Page 11 of Confused AF
She held a wide stance with her hands resting on her hips, arms akimbo, and she tilted her head back slightly so that her chin jutted forward. Despite the curve of her lips, the smile didn’t reach her eyes, which made the incongruence between the top and bottom halves of her face even more pronounced when she started to speak.
Though I couldn’t hear what she said from that distance, judging by the way Otto’s eyes narrowed, he clearly took issue with her words. Yet something in the way they interacted told me this hadn’t been a chance meeting or a petty rivalry between professionals.
Adopting a neutral expression, I approached the table, making it a point to ignore the female as I set the plastic bag down on the folding chair.
“The doors will be opening soon,” I told him, taking his hand and pressing the water bottle into it. “Are you ready?”
The tight set of his shoulders eased a fraction, and his smile softened when he glanced up at me. “I think so.” He tilted the capped end of the bottle toward me. “Thanks.”
“There’s a sandwich in the bag, if you’re hungry.”
“You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.” He glanced down at the bag. “Maybe later.”
I had expected as much, so I didn’t argue. Instead, I took the water from him, twisted the cap off, and passed it back. His smile turned crooked, and he rolled his eyes, but he tipped it to his lips and took a long swallow without further prompting.
At that point, the female cleared her throat and stepped forward. “Kassidy Bassiago,” she announced as she pressed her palms together in prayer hands at her navel, her fingertips pointed straight ahead. “And you are?”
I turned my head, examining her as if I had only just noticed her existence. “Vaden Ashmore.” My tone shifted, deepened, and a subtle growl vibrated my voice—a warning, as well as areminder of her place in the supernatural hierarchy. “How do you know Otto? I don’t recall him ever mentioning you.”
She didn’t retreat, but the smug smile vanished from her lips, revealing that she’d received the message, loud and clear. Her hands dropped to her sides, and her gaze flickered briefly to Otto before settling back on me.
“Oh, we’ve known each other forever,” she finally answered, her tone a mixture of condescension and false familiarity. “Isn’t that right, Otto?”
Next to me, Otto stiffened, his fingers tightening around the water bottle so that the plastic crinkled in his grip, but he didn’t say anything.
I held the female’s gaze and waited.
Her lips pressed together for a fleeting moment, as though weighing her next words. “We…collaborated in the past,” she finally admitted. “Nothing recent, though,” she hurried to add. “And nothing I imagine would concern you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Her shoulders stiffened as she registered the challenge in my voice, but before she could respond, Otto waved his hand, drawing our attention.
“Let’s not make this into something it doesn’t need to be,” he said, his voice calm but lined with a sharp edge. “I’ll see you around, Kassidy.”
It was a dismissal, and one she clearly recognized. Her eyes lingered on him for a beat longer, a faint flicker of something unreadable passing across her face, before she turned on her heel and strode away.
“Collaboration?” I murmured, more to myself than to Otto as I watched her leave.
He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “It’s complicated.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.Complicatedhad a way of coming back to bite people in the ass.
I didn’t know their history, but something had clearly happened, something that had strained the relationship. Moreover, I didn’t trust the faery. To be fair, she hadn’t done or said anything particularly alarming, but something about her tripped all of my alarm bells.
And my instincts told me we hadn’t seen the last of Kassidy Bassiago.
five
~ Otto ~
Bydaythree,Ihad settled into a rhythm that didn’t involve daily panic attacks or waking up before the sun rose. All the initial kinks from that first day had been ironed out, and as a bonus, the airline had located my lost luggage.
Having to taxi to the airport to pick it up had been a pain in the ass, but at least I had clothes for the rest of the trip.
It also helped that the expo had kept me too busy to overthink every little detail.
Despite being seated on one of the back rows, there had been steady traffic to my table, and I always had a decent-sized crowd for my tutorials. Even better, I had appointments booked out through the end of the week for private consultations, with only a couple of time slots left open.
