Page 254 of Psycho Pack
"Yeah, yeah," Whiskey grumbles, remaining where he is, crowding our space, but at least he stops mashing the buttons. "This thing's ritzy."
His and Ivy's conversation about the vehicle fades into the background as I find myself glancing constantly in the rearview mirror. The back of my neck prickles with unease. Someone's watching us, following from a distance.
I'm certain of it.
But when I scan our surroundings, I see nothing.
Not Wraith, he's too massive to hide effectively. Not Thane either. For all his talents, stealth isn't one of them.
Valek, then.
My immediate response is tempered by the knowledge that Thane must have sent him as backup. He wouldn't have gotten through the door otherwise. Heisthe best sniper among us, and if I can barely detect his presence, our contact from Reinmich won't notice him, either.
Might not be the worst idea.
"What's wrong?" Ivy asks, noticing my distraction.
"Nothing," I say, deciding to keep Valek's presence to myself. If I can't spot him, he's doing his job right.
Whiskey snorts. "You're acting as weird as Val," he says, as if he can read my mind. I fucking hope not. "But at least he's got an excuse with all those head injuries. And bein' horny as fuck." He glances at Ivy with a teasing grin. "You planning on making him explode as revenge or what?"
Ivy blushes beneath her hood, mumbling, "I'm not interested in revenge."
"Wouldn't blame you if you were," Whiskey says with a snort.
"He's pack," Ivy says, looking out the window. "I'm going to forgive him. He just needs to work for it and prove he's changed."
"If that's what you want, we'll all find a way to deal," Whiskey agrees, but I catch the slight relief in his tone.
Whiskey and Valek are constantly at each other's throats, but there's genuine affection beneath all the bickering.
Like brothers.
And sometimes, your brother is the person you want to kill the most.
"Got another question," Whiskey says, making me wonder if it's actually possible to want to kill anyone more than I want tokill him right now. Affectionately, of course. "Do you think the Knight was heading toward Surhiira for a reason?"
"What do you mean?" I mutter.
"Yes," Ivy says with conviction. "He was looking for Cosima."
Oh, for fuck's sake. Now it's both of them.
"Exactly what I'm thinkin," Whiskey says with all the enthusiasm of a conspiracy theorist who's just found his people. "You think heiswho she's seeing in her dreams? Maybe he's all Wraithy under the mask." He gestures to his own face. "Maybe she isn't nuts and they've got some kind of psychic bond."
"There's no such thing," I say tersely to him, gripping the wheel harder.
"If she's dreaming about him, maybe he's dreaming about her, too," says Ivy, ignoring me. "Maybe he's following her because he's caught her scent in a dream. Maybe he thinks she's his mate."
The vehicle goes completely silent for a moment, because even I don't have an immediate answer for that, before Whiskey laughs and leans back hard enough to make the car shake. "Nahhhh."
"He is an alpha," Ivy points out.
Whiskey leans forward again, his elbows on his knees. "Wait, you're serious, wildcat? You think…?" His face goes a few shades paler. "Bro, if he really is coming for her, we are allsofucked."
"Even if he were," I say through my teeth, annoyed by the entirely illogical direction the conversation is heading in, "Nikolai has him in a pit right now."
"For now," Whiskey says pointedly. "A pit wouldn't be enough to keep me away from Ivy and I ain't even a sick-ass mutant."