this?” Reyna asked Beckham later when they were standing outside the anti-vamp cult room where the rest of Elle was staying. Beckham just glanced at her. “Okay. We do.”
She was not looking forward to it. Not even a little bit.
Beckham opened the door and ushered her inside. Gabe was waiting in the car. They’d promised him they wouldn’t be long.
The room they entered was massive, at least two stories up and round, with hallways branching out from it. It was full of people watching TV and hanging out. It reminded her so much of the rec room at Elle that her heart panged.
“I didn’t know you were coming by,” Everett said, approaching from a hallway.
Beckham tensed next to her.
“And you brought…him. You know this isn’t a vamp-friendly place.”
“Try to make me leave,” Beckham said threateningly.
“Let’s not,” Reyna said, holding up her hands. “We’re not here to argue with you. I need to talk to Drew and Laura.”
“By all means.” Everett gestured his arm. “But your escort stays here.”
“If you think I’m going to leave her alone with you…”
Reyna blew out a strangled breath. “It’s fine. You’ll know if I’m not okay.”
Their eyes met and she opened herself up to him. Let him feel the turmoil. She knew he could sense her no matter where she went. She wasn’t worried about being in this place. Just frustrated that he couldn’t be here for this.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Beckham said to Everett. “If you’re capable of that.”
Everett shot him a smug look and then directed Reyna down the first hallway on the left. The halls were narrow, with peeling white paint and muted tile. The dim lighting didn’t help with the overall feel of the place. It certainly wasn’t as nice as the old bunker, but it did the job. That was all that mattered.
“You don’t have to antagonize him,” she said.
“Why not? It’s fun.”
“You’re an ass.”
“Been called worse.”
Reyna shook her head. She didn’t want to argue with him. “How are things here?”
“Quiet.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. I don’t know how these people even got mixed up with Elle. They seem to just want a normal life.”
“We all want a normal life,” she muttered. “We’re fighting for a normal life.”
“True. You’re still going after Harrington, right?”
Reyna’s eyes glanced down the empty hallway, wondering if anyone was listening. “Keep your voice down.”
“I have feelers out. Other spies that I was in contact with.”
“Are you insane?” she demanded. “You’re on the outs. If they find where you are, they’ll kill you. What happens if your negligence brings Harrington to their doorstep?”
“I’m being careful.”
“You better be,” she snapped. She sighed and sized him up for what he was telling her. “Can any of your contacts get into the camps?”
Everett shook his head. “None of them are that stupid.”
“Yeah.” Well, there went that idea.
“Well, here they are,” he said, stopping in front of one of the nondescript black doors. “Let me know if you need me, Reyna.” He placed his hand tentatively on her shoulder.
She jerked out of his touch. She still hadn’t forgiven him for all he had done to her. Finding this place was only the tip of the iceberg as far as she was concerned. Everett had a lot more making up to do.
He held his hands up. “I get the picture. You can forgive murderers but not me.”
“You turned me in. I was tortured. Then you help us with information at the last minute, which resulted in my brother being captured and tortured. Excuse me if I’m not running to make you feel better about the shit you’ve pulled.”