He chewed quickly and swallowed hard. "Sorry. I'll clean them up before His Lordship gets here."
She gave him the once over. "You might go out back and shake yourself in the alley first because you're a mess." She continued as Callum cursed and looked down at his crumb-covered chest. "And you're right, we don't give a shit about what Andre Dumont or the Council might think. But I don't want to invite speculation or even a possible attack because other vampires and witches think we're weak. I don't want that kind of attention or the headache that goes along with it."
"Okay, that makes sense," Callum muttered. "I'll just, uh, go clean up and grab the handheld vacuum."
He left the office and Ava sighed. She moved to the table and poured out a cup of coffee, which she handed to me.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Fine."
Her expression told me that she didn't believe that for a second. "Even with the dreams?"
I frowned at her. I'd never mentioned them. "Are you sneaking into my thoughts?"
"You know better than that. But I see things sometimes. Things that are important to our future."
"And what's so important to our future?" I asked, taking a sip of coffee.
"Her."
It seemed that Ava was actively trying to make me choke this morning. I swallowed the coffee in my mouth and then coughed a little. "Her who?"
"You know exactly who I'm talking about. And she's coming."
I didn't respond. Over the centuries, I'd learned that silence was the best choice when I wasn't sure what to say.
"When the time comes, Marcus, I'll help you." Ava rested a hand on my forearm and squeezed. "Neither of us know the specifics of the future. It's hell to see just enough to know that something is about to happen, but not enough to prevent tragedy."
I laid my hand over hers. She was right. We both had the gift, or curse, of foresight, but it was never enough. Not enough to save the people we cared about. Or prevent horrible things from happening.
Never enough.
"It'll turn out for the best," she murmured. "You'll see."
Her eyes lost focus for a moment and her hand fell away from my arm.
"It seems our guest has arrived," she said, glancing at her watch. "And he's a bit early, too."
I assumed she felt him enter her wards.
She gave Callum a hard look when he re-entered the office and started vacuuming up the crumbs he'd dropped on the floor. "Put your game face on and no fucking around."
He glanced up at her. "I got all the crumbs off and I'd rather not talk to some vampire with a stick up his ass, so I'll stand here and look mean."
"That works."
She turned to me, but I lifted a hand. "I never talk anyway."
Her mouth closed and she nodded. "True enough." When she turned back toward Macgrath, she asked, "Ready?"
"It's your show."
"Just a show," she repeated, glancing at Callum and at me.
Together, Ava and Macgrath left the office and went to meet Andre Dumont.
Callum finished cleaning up and stowed the handheld vacuum. We shared a look and each took a place against opposite walls. Feet apart and hands held together in front of us, we mirrored each other's stances.
