Fatima ignored him.Get me bacon.
Their waitress came by a few minutes later for their orders, not batting an eye at Spencer’s request for three sides of bacon. She left and returned with their coffee. He fell on the mug like a dying man, doctoring it with enough cream and sugar to cause Nadine to roll her eyes at him. “Glad to see your taste buds haven’t changed in your old age.”
“I’m thirty-three, not old,” Spencer muttered against the rim of his coffee mug before he swallowed a mouthful of sweet, sweet sanity.
“You’re something.”
Nadine was smiling as she spoke, a gentle sort of humor in her eyes. Spencer snorted at her teasing but knew she didn’t mean anything cruel by it. She’d been his staunchest supporter when they’d both been in the PIA, having pestered him to join the agency after they both declined to re-up with the Mage Corps. His choices had been limited at the time, but the PIA had been an option, one he’d ultimately taken. Nadine had climbed the ranks since then, making a name for herself in Europe, while Spencer did everythingnotto make a name for himself over the years.
His kind of magic came with a lot of baggage and a lot of restrictions. The sheer fucking mess that had led up to the fight at the end of the world hadn’t endeared him to his superiors or Congress. Spencer had been placed on paid administrative leave for nearly a year after everything happened in New York City, spending more time in his apartment in San Francisco than he ever had before.
It hadn’t been a surprise when PIA Director Cornell Franklin finally bowed to congressional pressure and removed Spencer from active field duty. It meant he could no longer handle cases outside the country’s borders, keeping him from putting the United States into a sticky political situation with a foreign country. Government oversight at its finest.
Necromancy was illegal in every country on Earth, and Spencer’s magic was too close to that kind for people to ignore. No matter how many times he said he put the dead to rest, he didn’t raise them, all anyone could focus on was his affinity with the dead. That was something he couldn’t change, but he could change jobs.
PIA Director Franklin had accepted Spencer’s resignation and hadn’t impeded his hiring by the Supernatural Operations Agency. Spencer hated starting all over again in his career, but the PIA had become a dead end, and the SOA handled domestic supernatural cases. Congress hadn’t wanted him to leave the country, but they’d said nothing about crossing state borders. So here he was, in Washington, DC, a few hours away from officially starting after twenty weeks of training because Spencer’s choices were working for the government or having his passport confiscated and being perpetually under surveillance.
“You’ll be fine. The SOA is doing a lot better now that the Dominion Sect is no longer a force to be reckoned with,” Nadine said.
“I’m not worried about being unable to do the job. I would’ve just liked a choice in taking it,” Spencer said.
“You can always talk to Patrick about that.”
“He walked away from the SOA.”
“He still consults for them.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to.”
Patrick Collins was a close friend to them both and the catalyst surrounding all the crazy shit that had gone down in the last few years. He was the reason Spencer believed in gods he used to think were merely myths. Spencer knew otherwise now, and he didn’t begrudge Patrick’s decision to no longer directly work for the government but instead charge them a ridiculous retainer for consulting work when it suited him. The guy deserved a break.
Besides, it was a job Patrick could do remotely, never really needing to leave New York City. He was the only non-shifter and one of the alphas to the New York City god pack. Werecreatures with the god strain of the werevirus couldn’t hide their distinctive eyes that hinted at their heritage. God packs as a whole acted as a buffer between humanity at large and the packs who could hide what they were.
Patrick had chosen his pack over everything else in the end, and the arrangement had worked out well. New York City was still recovering from the damage that had occurred when the veil ripped open over Manhattan and they’d all been fighting to survive. The packs in the five boroughs needed support and guidance, which meant being available. Patrick couldn’t have done that if he remained a special agent, and Spencer would never begrudge his friend the family and love he’d found with his pack. It was something Spencer always wistfully hoped he’d find for himself one day, but the likelihood of that happening was slim to none.
Their waitress returned with their food, passing the plates around. Nadine had gone with an egg-white veggie omelet, while Spencer had chosen a Denver scramble. The extra sides of bacon were set on the table, and Spencer shoved them in front of Fatima once the waitress left. Fatima immediately leaned over and bit at a piece, crunching her way through it.
“I’ll reach out to Patrick for advice if I need to,” Spencer promised after he’d eaten enough to take the edge off his morning hunger.
“I’m glad to hear that. I still think this will be a good change for you,” Nadine said.
Spencer hoped she was right.
He steered the conversation to topics that were less headache-inducing for the remainder of breakfast. Nadine gamely followed his lead, catching up on each other’s lives like they always did when they managed to be in the same city. Spencer paid for the meal when they finished. He left a good tip before they headed back to the hotel, walking slow, Fatima padding alongside Spencer.
Nadine elbowed him gently in the side, catching his eye once they were finally waiting at the taxi stand. “If it doesn’t work out, let me know. We’ll figure something out.”
“What? Like kidnap me to France?”
“Or something.”
Spencer laughed. “If anyone could orchestrate that, it would be you. I don’t think Paris would be happy to have me back though.”
“If not Paris, we’d find you a different way out.” She was a good friend, always would be, and Spencer was glad to have her in his life.
He hugged her goodbye when a taxi pulled up and watched her climb in. Nadine waved as the taxi drove away, whisking her off to whatever business was next on her agenda. The life of a PIA agent wasn’t his anymore, but he figured the SOA couldn’t be worse.
Spencer looked down at where Fatima sat by his feet, patiently waiting, ears twitching to catch the cacophony of sound around them. “Ready?”
