Page 19 of Cold Sacrifice

He lifted an eyebrow. “What?”

“I think you’ll be eager to help me find and destroy this new threat.”

Before he could answer, my cell phone rang. It was Rick returning my call. I got up to pace while I caught him up with Bastien’s trouble and his request for my help.

“A vampire master should be able to deal with his own problems without dragging you into it,” Rick said. “Maybe you should sit this one out.”

I frowned. “Tonight isn’t a full moon, but I swear you humans are acting like you’re moon drunk.” Then I softened. “Bastien’s my ally, Rick. He’ll be there whenever I need him, and I’m not turning my back on him when he needs me.”

I knew Rick was sick of seeing me hurt, of worrying about me, of wondering if my next fight would be my last. Once upon a time, he’d been more secure in my ability to bounce back. But that had been before he’d seen me in battle and witnessed exactly what could happen and how much damage I could take. Before he’d seen me as my wolf.

Before Anika Draper had stolen my magic.

“Will you be in the office tonight?” he asked.

“Yes. Unless things go sideways with the vampires and the one killing them physically shows up. If that happens, I’ll be in Alexandria.”

“You know what I’d like?” he murmured, his voice going low and soft.

My chest tightened and butterflies woke up and started flying around in my belly. “What?” I asked, walking out of the room because the conversation had just become something private.

“I’d like to take you to dinner, Kait,” he said. “Just two people having dinner, not a single thought about fighting or vampires or magic.”

I smiled. “I’d like that as well.” I hesitated, then, “There’s a sweet little restaurant in Huntersburg called Maizie’s. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but Lucy gives it high praise. It’s not fancy, but she says it’s special.”

“Saturday night,” he said immediately. “Are you free?”

Three nights away. It was almost funny how abruptly nervous I felt. “I will attempt to be,” I told him.

I could almost hear him smile. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

An actual date with the detective. It somehow made things seem real in ways nothing else had. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Another call came in and I frowned as Saul’s name appeared on the screen.

“I have to go anyway,” Rick said when I told him. “I’m assisting the JPD with a murder case. No supernaturals involved.”

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” I said, then took Saul’s call.

“The council would like to see you,” he told me. “They’re in a new location. Aaron will arrive at your house in exactly one hour to transport you.”

“Is this about their person pulling out the Voss memories?” I asked.

“It is. The contact’s name is Weston Korda. Wes.”

There was something different in his voice. “You like this man,” I said, surprised.

And that was the first time I could remember hearing Saul laugh. “Like,” he said, finally. “I do not like anyone, Kait.”

But I didn’t care what he said. He felt something for this Weston Korda. Maybe he was Korda’s handler, as well.

“Also,” he went on, “there will be a team coming to retrieve Voss’s body from your woods. Send me the coordinates and inform your people so there will be no issues. You have marked the gravesite?”

“There’s a tall pile of rocks,” I told him, and then sent him the coordinates I’d saved soon after Voss had been buried.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled having a session with Weston Korda, but I’d volunteered. And no matter how I felt about the council, I liked to help where I could.

They were right. There could be a powerful supernatural out there somewhere creating more unnatural werewolves. Mutant werewolves with magic.