“Oh, I am, Tobester. I am.” MacMillan shut his door and started around the front of the Porsche.
Tobias curled his fingers into his palms. This flippant attitude the detective kept sending his way had to stop. And he was just the vampire to take care of it. MacMillan wouldn’t even see him coming.
Nix squeezed around MacMillan’s left, getting between him and Tobias. She shot the human detective a dark look. “Stop baiting him. We’ve got a job to do.”
As they walked toward the main observatory—a large, round domed building with a catwalk running the circumference about halfway up—Tobias said, “Let’s get one thing straight, detective. Don’t call me Tobemeister or Tobester or chief, and there won’t be trouble between us. Got it?”
“Sure thing.” MacMillan’s grin was lopsided. “But you need to loosen up, slick. Being so uptight isn’t good for you.”
“What? It’s going to give me a heart attack or something?” Tobias gave him a dry look. The other man was a pain in the ass, but there was something about him that made Tobias want to laugh.
“Would you two just stop it?” Nix walked ahead of them and yanked open the door. “You’re exhausting me.” She went into the building with a heavy sigh.
MacMillan grinned, making Tobias unsure whether the detective had been baiting him or Nix. She did bait so easily. And it irritated him that Dante knew her well enough to be aware of that.
They caught up to her just as she stopped a man walking by. “Excuse me,” she said, briefly placing her hand on the man’s arm. She showed him her ID. “We need to speak to whoever’s in charge.”
The young man looked startled. “What’s this about?”
“Who’s in charge?” Tobias asked pointedly as he took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket.
“Ah, Dr. Sahir. Ravi Sahir.” The man pointed toward a door. “He’s in his office.”
“Thank you.” Tobias headed that way. Nix and MacMillan followed behind him.
“Guess it takes a vampire to get questions answered around here,” Dante muttered. “Your little half-demon ass would’ve gotten kicked to the curb.”
“Shut up, Dante.” Nix’s voice was tense. Finally her voice held the same note as when she spoke to Tobias.
Tobias felt ridiculously pleased by that. He gave a perfunctory knock on the office door and opened it without waiting for a response. A middle-aged Indian man, a human, looked up from the computer console. His features were symmetrical, his hair ink black and shining in the artificial light. Dark brown eyes framed by thick lashes held curiosity and a slight wariness in their depths. Perhaps this was Amarinda’s very good-looking lover?
The man’s brow furrowed. “Yes? Can I help you?”
“Dr. Ravi Sahir?” Tobias flashed his ID again.
“Yes. What is this about?”
“My name is Tobias Caine, I’m the vampire liaison to the Council of Preternaturals. These are my colleagues Liaison de la Fuente and Detective MacMillan. We’d like to talk to you about Amarinda Novellus.”
Dr. Sahir sat back in his chair. His expression became sorrowful, but behind that Tobias sensed the beginning of desperation. They had yet to ask their first question and already the man was trying to hide something.
The scientist tugged on the cuffs of his long-sleeve shirt. “Um, are all of you vampires?”
“No.” Nix didn’t offer anything more.
“We’re human,” MacMillan said, indicating himself and Nix.
“Amarinda?” Tobias reminded the scientist.
“Ah, yes. Amarinda. She was our most promising student.” He sighed and looked down at his hands, clasped together in his lap. “It’s a terrible thing.”
Nix was busy looking at diplomas and award certificates that lined the wall. “How well did you know her?” she asked without turning around.
Tobias watched Sahir closely.
“How well did I know her?” The scientist swallowed. The fingers of his right hand began twisting his wedding ring. “As well as I know any of my student interns, I suppose.” His gaze flicked to Nix and then settled on Tobias. “They come here to learn. I’m here to teach. I don’t really get that involved in their private lives.”
“I see.” Tobias picked up a stack of files perched on the only other chair. “Do you mind?” he asked as he sat down.
Sahir shot out of his seat. “Of course not. Sorry.” He took the files from Tobias. This close Tobias could see the sweat forming on the other man’s forehead. Sahir went back around his desk and sat down, holding the files on his lap.