How About Seven? ✔

31. Magnan Imus

I swallowed as I stared down the cold metal barrel of the gun. My eyes flickered between the weapon and Jasper.

This man was not Emrys. He would not miss.

"Tell me, sweetheart." The metal grazed a lazy line across the bottom of my chin. "Why should I keep you around?"

My chest rose and fall. "You tell me. I know I sure don't want you to keep me around."

"Mm. Defiant, still. That's what I like about you. You don't lose your fire."

The gun went on top of the dashboard and Jasper took his hands away from it. I breathed a little easier, for a millisecond.

"The Hoods are leaving overseas next week. It seems that Papa Hood's been frightened enough to tuck his tail between his legs and flee. Before they go, I want you to extract every last piece of information from them."

Jasper turned to look at me, the threat in his eyes and voice unmistakable. "Or I'll do it myself. Am I clear?"

"Where are they going?" I heard myself ask.

Jasper shrugged. "Australia. England. The Bahamas. Some place they believe I won't be able to touch them, I presume. It doesn't matter. If you get what I want, they'll never have to see me again. It's entirely up to you."

Trails of sweat began to coat my palm. Kaylan.

I had to interrogate Kaylan.

The door at my side opened, smooth and soundless. Already Jasper was looking away from me, perusing his smartphone, mind somewhere else.

"Now go. I have other business to take care of."

I looked around at the empty warehouse. "You brought me here just to ask me to walk home?"

Jasper's voice was blunt. "You ran away from home just to fail your first and only mission?"

I bit my lip to force down the angry retort that was on the verge of rising.

I had been doing fine. I'd found my brother's tape, fought off Storeroom Stalker two times, and had already decided to find out more about Kaylan, whose family, judging from my brother's message, was undoubtedly related to my mission somehow. But the moment Jasper had showed up, everything had turned into a rapidly unraveling jumble of a mess. He'd completely taken over, politely but firmly shoving me aside, relegating me to no more than a puppet sidekick for him to strum the strings whenever he felt like it.

Well no more.

I was going to take it no more.

"Fine," I snapped, and I got out of the car.

He likes fire? Well now I was going to give him a hell lot of it.

|*|

The dial tone on the other side was steady and did not reflect the erratic pulse of my heart.

"Hello?" The voice was deep and raspy, like someone who had just woken up. I let out a shiver as a not unpleasant tremor ran down the length of my spine. The clock on my bedroom mantelpiece showed 9:07 pm. I hadn't expect the bad boy to sleep so early.

"Hey. It's uhm, Hayley. You - were sleeping?"

The drawl was muffled, like he had buried his face into his pillow. "Afternoon nap."

I couldn't help the laugh. "Your afternoon nap lasts until 9?"

"It was a late afternoon nap," he muttered, sounding almost petulant.