"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." The joy had gone out of Simon's voice.
Viktor's eyes narrowed. "That's your handler, isn't it?"
Another buzz. This time Simon pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his jaw went tight. "I have to go."
Charlie stared at Simon. Was he being serious right now? "You said you weren't leaving." Charlie hated how small his voice sounded.
Simon's gaze flicked between his phone and Charlie's face. Something warred there, some internal battle Charlie couldn't read. "There's something I need to check out."
"Now?" Viktor stood, crossing his arms. "After everything that just happened?"
"Especially after everything that just happened." Simon looked back at Charlie, just a hint of softness returning to his expression. "Look, I'm not leaving forever. I'll find you. I'm good at that, am I not?"
Charlie couldn't argue with that.
Still, he wished Simon wouldn't go. But there was nothing he could say to stop the hunter. Simon rose to his feet in one fluid motion like a man on a mission. "There's a lead I need to follow. About who set you up."
Charlie scrambled upright. "Someone set me up?"
"The murders you didn't commit. Someone called them in, gave false information to make you seem dangerous." Simon checked his weapons in a way that seemed more like habit than anything else. "I'm going to find out who."
"And then what?" Viktor's tone carried an edge Charlie didn't understand.
Simon's hesitation lasted barely a second, but Charlie caught it. "Then I deal with it."
Something about the way Simon said "deal with it" made Charlie's stomach twist. "I'll come with you."
"No." The refusal came sharp and immediate.
Charlie flinched; he couldn't help it.
Simon's expression shifted, something flickering across his face too fast to read. His hand lifted like he might reach for Charlie, then dropped.
"It's not safe," he said.
"Nothing about my life is safe." Charlie gestured at himself, at the tail, at the general disaster of his existence. "I'm a vampire who faints at blood. I live in constant danger of embarrassing myself to death."
Viktor snorted. "He has a point."
Simon shot him an annoyed look. "You're not helping."
"I'm not trying to help. I'm trying to understand why you're in such a hurry." Viktor's gaze sharpened. "What did Reuben say to you?"
"Reuben doesn't matter right now."
"Bullshit." Viktor stepped forward. "Everything about this screams Organization deadline. How long do you have?"
"I said it doesn't matter."
"How long, Simon?"
The silence stretched tight enough to snap. Charlie watched them face off, these two not-quite-humans with their enhanced everything and their shared history of violence.
"Roughly ten hours now," Simon said finally.
The words didn't make sense at first. Charlie's brain struggled to process them.
