Talking about my feelings to a superior and completely unimpressed werewolf surely counted as torture in some countries, but I forced myself to say the words.
"I have romantic feelings for Max and can’t in good conscience stay on his case.”
The hand near his face became a fist and he pressed his forehead into it for support as the headache turned into a migraine and hit him full force. "How long has this been going on?"
“Uh, I’m not totally sure. A while.” Did his stony expression just become a tad homicidal? “But nothing has happened! I set up this meeting as soon as I realized that my feelings went farther than friendship and admiration. This is thelastline I wanted to cross, especially on this case, and double especially after my recent actions.”
"Double especially?" he echoed.
"You started it with double desk duty, sir." I gulped and shut my mouth to stop provoking the grumpy werewolf.
The director’s eyes narrowed on me. The animalistic side of my brain suddenly wished for a little less speed and a bit more strength while stuck in the workplace equivalent of a larger predator’s den and unable to make a quick escape.
Bracing myself for yelling and any number of unpleasant experiences, I wasn’t prepared when Merritt slumped into his chair, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Damnit, Temple. What the hell?”
The part of me that always hated disappointed teachers jumped into action. “I’m so sorry sir, I told you as soon as I realized—"
Merritt groaned. “You’re killing me here.”
"Sorry!"
"You damn well better be. Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?"
"Yes." Did I? “Or I think so? You asking that question makes me wonder.”
"I believe you,” Merritt said tiredly. “As soon as you were aware of your feelings you called a damn meeting,thisdamn meeting, to have this very uncomfortable chat we’re having right now. You didexactlythe right thing here and followed the protocol. That’swhythis is so painful. Because there’s not a damn thing I can do about it."
What the hell? "But the protocol—"
"Do you think the protocol applies here? Max being involved in both minor and major decisions that involve him has been a huge part of undoing what the Broker’s did. He’s made progress, he knows his choices matter, but still. Do you really think me or anyone else should decide whether the person he’s become closest to should stay in his life or not?”
“Okay,” I said. This conversation had not gone remotely how I thought and now I had a headache too. “I get it.”
“Do you? It would have been really easy for Max to bond with any number of people. All the survivors needed support from someone who hadn’t gone through it too, but he never fully leaned on anyone. He was very careful with his trust, but he gave it toyou.”
When he put it that way… fuck.
“I understand. I thought…” If I ended the situation as quickly as possible, I wouldn’t have time to screw up everything or make Max uncomfortable... I also wouldn’t have time to start hoping for impossible things. Clearly I’d already been compromised and resorted to the sound judgement of a superior officer. He might not have delivered the answer I expected, but he was still right.
“You thought there was a simple answer, follow protocol. Too bad for us both, this is the exception to protocol.” Merritt groaned. “The one time somebody does itexactlythe way you’re supposed to, recognizes and admits to their own shortcomings, and promptly reports themselves and yet my damn hands are tied.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” I wondered if I were in for triple desk duty now.
“Me too, Temple. Me too.”
Yep, I lied to myself earlier and hadn’t even known the half of it. Things still weren’t fine and the awkwardness wasn’t even close to over. Because now I had to talk to Max.
~
Lysander
“Are we sure this is safe?” Max wondered, wiping his feet on the mat at the door despite the dry day and not tracking anything inside.
“See for yourself.”
Neon blue bandages decorated the backs of both our hands. The bandages kept us hidden from magically prying eyes.
We shielded ourselves as a precaution. The coven had other problems, problems bigger than settling an old grudge. Those searching for Accelerant set up task forces within both supernatural and human law enforcement. They were able to respond to sightings of the coven and unexplained fires quicker. While the coven hadn’t been successfully apprehended yet, faster response times meant Accelerant’s last two attempts to cause trouble were cut short.
