Page 40 of Hell on Wheels
Reb frowns down at me, his brows drawn together in confusion. “Why do you look like someone offered you a freeLa Vouture Noire? You’re a second from drooling all over yourself.”
Blinking, I shake my head to clear the image out of it so I can form sentences with a modicum of intelligence. “As sexy asthatcar is, I’m not sure I’m Irish enough to have such good luck.”
“Wheels, very few people we know are as Irish as you and dipshit over here. Speaking of which, why the fuck were you pounding on her door loud enough to wake the dead?” Archie winks at me over my stepbrother’s shoulder.
Turning to the doorway, Reb glowers. “I’ll pound whatever I want. You fuckers were nowhere to be found and with her disappearing last night—again—while I talked with Sariah, I’m not taking any chances. Where the hell were you?”
Javi shrugs, giving him an innocent look. “Sleeping off the hangover in the game room, man. Didn’t you check the first floor?”
“We were all there,” Damon and Angelo add. They aren’t sporting the angelic expressions my other two mates are, but they look mostly sincere.
Demons, after all.
“No,” Reb mutters as he sits down next to me on the bed. “I guess you all went down after I passed out. Watching my little sister is wearing me the fuck out.”
The twins smirk as they reply, “She’s wearing us out, too.”
Those fuckers. I might staballof them now.
“Since Rebel gave back my Fae blade after the rave, I’d watch talking about me as if I’m not here. I’m quite handy with a knife, boys.” My smile is sickly sweet and Javi chokes for a second, making me grin even more broadly. “I have no problem demonstrating for all of you.”
“IknewI was going to regret stealing that back from Graciella’s safe while you trained with Archie. You’ve had it one goddamn day and you’re threatening everyone with it.” Rebel rolls his eyes and flops back onto the bed to put his hands on his face.
“We’re safe,” Damon says confidently. “You don’t have anywhere to tuck it in that get-up. Nice try, Sparkles.”
I wave my hand, and the blade appears in my palm. “This blade? This one right here?”
Archie groans. “Fuck, it’s like a troll club or a mer-trident. They can summon it. Ihatethat!”
“Yup.” I look over at Rebel as he wallows on my sheets. It occurs to me that if he scents the others, we’re not going to be able to choose when we tell him—he’ll know. “Get off my bed, Reb. It’s time for breakfast and then we train. I don’t know why my room is the new clubhouse, but get out—all of you.”
He rolls to his feet, holding a hand out, and I let him pull me up. All of my physical injuries are healed, though my wings are still iffy, but that doesn’t mean I’ll reject help when offered. As we walk to the stairs, the sounds ofThe Addams Familyecho in the foyer. Someone is leaning on the doorbell, and Reb looks at our group, scratching his head.
“Anyone expecting a delivery?”
We shake our heads, jogging down the stairs behind him to see who’s there. He flings the door open, and the porch is empty save a huge white box with a bright purple bow. My name is scrawled across one side in fancy calligraphy, but there’s no return address. I bend down, making sure it isn’t leaking magic or worse… something liquid… but it’s clean.
“What in the name of Eris is this?” Javi mutters.
The twins frown at one another, doing some weird internal thing where they seem to communicate only in facial expressions. When they turn back to us, Angelo’s eyes are flickering a little. “This is an invitation.”
“A what?” I look at the cartoonish package, yet again wondering if it’s got ACME stamped somewhere I can’t see.
“It’s an invitation, Sparkles. The various gangs, crews, and mobs in the city are justifiably concerned about security. When they want to call an Appalachin, they send unconnected messengers with boxes like this to the leaders or people they want to attend. Everything on or in this box will tell us where, when, and who wants to have a summit, though it won’t be obvious. You have to work for it.”
“Luca’s done it before. Damon helped build the riddles for the boxes and I arranged the delivery. That’s how we know,” Angelo adds.
“Is it a trap?” Rebel tilts his head. “I mean, someone has a hit out on her.”
They shake their heads and this time, Angelo takes over. “Not packaged like this. It’s a sacred code, and if one of the leaders breaks it, blood will run in the streets because it will destroy all the treaties and detentes. That’s bad for business because it will draw the Society’s attention and they’ll send in Guardians, sweepers, and agents to clean house before the humans get tipped off.”
“Take it inside—maybe we should open it in the rink in the basement. That’s got the thickest shielding and is the least likely to get destroyed if it blows up,” I suggest.
“Uh, no, Princess. Something that big could take the entire house down if we take it underground. Damon, portal it to the backyard without lifting it. We don’t want to activate any weird tripwires if this is a fake. The rest of you come with me to the patio and we’ll see what the hell this means.”
Everyone follows his instructions—even me—because none of us have the background to argue. When we meet D in the middle of the concrete, he sighs. “Undo the bow, Sparkles. Usually they have a magic user place a spell on them so no one but the intended recipient can find out what’s inside.”
Just fucking great. If it goes boom, I’m blue spaghetti sauce.