“Let me finish, please.” Thomas’s stare bored into him. He waited until Alex had settled back in the chair, fingers laced across his stomach, staring up at the ceiling as he listened. “I manage things here. I read, I listen, I balance and weigh, and then I make decisions. You make them happen. You cannot be reckless, even if someone else must suffer a little. The price to everyone is simply too high. You go down, we all go down. You can’t be replaced.”
The silence stretched between them.
“Are you done?” Alex asked the ceiling. He took Thomas’s silence as confirmation. He turned to look at his friend, shaking his head. “That’s bullshit. What we’ve done in the last twenty years is bigger than both of us. We’ve talked about this, Thom. Neither of us is irreplaceable. Give Lee half a year, and he can handle most of what I do.”
The kid had the skills. Short of Thomas and Alex, and now Lena, Jackson was the strongest Spark the Ward School had seen and a gifted young agent. He was also pretty compromised when it came to Lena. He said all the right things, but Alex would be shocked if he could extricate himself from their dalliance.
Like you’d be able to? He gritted his teeth at the taunting thought.
Perhaps it would be best for everyone to separate Lena and Jackson, train him, and let him take over Fort Nevada’s interests in Zone Three. He’d already made the offer to Jackson earlier in the corridor. In a moment of frustration that admittedly had little to do with the kid, he’d asked the kid why he was so comfortable remaining behind and babysitting at the Fort. What had happened to the kid he’d met in the cafeteria, the one chomping at the bit for a chance to prove himself out in the world?
Lee’s face had been a study in discomfort. He knew his responsibilities and his role, but she captivated him with her attention.
Alex had made him a promise. If Jackson could keep his distance and help Lena realize her importance to them all, then he would be assigned to Azcon to train with Alex. She would be free to focus on her lessons and her vengeance. Jackson would get the training and the experience he desperately wanted. Alex would get the skilled junior partner he had needed since Erika had been sent to Zone Six. A real partner, one whom he could train to take over the operations in Azcon in anticipation of the day Alex moved on to their next target Zone.
He could use a partner who was one of them. He was tired of looking over his shoulder. He had his people in the city, but they had other assignments and he expected them to keep their focus where it belonged. This thing with Merritt, the Junior Director of Council Security, served as a reminder that he needed someone to watch his back.
Alex and Merritt were both under the Councilor’s consideration for the newly empty position of Director. Everyone in the inner sanctum knew Alex had a foot up simply because the Councilor had particular tastes and Alex was prettier. Merritt was looking for anything he could use against Alex.
He rolled his eyes at the thought and tipped his head to look at his friend again.
Thomas was still, except for one finger tapping on his thigh, likely as busy wrestling his thoughts as Alex had been. Finally, he leaned forward and told Alex matter-of-factly, “Well, he’d look better doing it.”
Thomas loved to rib him about the youthful vanity he had indulged in so many years before, even more so since he had outgrown it. The memory made Alex wince.
He snorted. “Okay, see, now you’re just being mean. Don’t make me throw your ass in the sparring ring.”
Thomas laughed. “Maybe that’s what you need. It’s been a while.”
“It has. You done licking your wounds yet?”
“Ha!” Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Can you hear out of your left ear yet?”
Alex rubbed his ear in memory. That had been a shithead move. He told him so.
His friend shrugged and smiled. “It got you off me.”
“It almost got you killed.” Alex’s vision didn’t cloud with the red wash of fury often, but when it did, it could be hard to pull himself back into focus.
Thomas stood up. “I can take a drubbing, so long as you stay sharp.”
Alex could see the genuine worry. He sighed. “Thom—”
“No. It’s fine. I understand your motivation, and I even agree with it, to an extent. But she’s a new cog in the machine. I want to be certain it will still run smoothly before letting her run.”
“She’s not the only new cog.” He shook his head. “We need to get new people up there.” Thomas would understand his reference. Something was going on in the Council of Nine. Even as a member of the Council, Thomas had no idea who or what moved in the background. Their missing agents in Zone Four spoke of a consolidation of power there reminiscent of their own start twenty years ago here in Zone Five. He needed to be there. He needed to get a sense of it for himself. “I don’t like being blind. Not with Lucas back there. I can’t be sure what he knows.”
“I’m working on it.” Thomas cleared his throat. “With Jackson gone tonight, she’ll be on her own. Are you returning after taking the friend back to Azcon?”