'Eliseo,' he said, as magnanimous as he’d been modest. 'We’re going to be very close, after all.'
Margrit tried not to grind her teeth. 'Eliseo. I can’t come work for you under these circumstances. For one thing, I’d be a laughingstock, and that’s the nicest word I can think of for it. Opportunistic bitch is closer, and even that’s being kind. I’ve got a career at Legal Aid, and I need to be there for my friends and coworkers. Quitting now would be ugly.'
'Don’t be silly. A murder occurred in your offices. No one would blame you for walking away. Besides, it was your idea.'
'I didn’t know Russell had been murdered when I made that proposition!'
'You’re a lawyer, Miss Knight. You should know the folly of making a bargain without having all the information in hand.'
She sat back, feeling the color drain from her face. 'That’s a low blow.'
'Yes.' He spoke without the slightest hint of repentance. 'Yes, it is, but the circumstances aren’t extenuating. You came here to make a cold-blooded deal to save your own skin, my dear, and nothing has altered that situation.'
'So you get everything you want for free, and I can’t back out? You said you weren’t behind killing Janx’s men.'
'I don’t think you fully understand.' Daisani got up with the inhuman smoothness Margrit was becoming accustomed to. 'It’s true I haven’t put hits out on Janx’s people, but I’ve taken on Malik’s safety as my full responsibility regardless, and I’ve done so at your behest. If anyone, human or otherwise, should be so foolish as to assassinate him, I will use the full force of my resources to eliminate that person or persons. In more time than you can imagine, I have never offered such protection to one of my rival’s people. If I withdraw it now, Janx will see it as an act of cowardice, and strike against me, or he will see it as an act of mockery, and will strike against me. Either way, Margrit Knight, it will begin a war.'
'I thought the Old Races didn’t fight wars among themselves.' Alban had told her that, historically, they hadn’t, their numbers always too small to risk all-out battle.
'The Old Races don’t make this sort of alliance, either. You seem to have more of an ability to rock our foundations than even I anticipated.'
'So why’d you say yes?' Margrit shook her head. 'If agreeing to my terms shifts the status quo that much, why play along? I can’t be that important. Other humans know about you. There’s Chelsea Huo. There’s…' She fell silent, uncertain of who else might share their secrets.
Daisani shot her a look of complex amusement. 'Chelsea. Yes. Chelsea’s tongue is too sharp for my tastes, Margrit. I have no desire to be under its lash day in and day out, even if I could draw her away from her books.'
'I guess that tells me how to get out of this.'
He chuckled. 'It wouldn’t be that simple. Vanessa had her edges, as well. You by yourself aren’t important, perhaps, but you’ve upset a balance that Janx and I have held between us for centuries. You’ve involved Alban in the world again, and anyone capable of drawing him from the granite shell he’s been wrapped in is worth noting. I would prefer having him in my grasp, truth be told, but he would make a terrible personal assistant. I’d have to shift all my meetings to nighttime, and despite my people’s reputation, I rather enjoy a stroll in the sunlight.'
'Why does he matter? You and Janx are both obsessed with him.' Margrit stilled the impulse to put her water glass aside and get up to pace, suddenly afraid that movement would turn Daisani’s predatory eye on her, as if she were a rabbit beneath a circling eagle.
He smiled. 'I’d suggest asking him, but he wouldn’t tell you. Which, in its cryptic way, answers the question. The details aren’t important, Margrit. What is whether or not you intend to keep your word.'
'My word.' She laughed sharply. 'I didn’t give you my word. I barely even touched on my plan before you dropped a bombshell on me. I sure as hell didn’t come here this morning to tell you I was taking the job.'
'No? Did you come to tell me you weren’t?'
Embarrassment and guilt seized her, making her drop her gaze. Daisani chuckled again and returned to his seat. 'One never enjoys being caught posturing, does one?'
'I’m not posturing.' Her throat constricted further, turning the words to a whispered protest. 'I made- dammit.' She looked up, jaw set with frustrated resolution. 'When I came here yesterday to make that bargain it was in good faith. Yes, it was in good faith because I’m in between a rock and a hard place, and couldn’t see another way out, but I’m doing the best I can. And you’re right. Russell’s death doesn’t change the mess I’m in with the Old Races.' She got to her feet after all and paced toward the windows. 'But I feel like I have different obligations to my real life now.'
'Your real life.' She could hear the curiosity in the vampire’s modulated tones. 'What is this, then? A figment of your truly remarkable imagination?'
Margrit turned back, arms folded under her breasts. 'This is the life I can’t talk about to anyone. It’s the world I got myself involved in without really appreciating how hard it would be to protect someone who wasn’t human from humans. Everything I do with any of you happens behind this huge facade. I could almost justify taking a job with you before Russell died. Now…Jesus, I don’t know. On the one hand, you’ve got a good point about someone being murdered in the office, and me wanting to get out of there. On the other, anyone who knows me is going to have a hard time believing I decided to run away instead of investigating and trying to make sense of what happened. They won’t believe I’m willing to abandon Legal Aid, my principles, my work, my life, after my mentor’s death. I’m not sure I’d believe it.'
'Then investigate.' Daisani spread his hands at her astonished double take. 'If it’s an image of consistency that’s distressing you, Margrit, then by all means, investigate. Help your fellow lawyers put themselves back together and mourn Mr. Lomax properly. Discover the truth. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll earn Lomax’s job as your reward. You’re far too young and pretty. If you were fifteen years older and your beauty had matured as well as your mother’s has, you might seize that brass ring, but not now.'
The insult sent heat rising in her cheeks. 'You think I only want to find out what happened to further my career?'
'Of course not. I’m sure you’re genuinely determined to see Lomax’s murderer be found and brought to justice. And if you remained in public service, that dedication might pay off, a decade or two down the road. But you did come here to make a bargain, Miss Knight, and I’ve accepted it. I would think a week or two of transition time would be appropriate even if Russell hadn’t died, so I’m willing to take that as writ now. Pursue that case to your satisfaction. But attend Saturday’s party, and do so as a member of my corporation.'
Margrit stared at the dapper vampire a few seconds, then rolled her jaw and nodded as she recognized a window of opportunity. 'All right. Okay, you win. My turn. You’ve got an appointment tonight.'
Daisani’s eyebrows rose. 'And who has arranged this?'
'Your new personal assistant. Kaimana Kaaiai would like to meet with you at the Rockefeller Center at eight o’clock. I said you’d be there.' Perspiration made her hands clammy, but Margrit kept her gaze steady.
'Did you. And what does Kaaiai wish to discuss with me?'
'I don’t really know. Something important about all of you.' Margrit circled a finger in the air, indicating the Old Races. 'You’re not going to make a liar of me, are you?'
Daisani pursed his mouth, watching her warily. 'I suppose not, Miss Knight, but I’ll expect you to come with me. This is just the sort of social engagement Vanessa used to attend with me. It puts a polite veneer on things.'
Margrit nodded stiffly. 'I’ll meet you there.'
Daisani chuckled. 'That wasn’t intended as a negotiation.'
'I’m a lawyer, Mr. Daisani. Everything’s a negotiation.' She took a deep breath and drew herself up. 'My boss was just murdered. I told my housemates I was thinking about coming to work for you. My life has been totally disrupted. I need to go home after work and be normal for a little while. I’m neck deep in your world, but I’ve also still got to live in mine. To live in it, not just drift through every once in a while. I’m having a hard enough time balancing all of this. Don’t take the life I used to have away from me. Isolated animals get sick and die of broken hearts.'
'Falling ill is not an issue that should concern you any longer, Margrit.'
'I’m betting even a vampire’s blood doesn’t keep hearts from breaking. I need my friends. I need my life. Maybe Vanessa learned to do without those things, but I’m not her.'
