“Do you have binoculars?” I ask hesitantly.
“Oh yeah,” Rainey replies smugly. “And Myles’ uncle has a really good camera with a telescopic lens we can bring.”
My head tips up and I look at the dark sky, the stars hidden by cloud cover. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but…” I bring my gaze back to Rainey. “Let’s do it.”
“What?” Myles exclaims indignantly. “No. This is stupid and crazy.”
“It’s a thrilling adventure,” Rainey corrects him and then practically purrs. “And you know how adventure gets me worked up.”
Myles’ eyes warm, and I wrinkle my nose. “Eww… just don’t discuss that stuff in front of me.”
Rainey jumps up with excitement, knowing that Myles will be on board because he knows she and I will go without him. “I need to get changed. Just give me five minutes.”
After disappearing through the door, Myles grimaces. “This is a bad idea.”
“We’ll be safe. We’ll be way, way far away. Besides, I’m not about to do something stupid and risk Carrick’s ire again.”
Myles is quiet a moment before he asks with a grimace, “So you and Carrick, huh?”
“It’s something that goes beyond just two people liking each other… falling for each other. There’s something bigger at play, Myles. I wish you two would get along.”
“I don’t have to like your boyfriends,” he retorts, but there’s a teasing tone.
“He is most certainly not my boyfriend,” I reply. “There’s no definition for what that man is.”
“Not a man,” Myles points out. “A demi-god.”
And therein lies the chasm that will keep us apart should we be lucky enough to survive. I shake it off, though. This isn’t anything I don’t already know.
I’ve considered it all, but none of it matters, because for now, Carrick and I are… together.
“Let’s get going,” I say as I stand up and grab my cocoa, which has gotten cold. I also grab Rainey’s cup.
We head into the houseboat and down to the first floor, meeting Rainey coming out of the master bedroom.
My jaw drops when I see her.
She’s wearing a full-length London Fog khaki coat, buttoned and belted, along with a taupe fedora and a pair of large, dark sunglasses. She’s got binoculars around her neck and holding what I presume to be a camera bag.
“We should take a thermos of coffee and snacks for the stakeout,” she says, looking from me to Myles.
Myles is staring at Rainey much the same as me, with his jaw wide open.
“What?” she exclaims, then twirls around once. “Don’t you like my sleuthing outfit?”
“Um,” I mutter, and Myles doesn’t say a word.
Rainey’s expression is expectant, almost hopeful, and just as I’m about to lay out some massively untruthful compliments, she tips her head back and starts cackling in laughter. “You guys didn’t think I was honestly going to wear this, did you?”
She takes off the fedora and glasses, tossing them on the kitchen counter. She unbuttons the coat, and I find her dressed in dark jeans, a black hoodie, and her hiking boots.
“You two are so gullible,” she continues, snickering.
Myles and I can’t help but join in the laughter, and we’re still joking about it as we leave the houseboat. Myles locks up, pockets the keys, and we step out onto the dock. Turning right, we head toward the lot where Rainey keeps her car but make it no more than five feet when we hear from behind us, “And just where are you headed?”
I cringe and slowly turn around to see Maddox there with a big grin on his face.
“Um…” I start, but I can’t come up with anything. Best to tell the truth. “We’re going to go watch Kymaris’ house… from a safe distance, that is.”
“Hmmm,” he murmurs thoughtfully, walking toward us. “Sneaking out to do something very dangerous.”
“I suppose you’re going to call Carrick and have him stop us?” I ask.
Maddox merely smiles like a cat that ate the mouse. “Not at all. I was looking for something interesting to do tonight, so I think I’ll just come along.”
CHAPTER 13
Finley
Maddox hulks next to me in the back seat of Rainey’s Prius as we drive past the house Kymaris has taken over in Medina. There’s a large wrought iron gate protecting the driveway entrance, but we can see the large sprawling mansion lit up like a Christmas tree down the lane. Almost every light is on, and the landscape lighting has practically every tree and bush glowing. There are several cars in the large circular driveway, but that’s all we get on a glimpse.
Rainey had done the reconnaissance, admitting to us on the way over and earning her a glare from Myles in the front passenger seat, that she’d driven around the neighborhood quite a bit to familiarize herself with it. We turn right at the end of the block and head up a steep hill for another two blocks, then another right where she pulls over and puts the car in park in front of a small dog park. There’s no one there this late at night.