“Send them in.” Might as well get this over with all at once. “And thanks.”
“It would have been much worse without your help.” He smiled. “Thank you for saving him.”
Uncomfortable with the praise, I squirmed beneath the weight of his gratitude. The tender kiss Midas pressed to my cheek was much easier to bear.
“We missed the party last night.” I frowned at him. “I assume? I have no idea what day or time it is.”
“Pretty safe bet,” he agreed. “That means the drug has been distributed to sellers.”
“Great.” I drank more water to lubricate my dry mouth. “Now we’ll be chopping the heads off hydras.”
“We need to take out the source,” Bishop said, entering the room on a cold breeze. “We’re going to kill those sons of bitches.” He crossed to me, yanked me into a hug that brought up the coughs I was trying to suppress, and pulled back to look me over. “I’m glad you’re okay, kid.”
“Me too,” Remy chimed in. “I’m vague on the legalities of taking over a business after the owner dies.” No one said a word, and she swallowed. “What? I’m happy you’re not dead. You’re the only boss I’ve ever had who didn’t fire me within my first week.”
“Your concern humbles me,” I said dryly. “Truly.”
“Hey, I did you a solid.” She dug into the paper bag of leftovers for the container the mashed potatoes came in and scooped out the remnants with her finger. “I sent a few friends to the party, and let me tell you, the things they saw…”
When she moved on to eating the wedges the gwyllgi had only picked at, I prompted her. “What did they see?”
“The vampires, the wargs, and the fae all bought in. The necromancers and the gwyllgi passed.” She crunched through the cold potato. “Here’s where it gets interesting.” She wiped her hands on her shirt. “The gwyllgi and necromancer representatives were from out of state, right? No one local wanted to go up against Tisdale or Linus if they got caught peddling lethal—to their species—drugs.”
“Okay.”
“When they passed on the buy-in, Blithe made an example of them. She had them bound, carried up front, and force-fed them Faete.” Remy shivered. “The necromancer died within minutes. The gwyllgi took a lot longer.” She wet her lips. “I figure its body was regenerating damaged tissue as fast as the drug destroyed it, but the drug won out in the end.”
A horrible death by any metric, and it made me regret the meal I had just eaten.
Those poor teens. That must be what kept them hanging on. Their bodies refused to let them die.
“We need to get word out to everyone vulnerable to Faete.” I shoved my tray aside and swung my feet over the edge of the bed. “The coven is pushing us to play defense, and that’s not getting us anywhere. It’s time to go on the offense.”
“Are you sure you should be standing?” Bishop took my elbow before my full weight hit my feet. “You haven’t been discharged.”
“Midas is the injured party.” I didn’t wobble, and I was happy about that. “I need to change and then…”
I had no clothes. I had no apartment. I had…nothing.
I was right back to square one, like when I first moved to Atlanta with only the clothes on my back.
“About that.” He mashed a button on his phone and passed it over to me. “Here.”
“How are you?” Linus’s cool voice filled the line. “How is Midas?”
“We’re both alive.” I shivered at the chill in his tone. “I’m about to head to HQ.”
Everyone in the room gave me death stares, so I elected to ignore their hostilities.
“Bishop tells me your apartment is ruined.”
“Yeah.” I shivered from the breeze of my hospital gown parting. “I’ll ask management if they’ve got another efficiency I can lease until mine is repaired.”
Thankfully, Tisdale had passed along the news that no one else had been harmed in the blast. Their apartments on the other hand… That entire floor would require a facelift before all was said and done.
“You’re moving into the potentate’s suite.” He made it an order. “Bishop has the keys.”
The charred gwyllgi across from me raised an eyebrow, and I chewed on my bottom lip. “Midas is…”
“I’m aware.” Linus warmed his voice with intent. “The suite is yours. Your guests are your business.” He hesitated. “Do you need me?”
Yes, I wanted to cry, a thousand times yes. But he was my boss, and I couldn’t afford to appear weak.