Spencer jerked back against the seat as the driver stepped on the gas pedal. He growled in frustration. “I need to get back there.”
“Everyone is scattering on Takoma’s orders, and he wants you safe.”
“I’m a damncombatmage.”
The vampire looked at him as if he thought Spencer was a child. “And tonight, you are a human servant favored by a master vampire. We do not leave our human servants in the line of fire, and we certainly do not leaveyouwithin reach of Rufus.”
Spencer would’ve argued if not for the way his vision was suddenly overlaid with Fatima’s, the back of the car merging with the blurred hallways of a hotel. Ahead of her strode Takoma, the master vampire going somewhere, but it didn’t appear he was in the middle of a fight.
He blinked his sight back to normal, scowling out the window. Knowing that Fatima was keeping an eye on Takoma didn’t really ease his worry because he should’ve been there with them. Except he’d been treated like a child and sent home under guard, and Spencerreallydidn’t appreciate that.
The vampires didn’t drive him to the condo but to a luxury high-rise overlooking the Seattle Space Needle. The driver pulled up in front of the building’s entrance and threw on the hazard lights rather than park in the garage. The vampire in the back seat with Spencer shoved open the car door and got out, waving at him. “Don’t make me chase you down.”
“Hilarious,” Spencer said through gritted teeth.
He got out and pointedly didnottake off running. Crossing his arms over his chest against the wind, he hurriedly followed the vampire inside to get out of the cold. The security guard at the desk nodded perfunctorily at them but otherwise didn’t acknowledge them. The vampire Spencer was with led him to the elevator bank, approaching the doors at the very end. It was set farther back than the rest, clearly a private elevator the vampire had access to. He blocked the keypad from Spencer’s view, and the doors opened a few seconds later.
They got in, and neither of them spoke on the ride up. When the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors pinged open, Spencer wasn’t at all surprised to discover they’d reached the penthouse. They exited into a foyer that didn’t have immediate access to the rest of the floor but did have protective wards in the walls. Spencer made sure to raise a personal shield and lock his magic down so he didn’t inadvertently trigger anything.
On the other side of the foyer was a door that was opened from the inside by a human servant. She greeted them with a respectful nod for the vampire and a carefully blank glance for Spencer.
“Inside,” the vampire ordered.
Spencer followed him into the penthouse, stepping across a threshold that made his skin prickle. He knew vampires didn’t have magic, but homes didn’t need a magic user on hand for a threshold to form. He didn’t see anything set out for hospitality and wasn’t even sure anyone present at the moment could initiate it.
The vampire jerked his head toward the main living room. “Stay here.”
He left, climbing the stairs on the other side of the living room for the second floor. The human servant remained, giving Spencer a polite smile and contradicting the vampire. “My master said you may wander where you please.”
“Uh, I guess I’ll shout if I need you?” Spencer said. She nodded and disappeared down the far hall that led to the other half of the penthouse, leaving him alone.
He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, looking around curiously. He took his time exploring the open-plan space of the living room and adjacent dining area, the two areas separated by a gas fireplace enclosed by glass. A professional kitchen was beyond the dining room, most likely used by the human servants. All the furniture seemed expensive and well-made, and the Northwest Coast artwork appeared to be originals.
It was a curious choice as a home for vampires, considering the outer walls of the high-rise consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows that would let in all the sunlight. A quick check on those came up with scattered controls that could adjust the tint of the windows and heavy blackout curtains pushed into the corners. Metal shutters that could be lowered and raised at the touch of a button hung from the ceiling. He wondered if every window in the place had such precautions.
The evening view of the lit-up Space Needle was certainly nice, but Spencer didn’t care for it at the moment. He was too angry to truly enjoy what money could clearly buy and settled for throwing himself on the leather couch to wait. He scrounged up the remote and turned on the television, opting for local news to see if the attack had hit the airwaves yet.
Unfortunately, it had.
It wasn’t breaking news at the moment, thankfully, but it still earned a segment with a reporter live on the street and cop cars in the background as they discussed what had occurred. So far, it was speculation only, but Spencer didn’t doubt that Caitlin would find some way to create blame for the Night Court. He’d have to warn the field team about what had occurred without giving away Takoma’s identity as his CI, and that was going to be tricky.
The news broadcast was coming to a close when Fatima appeared on the coffee table, pouncing out of the veil to shake out her fur. Spencer turned the television off and glared at her. “Where is he?”
Close. Fatima hopped from the coffee table to the couch and proceeded to lie across his lap in a pointed request for pets.The poltergeist disappeared after it tossed you out the window.
“Were you able to follow it?”
I did not get a bite of it this time, so I stayed with Takoma.
The right choice for the case would’ve been to chase down the poltergeist. She’d opted to protect Spencer’s peace of mind by remaining with Takoma. Spencer sighed, knowing his priorities were definitely skewed at the moment, and that was a problem he needed to address, right after he dealt with the master vampire’s misplaced idea of ownership when it came to giving orders in the field.
It wasn’t long before Takoma arrived, escorting Alyona inside with Haitao. The other vampires of the Seattle Night Court who’d been present at dinner weren’t with them, but Spencer didn’t think they’d died a second, true death. Takoma wouldn’t appear nearly as calm as he looked if that was the case. Neither did it appear as if he’d been in a fight with Rufus, but something told Spencer it was probably only a matter of time.
“I don’t appreciate being forced onto the sidelines,” Spencer said by way of greeting.
Alyona murmured something too low for him to hear before she and Haitao went upstairs. Takoma eyed Spencer, an unreadable look in his eyes. His loose hair looked a little tangled from the wind, but his clothes didn’t have any bloodstains on them. A quick shift of Spencer’s sight sideways showed the typical void of a vampire where a soul would reside and nothing more.
“It was the safer option,” Takoma said.
