Page 19 of Spring L.A.W.
“I hopeyou don’t mind my letting him in,” Lioness said. “He said he was a friend of yours.”
Rayna laughed. “Well, that’s a stretch. How did you find us?”
“With some very sophisticated technology,” Payne admitted. “And, by the way, I’m not the devil.”
“Okay,” Rayna said. “Then why did you ask your lackey to follow us and report back to you?”
“Mylackey? He was following both of us, remember?”
“Then why did he only chase after me when we split up?”
“I guess you’re just more interesting than I am.”
Lioness let out a loud laugh. “You’d have to be astonishing to be more interesting than any one of us!”
Rayna gave Payne a long, skeptical once-over. “Did you come all this way to flatter me, or are we gonna skip to the part where you finally admit what you're doing here?”
He held up both hands. “Truce. I just want to talk.”
Rayna turned to Lioness. “Keep an eye on our new friend in the chair, okay?”
“With pleasure,” Lioness said, cracking her knuckles.
Rayna turned and walked away, not waiting to see if Payne followed. He did, of course, like a well-trained dog in Kevlar.
They entered the kitchen. It was a massive, sun-drenched space that somehow managed to be both charming and restaurant quality, with a touch of supernatural swagger. Cast-iron pans hung like medieval weapons above a long butcher-block island, with several knives at the ready. And the espresso machine looked like it could launch missiles if you pressed the wrong button.
Rayna gestured to a stool. “Sit. But don’t get comfortable.” She waved her hand over the espresso machine, and it whirred to life.
Payne eased onto the stool. “Are you always this warm and welcoming?”
“Only on Sundays. And only for people who don’t show up on the heels of a mystery stalker and cryptic threats about an Echo blaster.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I was hoping I’d have more time to dive into this ambiguity and have something to share with you before you did something impulsive.”
Rayna opened a cabinet, pulled out two mugs, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn’t ask him how he took it. She justset a mug of strong black coffee in front of him, just the way he liked it.
“You clearly don’t know me at all,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s the thing. I think I’msupposedto.”
Rayna sipped. “Explain.”
Payne leaned forward slightly. “There’s a file on you. It’s been buried in the paranormal unit’s restricted archives since before I joined. Redacted to hell. I only stumbled across it because your name popped up in a predictive surveillance sweep.”
“Awhatnow?”
“Magic-adjacent behavior tracking. It’s usually crap. Flagged someone last week for burning too many candles.”
“Ilikecandles,” Rayna said. “Sue me.”
“I’m not judging. I’m saying, your name came up. And then this guy, Jasper, pops up on our radar too. We had a photo, and he had a face no one would recognize, including the FBI. Independently, I trackedhimhere. He just happened to be with you.”
“Lucky me.”
“I think someone’s trying to set us up, Rayna. You, me, maybe your whole organization.”
Rayna set down her mug, her expression sharpening. “Why?”
