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“Some of them.”

I smiled. “At least you’re honest.”

“Completely.” He repositioned me on the couch so my back was to him. He started in on a backrub.

I moaned. It felt so good.

“You’re way too tense.”

“There are a few things to be tense about.”

“None of which you can do anything about tonight.” He kissed my neck. “Besides, we leave for Hawaii next week. Even if we had a lead, Georgina would kill us both if we missed that wedding.”

“I don’t see why it’s so important I’m there. I’m not really family.” No matter what Georgina wanted me to think, I knew my existence complicated things.

“Yes, you are, but that’s beside the point. They want you there.”

“Thanks for coming with me. I know it can’t be easy for you to go.”

He continued his work on my shoulders. “It is easy since I’ll be with you.”

As much as I enjoyed the way his hands felt, I needed to see his face. I turned. “You really can be sweet sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

“Most of the time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Only most of the time?”

“Yeah.”

He grinned. “I’ll show you sweet.”

Before I knew it, he had me in his arms, carrying me toward my new bedroom. The room was probably ten times the size of my closet, and the king sized bed made my twin mattress on just a bedframe seem tiny. I wasn’t sure what surprised me more, that the bed was mine, or that the guy currently hovering above me was. Either way, he was the one I cared about much more.

Chapter Twenty

Jared

Rhett was easy to find. He sat huddled over his desk in a tiny office in the anthropology building at NYU. Whatever the guy was hiding, he hadn’t lied about his profession.

He didn’t glance up from the pile of dusty books on his desk when I walked in.

“Rhett?”

He pushed a pair of wire rimmed glasses up on his nose when he turned to look at me. “Can I help you?”

“For your sake, I hope so.” I didn’t wait for an invitation. I walked in to his hovel and closed the door.

“If you don’t mind, I’m kind of busy here.”

“I do mind actually.” I leaned against the door, letting him know he wasn’t leaving.

“Who are you?”

“You tell me.”

“Uh, that’s a little hard since we’ve never met.” He looked at me like he thought I was crazy. I wasn’t buying it. Toby wouldn’t have wasted his time interrogating an innocent human. “So I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“I could be asking you the same thing. Take off those dumb glasses. You aren’t fooling anyone.”

“Fooling anyone?” He gripped the arm of his chair, betraying the first hint of nerves. “What do you mean?”

I walked over and pulled off his glasses and broke them in two. “The whole Harry Potter look is out anyway.”

“I need those!” He reached for the broken frame.

“No, you don’t. You can see perfectly fine.”

He sighed and mumbled something about it being his last pair “How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess.” I smirked.

“What? You broke my glasses and didn’t even know for sure.”

I shrugged. “Turns out my hunch was right. So what are you?”

“I’ll admit to not needing glasses, but that’s it.”

“You know what I am.” My eyes locked on his. I wasn’t asking him a question.

“I’m guessing you’re a Pteron.”

“Not just any Pteron. I’m head of security for The Society.” I didn’t break eye contact. “If I were you, I’d start talking.”

“What am I supposed to be talking about?” He slowly let his nerdy cover fall. He still looked skinny as hell, but my gut instinct had been right. He wasn’t human.

“Who you work for.”

“NYU Anthropology and a few small grants cover my salary.”

I took a chance. “How much is Murphy paying you?”

“Paying me? Murphy?”

I smiled to myself. This guy wasn’t cut out for acting. “You know more than you told Toby.”

“Toby?” He gave me a blank stare. “As in Blackwell? I haven’t talked to him.”

The witch wasn’t lying. She had erased his memory. Either that, or he was an even better actor than I thought.

“Fine. Let’s move on. Tell me about Murphy.”

“Why would I know anything about him?”

I picked him up by his collar, pulling him from his chair. “Cut the crap. Tell me about Murphy.”

“Okay.”

I dropped Rhett back into his chair.

“He’s a bear, but my guess is you already know that.”

“How do you know him?” That was the key.

“He has my cousin.”

“Vera?”

“You know about her?” He watched with surprise.

“I know her sister.”

“Casey?” He lurched out of his seat. “How the hell do you know her?”

I kept our history to myself. “That’s not what I’m here to discuss.”

“What do you want with Casey? Leave her out of this.”

“Whoa. Calm down.” Evidently, I’d hit a nerve. He was protecting Casey from something. Did he know who her real dad was?

“What are you?” He didn’t look like a shifter, but he wasn’t human.

“I’d have thought you knew that already.”

“Fill me in.” I was done playing around.

“Then tell me what you’re doing with Casey.”

“I’m trying to protect her.”

“By interrogating me?” He attempted to sound fearless, but I could see the uncertainty on his face.

I studied him, searching for a hint at his true identity. Then something dawned on me. “You’re a bear.”

“What finally tipped you off?”

“That’s how you know Murphy. How your cousin got involved. Does Casey know? Did she know she had bears in her family?”

He shook his head. “Her mom made us keep everything from them.”

That made sense. Most human women wouldn’t want their kids knowing they had family like that. There had to be a connection between the bear in her family and what happened with Robert. Had they been introduced by a bear? Maybe that was why I kept hitting dead ends when I looked into her past. Her mom was hiding something.