Page 20 of Moody as a Minotaur

“I thought she might have come over to talk to my cousin…” I said, trying to get my mind back on task.

“At three in the morning?” Levi’s eyes widened.

Right. I’d forgotten the time for a minute there. Oops. And Levi didn’t know about my grandmother’s wild and strange suspicions. If he did, it’d be easier to explain all this. But things were so tenuous with him. I wasn’t sure I was ready to expose him to all my family’s, uh,quirks. Not yet.

“I didn’t see her here, so I’ll grab my car and head out to the pub. Maybe she forgot her purse there or something.” That sounded reasonable, right? Would he notice I’d slid right over his question?

“At three in the morning?” he asked again, sounding even more suspicious. Then he did the last thing I wanted him to do; he turned to walk up the street toward my building. “I’ll go with you.”

I hurried to catch up with him. “Oh, that’s not necessary. Really.”

“No problem at all.” He set his jaw and flared hisnostrils. That look meant he was feeling obstinate. I sighed. It looked like Levi was coming with me.

I hoped we found Nana fast, before she broke into the pub. Because if she got arrested after putting me through all this, I refused to bail her out. She was on her own. No way would I help her.

She could call my mother to post bail. I’d pay money to watch what happened after that.

7

AN UNLIKELY UNDERCOVER AGENT

LEVI

I folded myself into Parker’s cramped passenger seat and wondered what in the Magic I was doing. If Parker’s grandmother was snooping around, Van should be the one to deal with it. Of course, that would be a lot easier to justify if Van hadn’t made Parker’s family my problem when he had essentially deputized me before I’d left the pub earlier tonight.

“You’re closer to Parker than the rest of us,”he’d said. “He’s connected to these people somehow. It’ll make more sense if you stay close to them and report back. Find out what Parker knows. Find out what put us on their radar. We can’t figure out a way to prevent them from ever coming back without more information.”

So, I didn’t have a choice about getting involved, did I?

Hell, the sneaky bastard had gone so far as to include me in a group text with several others so we could update each other about the hunters’ activities. As if triggered bymy thoughts, my phone pinged, announcing a new text. At this time of night, it could only be from that group.

I shot a glance in Parker’s direction to see if he was watching me. He wasn’t. He was too busy looking in his mirrors as he backed his car out of the parking stall. So, I unlocked my phone and glanced at the message.

Teague: T and K left their rooms about half an hour ago. Followed them. They went toward the lake. Lost them five minutes ago. Have called Isaac to assist.

Teague was a professional, so how had he lost them? Willow Lake wasn’t that big. That could only mean the hunters were highly organized and capable of hiding their movements from a seasoned SC operative.

Had they played us for fools back at the pub? Had they been biding their time before they went on their killing spree?

I scanned the barren streets as Parker drove through town. I didn’t see anyone. Not Parker’s grandmother. Not Tammy and Kyle.

My dread, which had been with me like a bloated parasite, clinging to me as it sucked away hope and filled me with anxiety, dug in a little deeper. If the hunters were stalking supes already, were we too late?

The handful of antacids I’d popped earlier, when the only idea I could come up with for getting closer to the hunters was to fake date Parker, wasn’t doing anything tocalm my churning stomach now. I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.

I’d hoped going to the motel and having a change of scenery would jumpstart my brain and generate more—and better—ideas, but I was wishing I’d stayed in bed now. At least I was safe there instead of out on the same streets as the hunters, who were probably hunting right now. I clutched at the door handle, scared I’d need to wrench it open any minute, so I didn’t vomit in Parker’s car.

I should have brought the bottle of antacids with me.

It didn’t help that I was out here with Parker. Was he in danger now too because he was with me? Should I insist he return home? He’d be safer there. And IneededParker to be safe.

When I’d first bumped into him at the motel, I’d wondered for a moment if my mind had conjured him to torment me about how it’d be to fake date him. But now we were hurtling down the road toward Magic only knew what kind of trouble.

I was not prepared to face off against hunters tonight. Not at all.

“You’re awfully quiet. Are you sleeping over there?” Parker asked. “I can drop you off at your place or back at the motel… You don’t have to come with me.”

“Uh, no. I’m okay.” I did not sound convincing at all. I rubbed my sweaty palms against my pants.