attempt to remind him he had no real role on the Council—and continued to address Michaela. “There are many suspects.”
“Are you making an accusation?” Michaela glanced up at him with deliberate unconcern. “Because now would be an ideal time to share whatever information you have.”
“Accusation is a harsh word. Hiro was a man with a strong mind and many ideas. His killer could be anyone.” He looked pointedly around the table and for fun paused at Pilar, one of the two vampires. “Any one of us.”
The table erupted into predictable outrage. Pilar and her compatriot Abdul both leapt to their feet, fangs bared. Cormac leaned back with his hands behind the back of his neck in a pose that reeked of unconcern and smiled at them. This was going better than he’d expected. The vampires were such a beautifully touchy bunch.
“Ambassador.” Madden’s voice cut through the din. “Explain yourself.”
“Michaela is an excellent security chief but I am concerned at the potential for bias in the investigation.”
Michaela changed the grip on her pen. “Bias? Mine?”
As tempting as it was, he decided against leaving a pregnant pause that would doubtless send the council right over the edge. He didn’t want this to devolve into a yelling match before he achieved his goal. “Naturally not. However, you are an active council member. Hiro was in your office. Killed in your office, I may add. Your locked office.”
Baptiste, the other masquerada councilor, rose to his feet with a vicious scowl and Michaela waved him back down to his seat with a casual gesture. “These are all accurate. However, Hiro had a key to my office that we found next to the body. How he obtained it is one of the questions we need to answer.”
Cormac let the heavy silence say what he didn’t need to. That the councilors thought Michaela was the most likely killer was clear.
Pilar, the vampire, knocked the table for attention. “The masquerada are the only ones who are openly anti-human,” she said pointedly.
“That may be so, but I personally am not.” Michaela’s gaze was unblinking.
“Redoak, is there a point to all of this?” Madden spoke to Cormac, but watched Michaela.
Cormac paused to make sure all ears were on him. “I offer myself as Watcher.”
A dumbfounded silence filled the room, broken finally by Michaela.
“A Watcher is not required.” Her words were untroubled. Her icy glance said, You bloody bastard.
“Aye, it is,” Cormac said casually. “As I made very obvious. Shall I go over it again? Hiro is dead. In your office. Only months after the masquerada tried to destroy the Law and enslave humanity.” He smiled inwardly, pleased to have gained a point over her for sending him to his office like a child.
A slight quiver shook Michaela. Had he finally managed to get under her skin? Years of delicate needling and all it took was a public accusation of murder. Perhaps she would lose control and unconsciously take on a new masque right there in the boardroom, a lapse of etiquette that would demonstrate a stunning lack of discipline. Baptiste laid a hand on Michaela’s arm and both masquerada gave Cormac an identical glower.
Across the table, Abdul cleared his throat. “As much as it pains me to agree with anything Redoak says, he may have a point. In all our years, we’ve never had a councilor murdered in our own headquarters. It may be best, given the circumstances.” He nodded to Michaela. “A Watcher is meant to protect the investigators.”
She swept the table with a cool smile. “Our protection is sufficient.” Cormac gave her a long, slow wink that she ignored. Abdul was correct in his interpretation of how the role was intended but Cormac gave zero fucks about intention. He needed to be close to the investigation to see if Hiro’s death was related to the sale of his forest.
“I agree with Abdul.” Madden tapped the table harder. “This is a special case but it will be noted that the assignment of Ambassador Redoak as Watcher is in no way a comment on Michaela’s competence or culpability.”
“Agreed.” The word rose as a chorus, even from his fey compatriots. Cormac accidentally caught Rendell’s eye but as always, his rival deliberately looked right through him. The cut direct had been perfected by fey at the Lilac Court, where the protocol of manners had reached a ridiculous degree, and Rendell was acclaimed as one of its most skilled practitioners. Cormac expected nothing more from him. Nor did he want anything but for Rendell to suffer a slow, painful, and preferably hideously disfiguring fatal illness. They had been on opposite sides of the war that had resulted in the deaths of his parents and mentor, and Cormac’s subsequent banishment. While Rendell had not been the one to deliver the blows, his unwavering support of Tismelda had made them permanent enemies.
After a few more instructions, the councilors filtered out, leaving only Madden, Cormac, and Michaela. Michaela leaned over to Madden, murmuring in a voice low enough that Cormac couldn’t hear more than her inflections. Madden listened, frowned and gave a sharp shake of his head before he replied, then took his leave. Michaela stared after him until Cormac sat on the table beside her. “Interesting conversation?”
She stood with a deliberate, slow movement and stood away from the chair. “You son of a bitch.”
Considering what he’d done to her, Cormac considered this mild.
He crossed his arms. “It’s necessary and you know it. One wrong step and this council will be in chaos. Madden should have suggested it right away.”
“You didn’t do this out of altruism.” Her eyes narrowed. “What’s in it for you?”
He ignored that. “Hiro was killed in your office. What does that tell you?”
“I search for evidence before conjecture.”
He brushed away this typically pompous masquerada response. “Then you’re a fool. Hiro was either waiting for you or trying to break into your files. Either way, it’s bad for you, isn’t it? Do you even have an alibi?”
“We’ll examine the scene to find the answer.” He noted that she ignored his last question. No alibi. “We need more information. That’s my job. Not yours. You can watch all you want, but stay out of my team’s way. Stay out of my way. Am I understood?”
The security chief stared up at him with glowing black eyes. With her cheeks flushed and lips red from where she’d pressed them, she looked like she’d been tumbled in bed.
She resembled a woman and not a statue.
Well, he’d been in trouble with beautiful women before. Best to let her get her temper out quickly so they could move on.
He gave her a mocking salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“This is not necessary.”
He smiled broadly. Getting a response out of Michaela, minor as it was, was more pleasurable than he anticipated. “You mean you don’t like it. And it doesn’t matter.”
Cormac remained a step behind as he followed Michaela back to her office crime scene. When she opened the door, her deputy and investigation team looked up at her, then him.
“The council has appointed Ambassador Redoak as Watcher,” she announced. “It’s only because of the political sensitivity of this case. Pharos has full confidence in your work and integrity. The ambassador will in no way interfere with you or the investigation.” Her tone said that she would gut him if he even tried.
None of them answered, but their expressions were easy enough to read. Cormac gave a jaunty bow. One thing the Lilac Court had taught him was the value of appearing indifferent to hostility. Not that he was offended by their animosity, but it was good to show he had a tough hide.
Michaela ignored him as she wound through the close quarters of the office speaking to her people. Cormac regarded the empty chair where Hiro’s body had been as the team went