"Fine, boss. Work, then play. Must be serious."
"Our vamp friends have had three flash-n-dash events this week so far," he started.
"Toni told me," she said. "A total of about thirty bodies."
"We haven't seen this anywhere else."
"Talon's boys are more violent than most of them. These are essentially huge orgies and feasts for initiating newbies," she replied. "Nasty gatherings."
"What do you have as far as sources in Talon's gang?"
"Not much," Jenn admitted. "The Natural I planted there called this morning and said they were waiting to burn the place until something got there. He didn't know what it was but said it wasn't a vamp and it wasn't their dinner."
Dusty was quiet, surprised. While violent, Talon wasn't the smartest brute in the world. That he may have planned something for a reason other than to eat, fuck, or recruit was unusual.
"No word on what? Cell phone intercepts? Anything?"
"Not that I know of," she replied. "He's normally really loud and stupid about what he's doing. We don't usually have a problem tracking him, but this changed about two weeks ago. Either he got smart fast or someone tipped him off."
"I'll need whatever you can get me," he said. "I have a feeling something else is going on."
"So do I, boss," she said pensively. "Dusty, if I didn't think it was impossible, I'd say Talon's gonna make a play for the Czerno's job."
"Talon? The Black God would slaughter him on the spot."
"Something is just … I don't know. Maybe it's just a spy's paranoia. Talon's reckless, but he's cunning and he's suddenly playing very smart. We caught some of his vamps tracking Czerno's vamps more than once, and we've caught them in firefights, too."
He said nothing about the presence of one such Black God in Miami. The Black God, Czerno, had been wreaking havoc in Europe until a few days ago. He didn't know if a two-bit thug like Talon rated the attention of the King of Darkness or if Talon was stupid enough to challenge an immortal so much more powerful. Maybe Czerno was in town for a bit of vengeance while the White God was across the ocean, or maybe he'd found out about Dusty's wards, the White God's mate and brother.
He didn't know what was going on, but he felt as uneasy as his spy chief. His gaze went to his watch.
"You sure you don't have time?" Jenn asked too casually.
"I've got a meeting at eight."
"That's enough time for me," she whispered. She leaned over the chair and kissed him, a long, slow kiss.