“English, French, and Spanish primarily. I also interpret Russian when the other Russian interpreters aren’t available.”
“But you speak everything?” Cain’s question pulled her gaze back to him.
“Yes.”
“Then why not interpret the other languages?”
“Delilah’s suggestion—most people don’t speak everything. Limiting the list looked more normal and helped me blend.”
“Something happened at work?”
She considered the man in front of her. Daniel Cain caught more than most. Maybe because he paid such close attention. She could feel his gaze on her like a caress. “I overheard a conversation I shouldn’t have.”
“When?”
“Yesterday during the General Assembly, a delegate’s aides were discussing the trafficking of supernaturally gifted people. From what I caught, they are slavers for people like us. I don’t think the delegate knows.”
Even now, fury and terror gripped her simultaneously. Trafficking and slavery in any form was horrendous. That they targeted her kind had Quinn on edge. She couldn’t go through that again. Hence the goon squad to the rescue.
Cain raised a single eyebrow. “They discussed it openly?”
She didn’t blame Cain for his skepticism. With translators of six languages listening, you’d think they’d be more careful. But…
“They were speaking Sumerian.”
The men exchanged baffled glances. Only Cain remained focused on her, waiting.
“Is that unusual?” Max asked.
“Sumerian is an ancient language.”
“So they assumed anyone listening wouldn’t understand.” Cain caught on quickly.
“Exactly. I only know two races who still speak ancient languages. Angels…”
Terror again zinged through her and she couldn’t quite hide her shiver. “And demons.”
Silence hung over the room, thick and heavy.
“You’re telling us we’re dealing with demons?” Max rumbled from his spot in the corner.
Cain said nothing, though she could see his mind ticking over.
Unnerved by his penetrating gaze and what it did to her body—highly inappropriate given the current situation—she focused on Max. “Most likely. Angels wouldn’t do the things they were talking about. Vampires are another possibility, given how ancient some are, but these didn’t look like vampires.”
“What? No pale skin or pointy teeth?” Shaw asked.
“Not exactly.” In fact, the demons appeared as rather plain humans. Smart. Too ugly and they stood out. Too beautiful and they stood out. Better not to draw any attention. In their true form, supposedly, demons were astonishingly beautiful. Even more so than angels. Quinn wondered if that was true.
“What delegation?” Cain asked.
“Mauritolla.”
“Damn.” Cain muttered the word under his breath, but she caught it, though the others might not have.
Quinn’s thoughts exactly. The Mauritolla archipelago, one of the world’s most beautiful island destinations in the Caribbean, visited almost exclusively by the world’s wealthiest people, also had several uninhabited islands, perfect for hiding captured supernaturals and using shipping lines to send them around the world. Also, a fair distance away from where they sat in New York City.
“Did they know you overheard?” Cain asked.
“I don’t think they realized I could understand. Both of us interpreting French that day heard. Sarah, the other girl with me, wondered what language they spoke. I said I didn’t recognize it.”
“Then why the call to Delilah?”
She raised a single eyebrow. “I wanted to check off my good deed for the day.”
Four sets of eyes stared back at her—three confused. Cain was…amused? No, that couldn’t be right.
Quinn stood and put her hands on her hips. “Do I really have to spell it out? They are hunting our kind. Not only does that put me in danger if they discover me under their noses. But people like us—” She waved at the men in the room. “—are being held captive and slaved out for their powers. I couldn’t let it go.” Before she got the hell out of Dodge.
“Okay.” Cain held up his hands. “I had to know.”
Comprehension dawned and she glared. “You were testing me?”
“Sorry.” He didn’t even have the grace to grimace.
“No you’re not.”
Sawyer, or maybe Shaw, coughed to cover a laugh, and Cain shot him a glare over her shoulder.
Quinn resumed her seat and glared at the man in front of her. “You said I have options.”
Cain leveled a calculating stare her way. Was that a spark of respect in his eyes? Why did a warm glow ignite in the region of her heart at the thought? This man was nothing to her after he got her out of here.
“Yes, options… Two.”
She waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she crossed her legs, prepared to outwait whatever test he ran on her now.
His lips quirked. Barely. “Option one: we relocate you somewhere safer.”
Sounded good, but what about the demons? “And option two?”
“You help us investigate the demons and put a stop to it.”
CHAPTER 3
To give her credit, Quinn didn’t appear nervous as they made their way through security. In fact, he’d been impressed with how calm she’d been, given the situation. A trafficking ring was bad enough, but one which would be interested in her should’ve had her terrified. While he detected nerves, he could see that she focused only on what was to be done.
Cain’s new employee badge had been overnighted, and he sailed through without a hitch.
“How did Delilah get you access so quickly?” Quinn whispered as she led the way to the elevators. “The process usually takes a while.”
Cain flicked her a glance. “I don’t ask how when it’s Delilah.”
She hummed a response he interpreted as agreement.
They rode to the third floor in silence, her soft floral scent teasing him, though he was determined to ignore the kick of attraction which had started the moment she’d looked up at him in the coffee shop yesterday. Along with a strange sense of familiarity. But he’d never met Quinn before. He didn’t think he’d forget her heart-shaped face, or those soft eyes which seemed to take in everything.
He waved her ahead when they reached their floor, and they exited the elevator into a long, generic hallway lit by fluorescents above, which buzzed quietly in the background. Fewer people in this area than downstairs.
“Hey, Quinn!”
His companion waved at the two ladies passing in the hall.
“Thanks again for bringing my favorite muffin yesterday. Made my day,” one said.
Quinn’s answering smile was pleased. “Of course, sweetie.” She didn’t stop to chat, though, pulling him along in her wake as she kept walking.
As they passed him, both women stared at Cain as though he were a chilled bottle of wine and they wanted a drink. Focused on the job he had to do and the woman at his side, for his part, Cain nodded politely but otherwise kept moving.
Hard not to focus on Quinn Ridley. The woman was a dynamo in tiny packaging. He doubted she was more than five feet on a good day and slender with it. Her hair was a thousand colors which, if pressured, he’d call brunette, but golden brown with streaks of blonde was more accurate. She wore it to her shoulders in long layers she tucked behind her ears, adding to the pixie-like impression.
Usually he preferred platinum blondes, so why he was attracted to this particular pixie was a damn mystery. Yesterday, he’d walked into the coffee shop and taken a sucker punch to the gut when she glanced up, defiant and wary, and lust had slammed through his system. A strange reaction he intended to leave an unsolved mystery. His job was dealing with the demons she’d uncovered.