After a moment, Wade offered him the plate of cinnamon rolls. “Sorry I ate your cookies last night.”
Patrick snagged a cinnamon roll and took a bite. “Don’t worry about it.”
Jono made his way to the kitchen to grab some coffee. Leon was cooking a late breakfast, and the smell of chorizo and eggs made Patrick’s stomach growl.
“I’ll make more eggs,” Leon said.
Emma had disappeared, most likely to get Marek and Sage. Patrick caught Gerard’s eye and waved at the love seat. “Take a seat.”
They’d argued on the drive over about Patrick and Jono making a bargain with the fae, but Patrick viewed the agreement as necessary. That still didn’t mean Gerard approved, and his old captain still seemed unhappy about it.
“You could have said you were already working on finding Órlaith instead of taking up with Tiarnán,” Gerard said.
“We need the clout. If the fae are willing to view our god pack as the only legitimate god pack in New York, then it’s not something we could pass up.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Patrick took another bite of the cinnamon roll. “I know it’s not. We did our best to deny them as much wiggle room as possible and left ourselves an out. Bargain is null and void if we don’t save your fiancée.”
“You talked with Tiarnán?” Sage said as she came down the stairs with Marek trailing behind her.
“Your boss said you’re on leave while we deal with this,” Jono said.
Sage made a face. “I have a hearing this week.”
“Better ring him and figure out who will cover for you.”
Patrick shoved the rest of the cinnamon roll into his mouth and chewed quickly. Emma reached over the couch between him and Wade, a mug of coffee in her hand, which he happily took.
The coffee was hot, flavored with hazelnut creamer. Patrick gulped down a mouthful before speaking. “Deirdre had a scrying crystal that had a memory recording embedded in it. The scene showed Órlaith being escorted home in Tír na nÓg right before they were attacked. The person who spoke before she was taken was Zachary Myers.”
Gerard’s swearing overrode Keith’s, which was saying something. Gerard got to his feet and started to pace, mouth a hard line. A warm hand settled on Patrick’s shoulder, and he tipped his head back to look up at Jono.
“Thought it was him,” Jono said in a low voice. “I remember his voice from June.”
The same way Patrick knew Jono had remembered the mayor’s aide who had been present during his torture at Ethan’s hands and during the fight at the Crimson Diamond in August. Scent and memory were intertwined, even more so for a werecreature, whose enhanced senses meant forgetting was near impossible.
Some nights, when the nightmares came, Patrick wished he could give that to Jono.
Patrick reached up to interlace their fingers together. “We’re dealing with the Dominion Sect more directly than we did back in August. I need to know if you’ve seen anything, Marek.”
Marek sighed. “I still have visions, but anything that concerns you directly draws a blank. You know that. The future is too fucked where you’re concerned.”
“They wouldn’t have stayed in Tír na nÓg. They’d have left with her for the mortal plane,” Gerard said.
“A world with billions of people in it for them to go to ground. Those aren’t good odds,” Keith said.
“There has to be a way to track her. What good is magic if—” Jono began.
“We got company,” Wade cut in, craning his head around to look out the window at the view of a snow-covered Central Park. “Your favorite people just arrived.”
“Who?” Leon asked as he came into the living area balancing four plates in his hands piled high with food.
Wade sank back into the couch, chewing on his bottom lip. “Estelle and Youssef. I can hear them.”
“Motherfucker.” Leon sighed irritably as Sage helped him put the plates on the coffee table. “What a way to ruin breakfast.”
“I’m going to shoot them,” Patrick decided.
