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“How did you know where to go?” I ask.
“I found a strand of Valentine’s hair caught on the doorframe. I know it sounds unbelievable, but that’s the truth. I went straight to his headquarters.”
“And?”
“And, what?”
“The girl, Luci. What did you find out?” Seven growls.
“She’s alive. Afraid and a little beat up, but otherwise she seems okay.”
“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at Luci.
Luci swallows, his jaw working as he refuses to meet my gaze.
“Luci,” Seven warns, blades slipping into his hands as if by magic.
“It seems Valentine is more eager to claim her than we initially anticipated.”
“What do you mean?”
Luci sighs deeply, still unwilling to meet our eyes.
“Tell us what the fuck you mean!” Seven roars, his patience for Luci drawing thin.
“Evi’s a maiden, Dante,” he finally answers, meeting my gaze.
“What?!” Seven exhales. “You can’t be serious.”
“Bloody hell,” I murmur, bracing my palms against my desk as my mind races, and I try to process this new information. “I should have known.”
“You’re fucking right you should have known,” Seven snarls. “How did you—”
“Despite what you may think, Seven, I never tasted her. I know my limits,” I glance at Luci as I remember what Seven and I had walked in on the last time the two were together, “at least, I like to think I do.”
“Yeah, but that meanshehas,” Seven says, and I see red at the thought, my fingers whitening against the desk as I try to remain calm. “It also means we have far less time than we initially thought. How is Evi supposed to learn anything in time for us to save her?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“There is one more thing,” Luci says, and Seven and I look over at him warily. “He’s going to bring her out in public.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Julius visited him today, not long after I was escorted from the building. I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to know, but it was impossible not to scent him. The halls practically reeked of his stench.”
“Julius is a pushy asshole, but that doesn’t mean Valentine’s suddenly going to put his guard down and take Evi out in the open,” Seven says with a roll of his eyes.
I bite my own tongue, trying to ignore the fact that Luci’s just admitted to steppinginsidemy father’s house. Thankfully, Seven’s too distracted trying to call him out to seem to notice this little admission.
“No, but knowing he was visiting Valentine was enough for me to wait around for him to leave. Of course, knowing Julius, he couldn’t wait to boast about the fact that Valentine agreed to go to the new club’s grand opening, two weeks from now.”
“Still—”
“And,” Luci says, interrupting Seven, “that he insisted he bring his newplaythingalong.”
“How do you know he was talking about Evi?” I ask.
“To be fair, he said he didn’t see her, but he did mention she smelled distinctly human, and I doubt even Valentine has the wherewithal to keep more than one human alive for long.”
