by K. N. Banet
“Quiet!” I snapped, bringing silence to the table. “Cassius, you go.”
All the men looked at me with various levels of annoyance.
“He’s willing to give back Carter for something—”
“Me. I’m the one with the bounty,” Raphael cut in. “Let’s do it. I’ve escaped Mygi before. I can do it again. Carter is important to you two, and he shouldn’t have to—”
“No,” I said evenly. “We’re not trading anyone. We’re not even going to fake a trade. Cassius, tell us the rest.”
Raphael glared at me, his eyes flashing red. Such an angry, passionate man. He wanted to play hero, which astounded me. Heroes got killed. Did he really want to go the way of the dodo?
“He contacted Imani and let her know that he also considered her hostile since her vampire felt so comfortable helping you,” Cassius said, looking straight at me. “You and I already had this discussion.”
“We did, and I’m not having it a second time.” I would eat the guilt in private from here on out. I didn’t need another public shaming to feel any worse. Right now, I just need to focus on getting Carter back. If I get him back, he can never help me again, and everything will be okay.
“Of course,” Cassius agreed. “We have…”—he checked his watch—“twenty hours. He wants us ready for the trade at midnight tomorrow. He made sure to say he wanted to get a full day’s sleep before dealing with us. He promised Carter was relatively unharmed and would remain so.”
“But?” There was always a but.
“If we’re late, he’s going to carve Carter up slowly until sunrise, then throw him into the sun. We took something he wanted, so he’ll take something we care about. Typical criminal, making his intentions known.”
Beside Cassius, Leith paled and reached for a seat. Cassius helped him sit down. Raphael was snarling from his chair, and I snapped my fingers at him.
“None of that. It doesn’t help anyone. Right now, anger helps no one.”
“Just trade me! I’m not going to sit here and let—”
“It wouldn’t work,” I said, cutting him off again. “Do you really think we’ll get Carter back if we gave you to Sinclair?”
“What do you mean?” Cassius asked from the other end of the table. “His MO normally says he wants as little violence in his direct perimeter as he can manage.”
I hadn’t been expecting to have to give an explanation. I had just been trying to shut Raphael up before the man got himself killed or taken. Cassius was going to make me think it through, though, so I started working it out.
“But we’re already past that, remember? He’s off his MO. He’s tried to kill me in my own home, breaking several Laws from my protection as an Executioner, to my protection as a naga. Anyone who threatens me or trespasses on my property can and will be met with immediate deadly force. He knew that when he had his fae and witch torture Paden for information about where I was hiding.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “He doesn’t intend to give us Carter because he has witnesses that he broke Laws punishable by execution. He knows, even if I get Carter back and he leaves with Raphael, I’m going to hunt him down, even if it means driving the four and a half hours to Las Vegas and doing it on his turf.”
“It would never end for him, and everything he’d built would crumble around him while you carved a path to the heart of his empire,” Cassius said softly, but I didn’t miss the small note of pride. I always knew I was his favorite Executioner, but it wasn’t always obvious.
“Exactly. Cassius, this is a trap. He’s going to try to kill all of us. The only reason I’m not worried about Paden is Tom and Jeremy, the damn fae and witch, went after him without Sinclair.” How I suddenly remembered their names I didn’t know, but they were so stupid for a moment, I wanted to laugh. “What do you want to bet that he kills the fae after he kills us, then walks away with Raphael and takes him back to Mygi for the rest of his twenty-million-dollar prize?”
“It’s very likely, probably the safest bet we can make,” Cassius whispered. “Why didn’t we consider this earlier?”
“Because we had a different important conversation,” I reminded him. “There’s no getting Carter back without bloodshed. People are going to get hurt. The only thing we can do is make sure people don’t die.”
“We outnumber him,” Raphael pointed out. “Three to two. Four, if you include Carter. He’s a vampire, so he should count. I’ve never met him, but…”
“Two to two,” I corrected. “You won’t be going, and Carter will be leaving the moment we give him an opening. I’m not risking either of you. Stop trying to put yourself out there.”
“Excuse me, but—”
“Enough with the Catholic guilt,” I snapped. “I’m tired of it. Two capable, powerful people are going to do their jobs for you. Let us.”
We glared at each other until Cassius coughed. Now that my fae ex knew what Raphael was, the entire thing was embarrassing. He gave me a pointed look.
“We’ll discuss options. We have the rest of tonight and tomorrow to figure out the best idea. We’re not letting you go near Sinclair, Raphael. I’m with Kaliya on this one. We’re not risking the core of the mission, which is to protect and free you from Mygi and anyone they may hire. Carter is an unfortunate side effect we’re going to have to work with. Don’t think Kaliya and I will leave him out there to get hurt. We’re going to do what we think is best for the safety of everyone at this table.”
Raphael stood up and stomped off. I watched him leave, his large back tense.
“He hates this,” Cassius said, frowning. “Catholic guilt?”
“I picked him up before he could make it to Mass. He’s so…intense about his humanity and not wanting to be a ‘freak’ or a ‘monster.’ It’s classic Catholic guilt of a new supernatural.”
“He’s been supernatural for ten years—”
“He never came to terms with it. He just kept running from it. He’s a new supernatural. He’s capable of making stupid choices.”
“You’re being very cold about this, Kaliya.” He sounded sad. “He’s just trying to do what he thinks is right.”
“I’m being rational. It’s a coping mechanism.”
“Ah. I would have thought you were acting harshly because you were avoiding more personal feelings and dealing with fear you’re not used to having.”
I bared my teeth at him, my fangs down. He was right, obviously, but he didn’t have to call me out in front of Leith.
“We still need to talk about what happens after we deal with Sinclair,” he said, moving back to the professional conversation. “Mygi Pharmaceuticals and the Tribunal.”
“I thought we would handle it when we get to it. I don’t want to focus on that problem and fuck up this one. None of it will matter if Sinclair gets away with Raphael and one or both of us are dead.”
“Point made, but I think we need to start considering it. It’s going to be the first thing we have to do when we’ve secured Carter and dealt with Sinclair’s threat.”
“Do we have any chance for backup?” I asked, thinking about our coworkers.
“Most likely, no, but I’ll send out word and see if anyone can get here in time to help us. It's worth trying, but they’re all busy with their own regions and investigations.”
“Worth a shot,” I repeated back to him. “So, you have a location written down over there?”
“Yes, along with a small list of demands, such as no enlisting the help of more people who work with the Tribunal. He knows I’m in town, so I have no element of surprise.”
“When trouble happens in my region, you’re always the Investigator I call. It’s expected you would show up when Sinclair attacked my house. He’s smart enough to know since I got away, you would be showing up.”
“I would have come down after your first call, anyway; I just had to speed up the timeline a little. My uncle was annoyed I was running off to help you again. He thought I was over this.”
�
��Is there being over your job?” I asked, crossing my arms. “He does know you’re the only Investigator with a base of operations in this region, right? Who else would I call?”
“I made sure to point that out to him, and I’m glad you called me. I know you better than the others do and know how you think.”
“You know how Sinclair thinks as well.”
“Yes, and I think on that note, you and I should continue this conversation in my office.” He stood up and gave a pointed look at Leith, who raised his hands and stood up as well, leaving the room. Once he was gone, Cassius looked at me with an expression I was certain any future children he had would hate. “They’re nosy.”
“They are, but they do it because they want to support you. Where’s Annie-Lyn, by the way? I haven’t seen her at all.”
“She’s in the shadows, cleaning up after us. She’s not in the mood for company.”
“Ah. Tell her I said hello, and I hope she’s happy.” Annie-Lyn was a dark fae with the ability to disappear into the shadows. The idea of dark and light courts went the way of the dodo centuries ago, but the clans of the fae were still strong, still unique. Annie-Lyn’s clan was probably once a strong force of the dark court.
“She would appreciate you taking the time to say something to her,” Cassius said with a sharp, knowing smile. She must have been in the room. There weren’t many magics that could hide someone from me. Annie-Lyn was one of them, but I trusted her not to stab me in the back or while I slept. Cassius’s smile was a stark reminder that some of my friends were dangerous. He knew where she was, but then, there was no fae magic he couldn’t see through.
I followed Cassius to his office, checking the corners, wondering if I might catch a glimpse of the little girl fae.
“Stop looking for her,” Cassius ordered. “She’s uncomfortable that we’re talking about Sinclair and doesn’t want everyone to see her scared.”
“Of course. Actually, her hiding around in the shadows got me thinking.” Once I closed the door to his office, locking us inside, I made a little flourish to represent magic. “Do we know anything about Sinclair’s shadow magic abilities? I’ve never seen him use any.”
“He doesn’t have any,” Cassius answered. “He’s never shown the ability to use that particular set of vampire powers. It’s not common for them to be able to do those magics until they’re close to a thousand years old, so we can count ourselves lucky.”
“That’s right,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Age problem. Maybe we can kill him this time, and he’ll never get that powerful.” As with most supernatural species, age equated to power. The longer one survived, the more powerful you could consider that person.
“If we kill him now, we’re going to have to send someone to Las Vegas to deal with the power vacuum,” Cassius pointed out.
I nodded, finding a seat. There was a lot to think about, but I kept coming back to one thing, one problem.
“Twenty million isn’t worth this,” I mumbled to myself, crossing my arms as I sank into the comfortable leather chair.
“There could be a lot we don’t know.”
“That really bothers me.” I huffed, tapping my foot and playing with my lip piercing with my tongue. “Sinclair has money. Is there some more private deal with Mygi I don’t know about? This isn’t just his reputation. If anything, he’s ruining his reputation. People liked working with him because he was a criminal who was…criminal. He could pull it off and get away with it.”
“What if it’s Raphael? What if there’s something about Raphael he’s willing to kill for?”
“Another reason to keep them far apart,” I said, raising an eyebrow at the fae taking his seat. “I’m not kidding with this, Cassius. I know it might be a good idea to fake a trade under different circumstances, but I can’t risk it.”
“I know.” His voice was soft and forgiving. “We’re going to figure this out. We might need to put him in a safe house he can’t get out of.”
“The only thing we have close to that right now is your house—which he could potentially steal a car from—and the prison, but we don’t have time to make a run there before Sinclair wants us at the meetup location. Normally, I lose a day going out to the prison.”
“I never go…” Cassius shrugged. No Investigator ever did.
They let Tribunal guards, low ranking people, handle the prison and the prisoner transport. Executioners only ever went when someone escaped or was due to be executed because new information revealed more about their crimes. As it stood, I was the only person higher than the guards who worked there who visited on a regular basis and only because I was close.
“So, the prison is out of the picture.”
“We’ll leave him here under the supervision of your staff. He’s not a danger to them. All that Catholic guilt stops him from being much of a threat to anyone.”
“You seem frustrated.”
“He’s strong enough to tear heads from shoulders, but he doesn’t. He evades, blocks them, wrecks their rides, but he could have defended himself a bit better when my house was attacked. He didn’t.” Yeah, I was frustrated. Raphael had power, and he wasn’t using it for anything worthwhile, and I figured if push finally came to shove, he still wouldn’t do what was necessary. And if he did, he would probably hate himself even more, and dealing with him would be impossible.
“It’s not wrong to want to avoid violence,” Cassius said diplomatically.
“He was going to join the human military. He doesn’t get to…” I trailed off, clamping my mouth closed and shaking my head. I wasn’t going to call him a hypocrite. I understood this was all shocking for him, and he needed time to adjust, so I kept my insults to myself a little while longer. “You’re right, it’s frustrating. Can you believe it? I finally meet someone who’s compatible, and he’s totally against the life I lead. He’s here because he knows we can protect him and teach him, but he doesn’t…”
“Like us. He doesn’t like supernaturals, and he doesn’t like the laissez-faire way you treat killing.”
“I kill because it keeps me alive,” I hissed. “I don’t think that’s inappropriate. I think it’s realistic.”
“It is. I’ve never been as violent as you, but I know the life you lead is for a reason. You don’t need to convince me, Kaliya. I have my problems with some of the things you do, and you’re someone people need to get used to, but there’s nothing wrong with you.”
“Really? Because every time he opens his mouth…”
“Do you really care about his opinion?” my ex-lover asked, raising an eyebrow. “You never cared about mine. Not really. If I ever got you to apologize for something, it was because you felt you did something wrong, not because I convinced you that you did. Not because I looked at you differently for doing it.”
Do I care?
I was at a loss for words for a moment before sighing.
“Yeah, I do care. I don’t want to, but I do. I want him to like me, to understand me. I just met him. I barely know him, but I care that he looks at me and sees a killer. I care that I could never hurt him, even if I don’t want him, but he tried to shoot me the evening we met. Biology blows a lot of dick.”
“I can see that,” Cassius mumbled. “Or it wants you to blow more…”
“Was…did you just…” I pointed at him, trying to find the right way to ask the question. “Sorry I didn’t go down on you enough. The fangs make it a little precarious.”
“Oh, I know. I was trying to make a joke.”
“I wish I could say it was funny, but it just made me very uncomfortable,” I said to him, trying for a blank face.
“What makes you more uncomfortable? Me making jokes about our deceased relationship or the physical urges you must be feeling for Raphael that make you want to have one with him?”
I bared my teeth.
“I don’t want a relationship with him.”
“You want to have sex with him. Let’s not lie about that. When we started
sleeping together, you gave me an incredibly detailed explanation why I didn’t need to wear a condom and that pregnancy wasn’t a worry.”
“I was attracted to you. Sometimes, I wonder why when you’re like this.”
“You were attracted to me, but it was never strong. I see the way you watch him walk in and out of a room. I see how you take him in and watch his eyes. I’m not blind.”
“Are you jealous?” I crossed my arms.
“No. I pity the man. He’s obviously not ready for a woman as strong as you in his life. He’s in for a bumpy ride. I wish I could tell him it would be worth it in the end, but…”
“That’s just mean.” Deciding I was done with the conversation, I stood up. “I’m going to take a drive. I want to get eyes on the only location I know of that Sinclair has here. The one I broke into. Maybe I can get eyes on him and Carter.”
“They probably aren’t using that location anymore.”
“I know, but it would make me more comfortable knowing they aren’t, instead of never taking the chance to find out.”
“Be safe,” he ordered. I nodded and started walking out.
“Kaliya?” he called softly. When I looked over my shoulder, he sighed. “If you ever need help with…him…just let me know. I don’t want you feeling like you have to deal with this alone. You don’t. You don’t need the other nagas, either. Whatever you decide to do with him in the end, I’ll support it.”
“Thank you.”
I didn’t say goodbye to anyone on my way out, grabbing the keys to Cassius’s most casual car, a BMW like mine. When I was driving away, I caught Raphael standing in a window, watching me leave.
Whatever I decide? Can I just leave him with you, Cassius?
23
Chapter Twenty-Three
It wasn’t much of a drive from Cassius’s home to the house Sinclair rented. I drove the streets slowly, glad I was in one of Cassius’s cars and not mine. Not because they were destroyed, but because I only had two vehicles, and most supernaturals in the Phoenix area knew them. I was a little less recognizable in the rest of Arizona and in New Mexico, but in the city, I couldn’t go anywhere without being noticed.