“I didn’t say that I liked him, only that I take full blame for everything that happened last night. The way I see it, Darius is now a man short, and that’s one less evil Mage in this world we have to worry about. So keep that in mind while you escort me to the door.”
“Last night I gave you specific instructions. One of which was not to behave impulsively and commit murder. But life does not always go as planned, and we obtained the information we needed. That said, I have spent all evening making arrangements to cover up your mistakes, especially the two men you left behind at the bar.”
“What did you do?”
“The bartender is a loyal supporter of Keystone, and he fabricated a story and told the men that their partner was apprehended by Regulators of the Security Force for attempting to purchase a child on the black market. In order to explain the car’s disappearance, he had to tell them the Regulators confiscated it as evidence.”
“And they believed it? But Darius—”
Viktor rubbed his eye. “Darius will not find out. These men will turn their backs on their friend. To inquire about him or ask questions will put a target on their back as someone who supports child molesters. Everyone knows that the higher authority does not make arrests without sufficient proof, and no one wants to be associated with a pedophile. The last thing these men will want is a Regulator knocking on their door. Should they tell Darius, he will wash his hands of it. A man who breaks the law does not get involved with the law, even where his men are concerned. It calls attention to him.”
“You don’t think he’ll suspect anything?”
“I can promise he is not going to check on a lowly guard arrested for slave trading. This buys us some time.”
Claude gripped my shoulders and forced me into my seat. I stared blank-faced at a plate of sausages, hash browns, and strawberries.
“You eat today,” he said.
Viktor sliced a banana into several pieces. “I am not going to sit here and praise your actions. Loyalty is essential, and you have failed to impress me, even if the result was a good one. I can’t award you credit for chance. I am placing you on probation.”
I shook my head. “What does that mean?”
He ate a slice of banana from the blade of the knife. “It means you will not go on any assignments in the near future. We need to measure your skills and make sure you are able to acclimate to the team. This is not a club. Every person I bring in, I watch before they’re ready to move to the next level. You can still help with planning and theories, but jeopardize this case or any of my men’s lives, and you’re out.”
My heart sank. At least I still had another shot, but why couldn’t he be proud of what I’d done, even if it wasn’t by the book?
“Understood,” I said, dodging the stares from everyone at the table.
Viktor brought his knife up to his mouth and ate another slice. “Before we make a move, I need to confirm something.”
“I’m working on it,” Wyatt said, shoveling eggs into his mouth.
Niko lowered his voice. “How do you feel?”
“Better, thanks,” I whispered back.
His eyes skated around me, as if looking at something. “Your light isn’t back to normal.”
How could he see energy that didn’t belong to me? Unless it was an educated guess. I was usually in a cantankerous mood after pulling core light from a criminal.
Blue offered me a basket of bread, and I waved it away. Watching everyone eat was making me nauseous. I still hadn’t gained their respect and didn’t yet belong. Being reprimanded in front of them also didn’t help my mood.
“I need to take a walk.”
Claude reached across the table and gripped my wrist. “Why won’t you eat?”
“You’re making the Chitah nervous,” Gem said, leaning her head on his bicep. “He’s a softy when it comes to looking after us girls.”
I pulled gently out of his grasp. “I can’t eat—not after last night. I’ll just get sick. Sometimes it takes a couple of days before I can keep anything down. Go on without me; I’m not feeling good.”
When I got up to leave, my steps quickened as the distance between us grew. A feeling of suffocation overwhelmed me, making it hard to breathe. The dark light, the newness of my situation, the uncertainty of my future—I needed fresh air. I emerged through the back door, drifting into a blanket of fog that rolled across the estate and into the surrounding woods. It had an ethereal glow, making it seem as if I were lost in a dream. Morning light filtered through a veil of dark clouds, but there was no thunder or smell of rain. The blades of grass below my feet glittered with tiny prisms of dew, and I left tracks of flattened grass behind me as I moved toward a grove of trees.