Squaring her shoulders, she crossed the short distance to speak with the Sentinel in private.
He wasn’t going to like what she had to say, but for once she was determined. It was time to put on her big girl panties. She was done hiding behind her loyal guardian and the protective walls of Valhalla.
“I’m going to stay here and work on the investigation with Duncan,” she said, barely waiting for Fane to come to a halt.
His face was devoid of expression, his dark eyes hard. “No.”
“Fane, listen to me.”
“You know the rules.”
She did. A diviner was never to travel outside Valhalla without protection. There were far too many loonies who thought that the only good diviner was a dead one.
And that was before the news started to spread that there was a necromancer out there toying with young, female corpses.
She deliberately glanced toward Duncan, who watched them with a narrowed gaze. “I won’t be alone.”
“Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?”
“No. I’m trying to be logical.” She ignored his muttered opinion of her logic. “Only you can return Leah and the medics to Valhalla. It makes sense for me to remain here and continue the investigation.”
“What does this investigation include?”
She turned back, her gaze ricocheting off his granite-hard expression. “Duncan mentioned that Leah was wearing clothing from an exclusive salon,” she said. “He wants to see if he can find the specific store and interview the owner.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “That’s all?”
“He’s searching for a lead on the coin” She shrugged. “I suggested we stop by the Rabbit Hutch to see if any of Leah’s friends—”
“Absolutely not.”
Callie sighed at his immediate rejection of a perfectly sound proposal. As if that would stop her if she was truly determined to visit the strip joint.
“Yeah, that’s the same answer I got from Duncan.” She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
He studied her for a long, silent minute. Intimidation at its finest.
“You could wait for my return so I could go with you.”
It was her turn to nip the suggestion in the bud. She might be used to the Sentinel, but to most people he was a scary-ass MOFO.
“Fane, I love you, but you terrify the norms,” she pointed out gently. “There’s no way they would talk if they caught a glimpse of you.”
A dangerous smile curled his lips. “I could make them talk.”
She snorted. Fane had made hardened warriors weep in fear. “I don’t doubt that for a minute, but I think we should try it Duncan’s way first,” she said, reaching in to place her fingers against the side of his throat. “If that doesn’t work we’ll call in the big guns.”
His dark eyes remained flat, unrelenting. “He can’t protect you from the witch. Or any other high-blood.”
Callie couldn’t argue. Duncan might be a hell of a cop, but he wasn’t a Sentinel.
Although, with his special powers he could always . . . She squashed the unexpected thought.
Duncan loved being a cop. Being human. And wishing for him to join her world was the sort of thing that could break a woman’s heart.
Or maybe just break her.
“I won’t take any risks,” she assured her companion. “I swear.”
As if sensing her growing vulnerability, Fane narrowed his dark gaze. “This is bigger than you, Callie.”
She flinched at the unwelcomed reminder of Boggs’s warning. “We don’t know I’m actually involved.”
“You’re no longer a child,” he chided. “You can’t stick your head in the sand and pretend that you don’t sense the growing danger.”
“You’re right,” she abruptly admitted. “I’m sorry.”
He gave an exaggerated blink. “Do you have a fever?”
She shook her head, not about to admit the nightmares that plagued her or the looming sense of doom. She’d be locked in her apartment before she could say “Jack Robinson.” Whatever the hell that meant.
“I can’t ignore the warnings,” she said, keeping it vague. “If there’s a darkness that threatens us then we have to stop it. The sooner, the better.” She lowered her hand to poke Fane in the center of his steel-hard chest. “Which means accepting whatever assistance we can get.”
He arched a brow. “And this isn’t just about being alone with the cop?”
She hesitated. She might not always fully confess to her guardian, but she never deliberately lied.
Their relationship was built on having complete faith in one another and she would never do anything to jeopardize it.
“Maybe a small part, but I won’t be distracted. Trust me.”
“You, I trust.” He sent a burning glare toward Duncan. “Him—never.”
Only a few feet away Duncan stiffened, his hands curling at his sides as he met Fane glare for glare.
“I’ll call you with any information we get,” she said, giving him another poke to distract him from his silent stare-off with Duncan.
Christ. Testosterone was a pain in the ass.
Grudgingly Fane turned back to meet her annoyed gaze. “I’m going to see if I can find information on the coin.”
His words caught Callie off guard. “You’re going back to see Myst?” she demanded, recalling the fragile beauty of the scribe.
Was it possible that the stoic Sentinel had been smitten?
She wouldn’t begrudge him an opportunity for a bit of happiness. He’d sacrificed far too much for her. But she couldn’t deny a sense of disappointment for Serra.
The beautiful psychic would be devastated if Fane chose another.
“No.” He tapped her nose—a silent warning to keep it out of his personal business. “I know a monk who has studied the Sumerians.”
Ah. She grinned in relief. “He isn’t Sumerian, is he?” she demanded. Monks were rumored to live as long as any high-blood.
Another tap. “It’s not polite to ask”
She stepped back, her smile fading. “Be careful, Fane. You’re not as invincible as you think.”
“Yes, I am” He held her gaze. “I’ll come for you first thing in the morning.”
“But—”
“Don’t push me.”
He took off, moving with a fluid grace as he led the medics up the bluff and away from the humans who gaped at him like he was a wild animal who might very well ravage them if he slipped his leash.