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I rolled my eyes. “Uh-huh. Don’t get too cocky, Spartan.”
His eyes gleamed with mischief. “Only with you, goddess girl. Only with you.”
Gin pointedly cleared her throat.
“Oh! Sorry. Let me introduce you two. Logan, this is Gin Blanco. Gin, this is Logan Quinn.”
They shook hands, and Gin gave him an appraising look. “So this is the Spartan boyfriend.”
A bit of shyness swept over me, but I threaded my fingers through Logan’s. “Yeah.”
She grinned. “I approve. Now let’s see if we can find my people.”
“Oh, I think they’re over there.” Logan paused. “Talking to Nickamedes.”
Gin’s eyes narrowed at his hesitation. I raised a questioning eyebrow, but Logan shook his head.
“Trust me. You need to see this for yourself,” he replied.
Logan grabbed my messenger bag and slung the strap onto his shoulder. Vic was still napping inside, and the sword yawned, smacked his lips, and murmured something about killing Reapers before starting to snore again. Still holding Logan’s hand, I moved forward, with Gin following along behind us.
Logan headed for the far end of the lot, where a couple of SUVs were parked together. A man with the same black hair, ice-blue eyes, and pale skin as Logan’s was standing beside one of the vehicles. He was wearing a blue sweater vest over a matching shirt, along with black corduroy pants and wing tips.
A blond woman was standing in front of him, with her arms crossed over her chest. A gold detective’s badge was clipped to her black leather belt. My heart squeezed a little. My mom, Grace, had been a detective too.
“ . . . I assure you that we have the situation firmly under control.” Nickamedes’s voice drifted over to me.
The woman snorted in disbelief. “Well, it seems to me that this situation is completely out of control.”
Gin looked at the woman with a combination of love and relief. I didn’t need my psychometry magic to tell me that she had been as worried about her friends as I had been about mine.
“Your sister?” I asked.
“Yep, Detective Bria Coolidge, being a hard-boiled badass like usual,” Gin replied, pride and affection filling her voice. “I’m guessing that’s the fussy librarian you told me about earlier?”
I nodded. “Yep, that’s Nickamedes, Logan’s uncle.”
“I don’t care how smart you think you are or which elite boarding school you work for, Mr. Nickamedes,” Bria snapped. “If I don’t see my sister in another minute, two tops, then I’m taking over this whole operation. Is that clear?”
Nickamedes glared down his nose at her. “This operation is not yours to take over, Detective Coolidge.”
Bria lifted her chin and glared right back at him. “Well, I would have to disagree, especially since my friends and I kept you and your convoy from getting killed by those people in the creepy black cloaks and rubber masks who wanted to skewer you all with their swords.”
Nickamedes bristled. “As I have said numerous times now, we had the situation completely under control.” He paused and cleared his throat, as if what he was about to say next left a sour taste in his mouth. “Although we are grateful for the assistance of you and your friends.”
Bria rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth and stabbed her finger at Nickamedes, as though she was going to lay into him some more, but then she caught sight of Gin, and she immediately hurried in our direction.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Bria said, hugging Gin tight.
“I’m always okay,” Gin replied, hugging her sister back. “Although the train ride turned out to be a lot more exciting than I expected.”
Bria drew back and gave her a knowing look. “Aren’t things always more exciting whenever you’re around?”
Gin laughed and slung her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “You can say that. Where are Finn and Owen?”
Bria waved her hand. “Finn is still down the mountain, along with some of Nickamedes’s friends. Some guy named Ajax and a woman named Metis. As for Owen—”
“I’m right here,” someone said.
