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“I also need a new mission,” I said.
“There we go,” she said. She dabbed the brush in liquid I knew was mineral spirits, then wiped it on a towel. “I knew this trip wasgoing to help you start asking questions.” She glanced up at me. “Before now, you were waiting.”
“For what?”
“To make peace with the life you thought you’d have so you can move on to the next one. We’ve already discussed that you shouldn’t be a bureaucrat. Speaking of the OMB, did you know Theo can juggle?”
“I did not. He gave you a demonstration?”
“Accidentally. It’s a long and cat-vomit-filled story.” She waved that away. “But that’s a road trip tale for another time. We’re discussing your ennui.”
“I don’t—,” I began to argue, then realized she was right. She’d been right when we talked in Chicago, even though I hadn’t liked hearing it. “I still don’t know what comes next. How do I figure that out?”
“If it was me, I’d start with whatdoesn’tcome next. You don’t like working for the OMB. Why?”
“I don’t not like it. But I wouldn’t call it fulfilling.”
She smiled, as if pleased by the admission. “Good. You seem to enjoy supernatural drama, as much as I detest it.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment.”
“It’s neutral. But the OMB, from what you’ve told me and approximately two hundred complaints from my father, is about ten percent drama and ninety percent paperwork. So you need a job that tips that scale.” She looked at me. “Have you had fun on this trip?”
My instinctive reaction was to say no, to protest that there’d been too much violence, too many people hurt, too much frustration. But that wasn’t the full truth.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s been... thrilling. Even with the bad parts, I’ve liked being out here with him, digging into this crisis.”Watching people,I thought silently. And deciphering what I sawthere. “But there’s no alternate career path for fixing magical drama. That’s just the OMB.”
“You could be a supernatural special agent.”
“I think I need a covert government agency for that.”
“You could create one.”
“I’m confident, but not ‘I am my own country’ confident.”
“You know what I mean,” she said. “Look, you care about Supernaturals. You care about what happens to them. And apparently you’re pretty good at figuring out why something is wrong and fixing it.” She shrugged. “You just need a title and a client willing to pay your rate structure. Which will be very, very generous.”
“So your solution is I should invent a job for myself and find people to pay me a lot of money.”
“I mean, in a few words, yes.”
There were footsteps behind us. We both glanced back, found Connor on the path.
“Did they find the hideout?” I asked.
“No, but Beyo’s awake,” he said, eyes narrowed in purpose. “Let’s go see what he has to say.”
***
Another cabin, another round of shabby decor. We found Alexei standing in front of the open fridge, back to us as we came in.
“Suspect security,” Connor said. “You can’t even be bothered to lock the door?”
“I’m the one who told you to come,” he said, closing the door and turning while he unsealed a soda bottle. “And I knew you’d opened the door, because her magic’s different.”
Connor just humphed, because he couldn’t really argue with that. “How is he?”
“Looks like shit. Had a sports drink, some aspirin.”
