Takoma stared at the car ahead of them, weighing his answer. “He kept as many of us alive in Manhattan as he could without being ordered to.”
“You still didn’t come home with everyone who went with you.”
They’d mourned their true dead after the fight at the end of the world. Takoma had returned with only half the vampires he’d taken with him when Ashanti had sent out her call for fighters. Takoma couldn’t disobey his mother, but he’d refused to drag his entire Night Court east. He hadn’t expected to lose so many, but then again, he hadn’t expected to be fighting actual gods.
Spencer had been a welcome surprise amidst the brutality of surviving. Takoma hadn’t cared for Patrick Collins and that mage’s ties to gods, but Spencer had been too enticing to ignore. His magic was unique, and the way he’d done his damnedest to keep everyone he fought with—human, werecreature, vampire, monster—safewasn’t a trait Takoma ran across often. Yes, Takoma had lost vampires in that fight, but he knew he’d have lost a lot more without Spencer’s intervention.
“Spencer is the reason the rest of us survived,” Takoma said.
Haitao nodded slowly, face expressionless as he drove through traffic with a light touch on the steering wheel. “He’s a magic user. You can’t turn him into a vampire.”
“No, but I can make him mine in other ways.”
Sometimes, offering a cornered person a way out was the only way to earn their trust, to gain their love. Whether Spencer knew it or not—whether hebelievedit or not—he was trapped by the laws he subjected himself to. Takoma wanted to show him what life could be like when one shrugged off the chains of government and all the restrictions they represented.
“So you’re seducing a mage away from the feds.” Haitao sighed deeply, the sound familiar after centuries of the former pirate being with his Night Court. “I hope you won’t regret it.”
Takoma glanced out the window at the passing street. “I regret few things in my life.”
Spencer would not be one of those.
CHAPTERSIX
Monday sawSpencer walking into the field team’s war room with a large to-go coffee cup in one hand and enough sugar in it to make his teeth rot or at least give Fatima heartburn. She’d nipped his ankle after the tenth sugar packet, and he’d looked like an idiot dancing away from the condiment counter of the coffee shop. She’d made her point though, and he’d stopped trying to create a cavity before noon.
Fatima yowled a hello to Kori when the analyst waved at them. “Does she like treats?”
“Uh, she likes food,” Spencer said as Fatima’s ears immediately perked up. “I honestly don’t know where she puts it though.”
“I have some Easter candy I can share with her.”
“It’s not April yet.”
“Tell that to the candy aisles.”
Fatima left him for a chocolate bar, and Spencer rolled his eyes at her betrayal.
“Bailey,” Levi said, eyeing him over a sheaf of paper held in one hand. “We need to talk about the incident at the gala Friday night.”
Spencer sipped his coffee. “Yeah?”
“You still haven’t told me why you didn’t inform us when it happened.”
“I answered your call when you reached out after it made the news.”
Levi glared at him. “Ihad to call when you should’ve done that. The case is now under the purview of Seattle’s PCB, and they throw a goddamn fit every time we have to take over one of their cases. You could have saved us the headache by remaining on-site and claiming jurisdiction.”
“No I couldn’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
Spencer hooked his ankle around the chair leg to pull it out so he could sit down at the conference table. “Because Caitlin is under the mistaken impression I’m a human servant. I thought it was a good enough cover, so I went with it.”
“The Night Court won’t be happy with us if they find out you’re using them as a cover,” Kori warned.
“It’s fine.”
“It’snotfine,” Levi snapped. “Getting in the middle of a werecreature and vampire territory fight is—”
