He came to the study.
Darius was already there — Cole had briefed him within the hour of Tavri leaving my kitchen, which was how Cole operated, which was how the compound operated. By the time Tavri arrived at the study door with the black coffee in her hand and Marcus behind her with the expression of someone who had been told the outline and was here for the full picture, Darius had twenty minutes of processing already done.
I came in after.
The study held us — Darius at the desk, Marcus standing, Cole at the window, Tavri in the center of the room with the specific quality of someone who has decided to stand in the middle of something rather than at its edge.
Neva was in the doorway.
She had not been asked to leave. She had not been asked to stay. She was simply there, with the qui
