“Calling us loaded isn’t quite right,” I said. “It’s more that slayers value simple living—you never know when you’ll have to move your base to a new location because you were outed. But we do have enough cash to make sure we can afford top of the line equipment and methods of transportation,” I said. “That’s where we use the majority of our funds.”
“Yes, but I’ve always been curious,” Considine raised his eyebrows in a familiar way that eased the metal band around my heart—he really was doing better, even if his grip on me briefly tightened whenever I shifted. “How exactly do you slayers have such funds? I know from experience you don’t charge overly much for vampire assassinations.”
As one, all slayers stared at him.
Considine shrugged. “I once hired a trio of slayers to attack Amée and Auberi a few centuries ago when they were acting particularly odious and annoying.”
Mom shook her head as she started unloading her handgun. “We get the funds by investing wherever Vampires invest. You all are so long-lived, you’ve picked up on financial patterns and are thus much more reliable investors than America’s wall street gurus.”
Granny emphatically nodded, making her gray-white curls bob. “And tracking vampire finances is good practice for missions, so it also serves to keep us sharp!”
Considine pulled me into a hug and whispered. “Oh, yes. If you’re interested in children, we need an entirebrood. You slayers are so much more fun than vampires!” Resting his chin on the top of my head, he raised his voice. “Very well, so you can’t be bought. What, then, is this price you plan to extract from Jade?”
“Favors,” a sunshiny Ackermann slayer volunteered—the peppiness in her voice more than a little at odds with the stoic print of her mask. “Each family that has responded to her callgets to request her presence for a mission—no questions asked, no expected share of the spoils. They can request for multiple favors—it just has to stack up to be equal to the size of the favor we performed in the stake.”
“And she has to come—immediately—no matter her personal life,” a Klein slayer added.
“I see,” Considine said. “Very well. Then be aware that whenever you call in thesefavorswith Jade, I shall accompany her.” His smile wasn’t reassuring, it was more like a predator who’d spotted lame prey. “She did this for me, after all. It’s only right I shoulder this price with her.”
“It’s not necessary, Considine,” I said. “It’s my responsibility, not yours. I was the one who called a stake.”
Considine rolled his eyes. “That’s right, your honorable sense of responsibility would make you object to free help. Let me spell it out for you then,dessert. I don’t want you entering any fight without me, and I’m going to be paranoid about that for the rest of our ideally very long existence together. Understood?” His expression was fierce, but somehow his barked-out explanation made me relax.
I’m no longer alone. I’ve got Sunshine, my team, Orrin…and Considine. Especially Considine. Always Considine.
I gave in to the impulse to hug Considine back, surprising him. “Thank you,” I whispered into his chest. “Partner.”
Considine’s hands on my back tightened convulsively, and I heard him swallow. After a few moments he directed his gaze at the slayers. “Does anyone have aproblemwith my accompanying Jade on these favors?”
The Rivera representative chuckled. “Nah. If you’re accompanying Slayer O’Neil that probably means we’ll only get one favor each out of her.”
“Yeah,” a Patel slayer busted out his phone, opening the calculator app. “Can we even put a price on getting help from an elder slayer of Maledictus’s power?”
“Doesn’t matter—we still get one favor!” A Song slayer declared.
I patted Considine on the chest so he loosened his hold enough to let me pull away from him. “Of course. Thank you for your assistance—I can’t express that enough.” I awkwardly cleared my throat, very aware of the way my O’Neil and Carter relatives were eyeing me. “As the last part of the mission, please unpack any surveillance systems we planted on Gisila’s property, and make sure to claim any equipment from the command center back at the Curia Cloisters. I will speak to each slayer family leader to exchange contact information for the future favor, but first I’m going to contact the Department of Supernatural Law Enforcement to bring them up to speed on what happened tonight. Any questions?” The last part came out in a squeak—I didn’t find public speaking any easier, it was only my sense of responsibility that made me speak as I felt bound to finish the stake off in a professional manner.
The slayers saluted me, silent—although a bunch of them were still trying to unobtrusively gawk at Considine.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you. Thank you for coming, thank you for helping, and thank you for trusting me. Dismissed.”
The crowd relaxed, and the slayers turned to one another, pulling their masks off to reveal grins and smiles.
Wow, they must have decided to trust Considine, too, or they wouldn’t risk showing their faces.
A few slayers slapped each other on the back, and the families mingled—exchanging admiration of each other’s equipment and techniques.
“Make sure you all give back the O’Neil crest patches!” Nan shouted over the murmur of the crowd. “Those cost good money!”
“Slayers are weird,” Orrin concluded.
“You’d better get used to it, minion. Vampires are weirder,” Considine said.
I started to smile, until Dad, Mom, and my brothers pushed their way to the front of the crowd, approaching us with serious expressions.
“Judging by the red hair, this is your family incoming. Is there going to be trouble?” Considine murmured to me.
I gulped. “I hope not.”
