“If you’re asking if I’m wil ing to die for him, then the answer is yes.” Her fingers fisted in the blankets.
“That’s the end of the discussion.”
“Not quite.” A tiny whirlwind in a vintage Chanel suit swept into the room, the door whipping open so quickly, it was obvious to anyone with magical powers that she’d breached some sort of warding spel to get in.
The first real, wide smile of the day stretched Chloe’s lips. “Aunt Mil ie!”
A short, broad middle-aged man in a nondescript black suit stepped in after Mil ie, closed the door behind them, and stood in front of it at soldierly attention. Mil ie’s driver-cum-bodyguard, Philip Bakke.
Chloe thought he might also be her aunt’s lover, half her age or not, but had never had the nerve to pry into Mil ie’s private life. Her aunt shared or she didn’t.
“How did you know I was here?” And if her aunt had known she was in the hospital, why had it taken her so long to show up?
“I cal ed her.” The sentence echoed in three different voices—Alex’s, Tess’s, and Merek’s.
Luca growled a low curse, and he met Merek’s gaze, raised an eyebrow, but neither man spoke. Then again, what could either of them say? They’d both stepped outside the lines of professionalism recently.
Merek wasn’t involved in her case anymore, but banging her in his office had hardly been good conduct.
Ditto Luca’s banging of Tess the night before. Her connection to Chloe made her a connection to a case he was actively working on. That didn’t leave either man much room to point fingers. Nothing they’d done was strictly unethical, but neither were they squeaky clean. Chloe had a feeling that was a rare occurrence for both of them. She wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or not that she and Tess had apparently tempted them beyond reason.
In Merek’s case, she was just glad, since she was just as tempted, if not more so. She was definitely more tempted than she wanted to be.
Mil ie’s lips quirked in a grin. “My telephone was busy today.” She offered a stately nod to Tess. “If you wouldn’t mind, dear. Philip can drive you anywhere you need to go.”
Tess looked as if she wanted to protest, but a pointed look from Mil ie was al it took to keep her silent.
She turned to Chloe and hugged her tight. “Take care. Of you and Alex, you hear me? Cal me if you need anything. ”
Tears stung Chloe’s eyes, but she squeezed her best friend, praying this wasn’t the last time she saw the redhead. “You know I wil . To al of that. I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too.” With one final squeeze, Tess let her go and went to give Alex a quick hug before she nodded to Mil ie and then to Philip when he stepped aside and held the door open for her. “I have my car with me, but thanks for the offer.”
She sent a last glance to Luca, but left without another word.
“Right,” Mil ie said when the door shut, angling a look that was almost apologetic toward Chloe. “Much as I like Dr. Jones, Normals shouldn’t hear Magickal business, so let’s get on with this, shal we?”
“What are we getting on with, exactly?” Chloe met Merek and Alex’s gazes, narrowing her eyes at them.
“No one has told me anything.”
Her aunt blinked. “But, Alex said he’d tel the FBI you’re not going into protective custody.”
Luca stepped forward and almost looked like he wanted to sweep a courtly bow to her aunt. “Ms.
Standish, I can’t begin to tel you how unwise that course of action would be. While I know it’s difficult to understand how necessary it is to have your niece and her godson leave their lives behind, they are in grave danger, and that danger only worsens if they remain here as easy targets for the terrorist cel that wants them.”
“Ah, I see.” Mil ie’s eyes twinkled with a glee that would give anyone who knew her pause. Chloe braced herself. “You mean, they’l be safer with you and your team?”
“Yes, they wil be.” He stroked his fingers down his goateed chin.
Mil ie tilted her head in apparent innocence, and Chloe almost groaned. “As safe as my niece was last night, when a trusted member of your team betrayed you and al owed her to be tortured for information?
That safe, you mean?”
A muscle in Luca’s jaw ticked, but he said nothing more.
“Let me be clear, Special Agent Caval i.” Mil ie dropped her act and gave the vampire the kind of look that had been making grown men cry for over a century. “Chloe and Alex are not going with you. Not now, not ever. I don’t trust you to keep them safe, and I will be having words with your supervisor about what occurred last night. Since your father is as powerful as I am on the Council, I think it’s safe to say you won’t be fired, but a mistake was made, and it was made with a member of my family. I take that very personal y.”
“I understand.” This time he did execute a short bow. “Ma’am.”
“Good.” She swept an imperious hand toward the door. “Then I suggest you leave now and take your lackey with you. Your supervisor—and, subsequently, you—are going to see just how unhappy this situation has made me. You should cal your father and let him know he’s going to need to go to bat for you on this.”
“Of course.” Jerking his chin at Agent Laramie, the vampire turned for the door. Philip opened it, not a single flicker of expression crossing his face. Before he exited, Luca paused for a closing salvo. “You may think I was mistaken in choosing one of my team members, but that should only emphasize how much danger Chloe and Alex are in.”
“It does.” Her chin dipped in a nod. “I’ve made alternative arrangements for them.”
“Have you?” His eyes gleamed as they locked on Merek. The vampire pinned the warlock in place for a long moment. Then he huffed out a breath, and a wry smile flickered across his face. “With your clairvoyance, you have a better shot than anyone else I know of. Take care of them.”
Merek winced before his face became an impenetrable mask. “I wil .”
The vampire opened his mouth to say more, but clamped it shut again and walked out, Laramie on his heels.
“Why are you stil here?” Luca snarled at someone outside the room.
A throaty laugh floated through the doorway, and Tess’s voice was soft but clear. “What? You think I couldn’t guess she was going to kick you out, too? Even Special Agents aren’t that special in Aunt Mil ie’s world. Besides, I drove, remember? I thought you might need a lift.”
Luca grunted and snapped the door shut behind him.
Mil ie’s eyebrow arched, an irreverent sparkle in her Standish hazel eyes. “Wel , then. She should have him jumping through her hoops nicely . . . and in very short order, I suspect.”
“Keep an eye on her for me, would you?” Chloe smoothed the blanket over her thighs. “I don’t want her getting hurt by a Magickal just because she has the misfortune to be my friend and therefore crossed paths with one.”
“Of course.” Mil ie waved a graceful hand. “I’l look after al your affairs while you’re away. Don’t worry about a thing, dear.”
“Thank you.” Chloe took a deep breath. “Al right. Tel me about the alternative arrangements you and Merek have made.”
“Yeah, I’d like to hear about this, too.” Alex’s mouth curved in a smal grin. “Mil ie forgot to mention it to me when I cal ed her.”
Mil ie sniffed. “I did no such thing. If I’d wished to mention it to you, I would have.”
His grin stretched into a rare, broad smile, his pale green eyes dancing with amusement. “My mistake.”
“Just so.” Mil ie nodded, but her eyes had taken on that sinful twinkle again. It had always amused Chloe to no end to watch the stoic teen wolf and the curmudgeonly old witch play off each other.