Strife: Hidden Book Four by Colleen Vanderlinden Read Free Book Online Page B

head of security.”
    “Well, Ronan. There’s a whole lot of shit going on, and I need to talk to her. We can do this the easy way, where you just show me in and I spend ten minutes of her time getting her up to speed. Or we can do it the hard way, where I rematerialize in your nice little house and find her myself. If I do that, I’m gonna be in a bad mood and somebody might get hurt.”
    He watched me. “Never took you for a thug, Angel.”
    “I only am when it really matters.”
    His face was expressionless. “She really is busy tonight.”
    “I really don’t care. I’ve left her alone all this time. Nain has left her alone all this time. Both he and chief Jones have been stupidly accepting of this whole ‘Queen Rayna is very private’ bullshit while she’s taken control. I am not Nain, and I’m sure the hell not Jones. Patience and understanding are not two of my strong points.”
    We stood, measuring each other up. I poked at his mind a little, found his mental shields very strong. I approved. Too many supernaturals left their mental state up to chance, relying on brute force instead.
    So says she who smashes first. Anyway.
    “Could you really get in here like that?” he finally asked, and I nodded.
    “I’d rather not. I respect what Queen Rayna has done for the city. She’s taken a huge burden off of our teams by handling the vampire problems. And I can even respect that she needed to go it alone early on so she wouldn’t look weak in front of your people. I get it. But she’s in control now, and it’s time for her to get to know her counterparts in this city. It makes a hell of a lot more sense for all of us to work together than it is to not know what everyone else is doing.”
    He smirked. “As if you all don’t have people watching us.”
    “As if you don’t have us under surveillance as well.”
    He just watched me. There was no point in denying it. Even if Nain and I hadn’t spotted them ourselves, Shanti had let us know they were there. “Shanti tells you things, I guess?”
    “Shanti doesn’t tell me nearly as much as I’d like to know. And I have refrained from pressing her because I know she values her position in your organization.”
    “She is very disciplined. I understand she owes a lot of that to your team.”
    “And to herself. She’s a strong woman.”
    “May I ask who trained her? She is extremely well-trained for someone her age,” Ronan said.
    “The credit for that goes to Brennan,” I said.
    “The shifter on the demon’s team?” I nodded.
    “And where did he learn to fight like that? The number of weapons she’s more than capable with is astounding. Her fighting style is enviable,” Ronan pressed.
    “All I know about that is that he traveled extensively for several years in his twenties and he’s said that he developed an interest in martial arts and other forms of combat during that time. He’s always learning something new, it seems like,” I said, shrugging.
    “The Nain Rouge was lucky he decided to return here then and rejoin his team,” he said.
    “We all are,” I said, trying to maintain my patience. Small talk is not my strong point, but I was determined not to act like a jerk. Diplomacy is not really my thing, but sometimes it had to be.
    “Ronan, there’s shit going on that we’re going to need to work together on. I don’t doubt you’ve noticed that things out there are getting worse.”
    After a slight hesitation, he nodded.
    “Okay. Well, I know why they’re worse. And I know who’s doing it. And for us all to be safe, and keep innocents safe, it only makes sense that we’re on the same page. She can spare fifteen minutes for that, I’m sure.”
    “She does not want to look like she’s under your thumb,” he said quietly. “This is all new. Her position is still tenuous.”
    “I understand that. And she will be treated as a partner and ally. And if you know anything at all about me, you know I am devoted to my