Reign of Monsters: Artifact Hunters #2 by S M Reine

Author:S M Reine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Iris Books

Chapter Thirteen

To say that it was an awkward drive back to Thirteen would have been an understatement.

Vex, Cage, and Caitrin squeezed into the Edison’s backseat, which wasn't meant to accommodate more than two people comfortably. The Edison was a luxury vehicle, but its two benches were each meant to seat a pair.

The problem was that Brigid occupied the entire front bench. She worked on her tablet while the other three sat and stared and didn't talk. Brigid didn’t seem to be in any hurry to explain their release.

"Where are we going?" Caitrin asked, finally remembering that she was a chatty nuisance.

"I'm taking you to Third at Thirteen," Brigid said, glancing up from her work. "Unless there's somewhere else you'd rather go."

Cage’s mom scowled. “How do you know that's where we should go?"

Brigid turned her tablet around so they could see it. She was looking through the city records on Caitrin, which included her retinal topography, her date of birth, and the geometry of her facial features. The rest of the text was too small for Cage to read in a glance. "I didn't do research before trying to pick up Cage," Brigid said, and she actually sounded...contrite. Or something like it. "I was angry. I wasn't thinking."

"Does Daladier know you're letting us leave?” Cage asked. “What the hell is going on with you two anyway?"

"Let's just say we have a mutual interest in money and a mutual disinterest in unnecessary mayhem." Brigid returned her attention to her tablet, swiping with little flicks of her fingers.

The Edison took the highest speed rails back to Third at Thirteen, so it was barely ten minutes before they arrived at the docking station. When they got out—all of them, including Brigid—the Edison tucked in its gull wings and shot vertically to rejoin traffic. It would park itself. It might even go back to Bastien without any passengers.

Though why, exactly, it didn’t have any passengers escaped Cage. Brigid stuck her tablet into her backpack and gave Cage an expectant look. “What now?” she asked.

“That depends,” Cage said. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I made a mistake and prevented you from fixing the barriers on Ten. That’s not my kind of mayhem. So what’s Plan B for repairing it, and how can I help?”

“There’s no Plan B,” he said.

“You could ask Silverclaw for another warding stone, couldn’t you?” Caitrin asked. Cage couldn’t tell if she meant to be facetious or not. It sure sounded facetious. She already suspected that Silverclaw hadn’t had anything to do with the warding stone.

“These things take time, Mam. Even Silverclaw can only do so much.” Cage rounded on Brigid. “And even I don’t have a Plan B for every scenario. The closest thing I’ve got for this is to go back to my museum, where I’ve got forty-seven families living off uncooked Ramen noodles and Pepsi. It sure would have brightened their day if I could have told them they could go home.”

Brigid’s lips pinched. “Then I’ll help at the museum.

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