Drink Deep - Chloe Neill [109]
“It’s under lock and key,” he assured me. “It’s not even possible.”
Jonah frowned at him. “Then how would you explain what’s happening?”
“It’s not a sorcerer,” Simon slowly said, “so it has to be Tate.”
I didn’t disagree that we were running out of options. I just wasn’t convinced Simon wasn’t involved. If I’d learned anything over the last few months, it was that things were rarely as simple as they seemed. Simon was too quick with answers, too positive of his facts. The supernatural world was rarely that black or white.
But if he was telling the truth, and he didn’t already recognize that principle, there was no hope for him now. So I offered him a vague smile, then checked on Mallory. She finally made eye contact, her gaze challenging, as if she were daring me to accuse her of something. Maybe she wasn’t hiding anything. Maybe she was still angry about the phone call we’d had the other day, about my interrupting her studies to accuse sorcerers of being involved in Chicago happenings.
Her eyes shifted to something behind me, and I glanced around.
Catcher walked through the aisle, his stride determined and no love lost in his expression. He glared at me and Simon, and I wasn’t sure if he was pissed or just feeling particularly protective.
“What are you doing here?” Mallory asked, obviously puzzled.
“I thought I’d give you a ride home,” Catcher said. “You are done for the night, right?” he looked pointedly at Simon, and made it obvious that’s where his suspicions lay.
“We’re all done,” Simon said. “Mal, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Sure thing,” she said with what looked like a half-forced smile. But that didn’t deter the near growl of aggression from Catcher’s direction. He took her shopping basket in one hand and put his other hand at her back, where he guided her away from Simon and toward the front of the store.
“I think the stress is getting to both of them,” Simon said.
“I think that’s probably true,” I agreed.
“Well, I need to get some things in place for Mallory’s work tomorrow. Get in touch if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Sure thing,” Jonah said, and we watched him walk back down the aisle.
“Is he that naïve?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. And did Catcher just play the jealous boyfriend?”
“He’s fighting some emotional demons right now.”
We stood there quietly for a moment.
“If it’s Tate,” Jonah said, “we’re going to have to nail him on our own.”
My stomach grumbled. “Can I get a red hot before we save the world?”
“Definitely,” he said. “You can buy.” He walked toward the door.
I followed. “Why do I have to buy?”
He pushed open the store’s front door, holding it so I could pass through. “Because you’re my new partner. It’s customary.”
“Let’s start a new custom,” I suggested, stepping back outside. “Dude pays.”
“We’ll talk in the car.”
Somehow, with Armageddon on our minds, we skipped the red hots and the talk. But when the time came, I decided I’d still make him buy.
Jonah drove me back to the House; my car was still in Wrigleyville, but that was going to have to wait a bit. It was probably still chaos over there, and I didn’t have time to wrangle with police and traffic.
I found Kelley, Juliet, and Lindsey at the Ops Room conference table, all eyes on the giant screen. Another newscast showed the destruction in Wrigleyville above a caption that blamed it entirely on us. Not exactly surprising, but still hurtful. We’d been the first ones on the scene; we’d been the ones saving humans. Regardless of all that, the registration law had passed, and we were enemies in our own country.
Kelley flipped off the image, and turned back to me. I was still muddy and dirty, and probably didn’t look like much. “What did you learn from Simon?”
“The Order thinks this is a Tate issue. Based on our last conversation, Tate thinks this is a Maleficium issue. Simon is convinced the Maleficium is safe and sound, and Mallory can’t stop her exams because the Order doesn’t make exceptions.” I