She set her jaw and didn’t answer him. He sighed and paid attention to his driving. They drove in silence for the entire distance to the precinct. But one thing he didn’t do was let go of her hand. Instead he laced his fingers through hers and held on tightly. It was an intimate, connecting gesture, and by the time she reached her job she was no longer mad at him. Actually, she hadn’t been mad at him in the first place. Just frustrated at the situation.

“Remember, stay in crowds at all times today.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

She could see the worry in his eyes. Felt the tension in his hand. He was incredibly concerned for her.

“I promise, I’ll be fine.”

“Call me at regular intervals today so I know you are well,” he said.

“I’ll text you,” she said.

“No. I want to hear your voice. Anyone can send me a text.”

“All right,” she said, her tone softening. “Please don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

He reached out with his free hand and caught the side of her head in his large palm. He pulled her close and swept her lips up against his in a heated, almost desperate, kiss. By the time he was done, she was breathless, her mouth burning. Then he let her go. She slipped out of the car with her binder in hand and hurried away.

As soon as she was out of sight, Rafe made a phone call.

“Fallon,” the man on the other end answered by way of greeting.

“It’s Rafe. I have a job for you.”

“Will it be as fun as the last one?”

“I anticipate it will be quite boring overall.”

“What the hell? I have better things to do, more exciting things to do.”

“I will make it worth your patience and your time.”

“Hmm. What’s the job?”

“I want you to keep an eye on a human woman. A police detective.”

“What gives? Is she getting close to exposure?”

“I’m afraid it’s gone beyond that. No. She’s in danger. She has been attacked by phants and the one that got away promised he would be coming back.”

“You shouldn’t have let him get away,” Fallon said.

“No shit,” Rafe said wryly. “But it’s too late now to fix it. She’s exposed. We’re exposed. I can watch over her at night, but during the day…”

“Right. You have world peace to negotiate. I get it. So what are you going to do for me if I do this?”

“I could talk to Danton, get you moved up in rank.”

“No thanks. Upward mobility means playing politics. I’m better off in the field. I prefer to kick ass and take names.”

“What would you like me to do for you?” Rafe asked, even though he knew it was dangerous to leave an open-ended possibility out there.

“I’ll think of something. Let’s just say you’ll owe me one. How big of a one will depend on just how boring the job is.” He paused a beat. “And how cute the target is.”

“Hands off, Fallon. I’m serious about that.”

“Don’t worry,” Fallon said with an easy chuckle. “I won’t play with your food. I’m assuming that’s what she is. Food?”

Rafe hesitated just long enough to give Fallon a good impression of the situation.

“Wow. So you’re the one who’s playing with his food. Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“And you still might not live to see the day,” Rafe said dangerously. “Keep your impressions about the situation to yourself.”

“Right. Got it. Although it’s killing me not to tease you about it.”

“Don’t make me have to kick your ass, Fallon. You know I can do it.”

“You’re one of the few. Give me the info on the woman.”

Rafe did so, telling him what precinct she was at and her name and all the other vital statistics he could think of.

“I’ll look up her picture on the DMV site. Anything else I should know?”

“Just don’t get made. She’s sharp. And she’s on edge. She’ll notice if someone is following her too closely.”

“You’re not going to tell her I’m there?”

“Not right now. I’ll tell her…later. Just watch your six.”

“Got it. Watching my back. And hers. Trust me, I’ll take good care of her.”

“I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think you could. I’ll pick her up at the end of her work day. Once you see me with her you can back off.”

“And how long am I doing this for? With all the delegates coming into town, Danton is probably going to ask me to guard someone’s safety.”

“I’ll take care of Danton. You just worry about what I tell you to worry about.”

“If you say so. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“I’ll wait until I see you.”

“See you then.”

—

After Fallon arrived, Rafe drove directly home. He showered and dressed, then packed some things into an overnight bag. Enough to last him a couple of nights. He wasn’t about to let Renee spend any time alone after last night. It was bad enough he’d had to let her go today. But he had things he needed to do. Things she couldn’t be a part of.

He then took the elevator down to his work floor, knowing the queen would no longer be in her home. She would be working, smoothing out any last-minute wrinkles with the new changes to the treaty. It was Friday and the signing of the treaty was taking place Monday. Delegates from all of the vampire city-states would begin arriving as soon as tomorrow. They needed to find whoever it was that was taking potshots at lawful vampires before the city began to fill up with the sensitive lives of foreign royalty.

Rafe dropped his overnight bag into his office then went directly to Simone’s. Her secretary stood up as he walked past her and tried to get him to stop before going in.

“She’s in a meeting,” she said hurriedly.

“I don’t have time to wait,” he said brusquely as he pushed past her.

He opened Simone’s door and walked through it, surprising the queen and the man who was massaging her back. Simone was lying facedown on the massage table, nude save for a towel draped over her backside. She looked up at Rafe’s entrance and after a single look at his face she said, “Reynaldo, give me my robe.”