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“Isn’t it an obvious speculation?”
“But Clave is well… Clave. You’ve met him. There isn’t a teacher with a larger letter opener up his bleached ass.”
“Aren’t you the one who told me not to believe everything everyone pretends to be or something?”
“I’d never say that.”
“Oh, for the love of—you are impossible.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll try to set up a meeting. But I’ll have to warn you. It won’t be safe or easy. I doubt he’ll agree to see anyone but me, which will make it tricky.”
“I need to be the one in the room,” I pressed. It would be tricky since my intuition wasn’t very specific. But with the right mindset and meditative preparation, I might be able to get some specificity in there. At least enough to point me to the right person.
Razai hummed and wriggled into the corner of my sofa, pulling one of my throw blankets over him. “Don’t count on it. I haven’t seen him in five or more years. He’s gotten street smart.”
He pulled out his phone and clicked around. Then, on speaker phone, the ringer caught my attention.
I asked, “Who are you calling?”
“Redford!” Razai exclaimed with a huge grin.
“What the fuck do you want, psycho?” a furiously gruff voice demanded.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Don’t pull that act with me. You’re always fucking shit up. Don’t call me again.”
My jaw fell to the ground, potato and cheese nearly falling out. This was his friend?
“If you hang up, I’ll tell Quinn that you’re a delinquent,” Razai crooned.
“Fuck you. My aunt can’t do shit about it.”
Woah. This was Quinn’s nephew? Archangels and their small worlds.
“But it’ll make Christmas a pain, won’t it? That woman has an incredible throwing arm. Maybe I can take her out soon. Bring her home with me. Really put her strength to good use.”
“Don’t you lay a hand on her, Razai. I mean it. I will destroy your world!”
“Not before I seduce my way into her good graces,” he teased. “Or her bad ones. I don’t have a preference, and honestly, who would?”
It was incredible the way Razai laced threats into such lighthearted, playful words. Tone-wise, I would say he was talking with an old friend. It made the message itself that much more terrifying.
Because he talked like all of this would be easy and attainable for him. The confidence oozed from his relaxed posture. His tipsy smile. The way his eyes shimmered with real enjoyment even as he was getting cursed at.
He’s crazy. This man is utterly insane, isn’t he?
Dread thickened in my chest like some poisonous storm. He’s going to make me regret this.
After a string of rottweiler-level growling on the other line, Redford shouted, “What do you even want?”
Razai didn’t hesitate. “I have questions about your business avenues. Particularly the ones running through the esteemed Hartfall University grounds.”
A heavy, tension-soaked pause followed. And then, “That’s not on my authority to share. If we do have any connections in the first place.”
“I do love a man who plays coy,” Razai purred. “Then bring the people who do have the authority.”
I took my glass of beer and downed half of it. There. Just to numb reality a little. Maybe that would stop the internal screaming.
