Page 13 of Capitol Matters

Maybe I’d get lucky and find all eight people at once, equally vulnerable. I could drop a chandelier on them at a dinner party or run a bus off the road with themtrapped inside. Extra points for efficiency.

I thought to share the joke with Nash but, when I caught his gaze, the genuine concern on his face threw me.

“How unlike you to care.” My nose wrinkled.

He shrugged. “I don’t think you should have to do it, that’s all.”

I slid into the shirt then looped the tie around my neck. A step back allowed me to retrieve the name list from the bedside table and stuff it into my pocket.

Nash’s gaze chased me. Judging, perhaps, or doubting. Regardless, I didn’t need his misgivings heaped on my own.

I crossed my arms and faced him. “Look, Nash, I know I can get pretty confessional around here, but I’m not looking for advice. I can handle my own shit.”

Nash was not an easy person to offend, but I’d managed. Guilt twinged as he nodded, then pushed himself off the opposite side of the bed.

“Sure thing, tough guy,” he said.

A knock on the bedroom door silenced any apology I might have offered. I stood by while Nash passed on his way to answer it.

“You expecting someone?” I asked.

He paused with a hand on the knob, his shirt fluttering open. “Yeah, my next hookup, so you better clear out,” he said. “A guy has to fill his time somehow with the whole city shut down.”

I rolled my eyes.

His easy smile returned as he added, “Kidding. Kind of.”

The door swung inward, revealing Pippa in an oversized sweater and leggings. Glasses rested on the tip of her freckled nose, and she peered through them as she leaned around her brother to spot me.

“Oh hey, Fitch. I thought I heard you.” Her tight-lipped smirk implied she didn’t mean the talking.

My arms squeezed around my middle, driving out a short breath.

“How was your first day of work?” she asked.

“Eventful,” I replied.

She leaned against the doorframe, letting her head fall to a tilt. “Really?”

Nash turned away so I couldn’t see his face, but something he said—or silently mouthed—stopped his sister’s interrogation before it began.

“Ah.” Pippa nodded. “Well, Nick, you have customers.”

“Did you tell them we’re closed?” Nash asked.

“Tell them yourself. But you might want to finish getting dressed first.” She shrugged her shoulders, telling us little about the unexpected arrivals, but all we needed to know.

Pippa was as capable a bouncer as they came, but less willing when it came to certain clientele. The same clientele who wouldn’t let a city-wide plague or closed sign keep them away from their preferred watering hole.

The Bloody Hex had arrived, and I had a lot of explaining to do.

Tailing Nash down thestairs found the entryway cluttered with Hex members. Not just the core group. From the looks of it, they’d invited everyone. Grimm’s efforts to grow our numbers had yielded a team of almost twenty. I hadn’t bothered to learn their names or pay attention to what powers they possessed. Many were former Thorngate inmates—something I had no right to feel superior about—but there were myriad other reasons these cut-rate witches didn’t belong in our ranks.

The new recruits chattered loudly. They lined the walls where oversized cogs and gears turned, spinning shelves laden with potion bottles. Since the showdown at the gang’s failed job fair a few weeks back, they steered clear of me. I’d successfully established myself as the last person they should ask for help or advice. Ironic because, of the group, I was the easiest to get along with.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Nash greeted, fully in customer service mode. “May I interest you in somelibations?”

From the back of the rabble, Grimm emerged. Since taking his own undercover position at the Capitol, he’d been away more than home. I hadn’t personally seen him in almost a week. No great loss, though it was a relief to find him in good spirits tonight.

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