He barked a laugh. “Great.”
She beamed at him, and he realized that for once, he had no desire to argue with her. And every desire to kiss her.
“Okay,” he conceded. “We’ll do it your way. For a few more days.”
As Clare explained the plan to the team an hour later, she was surprised at how comfortable she felt withholding information.
Her moral compass was skewed, maybe, but she was certain that it was the right thing, at least for now, to withhold the details of Oliver partaking of her blood. Waldo had made it clear that this was a serious threat to Motham and the valley lands. If anything leaked out about this, it could cause fear and mayhem on the streets of Motham.
Yep. It was true. They’d tossed out the rule book, both professionally and personally.
But intuitively, it felt like the right thing to do.
“From today, Clare will no longer come into the station,” Oliver explained. “She will be working undercover as Anna.”
“Sounds risky,” Saul said, scratching his head with a thick green thumb.
“Nothing is without risk in an investigation like this,” Clare said. “But me going undercover has provided our most fruitful leads so far.”
Saul’s expression was still worried. “All very well, but remember what happened to your monitoring devices when you went into that room. They completely cut out.”
”All the more reason for me to go undercover again,” she countered. “We’re almost sure that guy I met was Matteus—this way I can verify that.”
“We will put on extra guards as backup,” Grayson growled from where he was crouched in the corner of the room. “Every building will have a gargoyle tracking you, and we will post orc guards as civilians who will also relay your movements to our surveillance team.”
Saul looked somewhat reassured.
Beth scribbled copious notes, her snakes swirling wildly under her scarf.
Oliver added smoothly, “In the meantime, I am going to interview Dorothea Kominsky, Matteus’ mother. While she is an erratic source of information, if she does know something, she won’t be able to keep her mouth shut. We’ll convene again after that.”
“Very well.” Saul huffed out a breath. “Let’s get on with it then.”
Across the room, Oliver’s gaze held hers, making her legs go weak with longing. Right now, all she wanted was to feel his fangs at her throat, the sharp pain of them puncturing her flesh, to have him feed off her. To take it way further than just a kiss.
The knowledge she now had of her own magick, the intensity of her feelings for Oliver, it all made so much sense. And even if he didn’t feel as strongly as she did, a reckless wild Clare had been unleashed, and she would never be put back in the box labeled sensible.
As everyone went back to their workstations, Oliver said, “In my office please, Detective Doyle. We have things we need to go over.”
She followed him, and when she’d closed the door his face softened into the most heart-stopping smile. “Good work, Clare.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He turned to her with a sigh, ruffled his hair. “When it comes out that I drank your blood, I need you to know I will take full responsibility. And full blame.”
She tilted her chin. “No. I will own my part in it. Even if I lose my job over it.”
“Enough. You will not lose your job, I would resign.” He huffed a sigh. “Maybe after a hundred years, I’ve done my time as a detective.”
“Then what would you do?”
“Travel the world maybe.” He gave a shrug “But there’s only so many holidays you can take.”
Clare swallowed a little stab of disappointment. What had she expected him to say? Settle down with you? She’d been honest about her feelings, and he’d said… very little in return, she reminded herself sternly.
“About the practicalities of our plan. I need to discuss the strategy.” He lowered his voice, even though no one could hear. “After work, I want you to pack your bags and move into my home on Motham Hill. I have great security systems, and a caretaker. It will be the safest place for you to be.”
She nodded mutely.
