He waved me down. ‘Sit.’ Then he stepped inside, shut the door behind him, strode forward and pointedly tapped two fingers against the side of my desk.
The privacy runes flared a bright gold, then settled.
Thinking of whispered conversations with Elvira about the Domini, I said drily, ‘It would have been helpful to know those runes were there.’
‘They’re need-to-know. And you didn’t need to know.’
‘Now I do, do I?’
‘Now we need privacy.’
My stomach twisted. Thackeray didn’t waste runes unless the conversation was about to get unpleasant, political, or both.
‘You’ve been busy,’ he said. ‘Talk to me about the vampyr attack.’
I kept my face neutral. ‘It was a quiet Sunday night. Presumably, the criminals wanted to get a jump on the week.’
His gaze flicked to my cheek. The bruising had faded completely thanks to Amber’s paste, but evidently he’d seen the photos I’d attached to my report. ‘Who saw to you? Your brother?’
‘I had some healing paste on hand,’ I said smoothly. ‘It wasn’t a big deal.’
Thackeray made a low sound in his throat. ‘You were deliberately attacked. Don’t insult my intelligence.’
I didn’t flinch. ‘I wouldn’t dare. It’s your best feature.’ The quip had slipped out of my mouth before I could call it back.
One corner of his mouth twitched – not a smile, but not a reprimand either.
Still, he stayed standing. A position of power over me, and I wasn’t oblivious to the undertones.
‘Run it down for me,’ he ordered.
I exhaled quietly, then gave him the bones of it. ‘After we concluded the scene at the ME’s residence, Detective Channing offered to drive me to my mother’s home. I declined. I was in the mood to walk off some … frustration. As I walked in the correct direction, I noticed someone tailing me. A vampyr. He attacked, made some comments about gutting me.’
Thackeray’s eyes narrowed. ‘And?’
‘I didn’t let him.’ I shrugged. ‘He got in a good hit across my face, but in the scuffle, I terminated him.’ I held his gaze. ‘He’s true-dead, sir. It was wholly self-defence.’
Thackeray’s gaze was sharp. ‘You didn’t call it.’
‘I intended to,’ I lied smoothly. ‘But given the late hour, I decided it could wait until morning. There were no other parties or witnesses to question or lose. The golden hour had started and ended with his death. There was no case to solve. I knew full well who had killed him: me.’
‘Wise,’ he growled. ‘You’re not a rookie. You know better. You report the crime contemporaneously.’
I kept my voice even. ‘I also know what happens when you call in “unknown vampyr turned to ash” one too many times with no evidence. Rumours spring up and someonesomewhere decides I’ve shuffled from the asset column to the liability column.’
His eyes bored into mine. ‘Are you a liability, Wise?’
The question rankled and hurt more than the punch the vampyr had landed.
I bit out my answer between clenched teeth. ‘No, sir.’
‘Good,’ he said flatly. ‘Because all eyes are on you, Wise. All eyes are on Unit 13, and if you fuck up, I’ll have you out of the field so fast you’ll think you’ve been wiped by Witterhall. Unit 13 is my baby, and I won’t have you fuck it up for everyone else.’
Anger surged, hot and bubbling. It took effort not to let it show. I’d worked hard to get to where I was, to build a sterling reputation for myself, and it wasdeserved.Coming down on me like this was absolute BS. My record was spotless, above reproach, and it felt like this dressing-down had more to it than meets the eye.
As my anger fell away and cool rationale returned, I realised that if Thackeray truly wanted me kicked to the kerb, this conversation wouldn’t be happening here. He wouldn’t be warning me. He would have already taken me off rota and out of Unit 13.
‘Now,’ he continued, ‘about Ash Aspen.’
