Page 59 of A Spy is Born
“This way,” he says, leading me down the hall. We pass a Secret Service agent on our way, who nods to us, his expression blank.See no evil, hear no evil...
Once I’msafe in a Lyft on my way home, I text the emergency number I have for Temperance. “Need to see you now.”
He texts back. “I’ll meet you at your apartment in twenty.”
I'm shaking as I pour myself a cup of tea, the steam rising up and heating my face. Glancing at my bar cart, I consider adding a splash of brandy or whiskey but the clock on my phone reminds me that it's not even 9 a.m. Way too early to start drinking, no matter what the day’s been like so far.
A knock at the front door jerks my attention. I grab my gun off the counter by the cup of tea and move into my living room, Archie on my heel, his small nose tapping my ankle.
The door begins to open, and I keep the gun down, standing at the entrance to the living room, my eyes riveted on the moving door.
Temperance steps in and smiles when he spots me. It quickly fades to a frown of concern when he sees the gun in my hand. "I told you to get rid of that," he says as he comes inside, closing the door behind him.
"Seriously?" I say, my voice coming out on the verge of hysteria. "This gun—" I shake it a little and he frowns deeper. "Is the least of my worries right now. In fact, it's the opposite. It's the freaking only thing keeping me from going crazy."
"What happened?" Temperance crosses to me, and I back up, retreating to my kitchen and cup of tea.
"Grand happened," I say.
"Grand." Temperance's voice is laced with disgust. "I was clear he needed to leave you alone."
"Yeah, well." I put the gun down next to my steaming mug and turn to Temperance, my back to the counter. A flash of Julian and me in here crosses my mind, and I swallow the lump of nostalgia for yesterday before continuing. "He made it clear I had no choice. So I went to see him this morning at his hotel."
Temperance cringes slightly, as if he knows where this is going. "He bragged that he knew all about what happened with Vladimir, dropping your name in the process. He told me I was a beautiful girl. And then he said that he has an enemy he wants me to"—I hold up my hands to form air quotes—"take care of."
Temperance starts slightly but almost instantly pulls the shield of secrecy back around himself, his expression returning to neutral.The damn wizard.
"Not only that," I go on. “When I said I would do it, just to get out of there, he wouldn't let me leave. He grabbed me, and I'm pretty sure he was going tokissme, but I ran.” Temperance doesn't speak, doesn't move. He is a statue in my kitchen. "Say something," I demand, anger bubbling over the shock and fear.
"That's unacceptable." He says it quietly, like it's true and he can do something about it.
His words calm me a little, and I manage a deep breath but it comes out in a stutter. "What are we going to do?" I ask.
Temperance's gaze is unfocused. "I need to talk to some people, and I'll get back to you."
"Okay." Dread tightens my gut again. If he has to go to higher-ups, I could lose this fight. Grand could be president soon, and then where will I be? Fucked. Possibly literally. "This isn't what I signed up for," I say, pulling my tea forward, cupping it in both hands, and breathing in the fragrance of ginger and spice floating up from the chai.
"I know," Temperance says it quietly. "This is not normal."
"Well, that's comforting." I say it with a small laugh. "It is in my business, though. I don't mean being given names of enemies to knock off, obviously," I say. "But using power to get sex? Yeah, that happens."
Temperance nods. He knows. Everybody knows. It's the way the whole damn world works. A shiver of anger floats over me again, and the sweet steam from the tea is suddenly too much for me. I need something else. My eyes wander to the bar cart again. No, I've got training in an hour, and I’m going to keep going with my life.
"Grand does not understand how anything works," Temperance says, pulling out one of my chairs and sitting down. He makes it look small and delicate, with his size and bulk.
"Or he understands it all too clearly," I mumble.
Temperance ignores me. “The president, let alone a candidate, does not get to use assets for their own personal vendettas."
"I would freaking hope not,” I say, moving into the seat across from him. Archie jumps at Temperance, and the spy master picks up the small dog, settling him onto his lap, petting him absently as he stares out the window.
"Did he say when he’d deliver the name?”
"No, but soon, I imagine. I'm not sure. I ran out of there. Like, literally ran away out a service entrance. He didn't just want me to take care of his enemy—he wanted me to blow him or something along those lines."
Temperance shakes his head in disgust, looking down at Archie. "He didn't know who he was dealing with."
His words bring me comfort. That's right. He didn't. Grand made a mistake. He isn’t going to get away with this.
