"You two don't mind if we just step outside a moment, do you?" Taig asked, hearty as beef stew as he went past the watchdogs, opening the door for me already.
Arthur was standing there, juggling bags. Food. My body sang. “Are there hot chips?”
“There are chips,” he said, apologetically. “Can’t vouch for the temperature.” I waved him in, my head spinning as I got Dierdre’s clothes to her. I grabbed a hamburger and a container of chips. “That one’s got beetroot,” Arthur warned me. “Didn’t know if it was your thing or not.”
“Beetroot is absolutely my thing,” I assured him fervently before shoving some chips in my mouth. “You’re on watch for five.”
He nodded and took out his wand, setting it neatly beside his meal. Once again, I followed Taig out as the uniforms took their burgers happily. He was obviously a fast-food aficionado. He opened the burger wrapper one-handed and made a ‘give it to me’ gesture with the other.
“How much did you follow?” I asked him, wondering whether I should just have an accident with my coffee all over the recording device on the table.
“Some. Enough to know not to come back over.” He inspected the burger. “I like love drunk Arthur. How’re you holding up?”
“Great.” I didn’t even stop to consider the question. “Just between you and me.” I paused. He’d been decent so far. More than decent, really. But should I trust him?
He raised his brows and took another bite.
I sighed, looking at the wan chips in their little cardboard box. Arthur was right to be concerned about their temperature. I’d received dick pics hotter than those chips. “Summary; she tried to spill the whole story to the first responders, got laughed at, edited, is now terrified of coming forward.”
He finished his mouthful and wrapped up the rest of the burger, a look of distaste on his face. “Okay. You got the rest?”
“Enough to outline it. She cooked love potions, he made deals, the bitch witch shot the target full of said potion, money exchanged hands.” I considered the chips again, but my stomach was no longer on speaking terms with me. “Not just love, but that seemed to be the focus.”
“Well.” He rubbed his face. “Shit.”
“Yeah. Shit.”
“And she doesn’t want this to be made official.” He held up a hand. “Of course she doesn’t. So. What’ve we got?”
I threw a chip at him. “Stodgy takeaway and cold socks.”
He arched his brows, but there was laughter in his eyes as he looked between me and the chip now at his feet with all the dignity in the world. “You missed your calling, Rory. You could’ve been a crackerjack detective.”
I sighed with as much drama as I could manage and fluttered my lashes. “Why, thank you.”
“Who knows. Maybe you’ll get recruited yet. I hear VicPol want witches.”
I pulled a face. “Sure, to burn at the stake. Thanks, but I like my steak medium-rare.” He took out a notepad, juggled his burger, and wrote something down. I peered at it.
The guy had taken a note of my steak preference?
He snapped it closed, raised his brows. “Yes?”
The humor of the situation tugged at me. I couldn’t unpack that right now. I didn’t know if it was smooth or just weird. It was a later problem. “Amor shot Arthur full of love potion to take us out. She knew I was Dierdre’s Caretaker, which means she’s done prelim research. Non-lethal hit, just enough to give her time to get to Dierdre’s, get clear, get Dierdre back to shitstain ex and get her cooking potions again.”
He nodded slowly, studying me like I was a living clue. “If she’d hit you, she would’ve had a lot more breathing space. And Arthur was sure she was aiming for you.”
The thought made the contents of my belly sit like wet cement. “I really don’t want to think about what he might’ve done if the shoe was on the other foot.”
“Neither do I,” Taig agreed, neutrally. “But you’re right. Non-lethal. You’re out of the picture, probably forgetting all about work. When she breaks through your charm, would you even care?”
The cement in my belly rolled. “Okay. Solid strategy.”
“Brilliant. Simple and brilliant.” He took one of the chips from my box, inspected it. He sighed, bit the chip in half, fell back against the wall, and stared at the ceiling. “They’ve got her down as a family violence victim. There’s a warrant out for him for the rift juice. Really, this wouldn’t add to the case. If they ever get him, he’s going away for life as it is.”
My heart swelled. “You’d look the other way?”
“It doesn’t change much, does it?” he asked, clinically. “We already know Arthur was hit by a love potion. We know Amor is a crack shot with a bow, we know she’s willing to use magick with lethal force, we know she’s after Dierdre. What potions Dierdre has brewed is already part of her initial statement.” As he talked, he straightened and ticked points off on his fingers. “I don’t remember if love was on there because the guy had her brewing rapid decay.”
Horror spread through my chest. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck. So, really, everything pales beside that. We’ve got what we need to make an arrest. We’ve got information to clue us into this woman’s MO. Should it be evidence? Yes. Am I going to drag a traumatized woman through the process that just reinforces her trauma for no real benefit?”
I let out a long breath, feeling the tension ebbing. “You’re a good bloke, Taig.”
“And you sound so sad,” he said, a bit of a smile tugging up one corner of his mouth.
I was sad, I realized. Sad to the core. “It’s a sad situation.” I passed him my chips, feeling sick. “Thanks, Taig. For not being an arsehole.”
“I’d say any time,” he mused, mock-thoughtfully, a glimmer of humor in his eye, “but I don’t know I could keep that promise.”
I snorted and flopped back against the wall beside him. “I am done. So very, very done.”
“Ten bucks says if Amor rocked up now, you’d take her down in a heartbeat,” he said, lifting another chip and watching it wilt between his fingers. “Guess I’ve got a recording to delete.”
I turned my head, feeling my hair scrunch and pull. It was going to be a mass of knots. I didn’t even care. “I can spill coffee on it?”
“Ah. Tough, smart, able to break wards that are defined by being unbreakable, and thoughtful.” There was laughter in his pale blue eyes. “I’m glad we’re on the same side, Caretaker.”
Something about those low, heartfelt words made my blood heat. My brain zipped back in time and I remembered the way his hand had held my hair—all of my hair—gently at the base of my head. The intimacy of that struck me. And the fact the man knew how to make someone comfortable. I could think of so many applications for that. My body hummed at the thought and I could just about feel the steam rising off me as his eyes dipped, for a moment, down to my lips.
It was right there.
I could’ve taken it.
I could almost feel the kiss. The heat of it. The hunger. There was no humor in his face when his gaze met mine again and my heart twisted.
I was going back to meet Beo. The guy who’d literally protected me from a falling building tonight. Who’d broken laws for me.
The man who was in my bones.
“I should tell Dierdre,” I said, my legs somehow keeping me upright as I pushed away, leaving the heat and wanting behind. “She’ll be relieved.”
“Sure. I’ll, ah, I’ll be right there,” he said, his voice a little lower than usual.
Another ripple of wanting went through me and I breathed around it. Fuck. Yeah. Not just me on this ride. “Yeah, okay.” Elders take these hormones and his sexy fucking voice and his goddamn mouth—
I shrugged it off, refocusing on what mattered here. Because the faster I got it done, the faster I got to curl up beside the man I wanted to be with.
Get in. Do the job. Get out.
Angel or demon, witch and wizard.
Deirdre.
She was why I was here.
And it was Beo I couldn’t wait to get home to.