“Sari!” Renata, clueless to the tension or deliberately ignoring it, called out to her friend. “Come in! Wine or coffee?”
“Kaffe, thank you.”
“Of course.”
Karen rose to fill another coffee cup as Damien stood motionless at the door. Finally, Ava stepped forward and closed it.
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked under her breath. “She’s not the queen of England.”
“She came to my door,” he said, his voice tinged with confusion. “With… all of you here.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Get over it.”
“I’ll explain later.” He nudged her toward the table where Sari had sat. “Maybe.”
Damien’s eyes burned into Sari as he sat across from her; Ava saw a smile lifting the corner of his lip.
“My dove,” he finally said, and Ava could almost see Sari flinch at the endearment. “What brings you here—to my door—tonight?”
“You know…” Sari sipped the coffee Renata put in front of her. “This is my land. My guesthouse. So technically, I don’t think this is your door.”
“I believe that’s what they call ‘splitting hairs.’”
Astrid looked amused. “Well, this is entertaining, but I do think there might be some larger purpose to this visit than just coffee and cake.”
“There was a group of Grigori spotted in Bergen,” Sari said.
An entirely different tension fell across the table.
“How many?” Damien and Renata both asked at once.
“Three that we know of. But I’d not be surprised if there were more. There’s an Irin couple who lives there, among the humans. No children. They watch for us.”
Ava leaned over to Karen. “Bergen is the closest town to here, right?”
“The closest one of any real size, yes.”
Renata said, “I’ll go.”
“I’ll go, too,” Damien said.
“No,” Sari said. “This is our territory. Renata will take care of them.”
“Sari, this is no time for—”
“Besides”—she held up a hand—“I’d like you and Bruno to start doing patrols around the perimeter of the haven. Orsala has sensed some outside magic, and she wants us to be careful. Some protective spells written on the trees would be appreciated.”
“Fine,” Damien said in a clipped voice. “And Bruno and I will start patrols. It’s only three Grigori. I’m sure Renata can handle that on her own, anyway.”
“You just wanted to steal my fight,” Renata said with a grin.
“Obviously.”
Sari glanced at Ava. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen any threats?”
“Uh…” Ava looked around the table, confused. “Should I have?”
Sari shrugged. “You’re a seer.”
“I’m not any good, though.”
Bruno snorted.
“No really, you can ask your grandmother,” she said. “I was trying to do… the thing I did the other night at the sing. And I couldn’t. So I don’t know if I’ll see any trouble coming. If there is any coming.”
Everyone just kept looking at her.
“Is there… some trouble coming?”
“Trouble is always coming,” Renata said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t be too eager,” Sari said. “We don’t want them to know they’re close to anything important. Draw them away from the city, if you can.”
Damien said, “And try to find out who they belong to. I know Grigori in the territory generally belong to Volund, but we had some surprises in Istanbul. Powers may be shifting.”
“Powers are always shifting,” Sari said.
“Change is constant.” Damien stared at his mate. “And healthy.”
“According to you.”
“You can’t stop this,” he said quietly. “You never could.”
“I can try.”
His voice was low and coaxing. “You shouldn’t.”
Ava said, “Well, obviously we’re not talking about Grigori anymore.”
Renata piped up. “I want to take Ava to Bergen.”
“Absolutely not,” Damien and Sari both said at once, then turned to each other in shock.
“You don’t think she should go?” Sari asked.
“No.”
Ava was tempted to butt in. They were talking about her like she wasn’t in the room, and she really wanted to go. Killing—or helping to kill—more Grigori soldiers was what she’d been waiting for.
But she was too curious about the exchange to interrupt. Sari and Damien both stood and glared at each other.
“But she’d be a tactical advantage,” Sari said. “I’ve heard about her range.”
“She’s too young. And untrained,” Damien countered.
“She’d be with Renata.”
“She would still be vulnerable.”
Ava said, “Wait, I’m confused. Is Sari arguing for or against me going with Renata?”
“Shh!”
That came from at least three people, but Sari ignored everyone except Damien. “Are you telling me it wouldn’t be worth the risk?” she hissed, her face pale. “To have an intelligence advantage like her skills in the field—protected and at a distance from combat—are you telling me you wouldn’t risk that?”