“We need to strike back,” Patrick said quietly.
If another day with incursions in their territory happened, the packs might begin to question their strength and ability to hold New York City. If they lost even one pack’s support, it would be one too many.
“I know. So does Fenrir.” Warm lips pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “We aren’t running away from this.”
Patrick nodded, knowing they were running out of time to hold their territory and pay his soul debt. Whatever had drawn the Dominion Sect to New York City, Patrick knew it couldn’t be good.
8
Patrick’s phonerang a little before 0600 Friday morning. Jono’s phone went off at the same time, the surround sound an echo in their bedroom jerking both of them from the depths of sleep. Patrick rolled away from Jono to grab his phone on the nightstand, already kicking off the blankets so he could sit up.
“Collins. Line and location are secure,” he got out around a yawn.
“You’re needed in Brooklyn,” Henry said, sounding far more awake than Patrick at sunrise.
Patrick got out of bed. “What happened?”
“The trishula was found. You need to get on scene immediately.”
“Okay.” Patrick dragged out the word as he arched his back until his spine popped. “What’s the emergency? The Met didn’t think it was an artifact of any sort of power, and my review of its history—”
“It was found buried in Youssef Khan’s body in Prospect Park.”
Patrick froze, a ringing sound filling his ears. “I’m sorry. Did you say Youssef Khan isdead?”
“His body was dumped under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch in the Grand Army Plaza. A jogger found it sometime early this morning. The PCB is on scene, but they contacted the SOA because of Youssef’s standing in the preternatural community. Since the trishula case was yours, you’ll be handling the murder as well.”
Patrick closed his eyes, breath stuttering in his lungs. He knew he should recuse himself from the case—heknewthat. But doing so would require giving a reason that would be officially reported. Since the only reason would be he was one of the alphas for the rival New York City god pack—someone with a vested interest in seeing Youssef taken out of the picture over the fight for pack territory—exposing that truth would cause a myriad of problems.
Accepting the case would cause even more.
“Yes, sir,” Patrick managed to get out.
“Report in afterwards. I won’t leave the office today until I meet with you.”
“Understood.”
Patrick ended the call, arm falling to his side, his grip on his phone white-knuckled. He turned to look at Jono, who was still on his call, and appeared as shell-shocked as Patrick felt.
“—need to tell all the packs to stay inside today. Don’t cross any territory borders if they can help it. It’ll be a bloody riot if we cross any of their packs today.” Jono tipped his head to the side, grimacing. “Good. You do that. I’ll ring you as soon as I finish talking with Pat.”
Jono ended the call and stared at the black screen of his phone for a few seconds before lifting his gaze to meet Patrick’s. “Fuck.”
“Whoever killed Youssef used the trishula. The artifact is apparently still with the body. I’ve been assigned his murder case,” Patrick said.
Worry filled Jono’s eyes. “You can’t work the case.”
“I know. Iknow. The conflicts of interest are a fuckingmess. But what do you want me to do? I can’t waltz into Henry’s office and tell him, sorry I can’t do my job because I’m pack. I’m a federal agent. We’re not supposed to bring bias into our jobs.”
Except he had, for over a year now, and that was his mistake from the beginning. His job was a gaping hole in their defense the other side was going to walk right through. It used to be his job—either Mage Corps or the SOA—kept him safe from the Dominion Sect, providing him a screen to obey the gods behind. Now, the badge he carried felt like an albatross around his neck, one he couldn’t escape.
Jono stepped closer and pulled Patrick into a hard kiss. “Sage said she’s contacting Danai. She’ll either come here, or I’ll be picked up to go to her office. The press is going to want a statement from me.”
“The press is going to think you murdered him.”
Jono grimaced. “Yeah.”
“I’ll tell you what I know as soon as I can.”
