Snippet #2650204

Spire’s fingers thrummed on the sidetable. His smile was skewed as he chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Montana and the rest of them could be useful as temporary allies if the alleged crime syndicate was more than he and Toby could handle.

He looked Fel over as she entered. “I agree,” he said. “Working together is probably the best way. I don’t know if you’ve talked to Schofield, but failure to communicate was what dashed his plans last time we met. Keep us in the loop and we’re far more likely to stay out of your way.”

He moved out of the way as Fel moved toward Lulu.

“How about,” he said, “tell your friends in high places that you have two wonderfully cooperative hunters who would love to personally take you to meet someone who can aid your investigation, and who would likewise love to continue to lend a helping hand.”

Spire looked at Lulu as she stirred but did not linger in the looking. He had too many eyes on him, two of them the intensely studious black ones, and in any case he didn’t need his mind getting away with him—and not in the way Lulu was trying to evoke. Spire’s olfactory system was too sensitive to look too far past the reek of vampire, so his were more like thoughts of hanging the little siren upside-down and cutting her throat so her borrowed blood spilled over her dainty face.

See. Mind getting away. Real problem.
Anyway, these particular supernaturals hadn’t given them a good enough reason for any of that yet, so no logic in dwelling.
The itch was subdued after a moment.
Yeah, he could still do the thought-reframing technique nonsense.

---

“Yeah,” said Toby, still surprised at how comparatively gentle Oren had been with him considering the way he had seen her cuss out her coworkers. “Yeah, I think I’ve got the whole—“ He paused and changed his mind. “—Well, almost all of it.” He looked up. “I mean, I’d better make sure. Sorry, I’m slower than you. I c—can seal it up in a sec.” As a matter of fact, Toby was quite certain he’d gotten it all—he worked slower, yes, but he’d had to remove a few bullet fragments while she’d had to deal with containing a few yards of viscera. He was lying, and lying did not fall under his area of expertise, but this was an opportunity. He wanted to study the creature without the vampire looming. “You go ahead, I’ll finish.”

Even if Oren spotted the lie, what she wouldn’t spot was malice, or ill-intent for the creature, unless she imagined it, because there was none in Toby’s big-eyed face. Pity, nervousness, and a curiosity to figure out what had happened to this Thing was what his face read.