Chapter Twenty-One

Surprisingly, there wasn’t much traffic on this route. From what people said about L.A., it was nothing but crowding and traffic twenty-four-seven. It didn’t take long to reach the incline and start climbing into the ritzy private hills of the famous and powerful.

“How did your first missions go?” Thirteen asked.

“Only two, and not what I expected.”

“Oh?” Mirth in his voice.

“With all the focus on creatures, I didn’t envision collecting old books as the start of this job.”

He laughed. “We drill on the life-and-death crap because you have to be prepared, but a lot of the work is exactly that—taking books and relics out of the hands of the clueless before they hurt themselves. What did you have to do?”

“An auction and a museum transfer, and Amelia was on point. I was only backup.”

“Guides have their purposes.”

“Why don’t you have one? Is this like training wheels?”

“A little. What have you done the rest of the month?”

“Hunting.”

Traipsing around the East Coast in a van with a stuffy Brit wasn’t my ideal, either.

“What did you find?”

“Only some ghosts.”

“You’ll be asked to do more once you’ve gotten your feet wet.” Parking the van on an incline, he set the brake. “Time to go to work.” He opened the door after checking for passing traffic. “Not afraid of heights, are you?”

“Please.” I joined him at the back.

We put on climbing harnesses.

He grabbed ropes and an equipment bag. “Let’s head up.”

He led me up the hill a few feet to a power pole across from a fancy gate. The pole had metal pegs embedded for service climbs. He went up first, secured a rope, and dropped it to me. I hooked in and joined him above. We secured our harnesses so our hands would be free to work and he started installing the camera.

Up here, the view into Juliet’s compound was clear. A long driveway led to a huge European mansion of pale tan stone. Human guards patrolled the perimeter of the house.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“She employs humans.”

“Money buys everything. And some are drawn to vampires.”

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Insane. And eww. “Do you think she’s asleep?”

“Probably.” He checked a small LCD screen. “Camera’s transmitting. We’re done.”

“That’s it? You didn’t need me here at all.”

“Two employees are less suspicious than one.” He winked, then released to slide down the rope.

Annoyed, I released to fall fast to put my feet on the ground, but he caught me, putting our faces really close. His hands on my waist were hot through the cloth.

He stared at me for an eternal second before setting me down.

What was that?

“I’m trying to do serious work in this job,” I said in the van. “Not be your sidekick!”

“Chill, Red. I wasn’t lying about wanting to do this with two people. Needed help with the decals, didn’t I?” He started the engine and put the van in gear.

“Why me?”

“Because you’d come.”

“Don’t abuse my trust, Thirteen.”

He braked for a stop sign. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Seven.”

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking me.” His calm agitated my temper.

“Then I’ll impart some truth.”

“You better.”

He hadn’t glanced at me once since putting the van in drive.

“Seven, I’ve worked with you because I have faith in you. Because I’ve come to trust you. You have integrity, a strength in your beliefs—your commitments—that’s rarely seen.”

I stared at him. His words stunned me. Certainly a surprise.

While I felt we’d bonded, I never would’ve guessed he had that kind of sense of me. It left me flattered and wondering if I was really worthy of such praise.

“I don’t worry about this job compromising your morality. That’s why I want to work with you.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

We lapsed into silence.

Amelia would be surprised to see us back so soon. Except Thirteen didn’t return to the house. We were on an unfamiliar route.

“Where are we going?”

“Trust me.”

Once we were heading west, he stayed on that course. The van grew stuffy and I turned on the AC. He flicked the radio switch to some rock song.

And still he drove west.

“Are you going to the ocean?”

“Patience, padawan.”

“Huh?”

“Star Wars.”

“Oh.”

He shook his head. “You really have been a sheltered hick.”

I punched his arm. Grinning, he rubbed the bruise. I smiled.

We were back to normal.

Thirteen took me to the beach. For a moment, we sat in the van gazing out at the blue expanse ahead. My first glance at the Pacific. The sparkling water was beautiful.

“Where are we?” I asked quietly.

This early, only a couple surfers were in the water.

“Somewhere between Santa Monica and Malibu.” The engine was still running. “I wanted you to see there’s beauty here, too. Remember that when you deal with the dark.”

“I won’t forget.”

Instead of leaving, he rolled the window down. Closed his eyes and inhaled. Home. Maybe as a teen, he’d been one of those surfers in the glistening waves on a summer weekend.

Suddenly, I felt like I was intruding on something private, so I stayed silent.

Another song, and then he reversed out of the space and left the parking lot.

Soon, we were on a highway.

“Any other parts of this mission, or do we leave tonight?”

“We’ll put a camera on the pole on the opposite side of her property.”

“Then what?”

“We could always kick the hornet’s nest.”

“Haha. The Director would kill us even if Juliet didn’t.”

“Buzzkill.”

“Adrenaline junkie.”

“Touché.” Sly grin included. “You’re right—in all seriousness, the City of Los Angeles and the neighboring hills where Juliet lives are off limits. But the county as a whole is not, nor are the adjacent ones, so we can still hunt if you want to do some good.”

“The blond is hiding a brain.”

“Brat.”

“Show me its secrets.”

“Hmm?”

I angled toward him, much as the seatbelt allowed. “Show me things about the area only an agent knows from being on the ground. This won’t be my only trip to L.A., right? Show me what I need to know.”

His right brow rose. “You think I have intimate knowledge, huh?”

“This was your home.”

We wouldn’t have been at that beach if Southern California no longer mattered to him.

“A repository of experience and she wants me to play tour guide.”

“If you know someone better, I’m all ears.”

He made a face at me and took an exit.

“You’re lucky I have a full tank of gas.”

“We can always go back to the safe-house and report to Amelia,” I said sweetly.

It earned me another eye roll.