Conspiracy of Ravens (Raven Crawford, #1) by J. C. McKenzie

Author:J. C. McKenzie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ilona Andrews, urban fantasy, fantasy romance, paranormal romance, fae, underworld, realms, shifters, private investigation, dystopian
Publisher: J. C. McKenzie
Published: 2019-10-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.”

~Wenher von Braun

Raven sat precariously between a pile of questionably smelling clothes and an empty pizza box. Her lips twisted into a frown. Cole had walked her to the front door of her parents’ place and after a toe-curling kiss, disappeared into his shadows.

“You could clear a space for yourself.” Mike winked and turned back to his computer. He sat in the expensive office chair Mom and Dad got him last Christmas, wearing athletic shorts and a white tank top. He looked like he planned to go to the gym, but still managed somehow to sit with the authority of a Supreme Court judge. Raven had entered his kingdom.

“I’m not touching anything in this sin bin without a hazmat suit.” She’d already sat here longer than she wanted, briefing Mike on all that she’d learned so far.

Mike scowled. “Yet, you let Romeo kiss you goodbye.”

“Were you spying on me?” Ew.

“You two thumped down the walkway like an inexperienced marching band. I looked outside and the two of you were playing tonsil tennis. Trust me. That’s the last thing I wanted to see. Not even industrial-strength soap can clean the image out of my mind.”

Her face flamed. She glanced at the window. Although shut, Mike had pulled up the blinds. Natural afternoon sunlight streamed in. “What in the Mortal Realm does this have to do with the filth you insist on living in? When are you going to stop marking your territory with your stench? Pretty soon Mom and Dad are going to invest in door seals and install them to contain the stink.”

“You sound like Mom.”

She glared.

Mike spun around. “Because out of the two situations—sitting in my room of questionable sanitation or snogging the Lord of Darkness—”

“Shadows.”

“Whatever.”

She folded her arms.

“The latter is infinitely more hazardous to your health.”

She eyed the pizza box and toed the magazine with a naked chick draped over the hood of a truck. “I’m not so sure.”

Please, don’t let there be a black light. Ignorance was bliss in some cases.

Mike shrugged.

“Why am I here? Why couldn’t we talk someplace else, or on the phone, or better yet, just texted each other so we could avoid all this person-to-person interaction and skipped all the old-school social etiquette stuff?”

“Etiquette?” Mike chuckled. “I don’t think you’ve practiced that, like, ever.”

She flashed her middle finger at his back.

“Saw that.” Mike smirked at his computer screen. “You’re here, young Padawan, because we’re going to hack into our brother dearest’s email account.”

“You think we can discover where he is from his email?” Bear wouldn’t be that stupid.

“No. Bear’s not that dumb,” Mike said.

“Then?” Maybe she should invest in a cattle prod. She could use it for conversations with Mike, and Megan...and people in general. She’d give them a little zap when they took too long to get to the point.

Raven rubbed her bare arms. Her parents had invested in an air conditioner for the three weeks in summer it got hot enough in the Lower Mainland to need one.

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