“I’m not a field agent anymore.” She grimaced. “I was reassigned elsewhere. My involvement with the portal was a fluke of timing. The magistrates snatched Charybdis out of my hands before I got my fingerprints on the file.”

That she still seemed to be working the case without their blessing, I didn’t mention. “So I have you to thank for my string of recent consultations.”

“Yeah.” She winced. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s no problem.” Vause always brought me the mysterious cases in the hopes I could solve with a touch what others struggled to link through evidence. The unspoken agreement she would forward all drowning cases gave me ample opportunity to punish myself. Whatever she thought of my self-flagellation she kept to herself. “This is the job, right?”

“Just know I’m here if you need help.” She removed a card from her pocket and pushed it across the table with a finger. “Call if you need anything. Information. References. Backup. Whatever. It’s yours.”

“I will.” I accepted the card and tucked it into my pocket for safekeeping. “I appreciate the offer.”

The tension slipped from Thierry’s shoulders, and I got the feeling she had accomplished her mission in treating me to coffee at the diner.

“So…Earthen Conclave. They must have been tripping over themselves to enlist someone like you.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “How did that recruitment letter go? Did they let you say goodbye to your family before they packed you up and shipped you off to one of their training facilities?”

“I didn’t get a letter.” No one would have thought to send me one. Not with my life expectancy. “I applied to the marshal’s program right out of high school. I was drafted from there by Vause after we met on a case I worked in her region.”

“You volunteered?” Thierry cocked her head and studied me as though she had never seen me before that moment. “Why?”

“I’m not like the rest of my family.” The mention of my otherness made my throat tighten. “I wanted to forge my own path, and the conclave offered to pave the way.”

“Hmm.” Thierry appeared thoughtful. “I figured someone with your talents would have been scooped up earlier and given fewer choices about it.”

She wasn’t the only one entitled to her secrets. “Guess I slipped through the cracks.”