I wasn’t surprised Considine had grabbed the guy and handled him so neatly—this was child’s play for him. But…
He had my back.
It had been my mistake, but Considine had covered for me.
Somehow, that made a warm feeling bloom in the pit of my stomach, and I felt something in me loosen.
No one had my back like this since I’d left my family. Slayers backed each other up. The Department of Supernatural LawEnforcement focused on personal safety. You had to be self-responsible, because you couldn’t count on your team to catch you when you messed up.
Considine studied the man—who was groaning in pain—then met my gaze. “Are you good?”
“Yep. Yes.” I smiled at him, until my professionalism snapped back into place and I returned my focus to the woman, who squirmed in my grasp.
“Let me go! We haven’t done anything!” the woman said.
We? Yeah, they were definitely working together to case Tutu’s. What are the chances they were hired by Gisila?
“Stop struggling,” I told her as a vampire guard approached me.
The guard’s red eyes seemed to glow as she smiled at me. “May I?”
“Of course.” I stepped to the side, but waited for the vampire to grab the woman’s arms before fully backing away and checking on Considine.
He’d peeled the man off the floor and was dumping him on a werewolf guard and a troll guard.
The human man was white faced and babbling. “You can’t hold us. We’ve done nothing wrong!”
I spotted his cellphone on the ground a few feet away from him—he must have dropped it when Considine got him.
I picked the phone up and studied the screen—which luckily hadn’t gone dark yet. It displayed a text conversation with an unsent attachment that appeared to be a video of the lobby.
Gotcha!
“Tutu’s operates under special bylaws as a supernatural-run property and a protective vault system,” The werewolf drawled, answering the human—who didn’t seem to hear.
“Hey, lady! Give me my phone!” The human man wriggled in the troll’s grasp.
“We can’t arrest you, but we can hold you for questioning until human police officers arrive,” the troll rumbled. “Now, why don’t you tell my associate and me what you two were doing?”
The troll and vampire hauled off the protesting humans to a windowed office that overlooked the lobby.
The werewolf paused by Considine and me, holding his hand out. “Thanks for the help—we hadn’t noticed them. Just assumed they were tourists.”
Locked into professional mode, I answered him without stammering as I passed over the phone. “That’s understandable. Humans might be ignorant about the truth of supernaturals, but they generally know better than to target a supernatural business. But the man has a video of the lobby on his phone, and the woman had a list of the guards.”
Considine rolled his shoulders back, his red eyes sharp as he watched through the windows when the troll and vampire set the humans down in straight-backed, wooden chairs. “It’s probable they are connected to Gisila, and she used humans with that in mind.”
“Could be,” the werewolf said, his tone giving nothing away.
“If you find out they are, could you send word to the Department of Supernatural Law Enforcement at the Curia Cloisters?” I asked.
“Of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” The werewolf nodded to Considine, then stalked toward the office, joining his colleagues.
I watched him, chewing over the exchange.What are the chances they’re unrelated to Gisila? Given the day, I’d say almost zero. But I doubt we’ll be able to trace the phone number the man was texting back to her. She’s too wily for that…
“Well, that’s a bit maddening,” Considine said, jolting me from my thoughts.
“Sorry, what?” I peered up at him.
