“Hey, you hungry?”
Andi homed in on the bowl of soup like a heat-seeking missile, and his stomach gave a loud grumble. With a smile George watched as Andi started carefully taking small portions of the soup with his spoon. Another thing George had learned from Andi—never overtax your stomach after throwing up. Small sips and bites were the way to fulfillment. He dedicated his focus on his own bowl, savoring the rich flavor. Adding a bit of ginger root to the broth had been an excellent idea. Once his stomach was pleasantly filled, George leaned back to watch Andi finish his food.
“What did Gelman want?” Andi didn’t look up from the soup, navigating the last sips to his mouth.
“A lot. Apparently, he’s part of a secret government organization calling itself the Office, who work with people with talents. Like Tyler. Like you.”
“What?” Andi looked up from his food.
“It gets better.” George knew he sounded grim. “It seems your old chief, Renard, knew about the Office and told them about you. It’s the reason he protected you the entire time. He didn’t know exactly what you were capable of, but he recognized the signs. When I put in the complaint about Chief Norris, they sent Gelman to help you. Well, at least that’s how he told the story.”
“You don’t believe him?”
“It’s not about believing. What he told me is far too crazy to not be real. It’s about trust. He offered us a new job, so to speak. You as a secret weapon the Office can send everywhere in the States, and me as your caretaker. We’re talking a raise and far-reaching authority here. We’d still be based in Charleston.”
“You think they’re going to exploit us?” Andi was done eating and looked at him with furrowed brows. George knew his partner was not only relying on the words George said or even his body language but also his pheromones, which apparently showed his agitation more clearly than he was comfortable with. He sighed.
“They certainly will. A talent like yours? They won’t be able to resist temptation.”
“But—”
“But I think we can control it to a certain extent, if you want that. If not, we can try to wiggle out of it.”
“Which probably won’t work.” Andi started stroking the edge of his bowl with his fingertips. Without a word, George took it from him to refill it.
“Thank you.”
“Always.”
“I guess wiggling out of it isn’t our best bet.” Andi took the spoon to stir the soup. “Can we use it to our advantage? I mean, more money and somebody up there knowing why my cases go the way they do doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It doesn’t, no. And yes, we can use it to our advantage. Gelman did say that backing out was an option, but I’m sure they’ll find ways to make us cooperate.”
“Then let’s cooperate and take all the candy they offer. It’s probably for the best. It’ll free up some of our time if we don’t have to fabricate plausible evidence and clues anymore.”
“Sounds good.”
Andi furrowed his brow over the bowl. “You don’t sound happy.” He lifted his gaze. “You’re unsure, afraid, nervous, glad, I think because everything went okay, and still a little angry.” The last was said with a slight pitch, indicating a question. It reminded George that even if Andi was able to read his moods accurately, he couldn’t always put things into context. Communication was still important.
“I’m not entirely sure what to make of Gelman and the Office, and I’m surely going to fret about it for some time until we have some experience with them. As for the rest—this case has taken a lot out of us, Andi.”
His partner looked down into his bowl, where the remaining soup was going cold. “You mean them coming to me?”
“I mean the bees swarming to you and sitting on you. I mean the spider interacting with you as if you were one being. I mean several hives and countless wood-dwelling arthropods coming to the rescue and killing a killer. I’m not exactly surprised because I always wondered if thegeschenkonly works in one direction, which it obviously doesn’t. I’m worried, though. Back in the woods, you were out, Andi. All clammy and cold, almost like a corpse yourself. What happened exactly, and what can I do to make it less scary in the future?” George hadn’t planned on unleashing his full worries on Andi while his partner was still suffering the aftereffects of close proximity with his tiny informants, but somehow, his mouth hadn’t gotten the memo.
Andi inhaled deeply. “I’m not exactly sure what happened. I mean, I’ve been overwhelmed before. The situation in the bunker wasn’t my first encounter with a feeding frenzy. It never affected me so badly.” He lifted his hand to stop George from saying something. Andi really did know him too well. “I thought it was because I still hadn’t recuperated from the Portius/Miller/McHill case. Which was a valid assumption. And the bees—well, bees have always been special. More so than wasps or ants or other social insects. I think it’s because they are domesticated. Anyway, the incident at House Cusabo with them wasn’t scary. At least not in hindsight. And in the woods….” Andi closed his eyes. “I was at my very limit, physically and psychically. Too wide-open to have any control left. Which is usually the space where new developments occur.”
George grabbed his bowl so hard, he felt the blood being pressed back from his fingers. “I should have told Norris we couldn’t take the case and to hell with the consequences.” He was getting ready to lunge into a full rant about everything he should have done differently—and there were a lot of things he could think of—when he felt Andi’s hand on his, soothing, reassuring, sucking the tension away, letting the blood return to his fingers.
“It was a decision we made together, and I don’t regret it. If we hadn’t taken the case, Tyler would now probably be dead. That alone is reason enough to be glad how things turned out. And if it hadn’t happened during this case, it would have happened with the next or the one after. You know it, George. Thegeschenkcan’t be stopped. At least now with Luke, we have something tangible, somebody to rely on, even if he’s only helping us for his own gain. Barely a year ago, I was all alone. I had nobody and was headed straight for a mental breakdown. Then I got you, and now we have this ominous Office as well. For the first time, I don’t feel completely isolated, George. Of course I would prefer if thegeschenkwould slow down so I get some time to breathe, but for the first time in very long, I have hope. What I felt with them, it was overwhelming, too much, and yet not enough. I will have to explore it, experiment to find the boundaries of what I can do. With you by my side, I’m willing to take the risk. Which is a lot more than I would have done before I met you. So no regrets. No self-reprimanding. We look forward, not back.”
George stared at Andi. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.” He took both bowls to put them in the dishwasher. “Do you want to go back to bed or nap on the sofa for a bit?”
“Are you going to watch a game?”
“Yes.”
“Then the sofa.” Andi got up. “I love cuddling with you.”
