No way that old broad is a hunter. She's like my grandma.
What. The. Fuck.
"I'm assuming you, Gretchen..." Antoine said her name slow and meaningful. "You somehow found out their location and passed the information on, and not because you're part of this heinous organization."
Gretchen's brows rose and then she burst out laughing. Setting down her teacup, she coughed through her laughter. "Oh, my, Master Antoine, you sure know how to make an old woman's day." She cleared her throat and shook her head. "No. I was a hellcat in my day, but I never did something so extreme as to hunt vampires."
"Then how did you find out their location?" Drake demanded, suspicion in his tone.
Amusement twinkled in Gretchen's eyes. "Some of those imbeciles were poking around the house, and when they questioned me, I stuck a tracker on them. Then I told Piper and Darren where they were."
Everyone in the room visibly relaxed. I understood. It was a relief to find out that someone we had cared for, trusted, and invited into our home hadn't betrayed us. There was already too much at stake right now to have to worry about trouble from within.
"What I don't understand, Gretchen," Antoine continued, keeping that low-level tone that was far scarier than if he'd yelled, "is why didn't you bring that information to me? Why bring it here to Piper and Darren?"
Gretchen shrugged a shoulder. "You have enough on your hands. Besides, it was safer to come to them than it was to find you. What they did with the information...well, I can't be held responsible for that."
Drake growled and punched a nearby wall. The plaster broke and crumbled to the ground. "Well, I don't like it. Why the fuck would she think it was a good idea?"
"Hey, watch it. This is Piper's house. She's going to be pissed." I pointed at Drake and scowled.
Allister turned to his brother. "What makes you think it was Piper's idea?"
Drake snorted. "Only she would be stupid enough to do something so rash. She's always putting herself in harm’s way for us. We don't die that easily. She's human."
"A superhuman now, to be technical," I added with an incline of my head. "She's got a bigger chance of blending in than us."
"But those guys are hardcore killers, trained in weapons, martial arts, and who knows what else!" Drake threw his hands up in the air and stalked around the room. "I just don't understand how she thought she wouldn't be found out."
Perhaps, she didn't.Wynn thought.
I turned to Wynn. "What do you mean?"
Wynn lounged back on the couch and cocked his head to the side. "When I was here last, Piper was...different."
Antoine's brows furrowed. "Different how?"
Wynn's lips ticked up at the edges, and his hands came out in front of him like he was cupping something in his hands. "Her body no longer had that supple feel to it. It was lean, hard, that of someone who had been using their muscles far more than an average maid."
Drake's face hardened and his lips pressed into a thoughtful frown. "You're saying that you think Piper's been preparing for this all year? How could we have missed this?"
"We've kind of been busy." Allister gave a helpless shrug. "It's likely we've missed a lot."
Before we could get any further into it, the doorbell rang. Five heads turned toward the door.
"That better be Piper coming to grovel for our forgiveness," Drake snarled, stomping toward the door.
I snickered. "In your dreams. Besides, why would she be ringing her own doorbell?"
Allister, Drake, and I crowded around the front door as Drake opened it. A tall human man stood on the other side, holding a bouquet of roses and what smelled like soup inside of the paper bag he carried. When the man saw the three of us, his face went white and he shifted on the front porch.
"Uh, this is Piper Billings’ home, isn't it?" If he'd been wearing a necktie, he would have been pulling at it right now.Fuck, what are they doing here? Doesn’t she know any ugly guys?
Drake's lips curled into a cruel smirk. "Yes, it is. Who may I say is asking?"
The man licked his lips and stumbled over his words. He stopped and breathed.Get a hold of yourself, Jack. You're the Big Man, remember? Hotshot lawyer. These guys have nothing on you.I stifled a chuckle. "I'm Jack Biggs, Piper's boss."
Drake leaned against one side of the doorframe and cocked a brow. "And do you usually come by your employee’s home at," he glanced at the watch on his wrist, "nine o'clock at night? With flowers and food?"