Tafari was so busy cataloging all the implications of what they’d found today, he barely noticed that he had, again, followed Valentin back to xer hotel.

What he did notice was Valentin’s agitation, the restless twitch of xer fingers and the quicksilver adjustments of the angles of xer face. Valentin said nothing until they were in xer room. At which point, xie slammed the door and whirled on Tafari. “You took her side.”

There was cold fury in the words, but Tafari could see beneath that. He’d become an expert in reading Valentin’s moods in their very short acquaintance. Valentin was scared.

“No one took anyone’s side.”

“Stop it,” Valentin hissed. “Don’t try to twist this. I was there. We both were. She asked you to tell her what we were doing, and you did. Without asking. You took it all on yourself to decide.”

Yes, Tafari had done that. He couldn’t deny, but, “Satsu is—”

“Don’t say it!”

Tafari closed his mouth around the word pack.

“I should never have agreed to this.” Valentin turned, pacing away. “I should never have let you come with me.”

What Tafari couldn’t tell was whether that was just Valentin talking, or whether xie meant it. “Do you want me to go?”

Valentin spun sharply. “Do you want to go?”

“I want to know what’s happening here. What’s wrong, Valentin?”

A single breath, and the cold, perfect Swan was back. “Nothing,” xie said calmly. “If anything, I should count this a blessing. Once one of your own clan shows up—it’s good to discover the boundaries of your interest.”

There were two different conversations happening, and that needed to be fixed immediately. “Let me be very clear: my interest in you knows no bounds. And that has nothing to do with what happened just now. Keeping this to ourselves after what we saw in the cave—no, I couldn’t. We do need Satsu. Not because she’s pack, but because doing anything involving demons without an empath team is suicide.”

Valentin stood still, silent, but there was a tension to the rise and fall of xer chest that told Tafari xie was still anything but pacified.

Then, in a tiny, strangled voice, xie said, “This is my fault.”

Tafari had heard those words, that tone before, so many times he couldn’t count. Usually, in those cases, there had been demons involved as well. In the course of his work, he’d discovered how easy it was for good people to bury themselves in guilt that didn’t belong to them. “Tell me.” At Valentin’s continued hesitance, he added, “This is between us. I swear.”

Valentin continued to say nothing, going over to the bar and pouring xerself a large helping of the no-name bourbon that was stocked in the room. Xie dropped in a single ice cube, took a long, slow sip before turning back to face Tafari. Xie had regained all composure and looked, if anything, defiant.

Or perhaps simply braced for Tafari’s judgement. “Philippe came to my city. Four months ago. He was,” xie waved a hand vaguely in the air, “like here. Asking questions that seemed to follow no purpose. I noticed him. I pointed him out to my superior. We watched him. It was all as it should be.”

Valentin took another, harder drink. “I was deeply suspicious. Something about him seemed…off. But it was pure instinct, nothing I could put into words. No warning I could give to anyone. I could only watch and hope for some evidence, some proof that he was up to wrongdoing.

“Unrelated to Nita Philippe, I had been in need of time…away. A break from the job. Since there seemed no hint of when—if ever—Philippe would give himself away, I took that time off.”

Valentin gave a wintery smile. “I know what you’re expecting now. That with me gone, eyes on him slipped. Which would have been bad enough, but no. My supervisor took my concerns seriously. He made certain the surveillance of Philippe was maintained. Sadly, it was a younger…marshal who was given the job. He was…not who I would have chosen.”

Valentin tossed back the rest of xer glass in one go. “It turns out, I was right to be suspicious. Philippe broke into a museum. Stole numerous artifacts. Alphonse, he was ready for it. He tried to stop Philippe. To arrest him.”

Tafari could now see exactly where this was going. He heard the words before Valentin said them.

“He was killed.”

Tafari knew the words behind those as well. “You believe that’s your fault.”

Valentin’s shrug was only the slightest lift of one shoulder. “If I’d been there instead of Alphonse, I would have done better.”

“Or you would have been killed.”

The sardonic twitch of an eyebrow—an expression that was reassuringly Valentin-like. “You think so little of me?” Serious again. “No. I would have succeeded, or I would have had the experience to know when to call for backup.”

Setting the glass down, Valentin gave a bone-deep sigh. “As you yourself have pointed out, I am…not entirely within my jurisdiction here. And I may not have exactly asked for permission to pursue Nita Philippe beyond the boundaries of our space. When we found the cave, it occurred to me, for the first time, just how poor a decision that might have been. By working outside proper channels, it will be nearly impossible for me to ask for help from my own people. And, as you say, this is clearly a situation in which we need help.”

Tafari was in no position to judge, given how much he’d been blurring the lines of his own authority. Which was something he would have to confess to Valentin. Every day it was starting to feel more and more like an outright lie.

Instead, he focused on, “We’ve found help.”

“We,” Valentin repeated softly, thoughtfully. “Tafari, what are you doing here?”

“I don’t understand.” That was the safest response to the question he’d been dreading.

Valentin looked him up and down, xer gaze moving slowly and thoroughly, intimate as a caress. Just that, from Valentin, was enough to arouse, and the wicked twist of Valentin’s lips clearly communicated that xie knew it. “When we first met, you attached yourself to me because you were annoyed at my intrusion. After that, you continued to follow because it amused you, and because,” a pause and a meaningful twitch of xer eyebrows. “I allowed it because you also amused me. Do not let that go to your head.”

“Of course not.”

“But if this is what it seems to be—if our quarry is somehow opening through to darkspace and trying to summon demons—then this…hunt—” xie gave the word an ironic twist, “is no longer an amusement. This is serious.”

“What makes you think I’m not serious?”

Valentin flipped xer hand around, taking in the space surrounding them. “Because nothing has changed. You haven’t…I don’t know what you Wolves do. Called the cavalry in whatever manner is appropriate. You’re still standing here, flirting in my hotel room.”

Tafari had to chuckle. “As it turns out, that’s exactly what Wolves do.”

Valentin rolled her eyes. Xie didn’t think he was being serious.

But he was. “Demons are part of our every-day life here. If we stopped…flirting. If we stopped having any fun every time there was threat of a demon…” he shrugged. “What would even be the point?”

Which was when it occurred to him, “Do you feel guilty? For the fun we’ve had? While you’re chasing this man who killed—”

“Stop.” All Valentin’s sharp edges were back. “Your clumsy attempts to analyze me are an embarrassment to us both.” Xie crossed xer arms. “It is probably best if you go. If we’re to leave early in the morning, I have packing to accomplish. And so, I would imagine, do you.”

Tafari believed his ability to read Valentin was anything but clumsy, but it wasn’t something he was going to argue. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.”