He grunted. “You’ve been hanging around Mr. Hoops too long.”

One side of her mouth curved up. “I like the people here. I’m not happy Argent died, but I am glad for the promotion.”

“I can’t say I miss Argent.” He slanted his eyes at her. “You going to say anything about what happened to him?”

“I have to. But I know how to report his death in a way that leaves you blameless.” She smirked a little. “I wouldn’t want to do anything to get on your grandmother’s bad side.”

“That’s very… nice of you.”

Her smile increased. “I’m not so bad.”

He sat back. “Why did Argent have such a hard-on for making my life miserable?”

“I’m not allowed to discuss other KM personnel with you.”

He nodded. “No, I guess you’re not. Sorry.”

“If I were, I might tell you that Argent couldn’t get past your criminal record.”

“He knew the circumstances that brought that record about.”

“And he didn’t care.”

Creek let that sink in for a long second. “You don’t seem to have a problem with it.”

Her head dropped like she was looking at her hands. “I understand the importance of family. Of protecting them.”

“Thanks, by the way.” He canted his head toward the house. “For everything with my grandmother.”

Annika lifted her head. “If she were a younger woman, I’d try to recruit her.”

“She’d turn you down.”

Annika laughed. “Which makes me like her that much more.”

“So.” Creek took a deep breath. “The mayor. What are the KM statutes on a thing like this?”

“You know them as well as me,” Annika said. “The moment she endangers human life, she becomes an enemy.”

It didn’t surprise him that the mayor killing Mal didn’t count. “And until then?”

“Until then, we wait. And watch.”

He nodded and stood. “Then I know what I need to do.”

Chapter Forty-Two

If the rise in his temper was any indication, the ketamine was leaving Doc’s system. At least his office was soundproofed. “How can the marks not be noticeable when she was basically drowned in silver dust?”

“They were both covered in sand. And now they’re both covered in abrasions from it. There’s very little difference in the marks from the sand and the silver. Plus, with Heaven now permanently in her animal form, they’d have to know what they were looking for to find it under all that fur,” Barasa answered. “The real damage happened internally.”

“Then what if they do a necropsy?”

Omur shook his head. “They won’t. Her father might not care enough to pick her body up himself, but I guarantee he won’t want her cut up like that.”

“You’re still making assumptions. I’ve called São Paulo twice and both times they’ve told me he’s not available. Rodrigo Silva is either too busy to take my calls or he doesn’t recognize me as pride leader. Either way, we could have a problem. I’m not telling him his daughter is dead by leaving him a message.”

Barasa nodded. “I agree.”

“You might have to go to him,” Omur said.

Doc stared at the man. “Are you insane? Talk about walking into the lion’s den.”

“Jaguar,” Omur corrected.

Doc pushed to his feet. “Dammit. We have to figure this out before it gets any worse.”

Someone knocked at the door. Doc glanced at Omur and Barasa, but they clearly had no idea who it was. “Come in,” he called.

One of the guards opened the door. “There’s a visitor for you—”

“Move.” A wide, squat beast of a man pushed past the guard. He locked eyes with Doc. “Are you the new pride leader?” he asked in heavily accented English.

Doc squared his shoulders, prepared for anything at this point. “Yes. And you are?”

“Rodrigo Silva. I’m here to see my daughter.”

The minute Tatiana left, Dominic and Katsumi joined Mal.

“What was that about?” Dominic asked.

Mal snorted softly. “More insanity. She’s planning to put together a team of loyal nobles to go after Chrysabelle. The best part is Tatiana thinks I’m dead. I guess good news travels fast.” Too bad it’s not true.

Dominic looked around before speaking. “Things are bad enough with the mayor now. We can’t have a horde of nobles infesting our city.”

Mal shook his head. “We won’t. I know how to work her. I convinced her that I was the right noble for the job and that she should give me a shot at it before telling anyone else about her plans. It was pretty easy, actually.” His mouth hitched up on one side as memories of his past life with her resurfaced like dead fish. “Same old Shaya.”

Katsumi made a dismissive noise. “If you’re done reminiscing, can we move on?”

Mal stifled his anger. “What did you find out?”

She nodded toward the dais. “The woman who was seated beside Octavian is Daciana.”

“The one who was in my hold.”

“Yes. If Tatiana doesn’t have the baby, one of them will or one of only two servants. A wet nurse, Oana, and the head of Tatiana’s staff, Kosmina.”

“Either of the servants seem like they could be flipped?”