“You want her to be.”
“The warrant has already been signed and issued by a judge. It’s too late to amend it unless I speak with the deputy assistant SAIC tonight and she thinks this information is worth waking up a judge.”
“No.”
Spencer made a face, reaching up to try to tug Takoma’s hand free of his hair. He scowled when Takoma refused to let go. “If you’re worried about other Night Courts thinking you’re a snitch, tell them the case in question is linked to what happened in New York City. Ashanti sanctioned that fight; she can sanction the aftermath.”
“I don’t speak for my mother.”
“I could always ask Patrick to get Lucien to do it for you.”
Takoma yanked Spencer to his feet and shoved him against the door, hand wrapped around his throat but not choking him. “Keep Lucien’s name out of your mouth.”
“I won’t go to him if you work with the Seattle god pack in some capacity and let me manipulate the government to keep you safe.” Spencer pressed his hand against Takoma’s chest, splaying his fingers out over the space where his undead heart rested. “I want yousafe, Takoma.”
“And I don’t want Lucien anywhere near my territory.”
“Great. Then do we have a deal?”
It was infuriating the way Spencer got under his skin so quickly. He couldn’t even blame it on the taste of his blood, just pure want and need. Takoma had been impressed by his power and his dedication to keeping his friends and everyone else safe in the Battle of Samhain. The rareness of his magic and the situation Spencer was in with the government made Takoma want to keep the mage for himself because he knew what it was like to be seen as a threat and betrayed.
Spencer must have taken his silence as agreement because he pushed up on the balls of his feet to slot his mouth over Takoma’s for a shallow kiss, tongue skimming over Takoma’s fangs. “I’ll make it seem like the SOA is looking into the threat against your Night Court for its own reasons, not because you asked.”
“I didn’t,” Takoma said.
“Exactly. No one can call you a liar, and everyone knows I work for them.”
Takoma tightened his grip on Spencer’s waist, pulling back to look him in the eye. “Could you find her with your magic?”
Spencer reluctantly shook his head. “That’s not how my magic works. I can see souls and break them and lay them to rest, but tracking someone by their soul through a city like this? I can’t do that.”
“Fatima did.”
“Poltergeists are malevolent spirits that leave traces of their existence in this world and the next that others don’t, and this one is stranger and stronger than most. She got a bite of it in the hotel that one time, and that’s the only reason she was able to follow it to its origin point before the energy trail disappeared. She’s a psychopomp, not a bloodhound. She guides; she doesn’t hunt.”
Takoma pulled away from Spencer and looked around the office, nothing appearing out of place. That wasn’t to say whoever had kidnapped Alyona hadn’t passed up the opportunity to take what they could find in the handful of minutes they’d been in the house.
What it came down to was the attack on his human servants was an attack on his Night Court, and the sheer audacity was enough to make Takoma want to murder the ones responsible for it. Having a hated government do it for him while he made Adler’s life miserable through the werecreature community was something he could hatefully endorse if it got him what he wanted.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, is that it?” Takoma asked.
The stubborn line of Spencer’s mouth softened slightly. “Something like that. You know as well as I do the kind of threats demons pose, especially after the fight a couple of years ago. I just need you to trust me about this. Please.”
Takoma didn’t trust easily; he had a history riddled with broken promises and pretty lies to prove why he shouldn’t. But he’d seen what sort of man Spencer was at the end of the world, once, and maybe that was a truth he could rely on. “Have the fledgling call up the god pack. I’ll meet with them tonight. As to your agency, I will agree to nothing, but that’s not to say you’ll ask for aid to keep your case intact.”
He knew how Spencer would run with that, knew the mage would request agency help to keep Takoma’s Night Court safe in order to aid the case. He also knew the SOA wouldn’t go out of its way to do so, but whatever information Spencer could find, he would take it.
Spencer let out a tired sigh. “Great. Glad we found some common ground.”
“If you were anyone else, I would never agree.”
Spencer smiled wryly, a bitter understanding in his gaze. “Yeah, I know.”
Takoma tugged Spencer away from the door so he could open it. Spencer raised a hand toward his neck, and a blink later, Takoma found himself not wanting to look in that spot. He knew the bite marks and bruised skin hadn’t been healed, but his eyes didn’t want to focus on Spencer’s throat when he tried.
At his frown, Spencer shrugged. “I really don’t need anyone at the agency questioning my loyalties right now.”
“Won’t they sense your spell?”
