Prim and Proper Fate (Twisted Fate Series Book 2) (9 page)

As soon as they stepped off the plane in Detroit, Brandon immediately went on high alert. He forced Sydney to walk between he and William, and he scowled and glared at every person who dared look his way as they made their way down to baggage claim. Without Prim, they could have gone straight to the car rental counter, but of course the woman had more luggage than half the rest of the passengers combined.

“There are no Rakshasa here,” Prim snapped, after Brandon’s dark look reduced a teenage boy to tears. “Stop frightening the humans. You are drawing attention to us unnecessarily.”

Brandon could say the same for her. She was a walking wet dream, and every human with a dick between his legs couldn’t help but notice. Twice, Brandon watched grown men run into walls because they’d been staring at Prim for too long, and an entire platoon of military soldiers went down like dominoes when their legs became entangled because none were paying attention to where they were going. They were all too busy staring at Prim’s sashaying ass.

Brandon wanted to slap his hand onto that ass and hold it there, a blatant display of caveman possession. But he knew he couldn’t. For one thing, Prim would knock
him
on his ass. For another, he had no right to claim possession. None at all. He’d offered, she’d declined, and they currently were barely on speaking terms.

Finally, they had a rental car secured, Prim’s luggage was loaded into the trunk, and they piled in and were ready to go.

“So we have Gavin’s place, which is downtown, and we have Sydney and William’s place, out in the ‘burbs. Downtown’s closer, and it’s still daylight, so it should be safe enough to go check it out.”

“I need to freshen up,” Prim declared from the backseat.

Brandon turned around and gave her a disbelieving look. “We’re this close to the prize, and you want to
freshen up
?”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind freshening up too,” Sydney interjected. William agreed.

“Sydney doesn’t want to look as if she’s been traveling all day when I put the curse back on Gavin and he sees her again for the first time,” Prim explained, for Brandon’s benefit. Sydney and William both agreed.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Brandon snapped irritably.

“That’s it,” Prim declared, and she waved her hand in the air. Brandon opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out.

“I am sick and tired of your foul language,” she snapped. “I understand the occasional cuss word, said in anger or frustration or whatever. But you swear nonstop, and frankly, it offends me. So from now on, I’m going to render you speechless every time you do it. Do you understand me?”

Brandon glared at her and opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, until the spell wore off. “Nobody else is offended by my language, sweetheart,” he said nastily.

“Actually,” Sydney said, “it’s a little offensive to me, too. Gavin doesn’t swear half as much as you do.”

“You’re a girl,” Brandon responded. “The two of you fucking bonded on the plane earlier.” Prim waved her hand and he was rendered speechless again.

“It offends me, too,” William added, smiling sweetly.

Brandon waited for the spell to wear off. He cleared his throat, making a sound like a cat hacking up a hairball. “Is that stuff permanent?” he wanted to know. “Like, if you do it to me often enough, I’ll permanently lose the power of speech?”

“Keep swearing and you’ll find out,” Prim replied.

Brandon huffed out a sigh and turned around in his seat. He backed the car out of its parking space and headed toward the exit. “Guess we’re headed to the ‘burbs,” he muttered. He muttered some other words, too, but it was under his breath and Prim didn’t hear them.

Twice, they drove by the house Sydney and William had once shared. They drove slowly so Brandon could keep an eye out for anything that looked out of place. When he was reasonably certain no trap was set, he finally pulled into the driveway. William hopped out first and walked around to the side of the house, where he kept a spare key hidden underneath a flowerpot. Brandon climbed out of the car, stretched, and was satisfied that Prim’s ministrations to his back were still holding up. He hoped she wasn’t serious about never doing it again.

“Sense anything?” he asked both Prim and Sydney. Prim’s senses were apparently pretty impressive, and Sydney would most certainly sense Gavin if he were inside.

Both women frowned. “I sense Rakshasa,” Prim said slowly. “But it’s a lingering impression. Like they were here recently, but I’m reasonably certain they’re gone.”

“Sydney?”

She studied the house, a nondescript brick ranch that looked like every other nondescript brick ranch home on the block. Unlike the rest of the homes, though, it had a distinct air of emptiness, which made sense, considering Sydney and William haven’t lived there in two months.

“He was here,” she finally said. “But I agree with Prim. He isn’t any more. Come on. Let’s go inside. I’m cold.”

Brandon grabbed her arm before she could trek up onto the front porch, and he held her back while William did the honors of opening the door and walking inside. If something happened to William, he would simply regenerate and come back. If something happened to Sydney, they would lose her forever.

“All clear,” William called out a few minutes later. “But someone’s definitely been through the house.”

They went inside and Brandon made a quick inspection of the house himself, just to reassure himself that no monsters lurked under the bed. Sydney walked down the hall to her bedroom. She made a small shrieking noise that had the entire household running to her aid.

“What is it?” Brandon demanded when he reached her side.

Her hand covered her mouth and her big blue eyes were full of tears. She blinked rapidly and they escaped, slipping down her cheeks. She stared into her bedroom. Brandon lifted his head to look and then sucked in a sharp breath.

Someone had definitely been in this room.

“It looks like he was in a rage,” William commented as he stepped over a pile of shredded clothing and walked further into the room. The mirror over the vanity was broken; there were glass shards everywhere, as if whoever did it had thrown something at the mirror. Small bottles and vials were scattered over the floor and the pictures from the walls had all been torn down and broken. The linens on the bed were shredded, down to the mattress, which had long gashes in it, as if something with really long and really sharp claws had used it for a scratching post. The clothing had been ripped from the closet and dresser, and had been shredded and tossed around the room.

“Gavin’s work,” Prim declared as she daintily stepped over a pair of black heels that looked as if they’d been gnawed on. She glanced at Sydney, but Sydney did not contradict her.

“Does the rest of the house look like this?” Sydney wanted to know.

“No,” William told her. “There’s some obvious disturbances, as if someone was searching for something, but nothing like this. I’m so sorry, Sydney.”

Sydney made a noise of distress and William pulled her into his arms.

Sydney, William, and Prim all used William’s master bathroom to ‘freshen up,’ while Brandon made an attempt to clean up the mess in Sydney’s bedroom.

“Do you think we should stay someplace else?”

He turned his head and found Prim standing in the doorway, looking good enough to eat, in a short flouncy skirt and a halter-top with tuxedo lapels. She had legs for days, and they ended in a pair of fuck me heels that made his mouth water. He wanted to screw her while she wore those heels. Actually, he just wanted to screw her. She could wear whatever the hell she wanted. Or not.

He cleared his throat and focused on the question she’d just asked. “He’s already been here once, and left his mark. No point in returning, unless he knows we’re in town. I think it’s safe enough, at least for tonight.”

“I think everyone is just about ready, if you want to head downtown.”

“Actually, I was thinking that maybe just you and I should head downtown.”

“You would leave the Chala here, with only a Fate to protect her?”

“William can handle it,” Brandon said stiffly. He didn’t like the faint mocking tone in her voice. So he’d changed his opinion about Fates, a little. Big fucking deal.

“She won’t stay here,” Prim said with a small shake of her head. “She wants to be there, the moment he is cursed again. She misses him desperately, already.”

“It’s dangerous. Too dangerous for my comfort level.”

“Your comfort level is not exactly the highest priority at the moment.”

“My back is starting to tighten up again.”

Prim allowed a tiny smile. “Perhaps, when we are done, I’ll renege on my earlier statement and give you another backrub. So long as you don’t proposition me this time. At least, not in quite that same way.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask in what way
could
he proposition her, but for once, he let his internal gatekeeper win. It was sort of nice getting along with Prim. She was a wise ally, and he suspected she had magic that could come in handy when they had to face down Gavin.

Once again, they piled into the rental car, and forty minutes later, Brandon maneuvered the vehicle into a space in a parking garage next to the building where Gavin lived before he met Sydney. It was an old warehouse, and the main level had been converted into artists’ studios, with a series of studio apartments located on the upper two levels. Gavin’s apartment was on the top floor.

Since none of them had a key, Prim used a bit of magic to coax the elevator into taking them up to Gavin’s apartment. When the doors slid open, they found themselves facing an area of hall cordoned off with caution tape. Two human males, both wearing rumpled suits, stood a few feet away, talking in low tones. As soon as the doors opened, both men turned and watched the entourage exit the elevator.

Brandon watched as their gazes swept over Sydney’s fresh-faced beauty. Then their eyes widened as they took in William’s massive physique stuffed into a skintight, electric blue, long-sleeve shirt and a pair of banana yellow warm-up pants. They barely noticed Brandon, other than to note the days of stubble on his face and his unkempt hair probably made him look dangerous enough to possibly be a criminal. Unlike the others, he hadn’t bothered to
freshen up
.

And then their gazes locked on to Prim. Much to Brandon’s irritation, both men went slack-jawed and simply stared as she sashayed out of the elevator and paused, waiting for direction to Gavin’s apartment.

Brandon noted it was the apartment next to Gavin’s that was cordoned off. He deliberately positioned himself between the two men and Prim before heading toward Gavin’s apartment. They didn’t have a key, so he stepped aside so that Prim could magically unlock the door. He leaned in a little, to keep the two humans from seeing what she was doing, and he felt her sharp intake of breath.

Good
. He’d begun to doubt his belief that she’d been attracted to him right from the get-go because of the way she’d been treating him all day.

As soon as they headed toward Gavin’s apartment, both men stepped forward, pulling badges out of their pockets. “Detroit Police Department,” one of them said. “We’re in charge of a murder investigation in this building. Is this your apartment?”

“Uh, my cousin’s, actually,” Brandon replied, thinking fast. “Why?”

“We were hoping to ask the occupant a few questions.”

“What happened?” Brandon asked, nodding at the strands of caution tape.

“The woman who lives next door was killed last night. Rather brutally. One of the other neighbors said she and the occupant of this apartment had a relationship.” The way he said the word left no one in doubt of what sort of relationship he referred to.

Brandon gave Sydney a swift look, but she remained stonily silent and passive, watching the two police officers with nothing more than mild interest.
Good girl
, Brandon thought.
Don’t let them get to you. Whatever happened, it wasn’t Gavin. Not the Gavin you know
. He wished he could say the words out loud, but he didn’t dare with the humans standing right there.

“My cousin’s been out of town,” Brandon commented. “That’s why we’re here. To see if he’s back yet.”

One of the detectives motioned with his hand. “Be our guest.”

Brandon took a deep breath and hoped to hell Gavin wasn’t inside the apartment. This situation could get really messy with two human witnesses. Cops, no less. He glanced at Prim, who nodded once and then stepped up to the door and pretended to insert a key, when in reality she used her magic to release the lock. He stepped forward and they walked into the apartment together, with Sydney and William trailing behind, and the cops taking up the rear.

It was an elegantly appointed space, done in expensive, masculine tastes. The furniture was comfortable, dark leather. The accent pieces were mahogany wood. The kitchen appliances were stainless steel and relatively new. A coffee cup sat in the sink, and the last dredges of old coffee had settled in bottom of the coffee pot. Brandon took it all in and decided that Gavin had definitely retreated to this apartment when he left the pack three days ago.

Had it only been three days? It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Mind if we have a look around?”

“No,” Brandon said. “Help yourselves. Doesn’t look to me like my cousin’s here.”

One of the detectives walked into the kitchen and nodded at the sink. “Looks like someone’s been here recently, though.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. I should probably call him. Find out what’s going on.”

The other detective returned from the bedroom. “Bed’s been slept in recently. Your cousin’s definitely back from his vacation.”

The detective standing in the kitchen fished a business card out of his wallet and handed it to Brandon. “Why don’t you give your cousin a call? Tell him we’d like to ask him a few questions in regards to his whereabouts last night. Between approximately two a.m. and six a.m.”