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I grinned. “Or I’ll keep it minimal and let you deal with your bosses next week.”

His face fell, crestfallen. “What? Man, you can’t do that to me. How can I explain the shit you have going on? Please,please, write a proper report. Mymomwould chew me out!”

It was my turn to laugh.

I retrieved my sunglasses from where I left them in the entryway, put them on, and walked into the bright day.

After six months, I was almost used to it.

“Good luck sorting out the shipment,boss. Call me when the jet’s here.”

I was in London, and it wasn’t even eleven in the morning. Might as well get some shopping done.

7

LUCIAN

Gideon threw his arm around my shoulders, and I allowed it, because I was too exhausted to argue. Not so much by the fights and rescue of my colleague as the extra sunshine I had to endure today.

“You’re the man, Regis. We brought back a full team thanks to you, you know that?”

By all the gods, that guy was going to kiss me to say hi if our acquaintance extended much longer.

We did end up getting the jet, hence why we were back to the Guard at three, with a plane filled with treasures.

“Not a bad haul for your last day, right?”

I couldn’t disagree. “Gotta love vamps. They do adore their trinkets.”

“And all the damn magic.”

Upstairs, he and I mostly saw treasures, but Towers and Parker, who handled the basement, also found a large stash of stored magic—highly illegal, and devastating in the wrong hands, particularly outside of Highvale.

Storing magic used to be a common enough practice: on slow days, without using too much power, a sorcerer would extract their excess of magic into a sealed container, to be usedat another time, to replenish themselves. Only, some people forced magical creatures to drain their power in order to steal it from them. And there were instances of people using those stolen power vials to get high. Magic addiction was one of the biggest issues the runners handling day-to-day law enforcement in Highvale struggled with. So while it wasn’t illegal to drain one’s magic, or even to purchase extra reserves, commercial-scale energy was highly regulated. People who needed to drain themselves regularly were on a watchlist,for their own good,according to the council.

That would have included me, if I hadn’t been Lucian Regis.

I was mildly curious as to how the vampires got ahold of such a large stash. I supposed I’d have to reach out to Gideon in a few weeks to ask, if I truly wanted to know.

From what I understood of the mess we walked into, the vampire who’d sired a bunch of fledgings had then been killed by one of his proteges. Newly made, bloodthirsty, without a lick of sense, the idiots turned feral and brought attention to themselves.

Vampires weren’t our specialty. They tended to stick to themselves, and act pretty reasonably, otherwise, their own kind, or the huntsmen specifically designed to hunt those guys intervened. But this lot had been so messy, the British authorities ended up misidentifying their actions as a demon’s, hence why it ended up on our plate.

With all of that dealt with, and despite the faint nausea I’d earned from my good deed, I was in a good mood.

I liked London. And I had enough time to pop by Fortnum and Mason for a few hampers. Mother loved their marmalade and tea. Bringing her some was going to make Damian twitch at our weekly Sunday lunch.

Besides, as of today, in exactly three hours, I no longer had to slave away at the Guard, and I could properly turn my attentionto the next important item on my list: revenge on my dearest elder brother.

“Don’t forget about tonight, right?” Before I could say a single word, Gideon reminded me, “You promised.”

I indeed gave my word I’d show up to his damn club, after he threatened to make his cousin ask me.

“I’ll be there,” I grunted. That conversation reminded me of the flask that had been in my pocket for an entire week, burning holes in my mind. “Will your cousin really come?”

Gideon’s grin got on my nerves.

“I owe her faebloom,” I explained to make him stop. “I haven’t seen her since I promised it to her.”