West surrendered to that point. “I won’t give anyone else your address, then.” He pointed at the chair opposite with the leg of his glasses. “Sit. What have you found out about the Waring case?”
“Nothing solid.” Took walked over to the chair, but he leaned on the back of it instead of sitting down. “Nothing you can take to The Salt, just some dropped threads and gaps.”
The spark of satisfaction made West’s pretty eyes look mean for a second. “Things the original investigation missed?”
“Just because they didn’t follow up on it, doesn’t mean they should have,” Took pointed out. “Maybe what they missed wasn’t relevant. I don’t know yet.”
He did, but it was gut instinct, an itch he knew he was about to scratch, and that wasn’t something you could present to The Salt.
West hissed in disappointment. “If you can prove the Biters didn’t do due diligence on this,” he said, “it would be very useful for me. Liam Waring still has influence. If he throws his weight behind me, certain obstacles could be removed.”
“Like?”
West grimaced and sat back. He slid his glasses back on and the man Took had sort of thought he could love vanished behind the plastic-and-glass mask. “You know how hard it is for a breathing man to rise beyond where I am in VINE. The old guard… well, immortality causes a certain stratification of hierarchy. Sometimes it needs to be shaken up, and if the Waring case was a clusterfuck, well, there’s plenty of senior agents who bet their career on the Biters’ reputations. It wouldn’t hurt to have the redeemed, relieved father speak out in my favor for one of those spots.”
It was just politics, Took reminded himself, nothing personal. That didn’t make him feel any better about it.
“I’m a Biter,” he pointed out.
“You’re the token human,” West shot the old jibe on autopilot. His gaze cut down to Took’s mouth and then away quickly as he corrected himself. “Or you were the token human.”
There was a bitter edge to that acknowledgment. Took understood that. He could taste the old sour resentment in the back of his throat over the idea that he hadn’t been a Biter. It might be hypocritical, since he hadn’twantedto join the division, but he had still earned his place.
Like it or not, they’d been the closest thing he had to a family.
But that was an old fight. It tracked from one side of their relationship to the other, worn deep from repetition, and Took didn’t particularly want to have it again. He pushed himself up off the chair and straightened his shoulders.
“There’s no sign of any wrongdoing or corruption,” he said. “If something was missed, then it was by mistake, not from malice. I’m not interested in pinning blame on anyone.”
“I don’t need blame,” West said. He smiled and spread his hands out in front of him. “Just an opportunity. If this isn’t it, there’ll be another. I’d never expect you to manufacture any evidence, Took. You know that. If there’s anyone here on your side, it’s me. Still.”
The reminder made Took bite the inside of his cheek. He owed West, and not just because he’d been a piss-poor boyfriend before they broke up. It was West who’d sorted him out sanctuary here when the press attention in Philly had nearly driven him to distraction, and without his influence behind the scenes to counteract the psych reports, VINE would have dismissed Took months ago.
Gratitude was the least Took owed him. It wasn’t West’s fault that obligation felt like a stranglehold to Took. His family had wielded it like a weapon, and the echoes of it were still sharp as they battered against his brain.
“Be grateful for the roof over your head.”
“You should appreciate the food we put in your stomach.”
“If I was you, I’d be thankful that only broke your wrist.”
“Just do as you’re told, boy. You owe us that.”
Took slammed the lid down on that—fuck the past—and clenched his jaw on the urge to be ungrateful. Not everyone was like his family. People really did deserve his thanks and didn’t just expect them.
“I’ve just got threads,” Took said. “Until I pull them, I don’t know what’s on the end… but I don’t think any of this had to do with the Hunters.”
For a heartbeat West looked surprised, then satisfied. “If you’re right, Took,” he said, “that’s all the opportunity I’ll need.”
He got up from behind the desk and limped over to the door. The halt to his step caught Took off guard. Anything that changed while he was… gone… still did, as though his brain couldn’t quite believe he’d missed so much.
“Keep me updated,” West said as he pulled the door open and braced it. “Anything, no matter how small it seems. I might be able to use it to help Liam delay the execution. And Took. Where you live is already common knowledge in VINE. So if someone wanted to find out where you were?”
Tension caught at the back of Took’s neck like a wire hooked into his spine. He clenched his jaw against the extension of his fangs in response to what his brain saw as a threat.
“He already does,” West said. “And he’s already here.”
Of course he was. Took supposed it would be disingenuous to pretend he was surprised. He’d tossed a mystery and a challenge into Madoc’s lap.
