“I don’t get it,” I said.
“You will,” Considine said. “When I can confirm I have the upper hand over that brat, I’ll introduce you.”
“Uh, that’s okay.” I opened the door, dumping us into another hallway. I read the plaques on the wall, looking for a specific room.
“Nonsense, he’s…well…notFamily. But he’s one of the few tolerable vampires alive,” Considine said. “And if I don’t introduce you, he’ll come find you.”
I spotted the room I was looking for, but I paused at that messy revelation. “He what?”
“Don’t worry. He’s merely curious, not malevolent,” Considine said. “What room is this?”
I sucked in a deep breath.Why do I get the feeling that work is going to be a lot more tiring?
I shook my head as I opened the door. “This is one of the evidence storage rooms.”
The door opened up into a smaller room that looked like something you’d find in a vet’s office with lots of linoleum, stainless steel tables, some odd equipment I couldn’t identify, and bright overhead lights.
From the doorway, you could see the pass-through counter that was the only visible divider between the odd little room, and the storage space that stretched behind it, which was filled with rows of metal shelving units that housed cardboard boxes—all the same large, cubed size—and the occasional container sealed with a spell.
“Evidence and the case files get stored together and are shelved here.” I stepped deeper into the storage room, and thefae spells that sealed the magical containers brushed at my mind. “Unless it’s an open case we’re actively pursuing.”
“I see,” Considine said.
“My Precious Jewel?” Sunshine—the real reason I’d started the tour off with evidence processing instead of task force rooms—wandered out of the stacks, ducking so she could pass underneath the go-through counter. (As a brownie, she was petite enough to do it without overly folding her body.) “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be out on patrol?You!” Sunshine’s bright voice turned accusatory when she straightened up and saw Considine standing with me.
While Sunshine hadn’t met Connor, I’d told her about him, and shown her pictures I’d taken on my various outings with my next-door neighbor. Considine wasn’t the type of person you could mistake for someone else, so the pictures alone were enough for her to go by.
“Me,” Considine agreed. “Who are you?”
“Considine, this is Sunshine—my friend. Sunshine…this is Considine Maledictus.”
“She’s the work friend?” Considine asked. “In that case, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He shifted from casual to the perfect amount of charm and friendliness. His smile even turned sincere as he inclined his head at the brownie.
Sunshine’s dark eyes grew stormy as she edged her way over to me, positioning herself so she was in front of me. “I know who he is. Why is he here?”
“Because I’m her new partner,” Considine announced, still all smiles despite the cool reception.
“No,” Sunshine immediately rejected the idea. “No way. Captain Reese can be crazy, but she—not to mention Sarge—would never do that to Jade. Nope.”
Feeling infinitely better with Sunshine in my corner, I let my shoulders slump. “He’s right. Sarge told me at muster: Considine is my new partner.”
“We will see about that!” Sunshine declared.
“Upper management approved the idea,” I said. “Though it seems like Queen Leila of the Night Court had something to do with it.”
“Obviously he bamboozled her with his criminally good looks,” Sunshine said.
Considine’s grin twisted into a momentary smirk. “Why, thank you for the compliment.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. I was just stating the obvious,” Sunshine snarled, every muscle in her body stiff.
“I think he’s supposed to be my babysitter,” I said.
“Correction: partner,” Considine said.
Sunshine gave him a venomous look that would have been normally accompanied by some pretty harsh words, except even in her anger Sunshine had to be aware of Considine’s power, so she was holding back.
“Sarge says the day shift got word that Gisila still has a room atLuxe SejourHotel,” I said.
