Wicked (A Wicked Trilogy 1)

"You two." Val shook her head, tsking under her breath. "You've been up to no good, knocking booty boots."

Warmth swept across my cheeks and down my neck. "Look, guys. There's some serious stuff going on—"

"Like what you two have been doing?" Val added, grinning when I groaned.

"No. Not that."

"Actually, I think what we got going on is pretty serious," Ren chimed in, and I wanted to bang my head on the wall.

Val pushed off the table, clapping her hands together as she twirled to face us. "I'm proud of you, Ivy." Then, completely shameless, she gave Ren a long, appraising look that was one step away from a visual molestation. "Really proud of you."

Thank God David decided to enter the room because I really had no idea where this conversation would go, and I didn't want to be there whenever it got to its pervy destination. I hopped off the table and stepped around Ren. "David, you got a minute?"

He stopped, shoulders tensing as he turned to us. "Do I want to have a minute?"

"Yes. Yes, you do."

Ren's hand landed on the small of my back. "What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice.

Glancing at him, I took a deep breath. "We need to talk to him."

"Ivy—"

David frowned, which wasn't entirely unusual. "Talk to me about what?"

"I found some stuff out this morning," I told Ren, willing him to understand. "We have to talk to him. Trust me."

A muscle ticked along his jaw as his gaze held mine. I could tell he wasn't at all happy about this, and when he looked away, flipping his eyes to the ceiling, I wondered if he was praying for patience. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't going to force him to talk about the Elite, but there was no way for me to bring that up without broadcasting it to the entire world.

"What in the hell is going on?" David demanded. "I don't have all day."

I took a deep breath. "Trust me."

His gaze shot back to mine, and another moment passed while I held my breath. Finally, Ren nodded. "Well, let's do this then."

Relieved that I wasn't going to have a major fight on my hands with him yet, I started toward David. "I think we should go into one of the rooms."

Val followed us, much to David's chagrin. "I didn't invite you to be a part of whatever the fuck is about to come out of their mouths."

She shrugged. "I'm inviting myself." She flopped down into one of the metal folding chairs as David closed the door behind us.

Ren eyed her with a measure of distrust. "Whatever is said in this room goes no further."

An elegant eyebrow rose as she met his gaze. "You're hot and obvious. A winning combination."

David looked half done with the conversation already. "Make this quick. I have to meet with a couple of potential new members that are being transferred here."

I glanced at Ren, but he'd taken up a silent stance in the corner of the room, arms folded over his chest, as still as a sentry. "There are ancients in the city, David."

"Oh, for fuck's sake—"

"Listen to me." I cut him off abruptly and in a way that would probably end with my butt getting written up. "There are. I've seen at least three of them, and they are planning to open the gate on Wednesday."

David's face darkened as he took a step toward me, and that's when I saw Ren move. Lightning fast, he leaped out of the corner and gripped David on the shoulder. I sensed no real threat from the sect leader, but Ren wasn't having it.

"She's not bullshitting you, man. I've seen them myself," Ren said. "They are here. They've been in a club downtown—Flux. And that place is most definitely catering to the fae. Not only that, but we've seen them talking to the police there."

Shrugging off the younger man's hand, David scanned the whole room with an annoyed gaze before landing on Ren. "First off, that's not a huge surprise. We've had situations before where the fae fed off humans who were police. And mostly importantly, I'm surprised you've actually seen a fae since you've been here, because boy, I'm pretty sure the only thing you've been concentrating on since you got here is how to get in that girl's pants."

"Oh my word," mumbled Val.

My jaw dropped, but it was the eerily calm smile that graced Ren's lips that concerned me greatly. "Now that's an unjust observation, David. I can multitask."

That statement wasn't helping things. "David, you need to listen to us. Those police officers didn't look like humans who were being fed on."

"They could've been compelled."

"Does that matter?" I shot back. "The ancients are planning to open the gate, and we know there are two in the city. But the one in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church isn't a functioning gate anymore. They can't get through that one."

Everyone stopped and stared at me.

"What?" Ren said softly.

David's response was a bit harsher. "How the hell do you know the location of that gate?"

"There is another gate in the city, right?" I persisted.

He looked down his nose at me. "There are two, but what I want to know is how the fuck you learned where one of them is and why you think it isn't functioning."

"Does that matter?" I snapped. "I also know about the halflings and what will happen if the prince or the princess comes through the gate and gets their hands on one of them."

"Halfling," repeated David. "What the hell are you talking about?"

I glanced at Ren, and the hardness in his expression said he was a second away from putting David through a wall. "You don't know about the halflings? I'm talking about a half human, half fae."

He stared at me like I sprouted an arm out of the side of my head and was waving at him. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"And do you know how to speak to a lady?" Ren fired back.

"A half fae?" David said, throwing up his hands. "Need I really say more?"

Ren cursed under his breath. "This is pointless, Ivy. I told you there was no reason to bring this up to him."

"A half fae does sound kind of crazy," Val said from her chair. "I mean, I'm not taking sides, but seriously?"

Frustrated, I curled my hands into fists. "If you don't listen to me and put every single member you have on the other gate in this city, they are going to get through, and whether you believe in halflings or not, we're going to have one huge fucking mess on our hands."

"I'm with the Elite," Ren announced the moment David opened his mouth to respond, and those four words silenced everyone; even Val quieted. All I could do was stare at him. I couldn't believe he'd just thrown that out there. Granted, Val already knew, but he didn't know that. Once he had David's attention he continued. "Do you know what that is?"

A tense moment pa

ssed, and then David said, "Yes. I know what