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“I’m good,” I said with a bubbling laugh. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” she said when she stepped back, mouth pursed in a pout. “But I didn’t even get to unsheathe this thing.” She pointed to the dagger at her belt. “And I’ve been training.”
“Good! How’s that going?”
“With your vamp genetics, pretty damn good.” Her grin was wide and cheerful, and it tugged at my heart. She was so open, so willing to be vulnerable. That, I thought, made her exceptionally brave.
“Thank you for coming all this way,” I said, and the most important question occurred to me. “Why are you here?”
“To support you, just in case the AAM got handsy. In, you know, an assholey way. Ronan got a call.”
I glanced at Ronan, tall and dark skinned, with wide eyes and a thoughtful face. “A call?”
He gestured to Theo. “He seems like a very good friend,” Ronan said.
“He is.” I looked back at him. “And so are you.”
His eyes widened.
“I was an ass, and you came anyway. So I’d say that makes you a very good friend.”
His lips twitched. “I believe we both had some preconceived notions that led us both to say some regrettable things.” He held out a hand. “Truce?”
I thought of Jonathan Black’s deal, the insincerity of it. And the actual friendship this man offered.
“No,” I said. “Friendship.” He smiled as we shook on it. “I’vegot business to attend to. But if you’re staying in town, you should come see Connor’s town house. It’s beautiful, and there’s plenty of room for guests.”
***
For my next act, I would make more animosity disappear.
“You asked them to come,” I said, when I’d reached Theo and Connor. Theo looked back at me, a little smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.
“He did?” Connor asked, with a glint of appreciation in his eyes.
“Yeah. To stand up for me.”
“Since the truth is out and I couldn’t do this before...” Theo wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off my feet in a ferocious hug. “We missed you at the office this week.”
“That was entirely your doing,” I pointed out.
“Actually, it was my doing.”
We turned back, found Roger Yuen walking toward us.
“You missed the action, boss,” Theo said, putting me down again.
Roger smiled. “Nah, Gwen let me monitor from the CPD van, just in case you wanted more assistance. But I had the sense you’d want to handle this one on your own.”
“I did. But thanks for keeping an eye out.”
“You’re welcome.” He paused, added, “I considered it a job interview, actually.”
Everyone looked at me. “A job interview?” I asked.
“For a full-time position with the OMB. You showed bravery, creativity, and when it came to the wire, decency. I’ll apologize once again for putting you on leave. It’s the cost, unfortunately, of transparency.”
“I know. I don’t like it, but I know. The job?” I prompted.
