He smiled, and tugged me forward with enough force to cannon me into him. His arms went around me, holding me close. "Then I will not give you the name."
I could have broken his hold anytime I wanted, and we both knew it. Which made actually breaking free pretty pointless. "You've given me enough for the Directorate to find him."
His hand slid down my back and onto my rump, pressing me against him, against the hardness of his erection. "But you will not get into his circle without my help."
"Don't wipe off the Directorate, Misha. They're not the fools you and this man seem to think they are." I hesitated, then added, "We have Roberta in custody, you know."
That seemed to surprise him. "Then I hope you protect her well, because he will try to kill her."
"If he's killed Nasia, he's probably already tried to kill his mother."
"True. He always did intend Rupert to be the next Helki alpha."
Obviously, there was no love for Mom, despite the fact she helped him to the throne. "We have Rupert, as well."
"Then I hope you get the location of the lab fast, because he will burn it from their minds."
"Even if that happens, you still know the location. You can tell me."
"Only if I'm alive."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "And here I was thinking you were acting rather blase about the threat to your life."
"Blase? Far from it. Why do you think I've been living here twenty-four seven this last week?"
"Here?" I waved a hand toward the window. "With all this glass about? How is that safe?"
"That glass is bulletproof. I replaced the original glass when I had the building refitted a few years ago."
"Given the fact your master is into creating the weird and the not-so-wonderful, I wouldn't be banking on the fact that he can't get something in here."
"Whoever wants to come into this office has to do so through the Fravardin."
"All he really needs to do is set a bomb or use a rocket launcher, and you, this building, and the Fravardin are all dust." Taking me along with them if the attack happened right now.
"But that's not even remotely subtle. He cannot afford to draw attention to himself until his base of power is secure."
"Uh-huh." I reached behind me, grabbed Misha's hands and pulled them away. "Let me state what you already know - I'm not having sex with you tonight. Not here. Not until whatever is going to happen happens."
"We had a deal."
"That deal was us meeting at the Rocker, nothing more."
He grimaced, though the effect was rather spoiled by the glimmer in his eyes. I was guessing he pretty much thought he was the winner here anyway - because I was with him, and not with someone else.
"I knew I should have widened the terms of reference." He walked across the room to the bar. "He won't attack me here. He's well aware that I'm very secure in my foxhole."
He offered me a beer and I shook my head. "All foxholes have weaknesses, Misha."
"Not this one."
"You certain of that?"
"Yes."
It was at that precise moment that the lights went out. "So much for certainty," I muttered, blinking to switch to infrared vision.
"There must be a problem with the power," he said, walking across to the window.