Page 36 of Ravenous Prophecy
“What in the world are you doing?” I tilted my head toward Bradley. “Say something to your brother. He’s freaking out.”
“You say something,” she said, frowning back. “I’m busy with—ah, there it is!”
The triumph in Elaine’s voice almost threw me off from the fact that she was now elbow deep in her jacket pocket. I blinked hard, wondering where the rest of her arm had gone.
“Don’t just stand there. Help me out. Here. Hold this end.”
Shaking my head in disbelief, I grabbed onto the edge of her jacket and held tight. Very tempting to look under it so I could figure out the secret behind her bizarre impromptu magic show. But with one final tug, she pulled her arm out of her jacket pocket—and with it, the missing manuscript.
“Tada,” she sang, waving the sheaf of ancient papers like she’d just pulled a rabbit out of a hat.
Bradley’s legs went to jelly. I rushed to hold him up as he sank to his knees, exhaling in frustration, despair, relief.
“Elaine Merryweather Brooks!” he shouted. “What iswrong with you? You couldn’t have told me you had that thing stashed in a pocket dimension from the start? Also, you’rebleeding!”
She shrugged. “I thought you might enjoy the surprise. And don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll find a bandage before I bleed all over your pristine… oh, right. Never mind.”
Bradley sputtered. His fingers bent into a claw, his hand twisting jerkily at the wrist, like he couldn’t decide between clutching at his chest or throttling his sister. I carefully prised the manuscript out of Elaine’s grasp, then handed it to Bradley, who accepted it and hugged it to his torso like a teddy bear. I helped him to the couch, resting him against Brigette for balance, then patted him on the head.
“I’ll just go and fix you a… cup of tea?” I took a guess at what would be most reassuring, relieved when Bradley nodded.
Hopefully I could find at least one unbroken mug.
“Make me one, too,” Brigette grumbled, pulling out her own sheaf of moldering paper. “No, make it a coffee. It’s going to be a long night.”
Two mugs it was, then. But what was that stack of parchment in her hand? And why did Bradley suddenly look so excited to see it?
“What is that?” I asked, nodding meaningfully at the paper.
Brigette smirked. “There was something else in Kane Smith’s safe. We didn’t exactly walk out empty-handed.”
“These are incredible,” Bradley said, looking over the documents with all the reverence of an archaeologist. “These are—Brigette. We need to translate these. Now.”
Brigette sniffed, somehow looking down her nose at mewhile sitting down. “Uh, Griffin? Maybe you could get started on that coffee I asked for? There’s a good man.”
I grumbled under my breath but joined Julian dutifully in the kitchen. It was time for the brains to do some braining, and if it meant stopping the Hive and JA Williams—if it meant never having to look at crime scene photos of mutilated innocents again—then I could swallow my pride and make up a pot of terrible coffee. It was what Brigette deserved.
I stepped over a toppled appliance—some sort of blender thing for smoothies—making a mental note to pick it up later. Julian was grumbling under his breath too, loud enough for me to hear now.
“Doesn’t this kid keep anything to drink around here? What does he do to unwind?”
“Read a book, probably. I don’t think he’s much for drinking. I know he’s okay with wine at dinner, but I’m not sure he keeps any at home.”
I instinctively reached for the drawer where Bradley kept his tea, its contents mostly unmolested by some miracle. I stopped in the middle of reaching for the kettle when I realized Julian was staring at me.
“What?” I growled. That look on his face. I could tell something was coming.
“You’re awfully familiar with the kid and where he keeps his preferred nerdy beverages. Getting pretty close to a client, are we, Griffin Gallows?”
“Keep it down,” I hissed. “And this isn’t about me being too familiar. I’m just, you know, good at paying attention to my clients’ needs and preferences. That’s a good quality to have.”
“Right,” Julian said, pulling the fridge open, his bright teeth gleaming even whiter in its crisp, cool glow. “I’m sure you’d know all about his preferences. And I’m sure you’re quite excellent at, ah, filling all his needs. Sorry, I meant fulfilling. Slip of the tongue.”
He licked his lips. I could have punched Julian right in his smug mug, but I had other mugs to attend to. Coffee and tea for the bookworms. I wagged a finger in Julian’s face.
“Not a word about this to anybody. Not that you even know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
He leered straight into my face as he triumphantly pulled out a brown glass bottle. In one smooth motion, he somehow snapped the bottle cap off with the pommel of his sheathed sword. It would have been cool if he wasn’t being such a prick about everything. Julian took one long pull of his ill-gotten reward, then made a face.
