Gavin nodded. It would be extremely difficult to take down another Assassin; they were the elite of the Council's fighters. Sebastian had no love for Gavin, just as Gavin had no respect for Sebastian. Sebastian often toyed with his kills before taking them down; the kills were never clean and swift.
"I will do what I can, Honored One," Gavin nodded and stood.
"If you need Henri or Gervais, let me know."
Gavin gazed at Wlodek. Even with the brothers' improved turning time, they might still be too slow. What he needed was Lissa, but she was far away and he was reluctant to involve her in something like this. "I'll keep you informed," Gavin nodded again and turned to leave.
* * *
My jaw and side still ached a little when I woke Monday night—it was April twelfth—and I moaned as I rolled over, discovering I'd slept in Tony's bed.
"About time, sleepyhead," Tony said, sitting on the side of the bed. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit, what do you think?" I mumbled, slapping a hand over my eyes.
"You managed to lose your wig somewhere. When we found you last night, you were wigless," Tony rubbed my nearly bald head and grinned down at me. I lay flat on my back on his bed, staring up at him, my mouth set in a petulant frown.
"Your bedside manner definitely needs improvement," I snipped. "Are you always this cheerful when you wake someone up?"
"Always. When I wake I'm as grumpy as a bear so it's only fair that I get to deal out misery to someone else," he chuckled.
"At least you get coffee to remedy the situation," I said, slapping a hand over my eyes again. He looked fine—quite good in fact—in a dark gray suit and white shirt with a gray and burgundy striped tie. "I have to get cleaned up and dressed," I attempted to sit up in bed.
"You can clean up and eat but you're not going anywhere else. You get tonight off," he said. "And I sent Dustin out to replace the blouse that got shredded. He couldn't choose so you now have six more shirts."
"You sent a man out after clothes?"
"Hell, yeah."
"Unbelievable," I sighed and rolled over so I could use an elbow to push myself upright. Tony must have pulled my jeans off sometime; I was dressed only in a bra and panties as I wobbled toward the connecting door.
"Use mine," Tony steered me toward his bathroom. "I moved your soap and shampoo over. This way, if you drop in the shower, I'll be more likely to hear it and come running. Then you have to report on what happened last night."
"Unbelievable," I repeated as I walked into his bathroom, closing the door in his face.
* * *
"So, he was a mister, too?" Tony practiced his new vocabulary words later.
"Yes. I could see him while he was mist but he couldn't see me. That's how I surprised him," I said. "Tony, no way can you ever tell anyone else that I can see other misters while I'm mist. Even the Head of the Council doesn't know and there's no telling what he'd do if he found out I withheld information."
"Lissa, these people sound vindictive," Tony looked at me, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
"Hmmph," I grumbled. He had no idea. None at all. He asked me questions as I explained what I'd done and how I'd gotten hit, getting close enough to deal a death blow.
"Now," I said. "You told me once you were raised by wolves. Care to explain that to me?"
"My mother is a werewolf, my father isn't," he shrugged. "My parents divorced and mom married my stepfather who is also a werewolf. I have a werewolf half-brother."
"Are your parents still alive?"
"Yeah. My stepdad is Second in the Denver Pack. My half-brother works in the Denver area. He's a police lieutenant."
"Being a werewolf probably helps out quite a bit with that profession," I said.
"It does, he just has to be careful and make sure there are other ways to explain how he knows whodunit," Tony grinned.
"How does he feel about having a human brother?"
"He's good with it, especially since I outrank him, so to speak."
"How about that?" I grumbled.
"Want to take a walk? I haven't had dinner yet."
"I think I can make it to one of the restaurants downstairs without fainting," I muttered sarcastically. "Tony, I'm a little worried, though. What do you think our dead vampire's buddies are going to do when he doesn't come home?"
"I don't know. I have people doing intelligence now, but nobody can say for sure at the moment. Come on, I want a steak."
"You know, I think you got more wolf in you than you know," I said and followed him out the door.
Somehow, we picked Bill up on our way downstairs. He stepped out of his room, chased after us and rode the same elevator downstairs, asking if he could join us for dinner. So much for being able to talk to Tony over a meal. And since my wig from the evening before was missing, I had one of the longer ones on my head this time. Bill didn't say a word about my changing hairstyle. I'll give him this; at least he knows discretion.
"I received a call from Naval Intelligence this afternoon, asking if they could borrow the female agent," Tony smiled, cutting up his rare steak. He really had been influenced by a family of werewolves.
"You'd better tell them no," I snapped before thinking. Wlodek and Gavin would never agree to that. No way.
"Young woman, you could be written up or fired for insubordination," Bill admonished. He's by the book, all right.
"Feel free," I said. I had my cup of hot tea in front of me; I didn't even pretend to eat.
"Lissa," Tony said quietly. I shut up.
"What was all the fuss about last night?" Bill was in a mood to talk.
"Can't say," Tony replied. Bill was probably wondering why I never came back from the bathroom. At least I wasn't the only one left in the dark at times.
"The next time you go off to handle a situation without your partner, I expect to be informed," Bill grumbled, handing me a dark look.
Tony looked from me to Bill. "Lissa, see if he can hear you." He cut another piece of steak and stuffed it in his mouth. Tony was a swift and vigorous eater.
"What?" I didn't understand, at first.
"Go ahead—see if he can hear your mindspeech."
"Are you kidding me?" I couldn't believe he was asking this. Tony was outing me to a rigid, semi-insufferable goon. Bill was now staring at me in shock.
"Go ahead. Include me, too," Tony instructed, stuffing another chunk of steak in his mouth.