I could get lost in that look forever. But if I push her too hard now, I might spook her.
“Juggernaut.” Tetiana smirked at the wizard over the tops of her cards. “Do you have any threes?”
Juggernaut passed her a card, waiting until she took it before he crowed. “No! But I’ve got the old maid card—you’re dead, Tetiana!”
“Am I?” Tetiana held the old maid card up for all to see, her fangs gleaming. “Or, do I have…a pair!” She cackled as she plucked a card from her hand and slapped it and the old maid card on the table. “I have the vampire slayer, who beguiles the old maid, revealing she is a vampire and ends the old maid’s search for friendship!”
I raised my eyebrows at the speech as everyone crowded around the table shouted in surprise.
That sounds like it was deeply inspired by real life incidents.
I glanced at Jade to see if she’d caught the exchange.
She was dutifully reviewing the reports. The lack of a blush meant she probably heard none of it. Or if she had, she didn’t care.
Well, if she doesn’t notice, it’s not worth getting stirred up over. Though I can’t say I find it complimentary that they made me into an elderly staff member.
Jade scribbled on a printed-out report. “Orrin, your notes on the fae fight were really well done.”
Orrin bowed his head, accepting the compliment.
“The next case we get, I’ll teach you how to take photos to submit with reports.” Jade flipped a page in a packet. “Considine has been taking a lot of the crime-scene photographs lately. He does a good job, but it’s a skill you need to learn in case Sarge ever reassigns you to another team.”
“Understood.” Orrin flicked his eyes to me and bowed his head. It seemed he was trying to gauge my reaction.
I granted him a small smile, indicating I wasn’t displeased with him over the news.
I wonder if Jade is aware of just how much goodwill she’s earned with him?
She seemed oblivious—probably because to her everything she’d done was common courtesy. Jade had yet to realize that courtesy was not in fact common, and that it was for her said a lot about her.
I leaned into Jade, using the excuse of being nosy and looking over the report to get closer.
She glanced up at me and smiled.
A wave of contentment and warmth that I hadn’t experienced in the centuries before Jade washed over me, and it took a great deal of self-control to not grab her into an embrace or hide her away from anything that could hurt her.
Loving Jade had turned out to be just as beautiful and terrifying as I’d feared it would be the night I stood outside the hospital and contemplated my options.
She’d brought flavor back into life—and not in a pale imitation of what I used to have, but in bold and unimaginednew ways. She also awakened a deep amount of paranoia within me, as every day I was painfully aware of just how easily she could be taken from me and die. Her mortality could take her places I—immortal and bound by a promise I would never forsake no matter how I hated it—couldn’t follow.
“Considine…” Jade set her stapled report aside and picked up a new one. “Did you submit your report on Orrin?”
Ah, she’s referring to the survey Sarge gave us.
“Yes.” I experimented with draping an arm over the back of her chair. “I finished it the night we were given it.”
Jade nodded, her green eyes—shining and bright—carefully scanned her paperwork. “I submitted mine around the same time. I’d expect that means you’ll be formally reviewed soon, Orrin.”
Orrin rubbed the side of his mug. “Are reports on department employees common?”
Despite his bland tone, Jade must have caught something in his voice that conveyed worry, because she set her report down so she could look him in the eyes. “The task force has annual reviews, but those are always between you and your boss—in this case Sarge, and sometimes Captain Reese. This was specifically a review of your conduct—they wanted Considine’s and my feedback since we’ve worked with you and you’ve been released into Considine’s custody for patrols.”
She paused, mashing her lips together as if she were fighting an inner battle. “I don’t think you need to be concerned. It’s probably a good thing. We were asked for our thoughts after you’d finally been given a weapon. You’ve been doing a good job working in the department, Orrin. Sarge and Captain Reese will take care of you.”
Orrin looked from Jade to me, and the look in his eyes shifted.
He’d been trying to hide his need for assurance from Jade and had failed, but it wasn’t praise he needed from me. It was dead honesty.
