Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            Lips parted, I spun to Glenn, but he was as surprised as me. “And you didn’t tell David?”

            Cassie took a breath, held it as she looked over the room with damp eyes, then let it go. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, then paced quickly from the room. Doyle strutted out after her.

            Jenks’s wings rasped as he hovered beside me. “If he makes her cry, I’m gonna pix him.”

            “Something is off,” I added, not liking how fast Cassie had agreed to talk to him. Most Inderlanders didn’t trust the FIB, but it felt like more than that. “Can you . . .” I twitched my finger in the “follow” gesture, and the pixy bobbed up and down.

            “Easier than slipping on slug spit,” Jenks said, his dust brilliant as he flew out after them.

            Edden chuckled as he slapped his son on his shoulder. “Not too late to back out, Glenn.”

            “Not a chance.” His dark eyes alight, Glenn rocked forward on his feet. “Parker,” he said, focus distant. “Walter Vincent. Mackinaw. Could you excuse me? I’d like to talk to the nurses.”

            I nodded, but he was already striding out into the hallway, the door slowly shifting shut. I wasn’t ready to leave, and I picked up David’s patient tablet, relieved to see that he was scheduled for a daily chakra balance. Clearly the doctors had already made the connection between him and the four people downstairs. For what it was worth.

            “I’ll be back in the morning. Hang in there, David,” I said as I gave his hand a quick squeeze. The four Weres in long-term care were not getting better. Actually, they were getting worse. Finding Walter’s magic user might be their only chance. David’s only chance.

            I doubted that Cassie was going to leave, and as Trent said something encouraging to David, I rummaged in my shoulder bag for a phone charger. I left it on the table, hesitating to take in David’s pale face before giving him a chaste kiss on his cheek.

            “Bye, Cassie,” I said as we hit the hall, and she gave me a preoccupied wave. I was eager to get home and search through my books to find something to bolster and balance chakras. Trent’s head was down over his phone again, and I sighed, hoping he would put the thing away long enough to give me a ride home. Edden filed into place behind me, and the muted conversation of Cassie and Doyle was a soft murmur, indistinct and somehow comforting in its mix of high and low voices. Like parents in the night, I thought, feeling helpless.

            “Doyle is a frog halfway down a duck’s throat if he thinks I’m staying out of this,” I said, frowning when I realized Trent had stopped just outside the door to finish his text.

            Edden chuckled. “Glenn isn’t going to let this go, either,” he said as his arm went over my shoulder. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep a watch on him until he finds his feet.”

            I glanced at Glenn leaning comfortably against the nurses’ desk, Jenks on his shoulder as they chatted them up and possibly gained some information. “Absolutely.”

            But my mood soured when I saw Doyle and Cassie at the other end of the hall. The vampire had her practically pinned to the wall. She was holding her own, gesturing earnestly, but Doyle was clearly not happy, with his arms over his chest to make his biceps bulge.

            “Glenn is so much better at this than me,” Edden said, a wistful pride in him as he gazed at his son. “I’m honored that he wants to continue what I started, and I’m grateful that you will be here for him,” Edden continued. “I’m not going to miss this—”

            His voice broke, and I tugged him into a sideways hug. Retirement was going to be hard on him. “I’m going to miss this,” I said softly. “I’m going to miss you.”

            His breath escaped him in a heavy sigh, and my throat tightened. “You were my first success,” the older man said, and then he smiled as Trent joined us, his phone finally put away. “Almost nailed your ass to a judge’s courtroom,” Edden added.

            The rims of Trent’s pointy ears reddened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

            Edden grinned, but it faded fast. “I am going to miss this,” he whispered, and then, after a nod, he squared his shoulders and walked to the elevators, touching his son’s shoulder in passing.

            “I’m never going to retire,” I said as Jenks rejoined us.