“Gotta be faster than that,” I muttered as I got out. The driver waited, still laying on the horn and I put my hands on my hips, allowing my t-shirt to slide up just enough to reveal the dagger on my hip and the Colt in my thigh holster.
Tires squealed as he took off.
As usual, both mages and contractors stopped and stared as I walked through the lobby. The first few times this had happened, my shoulders had automatically hunched, and I’d ground my teeth at the insult. Just a few months ago, I’d been one of them, risking my life to take down paranormals who turned on humans, and lesser demons who’d been summoned by idiots.
Now, I no longer had to pretend I didn’t care. It was… disquieting to know that Samael’s demons had treated me better than most of the Mage Council ever had, even knowing that I’d snuck into his private party, stole a dagger from his dragon’s hoard, interrogated a demon who ended up dead in his nightclub, and just plain driven Samael crazy.
I headed up to the 5thfloor to stop by Keigan’s office.
“What the hell are you doing here, Amana?” Ben’s voice was a low growl as he stuck his head out of an office close to Keigan’s. He’d been promoted since I’d been gone.
I ignored him, well aware that it would only piss him off more.
“Hey, I’m talking to– ugh.” Ben attempted to grab my arm and I evaded his grasp, sliding my elbow straight into his gut. He bared his teeth at me, and Keigan walked out of his office, likely hearing the commotion.
“Benjamin,” he said, his tone cool. “Is there something I can do for you?”
Ben gritted his teeth, shooting me a look of hate, but even he wasn’t dumb enough to piss off Keigan. “No.”
“Then I suggest you get back to work. Danica, good to see you. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
Ben colored at the obvious dismissal, and I sailed past him, slamming Keigan’s door in his face.
Keigan smiled at me, gesturing for me to take a seat. “How are you doing, Dani?”
“I’m good. I’ve taken on an intern. She’s my first official hire.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Hiring staff already?”
I filled him in on Nathaniel’s request and he nodded. “Ah.”
“She’s been a huge help. I got my first case yesterday. Missing person. And I’m also hunting whoever targeted the coven. Without Kyla, I wouldn’t have a hope of juggling both cases.”
“Let me know if you need some help. I can do some leg work.”
I angled my head. “You’re not busy with the Council?”
He sighed, taking a seat at his desk chair.
“I have been… considering leaving the Council.”
My mouth dropped open. “You can’t.”
He gave me a look. “I assure you, I can.”
I attempted to process that. Keigan was a Discipulus Mage. One of only five in the Triangle. It took training, commitment, and loyalty to work your way up to that level, and he was close to getting invited to join the waiting list to become one of the ten members of the Mage Council itself. Of course, being taken off the waitlist would require one of the other ten to die and leave a spot open.
The only reason Keigan hadn’t already been invited was likely because he didn’t do nearly enough ass-kissing to please Albert.
“Why would you leave?”
Keigan was silent for a long moment. “You’re going to do great things out on your own. You’ve always been willing to stand for your morals, Danica. That’s a trait that is becoming increasingly rare in this world.”
“Uh… you know Albert fired me, right? It’s not like I kicked his door open and told him exactly what I thought of him.”
Keigan smiled. “He fired you because you refused to fall in line. You made the correct choice shielding your demon from the McCormick descendants. The streets would have run red with blood if they had lived, and everyone knows it. Albert has many qualities that make him a good leader. His inability to see the bigger picture is not one of them. For Albert, that bigger picture is often obscured by the dense fog of his own bigotry.”
