“You’ve been an invaluable member of this team for longer than I’ve been here. I’m sorry for what brought you to us, but I’m glad you’re here.” I thought back on Bishop’s warning about Ford. “What happens if I can’t forget you again?”
“I trust you.” Her eyes sparkled. “And this way, you can help me with Ford.”
Laughter shot out of me, equal parts relief we were okay and incredulousness. “You’re horrible.”
“I am.” She hung her head, but then she peered at me from under her bangs. “He’s just so…”
“Yeah.” I had to agree with her. “But I can’t help you. Ford and I aren’t on the greatest terms right now.”
“Midas,” she murmured. “How did you ever choose between them?”
“Easy.” I stood when Ford and Bishop reentered the room. “I didn’t.”
Lisbeth had all but forgotten me when her crush sauntered up to her, but I had one question left. “How was the drug administered?”
“Intranasal or intravenous,” she reported. “From what I can tell, species determined method of administration.” Her lips twisted. “I got a tip and headed downtown to snag us a sample.”
A beat of hope thrummed in me until I noted her hospital gown and its obvious lack of pockets. “Do you still have it?”
Doughty could always do with more material for testing, and so could the cleaners.
“Only what shows up in my blood work.” She rubbed her nose. “They let everyone in the door, invitation or not, but they wouldn’t let you leave until after you ingested it.”
“Smart.” I had to admit. “That kept the drug itself contained.”
Leaving Ford with his new charge, Bishop and I exited the Faraday. Most nights I patrolled solo, with him providing radio commentary, but these days it was dangerous for any one of us to get caught out alone.
We walked Crescent Avenue Northeast from end to end, but its subdued vibe made it hard to believe the manic chaos of last night. The rest of the city hummed with its usual buzz of activity, but nothing required our intervention. Eventually, there was nothing left to do but go home.
“Do you think Faete will be distributed?” I couldn’t decide yet. “Or do you think Anca was right about it being a clinical trial for the coven?”
“Hard to say.” He pointed us back toward the Faraday. “A bigger danger is Blithe getting her hands on it. It might be the coven has one purpose in mind, and she has another. She’s got her own chem labs. Feeding others’ habits is how she supports her own. She could, in theory, begin production on her own variant in time.”
“She would do that, even knowing the side effects?”
“She wants money, and she wants power.” He shrugged. “They’re the same thing, really.”
“People like that make my head hurt.” I was glad for the coming dawn and my comfy futon. “If nothing else, you’d think she would see Faete will cripple her income by killing off portions of her client base.”
“Gwyllgi are the only faction experiencing catastrophic side effects, as of yet,” he countered. “She might be willing to take that risk.”
“We don’t know if the wargs will pull through,” I argued. “Their brains could still melt.”
“I like your optimism.”
“Even Mendelsohn doesn’t deserve to have what little gray matter he’s got leak out his ears.” A knot formed in my gut. “The pregnant females worry me more. I hope their babies won’t pay for this.”
“Don’t borrow trouble.” He walked me to the door. “We’ve got enough to go around.”
Hank tipped his head at Bishop, shot me a warning glance, then resumed his position.
“Get some sleep.” Bishop spun on his heel and tossed a wave. “You look like you could use it.”
The trick almost worked enough for me to be too annoyed to notice he had walked me home, but I did. I shouldn’t have been surprised, he was sneaky like that, but he would kill my rep babying me.
Even after I put that together, the niggling sense of doubt persisted. I had missed something, but what? It finally clocked me over the head as I stepped into the elevator, and I could have strangled Ambrose for not sharing with me sooner. As much crowd skimming as he had done, he must have known.
Alone in the elevator, I hissed under my breath. “What did it do to necromancers?”
The shadow, alert now that I had deigned to notice him again, drew a finger across his throat.
Fantastic. Absolutely fabulous. This night kept getting better and better.
The Society would not be thrilled to learn a designer drug was lethal to our section of the population.
I was still digesting that morsel when the elevator doors slid open onto my hall, and I spotted Midas halfway to my apartment. Hearing the booth’s arrival, its distinctive ting, he glanced behind him.
“Hey.” He waited for me to catch up to him. “How did your night go?”
“I’ve had worse.” I let us into my apartment. “I’ve had better too.” I searched his face. “You?”
“Two teens in critical condition. One dead. Plus Krista.” He sank onto the futon and dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling. “We have to stop the coven.”
“We will.” I joined him, curling against his side. The tension that touch ignited in him I ignored until he relaxed into me. “They’re targeting the vulnerable, and that’s not okay.”
“All those parents,” he murmured. “They expect me to fix this.”
“I understand the pack looks to you and your mom, but that’s too much to put on you alone.”
“I’m not alone.” He almost managed a smile. “I have you, and they know it.”
“I’m not sure I would classify it as you having me, but I am yours for the duration.”
“I like the sound of that.” He touched my cheek, traced his finger down my jaw. “About earlier…”
“I’m sorry I bit you,” I said solemnly before he twisted himself into a pretzel explaining what required no explanation. “I’ll try to control my savage urges next time.”
Midas mouthed the words thank you and tucked me in even tighter.
You’re welcome, I pressed into the skin of his throat before grunting to my feet to order us pizza for dinner.
Nine
The goblin cackles with glee and sends the giant to fetch Midas from his cage.
“You’re gonna love this, me boy.” He does a little dance. “I found the most gorgeous female, I did. She’s fresh. Never stepped into the ring.” He clapped his hands. “This will be a fight for the books.”
Midas says nothing as his cage door is wrenched open and the massive fist engulfs him. Scars crisscross the giant’s skin, gifts from him and others, but fighting does no good. The giant plops him down in front of the goblin whose manic glee rouses the feral half of him in wary acceptance of what’s to come.
The human half of him broken, Midas allows himself to be bathed and fed. He allows them to do what they will. None of it matters. He’s not here. Not really. Not since the first female’s neck snapped between his teeth.