13
Mercy
The van pulledup just as we reached the end of the laneway where Wylder had texted the others to meet us. The back door swung open to reveal Anthea’s grim smile. “Need a ride?”
We clambered in to meet her and Gideon. Kaige craned his neck from where he’d taken the driver’s seat, and his jaw dropped. “What the hell happened to you, Mercy?”
I glanced down at my blood-drenched clothes, feeling the tacky sensation of the smeared splatters drying on my face, and grimaced. “We ran into a little trouble. Somehow that seems to end with me covered in blood a whole lot more often than I’d prefer.”
“Me too,” Kaige muttered darkly. “You took care of the bastards?”
“It’s all under control.” Wylder waved him back toward the wheel. “Now let’s get out of here.”
Rowan turned to Gideon, who was taking me in with a tight expression. “Has there been any sign that the guys in the arcade realized something was up?”
Gideon’s gaze jerked back to his tablet and then the screens on the van’s wall, some of which were showing traffic and security cam feeds. “No unusual activity. I think we’re good.”
I let out my breath in a huff. “I guess we’ll find out when we sic the police on them.”
“Let’s just take a look with our own eyes,” Kaige said, turning the van toward the arcade.
“Kaige!” Wylder protested.
The other guy shot him a defiant look. “I’ll cruise by quickly. We should be sure this isn’t going to backfire on us, right?”
Our attempts to trick our enemies had gone sideways before. Wylder scowled, but he made a gesture for his friend to keep going.
The van turned the corner and headed along the street with the arcade. Kaige slowed just a tad as we approached the building. Gideon held up his tablet to record the scene. All of us held our breaths, but to my relief, everything seemed quiet, no noticeable activity.
“I imagine there would be quite a ruckus if they found the drugs or any of us meddling with their business,” Anthea murmured.
Just as we passed by, three men came out of the arcade. Two of them I recognized as Storm men from my past observations, but the other one—
“That’s one of Axel’s guys,” I said, frowning as we left them behind.
Wylder’s head jerked around. “What?”
“You remember Kaige and I told you that we crossed paths with Axel and a couple of his men yesterday. One of those guys was with the Storm’s people at the arcade.” The young dude with the lightning bolt in his buzz cut—it wasn’t exactly a common hairstyle.
“What would he be doing with those assholes?” Kaige demanded.
“Keep driving,” Wylder told him. “To the new apartment. We’ll sort it out.” He beckoned Gideon over to the bench and sat down on it hard. “You got them on camera, right?”
Gideon nodded. I sank down at his other side as he brought up the footage. The three guys ambled out, and I pointed to the one I’d seen with Axel. When he turned his head, the shaved lightning bolt was clearly visible at the back of his head. “Him.”
Wylder paused the video and studied the screen. “I have seen him around the mansion at least a few times. He must be one of the newer recruits mostly working under Axel.”
“Why would he be hanging out with the Storm’s people, then?” I asked.
Anthea rubbed her mouth. “I suppose there are a few different explanations.”
“My father vets people pretty carefully,” Wylder said. “This is probably part of one of his operations—send the guy in undercover to dig up information on the Storm’s resources before the Nobles launch a full attack.”
That did make sense, but my sense of uneasiness didn’t leave me. “Well… keep a close eye on him if you see him around again, just in case.”
Wylder tugged on my ponytail, which had managed to escape the bloody spray. “We’ll take care of anything that needs taking care of, Kitty Cat. Now let’s get you to your new apartment so you can get cleaned up.”
Kaige drove us deeper into the Bend. The three-story building he pulled around back of was more run-down than the first place they’d stashed me, but I didn’t need anything posh.