Page 6 of Ravenous Prophecy
CHAPTER 3
GRIFFIN
Wisps of steamrose from the white paper coffee cup, stark against the dark varnish of an imposing desk. Not quite as imposing as the woman standing behind it, though. Didn’t stop me from flapping my gums.
“A beer would’ve been nice.”
She rolled her eye. “So sorry. We’re in between bartenders at the moment. You should be thankful we’re giving you the good stuff. Made with actual beans.”
I glanced at the murky cup of hot water. I was thirsty, sure. But was Ithatthirsty?
“You look like hell, Gallows.”
My eyes swiveled resentfully upward. I wished I could say the same for her. The crisp white shirt tucked into the perfectly pleated pants, her single gleaming eye that saw everything with the intensity of a bird of prey? Commander Nicoletta Falcón was the very definition of put together. The woman could flay a man with a single look, get him to confess his every darkest secret.
I never did ask about the eyepatch. Decided it wasn’tany of my business. Plus, I reckoned it would save me from getting punched in the face.
“What do you expect? You stuck me in a box for hours, then had one of your suits trot me out, only to stick me in a waiting room. What gives, Nicoletta?”
“Don’t give me that face, Gallows. I’d only just arrived. Figured I’d let you stretch your legs for a bit. I should’ve had them bring you a coffee while you waited, too.”
I grimaced at my still-cooling cup. Best coffee I ever had was at this place just a stone’s throw from a souk in Morocco. Meant to be drunk immediately, so hot it burned the throat. This stuff, though? The MEA didn’t make coffee, it made brown sludge that could substitute for cement.
“No thanks. Then I would have just suffered twice. You really hate me, don’t you?”
“That’s beside the point. I still like you enough to move you somewhere more comfortable, didn’t I?” Nicoletta planted both hands on the desk, leaning in. “But the real reason was that I wanted to grill your boxmate first.”
My nose wrinkled. “Oh. Him. Right. The one with the authenticating problem.”
“Bradley Brooks. You know the type. Bookish. Lives in libraries. Would collect PhDs forever if no one was around to stop him. Familiarity with multiple languages, even ancient tongues.”
There it was with the tongues again. I should have been turned off completely by what I’d learned of him in that box, but I couldn’t deny that he had a pretty face. And a fine name to go with it, too.
Bradley Brooks loves his books. I filed that away in case I ever ran into him again and would need to lightly bullyhim for whatever reason. Not the best schoolyard taunt, but I could workshop it.
“Annoying kid. Bugged the living hell out of me. But I don’t see how this has anything to do with me.”
I took a sip of my bean water, instantly regretting it. Would have asked for cream and sugar, but Nicoletta seemed the type to take her coffee black. Extra black. Espresso. Triple shot. She sat at her desk, hands folded in front of her. I thought I detected a trace of a smile in the corner of her mouth.
Uh-oh.
“Come now, Griffin. You don’t seriously believe that we didn’t have enough room at the Hotel MEA? It wasn’t coincidence that the two of you ended up in the same accommodations. And now that I know you won’t try to kill each other after five minutes in close proximity, I think we can proceed.”
Everything clicked together in my head. Me, the guy who went out to retrieve artifacts. And Bradley, the guy who studied them. Stuck in the same box. And the agent showing up right before I could sock him in the teeth. My jaw fell.
“Absolutely not. Nicoletta, are you—no. No way am I working with that brat.”
She batted her lashes. “I haven’t even told you what you’re working on yet.”
I wagged my finger at her—a risky proposition, but no one said I was the smartest. Bradley had said as much himself.
“Listen here. You had me thrown into a box all because I forgot to fill out a damn form. You know me. You’ve knownme for years. When have I ever knowingly done something that would endanger this community? Not the mundanes, and certainly not our kind.”
She shrugged. “People change, Griffin. But the rules don’t, generally speaking. And rules are rules. Now, my people tell me that all you really had on you were some brass knuckles. But the fact remains that you walked into MEA territory without declaring your very apocalyptic, incredibly dangerous lump of mineral.”
“This isn’t even the first time you’ve thrown me in a box for the exact same object! You’ve seen it before.” I was so close to pulling my own hair out. “And you still kept me in lockup?”
“Like I said, I only just got here. But if I say the word, we can keep you here indefinitely while we study the thing. Again. Make sure it poses absolutely zero danger to the general populace. Maybe send it halfway around the world for a second opinion. And again for a third.”
