Later that day, Shay walked into the front office, looking for Raia.

She was sitting at the front desk, as usual, looking gorgeous with all her cool tattoos and all the buttons and buckles on her top. She was holding a wireless phone between her cheek and shoulder while absentmindedly flipping through some paperwork.

“Okay, Sweetie,” she said. “I gotta get back to work. Love you! Muah. Buh-bye~!”

That was different! She was smiling super-wide and her tone was bubbly and cute. The drastic shift in demeanor from her usual self was adorable.

She put the phone back on the wall, then turned to Shay with her usual scowl.

“What do you want?”

“And who was that just now?”

“N-none of your business!”

Shay leaned forward, fluttering her eyelashes, “Was it a guy?”

“Ew. No.”

Simple, two-word response. Dismissive tone and... disgusted expression?

HmmMm. That led Shay to a certain assumption~

Raia leaned back in her chair, pinching the space between her eyes. The black polish on her short fingernails needed to be redone.

“Listen, Shay, I’m kinda busy right now...”

Shay nodded as she took in the sight of the various stacks of paper on her desk.

When they first met, Raia was collecting information on behalf of the Arkham Enquirer. But besides that, she was also Tyvan’s secretary, organizing his documents, making his appointments, and making doubly sure he kept them.

Since Raia was always busy, small talk wasn’t the best approach when talking to her.

“When’s Tyvan coming back?” she asked.

Raia returned a glare with, “What are you planning, you little harlot?”

Shay leaned back. That was... aggressive. “Why are you being so defensive?”

“I’m not being defensive,” Raia said-- defensively.

“So when’s he coming back, then?”

Raia let out a disgruntled sigh, “Not until late? And then he’s got another appointment in the morning, so don’t you dare go and bother him.”

“You’re gonna meet him when he gets back, right?”

Raia crossed her arms and put on the smuggest smile Shay had ever seen.

“Of course, I will. That’s just my job as his secretary?”

“And you’re really proud of it~”

Raia nodded resolutely, “I’ve gotten really good at it!”

If she had a tail, it would have been wagging.

It was weird. The way she dressed and usually acted screamed ‘stuck-up, generally-disappointed black cat.’ But whenever Tyvan was involved, she acted more like a loyal puppy.

“And he loves the way you make coffee,” Shay added.

“Oh, you have no idea. It took forever to get that right!” Raia smiled softly, staring down at her desk. “I didn’t like coffee much, before? But Tyvan said we had to try as many different kinds as we could before we gave up on it.”

She looked up, pride sparkling in her soft brown eyes, “Then I somehow found out about cold brew. It’s just-- that’s how Tyvan is, really? He doesn’t usually show it... but he can be so patient and kind, y’know?”

Shay felt a familiar warmth in her heart. She knew. That’s why as confused and upset as she was with how Tyvan had been, she wasn’t going to give up on him.

Raia suddenly frowned before adding, “Oh, and he still likes tea better. If it was a competition, I’d never be a match for Gartner.”

Oho~? That was Heidi’s last name. Maybe there was a little drama between the two. Or not. Raia sounded more disappointed than mad about it.

“Have you considered asking Heidi for some tea-brewing tips?”

“Tsh, no,” Raia snorted. “That woman’s terrified of me.”

Aha. Shay could see that. Raia had an aggressive and snappy personality that matched her tattoos and piercings.

Also, Heidi was terrified of mostly everyone.

“Then, maybe,” Shay said... “Tyvan would like to have a hot meal when he comes home?”

Raia pursed her lips, deep in thought. “Y’know... I have no idea how he’s not fat.”

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Shay nodded, frowning. She’d thought about that a lot before. The world wasn’t fair.

“But as much as Tyvan likes to eat,” Raia said, “he’s not impressed by just anything.”

“Well,” Shay said... “I saw him smile, once-- last time we went out.”

Raia rolled her eyes, “Well, I’ve seen him smile at least three times!”

That was news to Shay. She made a mental note to cherish Tyvan’s rare smiles more than she had been.

“Has he ever taken you to, uh-- Lizard Burger?” Shay asked.

She felt bad for sharing Tyvan’s secret, but it was an emergency!

“Ugh, no,” Raia frowned. “You mean Dragon Burger, right? Tyvan doesn’t eat junk food? He eats tacos with a fork and knife.”

It was Shay’s turn to smile triumphantly, “He took me, last week. I saw him eat three Double-Dragon burgers in one sitting. And he-- y’know.”

Raia leaned forward over her desk and narrowed her eyes, “He smiled? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Shay nodded. Lots of things happened that night, and that was the one thing she remembered most clearly.

“Was it an actual smile? His little half-smirk doesn’t count? He does that all the time.”

OooOh. Was Raia jealous?

“It was an actual smile,” Shay smirked.

Raia hurriedly gathered up her things and bolted out the door.

That was... an unexpected response.

Also, it didn’t make sense. She said that Tyvan wasn’t coming back until late and It wasn’t even six in the evening.

Shay stared at the office door for several seconds.

...Oh, well.

She started looking through the stuff on the desk, hoping to find Tyvan’s itinerary. She didn’t find that. But there were other things that caught her interest.

Newspaper clippings.

Printed maps with marker circles and penned-in notes.

‘Majestic.’

Markered in bold. Underlined twice.

And there was a location written...

Majestic was one of the Arrow Group’s top three construction companies. That meant the Zhang family was involved with something that Tyvan was investigating. And anything that had to do with the Zhang family would be something her grandfather might be interested in.

Shay memorized the location on the map. (She also jotted down the address in her school planner.) Then, she locked up the office and headed back to her room.

Why was Tyvan still looking into the Arrow Group? Last week, they went to one of their hotels, and... that didn’t exactly pan out well. Did they have something to do with the vampire murders?

Grandpa Wei would be able to help... but she’d still have to convince him. They basically had zero relationship, so he had no reason to take her words at face-value.

But if she could get proof of the Zhang family’s involvement...

--and if that proof was of them... violating a sect code or something, then all the better!

After a phone call, a quick change of clothes, and a brisk walk, Shay was in front of Aquila’s house.

“Good evening, Miss Davey.”

Aquila had answered her door wearing bubble-gum blue, cartoon pajamas; a towel on the back of her neck; and a dubious expression. “Why are you being so polite? It’s just me.”

Shay chuckled awkwardly. There was one particular person she probably got that habit from. And, as weird as her and Aquila’s conversation was earlier, that didn’t mean she was a different person.

“Did you bring the thing I asked for?”

Aquila handed over her camera, a wonderful, blocky piece of technology that printed out pictures right after they were taken.

“Why do you want this, anyway?”

“To expose a secret, obviously,” Shay grinned, “Wanna come with?”

“I’ll pass,” Aquila waved. “I don’t want to get between you and whatever weird love plot you’ve gotten entangled with.”

“Come onnn~” Shay begged. “I need a battle-buddy.”

“A what?” Aquila frowned, “That makes me wanna go even less.” She flexed her arm, poking at her squishy biceps. “Have you seen these? I’m not gonna be battling anything~”

Shay shook her head, “I’m not planning on doing anything dangerous or whatever. I’m just gonna poke around.”

“Good,” Aquila said, roughly toweling her short, wet hair. “But really-- remember my warnings, Shay. The stuff you’re dealing with is dangerous. Stay out of sight. Don’t stay for too long. And even though it might sound weird coming from me: be boring. Boring is safe.”

Shay shivered just thinking about it. “Yeah, I can do that.”

----------------------------------------

Her going out was stupid.

Her whole plan was stupid and half-baked.

Of course, Shay was worried about getting caught by the Arrow Group... but she was more worried about Tyvan worrying.

He told her not to do anything dangerous.

And if she did, she was supposed to tell him or Raia beforehand.

--but he was somewhere out.

--and Raia was... probably buying a bunch of double-cheeseburgers that she was going to serve Tyvan cold.

Would he still eat them? He probably would.

Gross.

The Arrow Group posted guards at the site. There must have been something important there-- maybe something her Grandpa would be interested in.

There were a lot of dark areas not lit up by the temporary construction lights, so she snuck around to a side and climbed the wire fence. It was still early enough in the evening that the street traffic and general city ambiance masked the rattling noise.

She was glad she wore her jeans for snooping around. She had her ‘good luck’ charm, the gardening shears she got from Heidi, snug in her back pocket. She kept the little plastic covering on the tip so she wouldn’t get poked.

At the center of the site was a big retail building, all the outside-parts already finished. It had huge glass windows in front-- so a supermarket, maybe? White plastic drapes hung just-inside, preventing anyone from looking through.

What were they hiding~?