Page 60 of Blood and Bone

“That’d be fine, Brown.”

Eoghan cocked his head to the side, staring hard at him as Ari shooed him toward the bathroom door. He leaned toward the phone. “Night, Chief.”

“Get some rest, Sapphire,” she said.

Ari watched him walk to his duffel to pull clean boxer briefs and a T-shirt out, before walking to the bathroom. Once the door shut, Ari started talking. He told her all about what had happened, the fact that neither of them knew they weredealing with a vampire who had a toe fetish going in, and to his utter surprise, she apologized.

“Forgive me. I didn’t know,” she said.

“You didn’t know?” Ari asked. “How’s it possible you didn’t know that Champayne had a thing for feet and that was the real reason he was incarcerated?”

“Do me a favor, Brown. Hang up this burner and call me back on your regular phone.”

“Okay, boss. Why?”

“I got this request from a guy in the Agency two days ago and nothing at all was said about Champayne’s interest in feet. I was told that he was there because he’d had contact with an unregistered donor. I admit, I was surprised at the rushed nature of the escort because if something like a prisoner escort is arranged, I know dates way in advance. Clearly, Champayne’s daughter’s mating was planned in advance, so if the request for his presence was requested, that would have happened a while back. Why didn’t that happen?”

“I don’t know, ma’am.”

“No, of course. I’m thinking out loud. It’s very odd that it was so last minute. I didn’t give it much thought since—as you know—there’s been so much going on. When you call me back on your cell phone, make sure Eoghan’s on the line. Tell me in detail everything that happened like you did just now.”

“Yeah, okay, Chief.”

“While I’ve got you on the burner, Brown…” She paused before going on. “I’m sorry that you and Eoghan are caught up in all of this. Things could have gone bad out there and I’m beginning to wonder if they weren’t meant to.”

“I’m beginning to wonder myself, Chief.” Ari looked up as the bathroom door opened, and Eoghan walked out, dressed in clean clothes and towel drying his black hair. When Eoghancocked his head to the side, Ari said, “Okay, Eoghan’s here, boss, we’ll call you right back.”

“Before you hang up the burner. One more thing. This is regarding Townsend. I’m sending you out to meet with Severin and Invictus about helping the king get his clan back.”

“They contacted you?” Eoghan asked, sitting on the bed beside Ari.

“I got an email. They never replied to Two Trees and his deputy.”

“It sounds like there’s still a grudge there,” Eoghan said.

“I’m afraid so and if it goes on like this, they’ll never get access to the food they need,” she said. “In any case, I’ll send you details on the dragons. I’m not going to transmit them through normal channels. For all I know, everything is being monitored. It was bad enough that we were forced to contact them through the I.S.R.’s email system. They asked why we were bothering them.”

“What’d you tell them?” Ari asked.

“That I’d be sending you two to meet in person so you could get an accurate count of their numbers. And while it’s true that we need that, you both know the real reason. You’re going to have to explain in person why we need their help to deal with the situation between Townsend and Bradshaw.”

“So, how will you get us their files and background information, Chief?” Eoghan asked.

“Believe it or not, I’m faxing it to the hotel where you’re staying. Fortunately, they have a business center there with a landline fax.”

“Old school. Cool,” Ari said.

She chuckled. “Now, I feel very old. Call me back on your regular line.”

“Will do, boss,” Ari said. “Give me a minute to tell Eoghan what you told me.”

“Good enough.” With that, she hung up.

“Okay,” Eoghan said, taking the towel back into the bathroom. “Tell me what she said,” he called out before appearing with a toothbrush and toothpaste in his hands. He gestured for Ari to join him, and then disappeared back inside.

Ari stood in the doorway and told him the gist of their conversation as he watched Eoghan brush his teeth. When he was done talking, Eoghan spat out the last of his toothpaste and wiped his mouth before turning around.

“Are you kidding? Now, she thinks sending us into a ballroom with an inmate with certain proclivities and a hundred vampires who’d eat us if we got in the way when they caught him was all a set up?” Eoghan sounded pissed as hell.