by K. N. Banet
I nodded, jumping up the steps in silence, letting Raphael decide whether he wanted to come in or not. The smart man decided he would and followed once I was at the top of the stairs. Leith held the door until we were both in, and I didn’t miss that he locked it the moment Raphael passed the threshold.
“You didn’t call ahead,” he said immediately. “Madam Sahni—”
“Sinclair and a couple of his friends attacked my house looking for this one,” I explained, gesturing to Raphael. “Wasn’t able to grab any of my shit before leaving. We weren’t in the best position and had to get out.”
Something flashed in Leith’s eyes.
“The vampire, Sinclair, is in Arizona?” he asked softly. “Does Lord Cassius know?”
“I called him…yesterday morning before daybreak and explained everything to him. I think. The timeline is a little fuzzy right now, but he definitely knows. Hasn’t been twenty-four hours since I told him.”
“Good. I take it by not having your ‘shit,’ you don’t have a cellphone on you. No worry, I can have a line set up, and you can call Lord Cassius from the kitchen while I make you something. Tea…yes, tea is good.”
There was a reason I called Leith by his name. He had his own history with Sinclair. He, Annie-Lyn, and Terry were all once Las Vegas residents. Thirty years ago, Cassius and I had tangled with Sinclair, and Cassius had ended up taking both fae and the werewolf with him and brought them here. They were still in an environment they liked, the desert, but they were far away from Sinclair—until now.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, reaching for Leith. “I’m positive he won’t come here—”
“Vampires aren’t allowed on the premises,” Leith said, anger in his voice. “If he’s foolish enough to try to attack here, he will burn the moment he tries to cross the property line.”
“Good,” I said, patting the butler’s shoulder.
“Tea,” he snapped, then marched away. I grabbed Raphael’s shirt and shuffled after the man, knowing if I told him no thanks, Leith would just try to pour it down my throat.
“Are you okay with me leaving my car out there?” I asked.
“Yes. Lord Cassius will want to see it, and there’s no space in the garage currently. His…new fiancée likes nice things, especially cars, and we’re running out of space between his properties to put them all.” Leith sighed. “I always hated you and him, but she’s a spoiled fae Lady. I don’t know what he sees in her.”
“Everything that isn’t me, probably,” I answered, chuckling. “And you know it.”
Raphael stiffened behind me, a confusing reaction.
“This guy used to be a boyfriend?”
I turned slowly and tilted my head back. I wasn’t short, five ten, but Raphael was a giant.
“Is that a problem?” I asked in disbelief.
“Just a little weird that you would run to an ex-boyfriend’s place with everything going on.”
“Well, he was never my boyfriend,” I said carefully. “We worked together, didn’t like each other, and had great sex. There’s a difference.”
“Madam Sahni doesn’t have relationships the way most people do,” Leith said as he put the kettle on the stove. “She’s an acquired taste, and it takes a strong personality to put up with her. Lord Cassius can only tolerate her so much, which is why this is not his permanent residence.”
“Wow,” I whispered, looking back at the butler. “Let’s just…not ever say any of that ever again, please.”
Leith had the balls to chuckle.
“I’m beginning to come to the same conclusion,” Raphael muttered behind me. He made the smart decision of stepping away from me as I whirled back on him. He continued moving away to sit on a stool at the breakfast counter. I dropped my fangs and hissed at him.
“Here you go,” Leith said suddenly. A phone appeared on the counter. Grabbing it, I called Cassius. I didn’t have time for the verbal foreplay. I just needed Cassius to pick up the damn phone and get his ass to Phoenix. Then I could reengage in battle with the cunning ass butler and the idiot not-human.
“Leith—”
“Not Leith,” I snapped. “You fucking prick, you should have called me back fucking hours ago. What the hell?”
“Oh, dear gods, you’re at my house,” he muttered. “What happened?”
“Sinclair and his lackeys showed up at my fucking house, that’s what fucking happened. They’re playing fucking hardball. Sinclair is now on the kill list.”
“Kaliya—”
“He tried to fucking kill me, Cassius. He said, and I fucking quote, ‘I think this is the last time I’m going to deal with you,’ then had one of his fucking goons try to shoot me in the fucking head. I have a witness.”
“Okay, okay, calm down, please,” he said gently. I knew the tone. It was the tone he used when we fought. It only pissed me off more.
“Why didn’t you call me back?” I demanded.
“I was kind of busy, explaining to our bosses why I needed to open a case against one of the biggest supernatural companies in the world. You do realize that Mygi is considered one of the more respectable supernatural businesses—”
“They put a bounty out on a human! How respectable can they fucking be?”
“He’s not human, though,” Cassius reminded me. “They called in the CEO of Mygi about it. He’s not human, wasn’t human when they initially captured him after he killed a bunch of humans, and he wasn’t human when he escaped. They consider him a danger to the public, and the Tribunal is inclined to agree. It’s not looking good for him or you, Kaliya.”
I was speechless for a moment, looking up at Raphael, my heart pounding. What Cassius was saying…was the perfect fucking spin Mygi had needed. They had known they could get caught. They had a backup plan.
“He’s…he’s not…” I tried to form something. “Cassius…”
“There was a small vote,” he said quietly. “And your case barely won.”
“Who was the swing?” I asked.
“Hasan,” he said with a sigh. “The werecat is back for good, it seems, and it looks like we’re going to see him a lot. It’s thrown the entire Tribunal out of whack. They had gotten used to life without him.”
“He was gone for a hundred years,” I said, licking my lips. “Did the Mygi CEO have an explanation why they marked Raphael as human on the bounty?”
“They noticed the same thing you did. He presents as human in smell until he’s…not human anymore and has his abilities, then he goes back to human. They figured it would be the easiest way for people to track him down since they don’t know what he is either.”
“They experimented on him for five years, and they don’t know?” I didn’t believe that for a damn second.
“We couldn’t put him under oath, so there’s a chance he was lying. It was all done via video conference, so who knows?”
“The Tribunal really trusts this guy that much?”
“Kaliya, he’s a half-brother to the fae King and a Tribunal member,” Cassius said in a hushed, angry whisper. “It’s not about trust, it’s about implicating the most powerful fae’s family in something devious. None of them were going to press the issue of an oath and risk offending—”
“Either of your uncles,” I finished. It wasn’t what Cassius intended to say, but it was the truth. “You’re also related to the Mygi CEO. He’s also a fae Clan founder if he’s a half-brother to the King and has like two dozen fucking half siblings. Does this one really matter more than the others?” Fae families were fucking complicated.
“I’ve never met him before,” he snapped. “I’m on your side, but I have to stick my neck out on this. They know you’re uncontrollable, but I have a reputation.”
“Are you flying in or not?” I asked, tired suddenly. “Why do you keep your house so damn cold?”
“I’m used to the north,” he answered softly. “And it makes you relax, which I don’t think you do often enough.”
Something ab
out that was very sweet. It annoyed the hell out of me, but it was very sweet.
“And here I thought we hated each other,” I mumbled.
“Oh, I do hate you most of the time, but there’s a certain charm to you as well,” he said with a chuckle I despised—husky and romantic. Fae could be pretty things, perfect things, depending on the type of fae. Cassius knew what he was doing. He was trying to sweeten me up, so there wasn’t any more bitchiness over the phone. He was playing me, and I was allowing it. “I also bet you’re coming down from adrenaline.”
“Most likely,” I said softly, leaning onto the counter. “Get here, Cassius. I’ll talk to one of the bosses about tonight’s developments and get Sinclair officially on the kill list. Who’s the best choice?”
“The obvious choices would be Callahan or Corissa. Being werewolves, they both hate him. Alvina, the current fae Queen, is an easy choice as well because she’s never much cared for any of her half siblings. Don’t go to my uncle. He doesn’t want to hear from you since you’re trying to go after a half-brother he likes. I wouldn’t recommend the vampires either. Mygi is making progress on the synthetic blood project, and the vampires don’t want to see the company under any sort of fire until it’s done. You know the politics. If you didn’t hate them so much, you could also try the witches, who could probably be swayed in your favor.” Cassius gave a thoughtful hum. “You can also get Hasan. Have you ever spoken to him before?”
“No, he went on his sabbatical before I got the job,” I answered, yawning. “Fuck. Leith, turn up the heat. Please.”
“Of course, Madam Sahni,” the butler replied as he put a cup of tea in front of me.
“Well, Hasan is…well, he’s enigmatic. He’s the oldest member of the Tribunal by far, so don’t toy with him.”
“He’s a werecat. I’m not stupid enough to consider toying with him,” I snapped. “What do you take me for?”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked dryly.
“Ah, the sweetness has ended already.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to keep up that act with you sometimes,” he said. “Kaliya, why don’t you just write a report and send it to all of them? That way, it goes live, and they can all bicker about it.”
“That’s an amazing idea…and it would keep me from having to call any of them.”
“Exactly, which means you won’t, as the humans say, shove your foot in your mouth.”
“Yes. I’ll do that while you’re flying here. Right?”
“I’m standing over my suitcase.” He didn’t sound excited. “I’ll talk to you when I get off the plane. Stay with your charge in my home until I arrive. Don’t go out looking for trouble.”
“I won’t,” I promised. I had no intention of going anywhere until I had some real backup. “Before you go…Sinclair had his people torture Paden. That’s how he found out where I lived. Just thought you should know. I’ll have Leith call in the rest of your staff here for safety. Once Sinclair knows you're coming into town, he’ll target them if he thinks he can get his way.”
“Thank you for letting me know.” Cassius sounded genuinely grateful. “Talk to you soon.”
“Yup.” I hung up and sighed, exhaustion and relief threatening to pull me into sleep right there, standing up at the counter. “He’s on his way. Leith, did you hear what I said?”
“Madam Sahni, I had already contacted both of them to come in and be ready to stay awhile. Don’t worry. They’ll be here and safe shortly.” Leith patted her shoulder. “Drink your tea and rest. I’m going to make something for Mister Alvarez to eat.”
“How…” I looked between the fae and the not-human.
“We had an entire conversation while you were on the phone with Cassius,” Raphael said.
Should have figured.
“Well, I’m going up to my room. I still have a room, right? It’s not been taken over by whatever her name is?”
“Cassius has made it very clear, you are to always have a safe room in this house,” Leith explained. “Don’t worry, it’s just as you left it, except cleaner. There’s also a spare laptop in there because one never knows what you might need when you visit.”
“Thank you.” I ignored every slight jab. That was normal with Leith, Cassius too. It was normal for the entire household.
Tired, I left them there. When I got into my room, I opened the laptop and wrote a short but sweet report about the evening, then sent it. I went into the private bathroom, showered, and removed all the foreign bodies from my hair. I ignored the bruises blossoming all over my body and only checked if there were any injuries that needed medical attention.
Then I promptly fell onto the bed and passed out, unable to make it much further.
17
Chapter Seventeen
I woke up to someone opening my door. It took me more than a few uncomfortable moments to remember where I was as I hissed at the intruder, who stopped moving.
“I’m not foolish enough to wake you up,” Cassius said softly. “I wanted to let you know I was here.”
Blinking several times, I cleared my vision, and he came into focus. The lights were on. Had I left them on when I fell onto the bed?
“Hey,” I said softly. The last time he and I had seen each other in person had been the last time we were together. “So…sorry about crashing at your place. I know I promised it wouldn’t happen again.”
“My door is always open to a colleague needing shelter,” he said professionally.
“Is that the story you tell her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Considering I have no intention of sleeping with you, it’s the truth,” he fired back. “She knows you and I used to…”
“Yeah, this is just incredibly weird,” I mumbled, swinging my legs off the bed. “Did I leave any spare clothes here?”
“Yes.” He pointed at the dresser. My naked body wasn’t what made this awkward. It was everything he and I had left unsaid. He must have realized it because he sighed. “Kaliya, there’s no reason for this to be strange—”
“Yeah, you left in the middle of the night and never came back, only leaving a note explaining how you thought it was time to end the toxic relationship we had,” I said, pulling open a dresser drawer to find none of the clothes were actually mine. He had made sure there were things in his house for me, for situations like this. “No reason to be strange at all,” I said as I pulled out a t-shirt, then opened the second drawer—pants, all black leather, all supple and well made. I knew they would fit me like a second skin and still be flexible enough for me to move in. Cassius did nothing if he couldn’t do it perfectly.
“You know I was right. Tell me, if I had stayed, would we have fought, then proceeded to get back into bed?”
Probably. But then you refused to come to Phoenix for three years until this.
“That’s not the point. Let’s just forget it, okay? We’re working.” With a sigh, I opened the last drawer and found the intimates. I grabbed a sports bra and the most comfortable looking underwear I could find. Thankfully, Cassius hadn’t made things awkward by putting in a bunch of lingerie. “I knew it would never last, but it stung,” I admitted as I started pulling on the clothing. “The way you did it.”
“I know,” he whispered. “I just didn’t know how else to do it.”
“Me neither,” I said, my fingers rubbing a soft black shirt. “So, friends now, huh?”
“I would like to attempt a friendship, yes,” he said, nodding. “I miss coming to this city. I miss Leith and the rest of the staff here. I want you to meet my fiancée. I think you might like her company.”
“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.” I snorted, shaking my head.
“She already knows. She knew before she and I got together. She was the first person I told when you called me the first time, and she was the first person I told I was leaving to come here to help you.”
“She trusts you like that?”
Cassius laughed softly. “She tru
sts me. As she said, I gave her the ring. My commitment is clear.”
“Thank God you gave it to her,” I said with a laugh. “I know you’re right, Cassius. I’ve known for three years it wouldn’t work, and when you aren’t around, it doesn’t sting. I think it’s just strange, being here, seeing you again, and having Raphael…” I trailed off. I didn’t know whether I should tell Cassius about him yet. At the thought of the not-human, my fangs ached. I worked my jaw, trying to ease it, trying to get everything to stop hurting for just a moment.
“Have you milked recently?” he asked. Normally, when I had fang pain, it was because I needed to milk the venom.
“Two nights ago,” I answered. “Right after I got Raphael back to my house. Thirty-six hours ago? Something like that? Used the rest of my supply to kill Sinclair’s witch.”
Cassius paled. “You killed one of them?”
“He was under orders to invade my home and take something that belonged to me,” I explained. “Damn right, I killed him. I’m a naga. Anyone who comes on my property against my wishes can and will be met with deadly force. It’s the law.”
“I mean…you killed one of them with your venom? That must have been gruesome.”
“It was the first time Raphael got to see it in action. By the way, have you met him yet?”
“No. I just got in and decided to come see you to make sure you were okay,” he said, leaning on the door frame. “Everyone is asleep except us and Leith.”
“When you meet him, I want to know how you feel about him. His powers seem to be emotionally driven. He gets angry, and they present themselves. I don’t know if other strong emotions can bring them on, but I think fear can as well.” Frowning, I finished putting on my clothes. “Thanks for these.”
“It’s no problem.”
“Why did you leave all this here?”
“Because I figured one day, you would need a place to hide,” he said softly. “Because it’s you, and you can’t stay out of trouble.”
“You realize it’s not just me, right? I don’t ask for some of the shit I get involved in.”