Merek’s expression remained unreadable when he faced Mil ie. “Before we do this, Ms. Standish, I have to tel you that my clairvoyance is blank when it comes to your niece. I can offer my skil s as a cop, but not my precognition.”
That made Mil ie pause, and she gave the detective a long, penetrating stare. Chloe was impressed that he didn’t fidget or squirm. Older, more powerful Magickals than him had broken under Mil ie’s scrutiny before. “Do you think anyone else would be as dedicated to their security as you would?”
“No, ma’am. I would die to keep them safe. Anything I can do to protect them, I wil , I promise you that.”
“I hope that’s enough, but I’d rather have you than some team of men who turn on their masters.” Mil ie set her enormous handbag on the end of the bed, pul ing out a myriad of strange things. Folded clothes, manila envelopes, a cosmetics bag, a sheaf of paper—Chloe suspected her aunt had put a spel on her purse to make it fit anything she wanted because as enormous as the bag was, it couldn’t store al of that. Without help, anyway.
Mil ie turned to wave Merek forward, only to find he’d already stepped over to loom behind her. He was good at looming, but Mil ie wasn’t any better at letting someone loom over her than Chloe was. She grinned when her aunt gave him an affronted look. He lifted an eyebrow and motioned to the lineup of items she had on the foot of the bed. The gesture wasn’t as impatient as it would have been if he’d been dealing with Chloe, but that just proved he was a smart man. No one messed with Mildred Standish.
Chloe hoped she was just as formidable when she was her aunt’s age.
Moving the pile of clothes to drape across Chloe’s feet, Mil ie smiled. “These are for you, dear.”
And that was why she loved Mil ie so very much. “You’re the best.”
“Yes, I know.” Her aunt winked at her, but her expression turned severe just as quickly when she returned her gaze to Merek. “I col ected al the documents you required, Detective Kingston. I’ve already spoken to your supervisor, and you are on indefinite paid leave. Make sure my niece and her godson come through this safely, and you can name your price from me.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” He scooped up the envelopes, fishing out . . . plastic cards? But he examined them closely, squinting at them, tilting them into the light to see every angle. “These look good.”
“Philip had the contacts; I had the money. Combine those two and excel ent quality can be assured in a relatively short amount of time.”
Alex reached out and deftly plucked the cards from Merek’s fingers, his lupine speed making the movement so fast, Chloe didn’t even see him move. He glanced at them. “Huh.”
Then he handed them to Chloe. Identification. Fake identification. Both the cards had her driver’s license picture on them, but neither had her real name. She had to assume there were cards for Alex and Merek, too. “So we’re running.”
Merek shrugged and met her gaze. “Like you said, Luca was going to swoop in and take you where I couldn’t be sure you were safe.”
“Because the FBI trumps the police. So you cal ed someone who trumped everyone.” She gestured the cards in Mil ie’s direction.
“Yeah.”
“Good thinking.”
His breath whooshed out. “Yeah?”
“You could have warned me.” She sniffed, and watched a smal grin twitch across his face. His gaze slid from her to Mil ie and back again; a flash of realization crossed his expression, and then he shrugged, his smile widening.
Chloe winced as something occurred to her. “If we’re on the run, there’s no way I can take my memory potion. It takes very precise conditions to keep it viable, has insanely complicated ingredients, and a very short shelf life.”
“So, you’l know everything Smith wants in a week or two.” Merek’s grin disappeared, then he sighed. “But that’s data Alex already has readily available in his head, so we won’t be much worse off than we would have been; we just won’t have your potion’s unexpected advantage anymore. I don’t intend to let anyone close enough to you to find out you can spil secrets.”
“I like that plan,” Chloe said with a little too much fervor.
Mil ie watched the byplay, tilting her head as she considered them. She nodded abruptly, but Chloe had no idea what conclusions her aunt had come to. “Philip and I wil take Alex back to his house to gather whatever clothing he wants, and Merek wil do the same for you, Chloe. I assume you’l want to take your familiar with you, but if not, I wil happily house her for you.”
Merek glanced at Chloe. “That might be—”
“No. My familiar comes with me. She’s been with me since my mom died, and I’m not abandoning her.”
Chloe refused to think about the awful days after her mother’s death or about how Ophelia had come to be her animal companion. She’d done her best to put those events behind her and dredging them up would help no one.
Hands on his hips, Merek stared down at her. “Chloe, it’s important that you and Alex change your usual patterns, leave as many of your habits behind as possible. That means no computers for Alex. No gadgets.
No modifying the very simple cel phone I give you for emergencies only to do anything it shouldn’t. No hacking anything. Hel , it means no e-mail. Nothing.” He gestured to the trendy clothes on the bed. “You, city girl, get no more makeup, no expensive clothing. No going to Magickal clubs. No more big city life for you.”
The look of horror on Alex’s face was probably reflected on Chloe’s. No city. No lights. No people. It was her worst nightmare summed up in a handful of sentences.
“He’s right, dear.” Mil ie’s expression held so much understanding and sympathy when she met Chloe’s gaze that she had to look away or she knew she’d start tearing up. Only Mil ie knew why Chloe craved city life and lights, and Chloe wasn’t about to explain how pathetic she was to a big bad warlock cop.
“Let me make this clear.” Merek looked back and forth between Alex and Chloe. “If you want to live through this, you’l do what I’m tel ing you. You are one-third of a puzzle they already have two-thirds of. This isn’t good news for you.”
They had Damien’s part of the puzzle, either wil ingly or by force. She shuddered to think of the ways one might force a vampire as powerful as Damien to bow to one’s whims. Torture would only be the jumping off point for negotiations. Another shuddered rippled through her. She didn’t want to think about torture techniques. It brought to mind her own recent experiences. Gods help her if she had to survive more of that.
If it got worse, she wasn’t sure she could. As ugly as surviving what had happened with her mom had been, the night before had stil shown Chloe she was even more of a survivor than she’d ever imagined. But she’d also discovered exactly where her breaking point was, and they’d come dangerously close to the point of no return. She didn’t want to get that close ever again.
Chloe sniffled, coughed into her fist. “Fine. I’m stil not leaving my familiar. She wouldn’t stay anyway.”
“That is the truth. That cat should have been named Houdini.” Her aunt dug deeper into her purse and handed a smal er satchel to Merek. Definitely a bespel ed purse. Chloe managed a grin, then felt her mouth sag open when Merek unzipped the satchel. Money. Lots and lots of money. The satchel might even be bespel ed for extra space, too. Mil ie patted Merek’s arm. “That’s al the cash I had available in my house.
There won’t be any bank withdrawals for anyone with computer skil s to trace. You said smal er bil s were better, less noticeable, so that’s what you have there. If you need more, I’l make sure you get it.”