Page 33

It wasn’t even ten o’clock. Too early to go home.

Wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. Iyoni rode the elevator with us, dogged our steps as we walked to my office, then took a seat on the sofa like she belonged there. She’d be on our heels again when the day finally ended—which I was so ready for.

I stood by the window, staring into the courtyard, if only to avoid having to look at her. Outside, it was drizzling, the sky gray and lifeless. I found myself wishing for some storm clouds to match my mood. Or my guitar.

Trapped with Kara. Trapped by Dacien. Trapped by Washington and the celestials.

Frustrated. Powerless. And underneath it all, the guilt that I was here to find a man and hand him over to Dacien.

I wanted to smash something. The window looked promising, though my office was too high for an easy escape.

Behind me, Kara cleared her throat, as if the stifling tension was clogging it. “So … er … a Sentinel. What does that entail?”

“Mostly training.” Iyoni’s soft voice grated because it was so damn soothing, and I wanted to stay angry. “Combat, magic, studying in our library.”

“Do you … live on the Celestial Plane?”

“No, I live in Baltimore.”

“Oh.”

The silence lengthened. Outside, some committed smokers gathered together under too few umbrellas.

Kara tried again. “Um … I like your leathers.”

“Thank you.”

“White is so difficult to keep clean.”

“They don’t get dirty. They’re enchanted.”

“Ah.”

Natalie chose that moment to rap on the office door, and I wasn’t sure who was more relieved, Kara or me.

I turned, considered giving her a smile, and decided the effort was too great.

“Apologies, sir, but Vera Kline is here. We don’t have anything scheduled …”

“That’s fine,” I said wearily, walking to the small conference table and dropping into a seat. “Show her in.”

Kline entered, immaculate as ever, though heavier makeup than last time betrayed her losing battle with the shadows under her eyes. “Thank you for seeing me, Assistant Director.”

“Not at all.” I waved her to a chair. “I caught your news conference yesterday.”

Kline grimaced as she sat on the edge of her seat. “What a farce that was.”

I winced. “My apologies. I don’t seem to be making friends and influencing people.”

“An ironic choice of phrase, given what I’m about to tell you.” She set her tablet down on the table and pushed it an inch toward me.

“Ominous,” I said, picking it up. It was a list of profiles—names, pictures, basic details.

Some with references to unusual hobbies that raised my eyebrows as I scrolled.

They rose further when several of the later pictures turned out to be not in the least safe for work. I set it back down. “Dare I ask?”

“These are the applications we’ve had since yesterday.”

“For?”

“For … er … becoming your … er …”

“Vassals?” Kara supplied helpfully, coming around to pick up the tablet and scrolling on from where I’d stopped.

“Yes, vassals.” Kline sounded relieved to have settled on a word. “One thousand, three hundred and eight, to be precise. So far.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “This has got to be a joke. Someone’s having a joke, right?”

“No.” Kline looked all too serious. “They’ve been arriving steadily since the video footage went viral.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. It was going to be a bad one, I could already tell. “And you’re bringing this to me because …?”

“Well, they all came in through the main e-mail, addressed to variations of …” Kline squirmed in her chair. “… the SPAR Warlock.”

“Uh-huh?”

“And I thought … well … that you might want to see them.”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Some of the photos are quite fun,” Kara commented, still scrolling through. Concerningly, she’d sat down on the sofa next to Iyoni, and they both seemed to be taking an interest.

“What would you like me to do with them?” Kline asked.

“I don’t care,” I said. “Delete them? Update your spam filters?”

“Yes, sir.” Kline rose, reaching out for the tablet which Kara handed over with reluctance. “Of course. Right away. Sorry to have … er … bothered you.”

She walked to the door but paused as she reached it, turning back again. “Are you sure you don’t want to …” She trailed off nervously.

“Yes?” I prompted, trying to rein in my patience, but knowing I was failing.

“… Bond some of them?”

“No, thank you.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kara said over me, giving Kline a smile. “Why don’t you send me a sample, Vera? I’ll look through them.”

“Thank you, Miss Hargrave.” Kline gave her a grateful look.

“Please filter out those that aren’t demons.” Kara turned to Iyoni. “I don’t know why the rest bothered to apply. He’s a warlock, not an eligible bachelor.”

“He’s probably both,” she answered.

“Of course,” Kline said, and slipped out the office while I was busy glaring at Kara.

“I’m not bonding anyone else,” I said through gritted teeth as soon as the door whisked closed.

“Oh come now, Master,” Kara said, like I was being petulant. “You need to grow your power, if only to keep Washington off your back.”

I flicked my gaze pointedly at Iyoni, then back to her. “If my power grows, so does my threat.”

“Until your power surpasses anything they can do to you.” She gave me a beatific smile.

The glance had clearly been too subtle, so I went for something stronger. “We have company.”

“Don’t mind me,” Iyoni murmured. “Just carry on like I’m not here.”

“Which works right up until I say something wrong, and you chop my head off.”

“That won’t happen,” Kara said with a confidence I didn’t share. “I know you, Master. There’s not an evil bone in your body.”

Two ‘masters’ in as many minutes. Was she regressing, or trying to make a point to Iyoni?

The arrival of Natalie distracted me while I was still trying to figure it out.

“Apologies for disturbing you again, sir, but you have an … invitation.”

“Don’t be enigmatic, Natalie, I’m not in the mood.”

“Sorry. Mr. Moreau has requested some of your time.”

I frowned, trying to remember where I knew the name from. “Which department?”

“No, sir. Mr. Moreau. Silas Moreau.”

Oh, that Moreau. Occasionally mentioned in the same breath as Gates, Buffett and Bezos.

Only Moreau was a supe, and not shy about it—despite his aversion to public appearances.

He owned a dozen corporations whose HQs sat within New Providence.

Billionaire. Entrepreneur. Philanthropist. And curious, apparently. About me.

I blinked at her. “Silas Moreau wants a meeting?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fine,” I sighed, as my head began to throb. “Then you better show him in.”

“Er … he’s not here, sir,” Natalie demurred. “He would like you to come to him.”

I felt another political play pushing down, threatening to smother me. “Great. Where, exactly?”

“His estate on the coast, near Buzzards Bay.”

“That’s what, an hour’s drive?”

“I believe so, but he’s offered to fly you out tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday.”

“Yes. It’s a personal invitation.”

My day just kept getting better and better. “Then why has it come through SPAR?”

“As I understand it, he and the director go way back.”

“I see. So Madeline told him I was the warlock. Was I under the impression that was supposed to be a secret?”

Natalie shifted uncomfortably. “She was quite adamant you agreed to this visit.”

“Of course she was.” I closed my eyes and massaged my temples, wondering if being summoned as a curiosity by the rich and shameless was my future. “I don’t suppose you have any Advil, do you?”

“No need,” Iyoni said. “I can cover that.”

She waved her hand and a mist of white light suffused my head, drifting within me before I could even twitch. My budding headache not only cleared, but I felt like I’d woken up after a good night’s sleep to find Kara in her kimono with a freshly made coffee. Invigorating.

“Thank you,” I said, genuinely surprised.

“Sure.”

She’d fixed the pain, but not the growing sense of claustrophobia.

I sighed and addressed Natalie again. “Very well. It doesn’t look like I have much choice.” Recurring theme. “Can I leave you to arrange the details?”

“Of course, sir. I’ll send them to Kara when it’s done.” She gave me a smile and bowed out.

I stared at the door for a good half minute, then stirred and shook myself. “I feel a desire to embed myself in some boring paperwork and hope the day passes without any more surprises.”

“You still have to meet Firth,” Kara pointed out.

“Fuck that. I’m going to sit here, minding my own business, and drink coffee until home time rolls around.”

“That will give you plenty of time to read Parsons’ report when it comes in.”

I glared at her, but she just smiled back.

*

Five o’clock arrived with no more surprises, but I’d spent all day waiting for the next load of shit to hit the fan, and my shoulders were a knot of tense muscle.

Kara and Iyoni had spent most of it talking in hushed voices on the sofa, growing thick as thieves.

It felt like a betrayal, despite me wanting Kara to ‘be her own person’.

I powered down my computer in relief. “Let’s get out of here.”

They both looked up from Kara’s tablet, where they’d been scrolling through the profiles Kline had sent through.

I punched up an Uber on my phone and we walked down to meet it, pausing only long enough to say ‘have a good weekend’ to Natalie, and for Iyoni to collect a bulging duffel bag from security.

“Where are you staying?” I asked her.

“With you.”

“Oh yes, you absolutely should,” Kara said quickly. “How else can you keep an eye on Xan?”

“Exactly.”

I threw Kara a questioning look, but she ignored it.

We climbed into the back of the car. Kara moved into the middle to make room, her leg pressing up against mine.

“I don’t have a very big place,” she said as we drove back to her apartment. “Would you be happy sleeping on the sofa?”

“Not a problem,” Iyoni replied in her soft voice. “I’m used to roughing it.”