“The kid will die if he has to go back out there. Anything we can do to help, we should do.”
“I’m going to go make the call,” Gunnar said. “We should take him back to HQ with us later. When I’m done, we need to talk about these cases on your books,Bell. Pool what we know and see if we can’t work out some next steps.”
Agent Bell nodded. “I’ll go sort out a room and pull the team together. Bryn, can you take care of Talbot for a while?”
“Sure. Point me at food and we’ll go eat. I’m starving.”
“How’s your head?” Gunnar asked.
“Fine. There was no resistance so it didn’t take much effort.”
“Did you look at his future?”
“No. I hope we’re going to change it, so I didn’t want to.”
“Fair enough. Let’s get going. We have work to do.”
Gunnar wouldn’t allow Bryn to go outside without him so Bell took him and Talbot to the staff restaurant. He handed over a code for payment then left them to it.
“Looks like we have carte blanche to stuff our faces,” Bryn said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“I guess. I’m worried about what happens next, though. I can’t identify the guy I saw so I’m not useful anymore. They’re going to put me back on the street, aren’t they?”
“Gunnar and I have a plan. But let’s get food then I can tell you about it and see what you think.”
Bryn loaded his tray with a steaming bowl of chicken soup, two dinner rolls, an enormous slice of peach pie with whipped cream and a bag of chips. In a concession to Gunnar’s concern for healthy eating, he grabbed an orange juice.
Talbot hesitated but then followed Bryn’s example, mirroring his choices, except he chose English breakfast tea as his drink. They grabbed silverware then headed for a corner table. A few people eyed Bryn’s darkglasses and gloves. It was apparent they knew what he was because there were plenty of muttered conversations and glances.
“How do you put up with that?” Talbot waved vaguely at the room as he took his seat.
“They’re curious.” Bryn sat down. “It’s unavoidable.” He took off his glasses and laid them on the table. “Might as well give them something to stare at.”
“Wow. Pretty!”
“Why, thank you. That’s better than freak or weirdo.”
“I’d never heard of an augur until Agent Bell told me about you. Are there any more like you?”
“Not that I know of.” Bryn focused on his soup, which was excellent. He was mopping the dish with the end of a roll before Talbot said anything else.
“What’s it like working with a wolf?”
“I don’t think of him like that,” Bryn said. “Until he does something wolfy.”
“Like what?”
“He gets growly when he thinks I need protecting. He eats enough for two and his senses are much sharper than a human’s. He gets up at the crack of dawn to run, can you believe that?”
Talbot shuddered. “That’s horrifying.”
“I know, right? But other than that, he puts up with me. He can cook too.” Bryn told Talbot about how he and Gunnar shared an apartment at the Gene Control and Research HQ and a little bit of the kinds of cases they were working on. He told him about Emmett and his genius with all things admin. “Do you think it’s the kind of place you might like to work?”
“It sounds amazing, but that’s never going to happen. I’m a homeless rent boy, Bryn. Who’d want to give me a job? Without a postal address I can’t even get hired to flip burgers. Not that I’m putting down anyone who does that. It’s good, honest work.”
“Me and Gunnar have a bit of sway with the boss at GCR. Right now, he’s putting in a word for you with Warden—that’s our boss—to see if he’ll take you on as an entry-level geek. I mean IT guru.” Bryn chomped his pie. “Fuck me, this is good.”
Talbot stared at him. “You’d do that for me? You only just met me.”
