“Wrangling the clúrachán in the basement,” Saoirse said.
“The what now?”
“A small fae. Merv has been working for us for over a century. He came off a ship and sort of never left.” Saoirse wrinkled her nose. “We’re short on our Guinness inventory, and Donal is down there castigating him for it.”
“So he drank all your Guinness?”
“Yeah.”
“And you still employ him?”
“He really is good at inventory, except when he isn’t.”
Wade took a gulp of his beer. “I don’t know how that makes sense.”
“Well, we can’t exactly fire him. Where would he go? He’s practically clan at this rate, even if he can’t swim.”
Wade silently toasted her for that because from what he’d seen, selkie clans were a lot like werecreature packs. Once youwere part of one, it would takea lotto get kicked out, and drinking on the clock clearly wasn’t going to cut it.
Riordan arrived maybe a minute later, dragging his chair closer to Wade when he pulled it out to sit down. “Orders are in. Saoirse, I put in for a fish pie for you.”
“Thanks, boyo.”
Wade was about to ask when the food would be ready when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his back pocket and winced at the name on the screen. “I was hoping he’d be too busy to call tonight.”
“Who?” Riordan asked.
Wade accepted the call and put the phone up to his ear. “Heeeey, Patrick.”
“Don’t hey me. I’ve been stuck in court and late-night meetings with the director for the past two days. What are you doing spending money on Lucien of all fuckers?” Patrick said testily.
Wade tried to think of any excuse to hang up and dodge getting read the riot act. “Uh, I’m in a pub, and there are people around.”
“That’s not going to get you out of this conversation.”
“But they can hear you! Are you sure you want to talk right now?”
“Oh, we’re talking since Jono didn’t see fit to send someone after you and your bad decisions. We taught you better than this.”
“Hey! Since when have I done anything stupid and irresponsible?”
“You want that list in numerical order or alphabetical?”
“Er, okay, but when I’m representing the pack?”
“Exhibit number one would be the wire you sent Lucien.”
Wade slumped in his seat, teetering to the side so he could lean against Riordan. “So I guess I shouldn’t tell you that Niallwas dumb and tried to attack the Boston Night Court tonight and pissed off two master vampires? Lucien is probably going to make a mess of Boston, and I want you to know that’s not my fault.”
Patrick was quiet for all of five seconds, which was just long enough for Riordan to reach up and scritch his fingers through Wade’s hair. He would’ve melted in bliss if he didn’t have Patrick sounding all kinds of pissed off in his ear. Wade knew the anger wasn’t directed at him but at the situation Patrick couldn’t come and handle himself.
“What were you doing in the Boston Night Court?”
“I paid Lucien for an introduction to Abby Boy.”
“Abby Boy,” Patrick echoed. “That’s not his name, I’m betting.”
“He goes by Abhartach, but that’s a mouthful, and everyone gets twitchy when I say Abby Boy, which is funny. Anyway, Niall is targeting leaders of the supernatural and preternatural communities here, so I thought the best way to distract him would be to sic vampires on him. Turns out Lucien was in town for a visit and now there are two master vampires gunning for him. Half a million dollars was actually a bargain if you think about it.”
