Despite my absurdly high heels, I practically flew up the Enclave stairs and burst into the office. Spotting Lilly, I rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  "Forgive me — I'm never dragging you into my work again!"

  "Easy there, Alice," she said soothingly, trying to wriggle free. "I actually enjoyed it. Really got the adrenaline pumping. Haven't had a rush like that in ages."

  Someone behind me chuckled. I turned to see Tyler, whose eyes had returned to their familiar human appearance.

  "My apologies, Lillian. I shouldn't have agreed to that scheme," Raen said from the doorway, making his way to his desk.

  "Well, first of all, after tonight you can all just call me Lilly." she replied. "And second, Arcanis, you have nothing to apologize for. I told you I could handle it. I was just caught off guard by the pregnancy angle. Good thing you didn't interfere and gave me time to collect myself and use my gift. Though I have to ask — you said the murdered girl was barely along, right? How did the Supreme know about the baby?"

  Andreas laughed nervously while Thomas stared at my friend with even greater admiration than before.

  "That's right. But apparently they'd met quite recently. I didn't know Supremes could sense pregnancy — that's a new one for me," Raen noted, glancing pointedly at the twins.

  The vampires looked down guiltily.

  "We forgot to mention that," Andreas said quietly, eyes on the floor.

  "Need to work on that memory," Tyler growled.

  "All right, enough. Everyone messed up a little, except Lilly. You were magnificent," Raen said, addressing my friend on the last phrase. He approached and kissed her hand, and she smiled with satisfaction. For some reason, that made me furious.

  "Well, it's getting late. Lilly and I should head home. I hope no one objects?" I said.

  "I'll drive you," Raen offered.

  "No thanks. We'll manage on our own," I replied curtly, grabbed my friend's hand, and pulled her along without saying goodbye to anyone, slamming the door behind us.

  "What's wrong with you, Alice? Jealous or something?" Lilly asked as we navigated toward the exit. This was no easy task considering our long evening gowns and uncomfortable heels, but my anger made me oblivious to the difficulties. Anything was better than letting Raen continue paying attention to my friend. I didn't know how to answer her question. I definitely didn't like the prospect of a possible romance between Lilly and Raen. But I didn't understand why. Or didn't want to understand. After a pause, struggling with feelings I couldn't quite name, I finally said:

  "I see... You don't lie to me, which means you're lying to yourself and afraid to admit you like him," Lilly declared.

  "I can't like him — he deceived and betrayed me."

  "Alice, it was foolish to expect honesty and loyalty from someone you barely knew. You were nothing to each other. You were just a victim, and he was the investigator on the case, and believe me, as an investigator, he did everything right. The fact that you created a romantic savior fantasy back then only confirms my suspicion that you like him. You liked him eight years ago, and that's exactly why you're so angry and hurt."

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  I didn't know what to say again, so I stayed quiet.

  "All right, let's just go home. Sebastian's been waiting for me," Lilly changed the subject, and I looked at her gratefully. "Actually, I enjoyed participating in your investigation. Thanks for such a thrilling experience."

  "No more investigations for you," I grumbled. "Stick to your dates if you want excitement!"

  Lilly laughed cheerfully and took my arm. We got home fairly quickly, said our goodbyes, and each went to our own apartment. There I gratefully pulled off my uncomfortable shoes, changed clothes, and quickly had tea with sandwiches. As I was washing my face and getting ready for bed, I remembered I was supposed to have dinner with Raen. But anyway, with the casino trip, dinner would have had to be postponed. "Tomorrow, everything tomorrow," I decided, falling onto my bed, wrapping myself in blankets and drifting off to sleep.

  The morning brought a surprise. When I got ready and left the house, the first thing I saw was the work vex with Raen standing beside it. My heart did an unexpected flutter before I caught myself. After last night's awkwardness, what was he doing here?

  I stumbled in surprise, and Raen rushed to steady me.

  "Careful, Alice."

  "What are you doing here?" I asked, unable to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

  Raen gave me a reproachful look while helping me settle into the vehicle.

  "I got the impression last night that you were angry with me. So I decided to give you a ride and clear things up."

  "I wasn't angry, just tired and stressed," I replied once he'd settled beside me.

  He looked at me doubtfully but said nothing and activated the start crystal.

  "Maybe you could drop the formal address with me? We've even had cognac together," Raen joked. "Played a couple. And participated in a crazy scheme. Noland will have my hide when he finds out."

  "Well, if that's the situation, then of course. If we've passed the cognac test, then I agree to switch to informal address," I smiled involuntarily.

  "Wonderful. By the way, yesterday our dinner plans fell through. I suggest we make it happen tonight."

  I looked at him with interest. Something seemed different about him today. Meeting me in the morning, insisting on dinner.

  "I don't mind." A cheerful ray of sunlight fell across my face, and my heart felt light and joyful. Raen's presence didn't feel burdensome — quite the opposite...

  "The warm weather is lasting so long," I noted. "I think it was already cold by this time last year. Don't you remember?"

  "I don't remember. But this fall definitely feels warmer to me," he answered mysteriously with a slight smile, as if he was talking about something other than the weather.

  We reached the Enclave, left the vex in the parking area, and walked along my now-familiar route, still smiling at each other. But on the stairs we encountered Diana. Ignoring me completely, she took Raen's arm and sighed dramatically.

  "Raenie, how wonderful to see you."

  "Hello, Diana."

  "So, about tonight — dinner?" Diana said with a coy smile.

  "Sorry, I can't," Raen began, but the girl interrupted him, playfully wagging her finger:

  "I don't want to hear it. You promised me, and I warned you that next time I wouldn't accept refusals." Seeing that Raen wasn't rushing to agree, she added, "You don't want your team to have problems with the intelligence division, do you? Without my cooperation, you'll be waiting ages for intel. Though I suppose I could be persuaded to expedite things... Pick me up at six."

  After delivering this speech, Diana stroked Raen's arm and departed, her hips swaying in their familiar rhythm.

  "Alice, I — "

  "I understand everything, Arcanis. Have a pleasant evening," I replied, and without looking at him, turned and practically ran to the ladies' room. I think he stood there watching me go.

  There I went to the sink and began splashing cold water on my face. My cheeks were burning. I stood before the mirror and took several deep breaths until I calmed down. "It's fine. Raen's personal life is none of your business anyway. And besides, now isn't the time for silly romantic thoughts," I told myself sternly. "Focus on work and Armon Eider. You can't wait any longer." Nodding to my reflection, I left the room and headed for the office.