Wicked (A Wicked Trilogy 1)

the Elite is."

Well, la-di-da.

"Then if you know what I am, you know damn well that there are ancients still walking this realm. You might think since the Elite have been hunting them they are not a concern. Maybe you just don't want to send your sect into a panic by openly admitting that there are fae they cannot kill with iron. And maybe you don't know about halflings. I honestly don't give a flying fuck why you don't want your group to know, but I am telling you that I was sent here because you have a huge population of fae and ancients that have been heading in this direction."

Ren stepped up, and since he was a good head taller than David, he towered over the sect leader. "But if she's saying that there are two gates and that one of them is not working, you need to tell me where the other gate is, pull your fucking resources, and get that other gate guarded. Now."

The only thing that could be heard was the clicking of the clock on the wall, and then David said, "Everyone but you out of the room."

He meant Ren. I held my ground. "I'm not leaving."

"You're leaving." David glanced back at Val. "So are you. This is between Ren and me."

"That's bullshit! This—"

"This is an order, Ivy!" David thundered. A vein along his temple throbbed. "Or have you forgotten that I'm your boss?"

I sucked in a sharp breath. What could I do? Stand here and get myself suspended or kicked out of the Order? What good would that do? However, standing here and punching David in the face would make me feel oh so good. Calling on every bit of restraint I had, I walked out of the room behind Val, not even looking in Ren's direction, but I did slam the door behind me.

"What a bastard," I fumed, striding past an Order member who was coming down from the third floor. Walking to the window that overlooked the street below, I gripped the windowsill and focused on breathing instead of running back there and smacking someone.

Val stood beside me. She reached up, pushing a wayward curl off her forehead. "What do you think they're talking about in there?"

"I don't know." I glanced over my shoulder, keeping an eye on the members roaming around. "You know what the really bad thing is? We're sure that someone in the Order has been working with the fae. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Her eyes widened. "How does that make sense?"

"It's a long story." I turned around, leaning against the wall, and pushed my hands through my hair. "You know the members that have been killed? We think all of them were guardians," I explained, speaking barely above a whisper. "And remember how they said Trent was tortured?" I licked my lips and dropped my hands. "There's this club in the warehouse district. We've seen the ancients there. I was this close to them. They said they knew the location of the gate, and that they would not fail this time. I also heard them say they had a lead on another person. I think they were talking about an Order member."

"Holy crap," Val said. She stepped to the side, her hands on her hips, several seconds passing. "You know all of that sounds like random ramblings, right?"

"I know. It's just . . . a lot going on. This is a big deal. They open that gate, we are so screwed." I looked at her.

Val cast her gaze to the floor, her brows furrowed. Neither of us spoke for a couple of minutes. "Hey, I've got . . . I have to go." She backed away. "I'll call you later."

She left me. Not that I blamed her at this point because that was a lot to dump on someone, and she didn't even know the half of it. There was a lot of potential what the fuckery for her to sort through.

I paced in front of the window, wanting to know what David was saying to Ren—what Ren was saying to David. Why would he kick me out of the room? And would Ren tell me what was said inside? If not, I was going to punt kick him into next week.

Because my annoyance wasn't already at an all-time high, Miles appeared, having walked down from the third floor. As soon as I saw him, I turned away and pretended to be engrossed in staring out the window.

Of course, that didn't work.

"Have you seen David?" he asked.

I glanced at the closed door. "He's in there with Ren."

"Huh." Miles frowned. "Why?"

Like I was going to answer that question. As I studied Miles from the veil of my lashes, I tried to picture him as a halfling, and I almost laughed out loud.

His frown increased. "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting on Ren," I answered. "We were paired up together."

"That you were." Miles eyed me closely. "You know, we found Trent's phone near his body. It was damaged, but not destroyed."

I thought about the phone I'd seen him holding last week. "Okay."

His light brown eyes were guarded. "There were pictures of you on his phone—you and Ren. You guys were by Jackson Square, looking mighty close."

At first, I didn't think I heard him right, then I pretty much just gave up on the day right then. "Well, that's kind of creepy."

"True," agreed Miles. "That was the night he was killed. You know why he was taking those pictures? He didn't trust you."

Tiny hairs rose on the back of my neck. "He thought I was crazy, so I'm not surprised."

Miles smiled slightly. It was forced, barely changing his expression whatsoever. "He was worried that you'd become . . . influenced by the fae."

I balled my hands into fists. "Why the hell would he think that? I'd have to be without a clover for that…" I trailed off, my stomach dropping.

"He looked into your past, Ivy. He raised some interesting questions about what happened the night the fae attacked your home," Miles continued. "Pointed out things that just didn't add up."

My stomach kept falling, and I didn't know what to say as I stared at Miles. Horror was like ice slushing through my veins. No. There was no way Trent had found anything out.

The door opened, and I'd never been more grateful to see Ren stalking out, not looking nearly as angry as he had when I left the room.

David stood in the doorway. "Miles. I need to see you. Now."

I turned to Ren, about to stop him, but he gave a quick shake of his head. "Let's head out," he said.

Beyond impatient, I followed him out of headquarters and onto the sidewalk. "What's going on, Ren?"

He reached down between us, wrapping his hand around mine as we started down Phillip, toward Royal. My step stumbled, and he squeezed my hand gently. I looked up at him and he lifted a brow. "Holding hands is something that people do when they like one another."

"I didn't know we were at the stage where we hold hands," I replied, trying to get my bearings as Ren led me around a group of tourists. The panic was still clawing its way through me, dragging me down as my past threatened to meet my present.

It took everything in me but I managed to shove all of that back, locking it up, and forced myself to forget what Miles had alluded to. I had to do that. It was the only way I could focus on the now.

"I'm pretty sure that everything we did yesterday is a good indication that we like one another, Ivy."

I pursed my lips. "I don't think liking one another is necessary for all of that."

"It is for me." He passed me a quick, meaningful look. "You feel me on that, right?"

Oddly flustered by that statement, I quickly looked away. "Why are we even talking about this right now?"

"Because you seemed so shocked by the act of holding hands, it distracted me, and I needed to make sure you and I are on the same page."

"Ren . . ."

Squeezing my hand again, we turned onto Royal. "David wants to take down Flux Saturday. He's talking to Miles, and they're going to round up a group of members they trust. But we're going to have to get past Wednesday night first. He will have the gates guarded, but not just one. Both of them. He doesn't believe that one isn't working, and he's not willing to risk leaving one completely unguarded during the equinox."

I almost got down on my knees and kissed the street out of thanks, but then that would be entirely gross considering the kind of s

tuff that went down on these streets. "So he believes us?"