Cursed (Book # 3 of Hunted)

Spy

"I've told my staff to take the next couple of days off so we don't have anymore..." he glanced at Zane and hissed, "Incidents." Zane looked at the floor and asked, "Is the witch okay?" Keegan sighed and stuck his hands in his pants pockets replying, "She'll live. Orion and Miranda took her home."

"Then who's gonna take me home?" I asked. I wasn't very fond of the idea of being alone in a car with Keegan. He seemed mellow enough right now, but I was beginning to realize that his mood could change faster than TV channels.

"No one. You're staying here," he said, and my heart leaped into my throat. It didn't sound like he just meant for tonight. I stood up, dragging Zane along with me and asked, "What changed your mind?" He looked away from us and began strolling around the room.

It was fairly large. Twice the size of Zane's bedroom in Jasper Lake. There was a small twin bed against the left wall, the mattress covered by a fitted sheet, but nothing else. One corner of the room contained a small desk and a single chair while the opposite corner was floored and walled with tile. In the tiled corner, there was a shower sans curtain, a sink, and a toilet. A large bookcase filled with books and DVDs stood against the right wall and against the wall I was facing, just to the side of the doorway was an old TV set equipped with a DVD player but no cable or satellite box.

On the wall above the bed, there was a large metal ring to which one could attach some form of restraint. Keegan seemed bizarrely prepared seeing as he only learned about Zane's predicament when I did. I wondered for what other purposes he used this room...or if he thought Zane would inevitably end up here.

"I've been thinking," he said, stopping near the bookcase as if to peruse the titles. There was a long moment of silence. Whatever was about to come next could not possibly be good.

"We all have our strong suits," he continued finally looking at me. "You seem better equipped than I to deal with...that." He gestured at Zane. "Emotionally at least."

"So, you want me to babysit him?" I asked staring at Keegan.

"Hey, I'm not a baby. I don't need—"

"Essentially, yes," Keegan replied, and Zane huffed indignantly. I crossed my arms over my chest and squinted at him asking, "That can't be the only reason." He inhaled through his nose and his gaze broke away from mine flicking towards the ceiling.

"Well, I did just give my staff the week off and I'm not a huge fan of housework."

"I'm not cleaning your stupidly ginormous house," I said flatly and he smirked. Taking several steps closer, he explained, "Alright. Truth." He paused and a strange smile marked his face.

"I want you to become a spy," he said. I stared at him for a long moment in utter confusion. Had I heard him correctly? I shook my head and asked, "What?" There was a funny vision in my head with catsuits and grappling hooks.

He looked at me and his eyes were suddenly bright with greed. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Zane exclaimed, "Are you insane?! You want her to spy on the Hunter Academy for you?" Keegan's thin lips pulled into a frown and he said, "You're not allowed to read my mind."

"Your walls aren't as strong as they used to be," Zane replied. Keegan glared silently at Zane, who, after a moment, winced and looked away. I watched them for a second and then asked, "So about this spy business?" I felt my insides tremble nervously. Keegan turned to me with a sigh and said, "It's not spying. I just want you to go to the Academy, note anything of interest and report back to me."

"That is the very definition of spy," I said and he groaned.

"So what if it is? A little espionage never hurt anyone," he insisted. He held out his hands and took a step closer to me. The expression on his face was strangely open and friendly. If I didn't know better, I would call it completely non-threatening.

"Listen, I'm not asking you to don a wig and sunglasses, create an alias and live a double life," he said. "Just do what they want. Go to class, make friends, learn everything you can and I'll pick you up on the weekends so you can reveal any juicy little tidbits you happen to pick up. Easy peasy."

"Why?" Zane asked and Keegan's gaze cut to him. "You've never been interested in learning about the Hunters."

"Well I've never had a man on the inside before." Keegan looked at me and said, "Or woman, rather." He turned back to Zane and continued, "Do you know how much a certain breed of creature would pay for information about that damned academy?"