I smiled, seeing Eli’s tension as he said that, his jaw tight. No one else might notice his anger, but I did.
“If you put Janie first you might get somewhere. If you can figure out how to do that, and still complete your investigation, you might like your life a lot better and live a lot longer.” Eli began to scoop up servings into the bowls around the table. We were having the pie, salads, and a loaf of herbed bakery bread. Enough for all of us, but I was so hungry that I wanted to kick everyone out and eat it all myself.
“Live a lot longer. Is that a threat?” Ayatas lookedamused. He was leaning against the wall beside the butler’s pantry, where we kept our tea and coffee equipment. He looked relaxed, but his scent said otherwise.
Gee said, “No. A fact. The Mithrans in NOLA are always dangerous. Apex predators.”
“And Jane,” Eli said, “is their Dark Queen, which means she’s the biggest, baddest cat in the city.”
My eyebrows went up. Me? That was crazy. Wasn’t it?
“So what is the Dark Queen?”
“Not totally sure,” Eli said. “A mystical, powerful creature that can use all sorts of magical items, witch, vamp, were. She can take positions of command and authority for herself, rearrange power structures. Sorta like a wild card in a full deck.”
“You’re calling her a Joker?”
“More like a Queen of Spades with the powers and unpredictability of the Joker.”
I smiled in the shadows. I liked that description. It fit most of what we knew about the position of Dark Queen.
Ayatas said, “She shifted into a half cat / half human. I have to find out how she did that. How she shifted into parts of something.”
“For the agency? Or for yourself?” Eli nodded to Ed. My primo began to pour white wine into the glasses. Eli went on. “Because I’m guessing you can’t do what Janie did and you want to find out how. You want to learn how to shift into fighting form yourself.” Eli smiled, a tiny quirk of his lips, and carried the Dutch oven to the sink, then stood straight, his hands at his sides. It was the smile that warned me. And warmed me. He said, “You may be Janie’s brother or you may not. But you’re a selfish bastard. And we won’t let you hurt Jane. That? That is a threat.” He raised his voice so Alex and Bodat could hear. “Dinner is served.”
I waited a good five seconds before rounding the corner. “I hope there’s enough for me. I’m hungry as a Beast.” It was a way to tell Eli that I’d been a cat and needed to replace calories used up in shifting.
My partner gave me a look. It might have meant most anything. I smiled at him blandly and nudged Gee out ofmy chair, saying, “Up, my Enforcer, unless you want me to take a bite out of you.” To Eli I said, “This smells yummy. I hope you made two.” I’d need more than a single serving to make up for lost calories.
As the others took their places, shoving chairs around and bumping knees at the too-small table, Eli nodded his head and said, “There’s plenty.”
I looked at Ayatas, the only one who hadn’t moved. “Even for him?”
Eli made a pretense of looking around the table. “I guess I could set another place. He could squeeze in next to Bodat. If you want him here.”
I looked at my br—at Ayatas. “It’s the way of The People to feed guests. To see after their needs.” Eli had another place setting ready and set it near the garlicky gamer kid as everyone scooted chairs closer.
Ayatas was staring at Edmund, not moving. “I thought Mithrans preferred blood over normal food. Human food.”
Placidly Edmund said, “We consume a variety of foodstuffs. Blood is the favored food, but I do not sip from my mistress or her family. And Eli is a splendid cook.” Edmund turned to me. “Do you wish to offer thanks, my mistress?”
We had started praying over meals after the angel Hayyel had reappeared in my life. It might be nothing more than covering my bases, or it might be something significant, but it made me feel better. I nodded and closed my eyes. The others quieted. “We are thankful for the blessings of this day. Thankful for family. For clan. For food.”
Eli, Alex, Edmund, and Gee said together, “Amen.” Bodat looked confused. Ayatas looked surprised. I passed the bread around and dipped a spoon into the pot pie. AndOh. My. Gosh.Ignoring the men gathered around the table, I ate. And ate a second serving. And then ate a third serving. Fortunately Eli had more than one loaf of bread, and the second pot pie in the oven. It was, nearly, enough.
By the time I was finally fullish, the others had long finished eating and Bodat and Alex were washing dishes. Eli had slipped to the third-floor construction site withGee and Edmund, their muted voices coming down the stairs. Ayatas was sitting to my right, his gaze on me. I pushed my chair back from the table, meeting Ayatas’s eyes. “Alex?” I said. “Would you mind leaving the dishes?”
“We’re mostly done.” He looked back at me and said, “Oh. Come on, Bodat. Let’s give them some privacy. We can finish this later.”
My entire face softened. Only a few months before, Alex wouldn’t have understood what he was being asked. Now he was adulting. They left the room. I picked up my wineglass and sniffed the contents. It had a nice crisp aroma. Even good wines tasted a little vinegary to me, and unless I was cuddled with Bruiser, I didn’t typically enjoy them. However, as an Enforcer I needed to know about them even if only a rudimentary and passing familiarity. I hadn’t touched the glass while I ate and it was a little too warm to be perfect now, but I sipped anyway. It had a nice balance of acid and earth and oak. I swallowed. Eh. It was still wine. I put the glass down. I had dithered enough. “I heard you talking to Eli.”
“They are very protective of you.”
“They’re family.”
“You have a family.”
I said nothing.
