Page 59 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Five

Riva

“ T his is part of downtown too?” I ask, peering through the windshield at the buildings we’re cruising by. “How much of it is there?”

Andreas laughs from behind the wheel. “I told you it was a big city.”

He brakes at a red light and glances over his shoulder toward the guys. They’re crammed together in the backseat… because Zian insisted I should get to ride shotgun even though his bulky body needs the space way more than I do.

I’m not totally sure whether he was being considerate or ensuring there was no chance he’d end up squished next to me if Jacob demanded the front seat instead.

“One time I crossed paths with a guy who grew up in Toronto,” Andreas says, falling into the slightly lilting cadence he takes on in story-telling mode. “He had a bunch of memories of this place. Worked somewhere downtown. Lots of hustle and bustle.”

“I don’t suppose he had any memories of monster encounters?” Jacob asks with a hint of impatience.

Andreas lets any implied criticism roll right off his back. “Nah. The most interesting thing I saw was he climbed that whole tower once.”

He points toward one of the back windows where a slim building with a bulge partway up, like an olive speared on a toothpick only a whole lot bigger, juts up toward the clouded sky. It’s got to be twice as tall as the highest skyscrapers nearby.

“Climbed the outside?” Zian says doubtfully.

Andreas chuckles. “The inside, going up the stairs. Seemed like they went on forever. Then he got to the top and puked.”

“And that’s your idea of a fun story?” Jacob mutters.

“It didn’t seem like he minded so much. He laughed about it after, and then his friends caught up and they had a little celebration in this restaurant up there.”

I frown at the pedestrians ambling by on the crowded sidewalks. Just like all the other sidewalks we’ve passed, none of them stand out as anything other than human.

Curiosity tickles up inside my head. “I wonder if you’ve ever looked inside a monster’s memories. I wonder if you could .”

Andreas cocks his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never run into anyone whose memories I couldn’t see. But hopefully the real monsters aren’t blending in so well that I wouldn’t notice pretty quick once I peeked inside.”

“If they don’t remember doing anything monstrous, then they’re probably not all that bad,” Dominic remarks in his quietly thoughtful way.

We all sit with that thought for a minute as the car creeps along through the traffic. Then Zian sets his hand on his belly.

“Since we haven’t figured out where to go yet anyway… maybe we should grab some dinner?”

Jacob lets out a huff, but Andreas nods. “It’d give me some time to concentrate on the people around and see if I can stumble on any unusual memories that’d point us in the right direction.”

“Fine,” Jacob says. “But let’s pick someplace low key where they don’t expect us to be dressed up or anything.”

He looks pulled together enough, wearing a combination of collared shirt and slacks that Andreas picked up for him at the mall. Andreas could probably blend in anywhere that’s not high-level fine dining in his Henley and khakis.

The rest of us, though… I’ve got on my new favorite hoodie, the inside velvety soft against my arms, and a new pair of cargo pants with a couple of knives stashed in the pockets and a pistol in the back of the waist, just in case.

Zian’s in his preferred athletic casual, sweats and tee under a track jacket, and Dominic—well, he’s going to look a little strange keeping that parka on inside no matter where we go.

Every one of the men is still absolutely stunning, though. I jerk my gaze back to the windshield and instruct myself to stop noticing, as if that strategy is going to work this time after it’s gone so well before.

“I think I see a good option.” Andreas pulls the car into a tight parking spot and motions to a storefront farther down the street.

We all clamber out into the cool autumn air. I suck in a deep breath, both to clear my lungs and to see if I catch any unusual tastes that might lead us to our target—and Dominic twitches where he’s stepped out next to me.

I only see it from the corner of my eye, and when I glance at him he looks perfectly calm, but I think that was a flinch. A faint tang of nervous adrenaline reaches my nose before the breeze washes it away.

I probably gulped a bunch of air like that right before I let out my killer shriek.

The thought weighs on me as I tramp alongside the guys to a restaurant with a faded sign proclaiming it the Daffodil Diner. The windows are a tad grimy and the leather seats I can see inside are sporting a few cracks, but it’s not crowded and definitely not fancy.

I’ll take it.

Jacob pushes inside first with his usual commanding air and scores us a booth in the corner next to the front windows. I’d imagine he wants to keep an eye on everyone passing by outside throughout the meal.

This may be a big city that we’re blending into, but that doesn’t mean the guardians couldn’t track us down here.

Apprehension prickles over my skin. I hardly notice how Jacob has ushered the guys into the seats until he’s motioning for me to sit down across from him.

He’s arranged so that I get to sit on the end of the bench, where I’m not boxed in. The exact opposite of how he’d have handled this scenario a week ago with his fears that I’d take off on them.

I’m next to Zian, who’s left me plenty of space beside his brawn—for both of our benefits, no doubt.

I accept one of the menus the waitress brings us, my gaze darting between it and the window.

If the guardians did somehow find us here, we’d see them coming, right? It looks like there’s a back entrance over by the washrooms.

And if we really need to make a fast getaway, glass is always breakable.

When I finally convince myself to give the menu my full attention, my mouth starts watering. We haven’t eaten anything except grocery store offerings and drive-through fast food in days.

The burgers look tasty, but I’ve had a ton of those already. And so many of the other options sound good.

Even if this place isn’t five-star dining, it’ll at least be different from the stuff I’ve spent most of my life subsiding on.

I lick my lips. Andreas catches the movement with apparent amusement.

“Already know what you want, Tink?”

“I want the whole menu,” I mutter. “They have fish and chips and lasagna. How am I supposed to decide?”

One corner of his mouth ticks upward. “I was eyeing the lasagna. How about I get that and promise you a piece of it?”

My eyes flick to him. I evaluate his expression, but he looks totally relaxed about the offer—and maybe a little hopeful.

I don’t want to feel like I owe him for the kindness. But I also really want both dinners.

I set down my menu. “It’s a deal. We’ll trade part.”

Zian hums to himself. “Ribs or steak? They should have a combo.”

Dominic casts his pensive gaze around the restaurant’s interior. “At a place like this, I think ribs would be a better bet.”

“Not like I’m that picky about my steaks,” Zian replies.

I’ve generally been trying to look at Jacob as little as possible, but it’s hard when he’s sitting in front of me. When my gaze snags on him next, his eyes are just narrowing, his attention fixed on the window.

My head snaps around with a hitch of my pulse, just as a man on the sidewalk outside fumbles his cup of takeout coffee. The steaming liquid splashes all down his shirt, and he yelps loud enough for me to hear it through the glass.

As the guy hustles away, I glance back at Jacob. A small but satisfied smile has curled his lips.

He catches me watching him and draws himself up a little straighter. “That jerk was eyeing you like he figured he’d have you for dinner.”

So it wasn’t just clumsiness but a little telekinetic push that spilled the coffee.

I glower at Jacob. “Being looked at isn’t going to hurt me. And if he tried to do more, I can handle some random dude just fine.”

Jacob shrugs. “A more subtle approach is better for us than bringing out claws in public.”

He has a point, but I fold my arms over my chest. “Or you could just not pick fights over imaginary insults.”

Jacob pins me with the full force of his cool stare. Somehow it doesn’t feel all that chilly at the moment, though.

“You can still be angry at me, and that’s fine,” he says, low and even but with a terse edge that suggests he isn’t really all that happy about my feelings. “It’s not going to stop me from protecting you.”

Says the guy who spent most of the last few weeks torturing me every way he could. It’s really not fair that the vehemence behind his words sends a flood of heat licking over my skin.

“We all are,” Zian puts in, glancing toward the window as if he thinks there might be some new threat out there for him to take on next.

Before I have to figure out what to say to my self-declared bodyguards, the waitress swoops in to take our orders.

After she leaves, Jacob turns to Dominic, taking the pressure off me. “You kept looking through Engel’s notes while we were driving. Did you find anything else that could help us ID the monsters?”

Dominic’s mouth twists. “I’m not sure. Even in the parts that aren’t using her special shorthand at all, I can tell there are a lot of gaps, things she didn’t bother explaining because she already understood.”

“There has to be something, or no one would ever realize they’re around,” Zian says.

“I mean, in the write-ups on different types, she mentioned ‘common characteristics.’ Things like a werewolf is likely to have pointed ears or fangs or claws. But obviously they don’t go walking around like that all the time.”

Andreas rubs his jaw. “Maybe they do show some outward signs, though. Otherwise, why mention it?”

Zian frowns. “None of us have anything noticeable.” He pauses, with an expression like he’s just swallowed his tongue. “I mean…”

“Other than me,” Dominic says mildly, though he’s looking at his napkin rather than at us.