“Why? Are you planning on freaking out?”
I reared back. “Of course not. A lot has changed since those days. I’m perfectly capable of doing my job.”
“I never doubted it,” she said in a tone that hinted she was well aware of my own doubts. “But just in case, Morales and I will be handling the interview.”
Relief flooded through me. It’s not that I didn’t trust myself. I just had no idea how John would react to my interrogating him. That wild card could fuck up our case about ten different ways. No, it was better I sat this one out. “Okay. You want me to help Shadi with witness interviews?”
“Yes, and then I want you to make a list of Marvin’s known associates. See if maybe one of them can tell us what happened after you two left him yesterday.”
“Got it.”
She was about to say something else, but her gaze jerked to a point somewhere behind me. I turned to see what was up and froze. A long, black car had just turned into the lot. The license plate on the front read VOLO$.
A buzz of excitement rose over the area as everyone else noticed the arrival of Babylon’s golden boy. My stomach suddenly felt as if it took a nosedive off Bessemer Bridge.
“Showtime,” Gardner said. She flicked a glance at me. No doubt she saw something on my face that betrayed my nerves at seeing John again. “Never let them see you sweat, Prospero.” With that, she walked away to join Eldritch at the curb. When the captain saw her approaching, his smile morphed into an acidic glare. If I hadn’t been so distracted by the imminent arrival, I would have enjoyed watching those two jockey for position.
I went to Shadi. “Let’s go,” I said, failing to keep the urgency out of my voice. She shot me a sharp look and hung back even as I started moving toward the door.
“Hold up,” she said. I turned to see her jogging toward me. “What’s your problem?” She didn’t sound confrontational as much as curious.
“Nothing. Just want to get these interviews done.”
While I spoke, the commotion at the curb caught her eye. By that time, the limo had pulled up directly in front of the building. Eldritch stood next to the door like a nervous teen about to help his prom date out of the car. Gardner stood next to him, looking cool but also determined. Two large bodyguards exited the front of the car and kept back the reporters who swarmed the area like locusts.
The redhead I’d seen with Volos a couple of days earlier stepped out first. She said something to Eldritch and pulled him a few steps away for a confab. He cast a worried glance back at Gardner, who was suddenly smiling like the cat about to eat the canary.
Volos unfolded from the backseat with the grace of a jungle cat: long, muscular lines and the barely leashed energy of a corporate predator. Gardner flashed her credentials immediately. If he was surprised to be approached by an MEA agent he didn’t show it. His smile was polite. Not the expression of a man who worried he might be the center of a federal Arcane investigation.
Everything about him was sharp: his suit, his posture, his gaze. He’d aged over the last decade—we both had—but damned if he didn’t look more handsome at thirty than he had at twenty. More dangerous, too.
Eldritch sidestepped the redhead and moved toward Volos and Gardner as the pair walked toward the building. In his eagerness to join the conversation, he looked like a puppy nipping at their heels. The captain’s admiration wasn’t a surprise. With him angling for chief, it could only help to have a man like Volos on his side.
Also, I couldn’t exactly blame Eldritch for acting like an idiot, since I wasn’t exactly immune to the Volos thrall, either. I could only stand frozen, waiting for the moment when he spotted me.
Time slowed. He frowned at Eldritch the way one might at an annoying housefly. The redhead kept pace behind the trio while she talked on a cell phone. Volos turned toward her to say something, but on the way his gaze intersected with mine briefly before continuing. Slammed to a halt. Reversed.
Boom.
I must have gasped because suddenly my lungs felt too full. Sweat broke out over my chest, where my heart thumped like jungle drums.
One second, he was as frozen as I had been, but then, inevitably, he left the others behind and came at me with the determination of a heat-seeking missile. His expression belonged in a high-stakes room in Vegas. I’d seen that poker face more times than I could count. I’d also seen the slight tightening of his jaw that indicated he wasn’t pleased by my presence.
“Kate.”
Jesus, his voice cut to the bone. Energy sizzled along my spine and put every protective instinct in my body on code red.
“Mr. Volos.” My voice was steady, professional despite the sweat on my palms and the slight tremor in my midsection.
It felt as if everyone in the vicinity stopped to watch this momentous meeting, but no one had. Not really. Just Eldritch, who didn’t make an effort to hide his naked curiosity, and Gardner, who had on her cop face. Morales came to join Shadi off to my left and the pair openly stared at us.
“Mr. Volos, about that interview,” Gardner said into the tense silence.
Those hard eyes left me alone to stare down my new boss. “I thought BPD was investigating.”
“We are, sir.” Eldritch stepped in. “The MEA is assisting because they believe the murder might be linked to an Arcane investigation they’re working.”
Volos looked back at me. “You’ve been spending a lot of time on this side of town lately. Thought you patrolled the east side.”
I stilled as his meaning sunk in. He’d seen me here the other day and he wanted me to know it. He also apparently had kept tabs on my position in the department. Dread settled over me like a cold mist. When a man like Volos kept tabs on you, it usually meant he wanted to use you—or he wanted you dead. I forced a casual shrug. “Things change.”
“Some things change.” His eyes performed a leisurely stroll over my body. I suddenly felt dowdy in the jeans and button-down I’d chosen that day. Especially since his suit probably cost more than my rent. “But most things stay the same.”
“Does that include you?” I shot back. “Are you the same, Mr. Volos?”
“Touché.” His expression lost its humor. “Who punched you?” He started to reach up, as if to touch my black eye, but then caught himself before he could invade my space. But my eye caught the Ouroboros tattoo he bore on his left wrist—the one that matched my own and that of every other Adept in the Votary Coven, for that matter—peeking out from under the French cuff of his dress shirt.