“Their spit is a drug?” Her nose wrinkled. “Are you sure you’re not the one who’s high?”
“Their spit is the basis for the drug,” I confirmed. “My team has been working around the clock to isolate the exact components used in the compound.”
“You mean your team has been working alongside the cleaners, right?”
“Um, yes.” I snapped my fingers. “That.”
Lizzy crossed to me and crouched, taking in the bug behind me, which had started to twitch. “What gives?”
“Hmm?” I leaned into her field of vision. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That thing is alive, and you put it in the circle with you.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re protecting it.” Her finger caressed the trigger. “The question is why? And you better have a damn good answer, or I’ll have to assume you’ve been infected.”
My brilliant plan had hinged on sentinels rushing in to save the day while Remy and I exited, stage left. I hadn’t taken into consideration that Lizzy might catch wind of my call and decide to come on behalf of the pack. Normally, she wouldn’t have done it. But, as Midas and I got more serious, I was starting to see myself for what I was: a liability to the pack. Lizzy had come here in case I got myself in trouble I couldn’t get out of without help.
Ares had been right when she said this courtship thing had little to do with twu wuv and everything to do with politics. Though I might be paraphrasing that last bit, the logic still held, and it still sucked.
“We need an unadulterated sample in order for my people to start working on an antidote.” I kept my voice low. “We will send samples to the cleaners for their database, so that anyone who wants to can access the information and help work on a cure.” I leaned in closer to the edge. “We brought in Doughty too. Between him, Abbott, and Reece, we’ve got a better chance of cracking this than anyone else.”
Bishop sauntered in, swinging a ring of keys around his finger, and I wanted to beat him with my shoe for being late and so blasé about it.
“Liz,” he said in greeting. “Her authority outstrips yours, and you know it. Don’t waste our time.”
“I was handling it,” I growled at him. “We were reaching an understanding.”
“She’s posturing,” he sighed. “She’s a high-level dominant, or she couldn’t do what she does. She’ll take tiny bites out of you until there’s nothing left if you let her.” He stepped right up to the circle’s edge. “Her beta is courting you. You outrank her. Play nice if you want her to step all over you, but do it later.”
As was often the case, Bishop was right. On multiple fronts.
“By the authority of the Office of the Potentate of Atlanta, we’re seizing the body. We’ll send out samples to all major factions as soon as they’ve been collected.” I erased the line with my finger, and the circle collapsed. “We’re happy to share our resources with anyone who has a better idea about how to assist people who have been victimized by this drug.” Ambrose slithered across the ground, alert at last, and sniffed Lizzy’s ankles. “But you won’t stop us.”
“Big words.”
“I have big swords too, if you need me to clean out your ears.”
“I heard you carried Midas out of the fire.”
“He saved me first. I was repaying the favor.”
“There are people who don’t care much for your relationship.”
“So I hear.”
“You want my opinion?”
Not really, no. “Sure.”
“Fuck ’em.” She offered me a hand up then held on. “Bad things happen, and it sucks, but it’s life. There will always be some dickhead next door who spots greener grass in your yard and has to trample it to be happy.”
“That sounds perilously close to an endorsement.”
“This was coming. That it’s arriving now, before you officially take over, tells me the people behind it are more afraid of you than they were of Linus. They want this done before you take office and claim Atlanta. They’re worried what you might do with that power boost.”
“And if your pack pays for it?”
“We’re gwyllgi. We fight. It’s what we do. We wouldn’t have held on to this territory against all comers for this long if we weren’t willing and able to defend it. Anyone who tells you different is a coward.”
Or they didn’t want to die, which might be the same as having a reason to live.
Gwyllgi protocol gave me a headache on the best days.
“Besides, the coven hit us first. They didn’t use you to get to us.” She grew pensive. “They might use us to get to you, though.”
That was a sobering thought, but one I’d had myself.
A sentinel called for Lizzy, and she nodded at me before prowling over to them.
“I’ll take the keys.” I held out my hand to Bishop. “I got this.”
“You’re going to lift that entire roach on your own?” He snorted. “Not happening.”
“She’s got backup,” Remy said from behind him, and several more of her stepped out too. “Plenty of it.”
Bishop’s jaw dropped, but I couldn’t tell if it was shock at her big reveal or horror at the thought of so many Remys running loose in the city. Either way, I patted his shoulder as I studied her. “I thought you weren’t coming out to him.”
“I’ve been hiding a long time.” The Remy army crossed to me, the lead Remy acting as their collective mouthpiece. “I’m tired of it.” They encircled the roach and began lifting it without her, or our, help. “You need me. I’m here.”
“That’s that?”
“That’s that,” she agreed, then grinned at Bishop. “Besides, I sold the expansion pitch to Linus based on my ability to simultaneously run all the stores in the same manner as the original kiosk. It’s the only way to guarantee the sales numbers.”
That went a long way toward explaining why Linus had entertained her business offer. He was the curious sort, and I bet his analytical mind had devoured the peculiarities of what made Remy’s magic work. He might have agreed just for the excuse to meet with her every so often and examine her to his heart’s content.
“I haven’t seen one of your kind in…” Bishop shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“You’ve seen more of us than you think.” She laughed at her own joke. “You know, because there are seven of me?”
“Seven?” His gaze skipped over the gathering, counting. “Your kind divide evenly. Where’s the last?”
“Midas killed her,” Remy announced before I could salvage the big reveal. “I tried to kill him, but it didn’t stick.” She sounded cheerful as she winked at me. “Currently, I’m biding my time.”
“You shouldn’t go around telling people you’re open to the idea of murdering a prince.” He glanced at me. “Are you sure she didn’t blow you up? Maybe she thought Midas had slept in.”
“She’s not that sloppy.” Plus, her murderous tendencies had a specific focus, and I wasn’t it. “She would have detonated the bomb in the lobby when I walked past him.”