“You think that should count for something?” Sarge asked. “Despite all the danger he represents?”
It went against all the experience and training I had as a slayer to say yes. In the end I could only mutely nod.
“I still don’t like it,” Captain Reese grumbled. “House Tellier is nowhere near his regular territory. It’s convenient he decided to help you, but I don’t like how fixated he is on you.”
“Agreed,” I said with true conviction.
“We’ll have to hope Killian Drake will do something,” Sarge concluded.
“Yep.” Captain Reese rested her elbow on her desk. “Well. This is as fun as wrestling with a teething werewolf pup. But we’ll have a couple weeks to formulate a strategy. Straight off, the easiest plan I can think of that would possibly reassure your family is that we could pull you off the night shift and stick you back on the day shift.”
Sarge made a noise in the back of his throat.
Captain Reese held her hands up. “I know, I’d be loath to let that happen, too. If we’re lucky we won’t need to do anything, and the Committee will make Killian Drake take responsibility for Ruin. Er, Considine.”
Sarge reached out and straightened a framed photo of a wolf on Captain Reese’s desk, then glanced at me. “Are you satisfied with this for now?”
I’d rather we not make a big deal out of it but I have the distinct feeling that if I say that out loud, I’ll be stuck writing a whole, secondary paper so I better keep my mouth shut.
“As long as I’m warned beforehand of when the issue will be taken before the Committee of Magic, it’s the best I can hope for,” I said.
“Of course,” Sarge said. “I’ll attend the meeting with you.”
“So will I. And the Commissioner—if this plan is actually approved,” Captain Reese said. She glanced at her tree stump clock. “Regardless, I’ll try to brainstorm other alternatives. For now, I had best let you both return to muster.” Captain Reese gripped the edge of her desk so she could balance on one leg, stood up and smiled at us, then extended her hand.
Sarge shook it. “Thank you, Captain.”
I swallowed thickly, then took Captain’s hand when she offered it to me. “Thank you,” I managed to spit out.
Captain Reese smiled broadly. “No, it’s me that should be thanking you, Blood, for sharing this information with us.” She winked at me before the mischief melted from her face. “Have a good evening—both of you. And stay safe.”
Sarge snapped off a nod, then opened the door and slipped out of Captain Reese’s office.
I followed so closely behind him I almost stepped on his heels—there was no way I was going to dawdle in the office of my commanding officer’s commanding officer!
Sarge led the way for a few steps, then paused. It took me a moment to realize he meant for me to walk shoulder to shoulder with him. “Thank you, Blood, for coming forward with this information. We will find a way to keep you safe, and we will help in any way we can to convince your family that your place is here with the task force.”
“Thanks,” I awkwardly said.
Sarge nodded and stormed down the hallway. “You haven’t told Considine you’ve figured out who he is?”
“Correct.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. With any luck, the committee will force Killian’s hand if he really does know about Considine, and he’ll have to act.”
“Yessir!”
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Considine
Inodded to the red-haired vampire that opened the door to Drake Hall for me and cast a glance around the grand entrance.
Nothing looks broken. That’s disappointing.
With four of his siblings staying with him, I thought for sure they’d try Killian’s patience and for once I wouldn’t be the only one driven crazy by the Dracos Family.
A thud made me look up to see Killian standing on the landing, resting artfully on the double spiral staircase and leaning against the railing.
Dressed in a black perfectly tailored suit, Killian looked as spotless as ever… except for a slight twitch in his left eyebrow. “I give in,” he snapped. “You win. What godforsaken hole are you hiding in that I can’t find you?!”
I laughed, sliding my hands into the pockets of my black trousers. “What’s wrong, Killian? Had enough of your family?”
“I have had my people search the house of every blasted vampire Family within reasonable reach of the city—they even roused some sleeping elders and cracked a few heads in the process. No one was even aware you weren’t staying with me, much less housing you.” Killian clenched the stone banister of the elaborate staircase. I wondered for a moment if it would crumble in his murderous grasp.
Happily, that show of emotion meant he was unaware his vampires had gotten quite close to finding me. They’d nearly followed me all the way back to my apartment a few days prior—I’d been forced to turn into a bat to escape their detection.
Of course, I always could have just used my powers, but where’s the fun in that?
As old as I was, I could command nearly every vampire I came across—the Drake vampires included. (I had used it on Killian occasionally to get him to stop asking questions I didn’t want to answer, but I’d never given him an outright command. I had an inkling that if I tried, it might not work. Even if it did, when he came out of the command there would be hell to pay.)
“I can’t believe you’d even think I’d make myself put up with the inane prattle of another vampire Family, when I can barely stand yours,” I said.
“You aren’t staying with the werewolves, and you think too little of humans and wizards,” Killian continued. “I can only imagine you’re staying among the fae except my One happens to be good friends with the Night Queen, and she hasn’t heard anything—and her paranoid head of security would have sniffed you out if you were among them.”
“Ahh, yes. Your One,” I said. “How is she? I’m terribly upset you haven’t yet introduced us.”
“Cut the act, Considine. Where are you hiding?”
“It’s cute that you think I’d actually tell you.” I tilted my head back to study him from a new angle. “If you’re sick of your siblings, why not go stay with your One for a time?”
“As if I could leave the lot of them in my home without any decent supervision. I want them gone. The fastest way to achieve that goal is to find wherever you are hiding, so that I can dump them on your front porch and be done with it.” Killian glared at me, but his eyes were such a dark shade of red that they were almost black. I was fairly certain he wasn’t all that angry with me and was more fed up with his siblings.
“I’d apologize, except I’m not sorry,” I said. “Rather, it melts my heart to see someone else who is competent deal with them.”
“I still don’t get why you don’t just leave them to their own devices—they’ll all be dead or asleep in less than a decade. Tops.” Killian sauntered down one of the two stairways, shaking his irritation off with a shudder.