Page 16 of Prickly as a Porcupine

That gave Joline an idea.“Agent Stone is a professor!”When Ariel jumped, Joline realized she needed to keep her voice down.“I can find his contact information on the academy’s website and reach out to him and let him know we might be in trouble.”She knew she also had his contact information on the business card he gave her the other day, but that was inconveniently on her dresser in her dorm room.

“It’s worth a shot.”Ariel leaned forward.“What is the man doing?Can you watch him without making it look like you are?”Ariel sat in the booth seat opposite Joline, her back to the man, and Joline was able to get a good view of him while looking over Ariel’s shoulder.

Joline nodded, glancing at the man from over the top of her menu.“He’s sipping a coffee, but he doesn’t have a book to read or anything.What if he’s just waiting for someone?”She pretended she got a text and picked up her phone to search for Agent Stone’s cell number.Most of the professors had their contact information posted in case a cadet needed help on an assignment.She shot him a text briefly explaining the situation and their suspicions over the man in the corner.Before he could respond, the waitress came back.They both took turns placing their orders.Joline hardly felt like eating at a time like this.Her earlier hunger dried up in her stomach.She swallowed the growing nausea that was fueled by anxiety.If she were to be an agent one day, she’d have to handle moments like this.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed.It was Agent Stone:Stay where you are.Help is on the way.

Joline smiled and pretended to giggle before showing Ariel the message.Hopefully the man across the diner would think she was simply sharing an enjoyable meme with her friend.Ariel raised an eyebrow, maybe concerned Joline was losing her mind.Joline said through nearly gritted teeth, “It’s a funny picture, right?”

Understanding washed over Ariel’s face.She gave a short bark of laughter before smiling warmly.“It’s just like my mom.”She leaned in closer, adding with a whisper, “You’re doing great, don’t be so nervous.”

Joline nodded, remembering the type of work Ariel had been doing before she was apprehended.The shrew shifter was probably used to being under pressure in situations like this.While Ariel had been vague about her past, she had mentioned doing horrible things for Dr.Grimm.Joline caught herself wondering what exactly happened.What did he ask of her?

As if reading Joline’s mind, Ariel softly explained, “I unfortunately have a lot of practice at acting normal while my inside is bunched in knots.You’ll make a good agent one day, even if you’re nervous now.I’d be more concerned if you weren’t nervous.”She added that sweet smile of hers.It made Joline feel all was right with the world, even if there was a potential henchman watching their every move from across the diner.

“What if he’s just an agent?”Joline asked, mindful to keep her voice down.She’d feel silly if Agent Stone came all the way across town for a false alarm.

Ariel’s brow crinkled, her freckles shifting with the movement.“Wouldn’t Agent Stone have said so when you mentioned it?”

Joline considered that for a moment.“What if they don’t want you to know?”She felt horrible saying that, but what if FUC didn’t want Ariel knowing she would be tailed on any excursions outside WANC?

“Hmm.”Ariel smiled as the waitress slid their drinks on the table.She thanked her, watching the waitress disappear back into the other tables.“I still think he would tell at least you.”

That sinking feeling in Joline’s stomach got worse.Ariel had a point.Agent Stone could have told her they had an undercover and to play it off if that was the case.Her mind was swimming.Joline was just a cadet.She wasn’t anywhere near qualified to handle whatever this was.If this was anything at all.She took a sip of water, hoping that keeping her hands busy would quell the rising anxiety.

Ariel put her hand over Joline’s after she put the glass back on the table.A tingling sensation of comfort, understanding, longing, and warm fuzziness she couldn’t put a word to meandered up her arm before settling around her heart.It was a sensation Joline hadn’t felt in some time.She’d nearly given up on the idea of having another romantic relationship.Ariel squeezed Joline’s hand before letting go.The gesture seemed to say that they would get through this.Joline felt herself smile despite the circumstances.

Joline was about to make a joke when she noticed Ariel tense.The shrew shifter stared over Joline’s shoulder at the door to the diner.Was she this afraid of Agent Stone?Joline didn’t think so.It seemed that Ariel had a meeting with the agent weekly.Joline was about to ask what was wrong when a man’s voice—definitelynotAgent Stone’s—asked, “Mind if I sit here?”

Ariel’s golden skin paled.“Of course,” she said to the man, but to Joline, it was obvious that Ariel meant anything but.Joline felt her muscles go rigid.Her skin prickled as if ready to let out her quills as a line of defense against the intruder.She glanced out the window of the diner, hoping the Agent Stone would miraculously appear when they needed him the most.With the strange man pushing himself into the booth next to Joline, she had a sinking feeling the agents wouldn’t make it in time.

9

Joline’s heart leapt in her throat.Why was Agent Stone taking his sweet time?Did someone intercept him?Maybe this man took the hound shifter out before he could come to their aid.Before her thoughts could spiral further down the dark well of anxiety, Ariel explained, “This is my twin brother, Anson.”

“A mutual friend sent me,” he explained, keeping his voice just above a whisper.Joline relaxed.She’d heard whispers of Anson at WANC.The henchman turned good.He was working with the FUC and ASS—Avian Soring Society—agents to help track down Dr.Grimm.

“Where’s—”

“I can explain more later,” Anson cut her off and shot her a glare with his green eyes—the same shade as Ariel’s—before Joline could ask about Agent Stone.“I suggest, for now, you eat your meals and act normal.We’re here for a meeting.”He gave a slight nod as if to say that was their cover story.

Joline had one thought: she didn’t like this undercover shit one bit.Once she was an agent, she would be sure to steer clear of any of those assignments.The realization narrowed her career path just a smidge.

“What do you want?”Ariel nearly snapped.So much for keeping our voices low.

Anson sighed.“You invited me here.Remember?”Ariel jumped slightly, as if Anson kicked her under the table.The way she shot him a dirty look, Joline assumed that perhaps he did.

Ariel tucked a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear, and then, as if shifting into another personality, as one slips into a fancy coat, Ariel’s expression turned dark.“What’s this I hear about you becoming FUC’s lapdog?”Ariel’s tone was venomous.Joline shivered.This was a side of Ariel she hadn’t seen before.

“I do what I must to survive.Surely you, of all people, can understand that?”Anson smiled like a cat who had a mouse in his paw.

Ariel nodded.“Unlike you, I’ve made the best of my situation.I’ve even turned a cadet.”She nodded to Joline.“Tell him what you really think of the academy.”

Joline froze.Why would Ariel suggest that…

Oh.Her eyes widened with understanding and Ariel gave her the slightest nod.I have to play along, in case someone is listening in and reporting back to Grimm.

The siblings watched her expectedly.She felt like she had just walked onto a stage production without studying her lines.Joline’s mind scrolled back to one of her first interactions with Ariel.Ariel had implied that FUC were the bad guys.She used that knowledge to form her words.“They’re terrible people.I mean, they stop genius scientists from making real progress.”Joline felt gross just saying that out loud.She hoped that the actual disgust she felt toward people who thought that way could be interpreted as disgust for FUC by the man inconspicuously watching them in the corner.