by K. N. Banet
I headed into my room, closing the door softly. Frustration ate at me as I stripped down and headed for a shower.
Once the water was running, I picked up a shampoo bottle and screamed as I threw it across the bathroom. I continued to scream as I knocked everything off my counter, then slammed my hands on the counter and stared at the mirror.
I was shaking as I stared at the wild face staring back at me. My normally dark brown eyes were the vibrant red of my snake form, and my hair was a mess, falling over my face, giving the distinct look of insanity.
“You can’t fuck this up,” I hissed at my reflection. “Do you understand? You have to solve this for him.”
With that said, I got into the shower and tried to find some semblance of sanity. The water was cold but was a much-needed shock to my system. My hands shook as I washed my hair. Tonight’s failure infuriated me, and even though I could pretend to be rational for others, the internal struggle was much fucking worse.
When I stepped out of the shower, I only felt marginally better. I cut the water off and walked into my bedroom, ignoring the destruction in my bathroom.
When I laid my head down, I stared at the ceiling.
I need a new plan.
2
Chapter Two
I was up early, my anxiety keeping me from getting any more sleep than was absolutely necessary. Calmer than the night before, a blessing, I decided on loungewear for the day. It felt like a good day to be lazy after the emotionally draining night.
I couldn’t resist going to his door. Glad the new doors were well oiled, I slowly opened it and saw him lying in his bed, safe and sound. I enjoyed the sight for a moment until a wave of repulsion crashed into me, and I let the door close.
When did I start creeping on him? What is wrong with me?
Frowning, I walked into my kitchen and found breakfast, a simple cup of yogurt. The quiet morning gave me a chance to think more clearly than I had in weeks. The last couple of months had been a whirlwind of activity, culminating in last night.
Nothing…unless Cassius turned up anything on another look through the house when it was safely daytime, which I found unlikely, but it was worth a shot.
It pissed me off. For two months, Cassius and I had tracked down everything we could about the mystery man tied into the prison break and Raphael’s past. We knew the fake name he used here in Arizona to trick Eliphas and Tarak, and knew about his fake business and had visited the empty offices. Last night was our last lead, and it led to that stupid fucking abandoned house in the desert.
That wasn’t the only thing I was dealing with. Raphael and I had tried to get him healed and look into legends, but nothing was coming together. We couldn’t risk anyone trying to uncover the secrets of his mind and legends of supernaturals who never existed or didn’t exist anymore.
Through all of that, I was still one of the naga rulers, which was more complicated than ever. For the first time since I was a young girl, there was another nagini in the world. She had been born a week earlier, but healthy. Her human mother was healthy as well, glad to have such a precious child. I was happy for both of them, but a sudden realization had me cursing.
Shit, she’s probably a week old now. Have I sent gifts yet? Crap. I’ve been caught up in everything else. Did Adhar send me her name? Does she have one yet? Shit, shit, shit.
Walking to my bedroom, I grabbed my phone, annoyed I didn’t take it when I walked out. I searched through my texts and found it.
Roshni. What a pretty name. No historical references to any of our kind, but I bet they’ll give the little girl a middle name that calls back to a naga later.
I looked around, wondering if there was anything I needed to catch up on at home or if I could get this particular errand done today.
With last night’s bust, everyone is going to need a couple days to regroup. I might be able to get this done today. There’s probably a lot of crap I’ve let slide through the cracks recently.
With a heavy sigh, I walked into my public office and looked around. I knew I had a list somewhere of things I needed because I never got around to running errands anymore. My entire life was thrown upside down when I got involved with Raphael. I never could find that normal, and it was beginning to catch up with me.
This will be good. Run a couple of errands, check out the Market, and see some friendly faces. It’ll put Cassius at ease if I try to be normal.
With resolve, I dug through my messy desk and found the notepad I wrote down everything on. I added my newest errand and felt good about things as I walked back out of my office. Raphael was in the kitchen by the time I came back out.
“Good morning,” he murmured, looking up from his bowl of cereal. “That looks good on you.”
“It’s a bit early for you to be up,” I pointed out. I looked down at what I was wearing and realized I had put on one of his tees. I hadn’t even questioned it when I found it on my dresser. “Oh. I found it in my room.”
“Heard you walking around, so I decided to get up in case you needed me,” he explained as I drew closer to him. “I was wondering where that shirt went. Should have guessed I left it with you.” The way his eyes followed me made me feel more attractive than I believed I was. I wasn’t used to being an object of real desire, but Raphael knew how to make me feel like he wanted me every moment of every day.
“Ah, my bad,” I said, trying to seem contrite. Truthfully, I was glad he was already awake because that meant I didn’t need to go into his room, which normally meant falling into his bed.
“You look like you’re planning something,” he said, grabbing my waist. He held me in place and stepped closer, his breakfast forgotten. His second hand grabbed my hip when he was close enough for our chests to touch. The temptation to sink my fangs in him was strong as I watched his pulse in his neck. I wasn’t a vampire, but I understood the reason everyone liked to bite there. “What’s that?” he asked, nodding to the pad in my hand.
I had forgotten about it as my heart began to race, and my eyes froze on his lips—lips I was dying to taste and couldn’t. After two months as lovers—however ill-advised the relationship was—I still hadn’t truly kissed Raphael. I never kissed anyone, for personal and safety reasons, which never bothered me. It bothered me now. I wanted to feel how soft those full lips were on mine.
“Kaliya?”
I need to stop being a horny freak and answer his damn question.
I pulled off the top sheet and dropped the pad onto the counter. Waving the list around, I smiled.
“Some errands I need to run. You’ll have to come with me.”
“Errands?” His face screwed up in distaste. “What kind of errands are we talking about?”
“Well, I wrote down that I need to talk to my accountant, and that’s probably serious because I don’t remember doing so in the last year. I also have a note about checking out personal security charms from fae or witches. Normally, those are necklaces or bracelets and help repel magical attacks. Considering what we’ve been through, those are a really good idea. There’s more, but the last thing is probably the most pressing. A nagini was born six days ago, and I need to send gifts.” I finished waving the list around, then shoved it into my bra before he could grab it.
“Well, the accountant sounds terrible, but let me get some clothes on.” He swooped down and kissed my cheek as he walked around me. I grabbed his bowl and dumped its contents into the sink, then loaded it in the dishwasher. After a moment, waiting on him to get back, I remembered what I was wearing.
I need something more appropriate to wear, too. Sweatpants and Raphael’s t-shirt wouldn’t do anything good for my reputation.
Twenty minutes later, Raphael and I met at my BMW and loaded in.
“We can skip the accountant. I’ll send him an email,” I said decidedly as I started the engine. “You excited to finally see the Market?”
“You’ve barely mentioned it, so I don’t really know what to expect,” he said, chuck
ling. “Should we call Cassius and Sorcha?”
“Oh, no.” Laughing as I pulled out of the new four-car garage, I waited until I was pulling away from the house before answering. “Cassius and Sorcha can’t go to the Market if they want to continue their lives as law-abiding fae citizens. See, the Market is a grey area of the law. A lot of illegal stuff happens there, but we’re all asked to turn a blind eye because it’s so damn useful. Unless we catch someone committing murder or something, there’s really nothing we care about. The Market is also called the Fae Black Market.”
“Oh. This is another one of those complicated things the supernatural like to do. So law-abiding fae can’t be seen there, but everyone else can go.”
“It was started by fae criminals who created an illegal pocket dimension to sell stolen or counterfeit goods and has evolved into more. Eventually, it was too useful for the Tribunal to really stop without a major outcry from the supernatural population. Cassius’ parents banned the fae from legally using it, but they never asked for that ban to be enforced on other supernaturals. Shit, I’m pretty sure the fae ban was just his pops being petty. You’re right; this is one of those complicated political things we just live with.”
“So, you’re about to witness people breaking the law and do nothing about it?” Raphael seemed surprised by that. “You?”
“Well, they aren’t doing illegal things in the open, so no. I’m just admitting I know illegal things happen there and can’t go looking into it. I know there are one or two Investigators like Cassius who are trying to clean it up, but it’s really not my problem. I’m an Executioner, Raphael. Remember that. I’m not supposed to look into anything suspicious. My job is to kill those who are already found guilty. There are rare exceptions to that.”
“Like the prison outbreak,” he said, looking out the window as I turned out of my driveway. It was a nice morning in the nineties, with the sun out and not a cloud in the sky. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to look at the stunning scenery around my home.
“Yeah, or anything I personally want to get involved with, but I’m not covered legally. Like you, I got personally involved with what was going on. Now, I have special permission to see it through, but I have Cassius making the entire investigation legitimate. He can legally do whatever we need, and I’m allowed to be his deadly little sidekick.”
Raphael laughed. “You never act like his sidekick. I don’t think anyone buys that.”
“They don’t need to buy it. That’s the deal, and right now, I’m taking time off from my job, so it’s not like I’ll have any more conflict of jobs. If I killed anyone right now, I would be working without the sanction of the Tribunal.”
“It’s a lot of red tape and bureaucracy, and everyone knows it,” he said with a humored shake of his head.
“Yeah. Get a bunch of immortal beings together to make a government, and they’re going to make it as needlessly complicated as they can. Everyone is too old and too smart for their own good.” I snorted a laugh.
The conversation died as we drove into Phoenix down 60, and I enjoyed the quiet. It was easy and grew easier with each passing day. Steadily, the roads grew a little more congested, a little stop-and-go. Raphael watched the world pass by and at one point, reached out to squeeze my knee. I ignored it and tried to ignore the feelings that rushed through me from the casual yet intimate touch.
“So where is the Market?” he finally asked as I drove past the turn toward The Jackalope, Paden’s seedy bar and hub for less than legitimate activities in the area. I was watching the road pass us when Raphael spoke, and it took me a moment to register his question.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It’s a pocket dimension, so technically, it’s nowhere, but I’ve always figured they anchored it somewhere in our world. I’ve just never found that place, not that I’ve looked.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, chuckling. “I meant, where is it here? Like where are we going?” He squeezed my knee again, then slid his palm closer to my inner thigh. To him, it was natural, like a normal thing to do as a lover.
It made my palms sweat, though. Reaching down to grab his hand away, I placed it in his lap as I tried to stay focused on the road.
“I’m trying to drive, and it’s in Tempe. You’ll see. It won’t make any sense. Just go with it.”
I took a few more turns and pulled us into a public parking garage. Once stopped, I reached over Raphael and opened the glove compartment to find my small bag of gold coins, grabbed the bag, then got out of the car.
“Come on. We need to catch an elevator.”
It was always broken, and humans who came across it never could remember to get it fixed. Even if someone saw it every day and was annoyed it was broken, the moment they considered telling anyone, the thought would fade. I had seen it in action.
“You’ll like this,” I promised, smiling at Raphael. He smiled in return and shrugged.
“I’m only along for the ride.”
As we stood there, a werewolf walked up and waited near us.
“He hasn’t shown up yet?” the wolf asked, sounding confused.
“You know him. Sometimes, it takes a couple of minutes. He’s probably waking up from a nap,” I said, nodding back at the wolf. “Running a pack errand?”
“Yes, Executioner Sahni. Alpha wants some portable Look Away charms. You know the ones.”
“Oh, the ones you can hang on the mirror. Yeah, I know. Those are a bit more expensive than getting the vehicle done.”
“But more useful,” the werewolf countered. I didn’t know his name, but there were dozens of werewolves in the Phoenix pack, and no one had ever asked me to remember all of them.
“True.” I couldn’t disagree with him. “Raphael, the ones he means are like air fresheners for cars. They hang on the window, and you can move them to different cars if needed or just wear on a person or in a bag. More convenient, but the magic is a little trickier because it needs to know how to actively adjust to what it’s attached to. Complicated shit.”
“Ah. That sounds really useful,” Raphael said, frowning. “Why doesn’t someone sell them in like a store or something?”
“That’s what the Market is for…Who are you?” The werewolf was now very confused, giving Raphael the strangest look. He stepped closer, and I tensed as the wolf’s face screwed up in disgust, probably finally catching Raphael’s scent. “Oh, you’re that guy. Alpha warned us about a human who reeks, hanging around Executioner Sahni.”
“Of course he did,” I muttered, shaking my head. I couldn’t stop it, not after everything that had happened, but I would have preferred if fewer people knew about Raphael.
“He fucking stinks,” the werewolf said, waving a hand in front of his face.
“Watch your tongue,” I warned, narrowing my eyes until the werewolf settled down. The werewolf’s face paled as he realized he was dangerously close to offending someone he didn’t want to offend.
Ten more minutes of waiting and I started mashing the button for the elevator. Humans walked by, giving us odd looks, and a few more supernaturals showed up.
“So, everyone uses the Market except fae,” Raphael said, crossing his arms and leaning on the wall next to the door. “And I’m saying that in general terms.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, sighing as the elevator stayed silent.
“Not totally right,” the werewolf said. A new werewolf next to him nodded. “You’ll almost never find a werecat at Market.”
“I forgot about that.” I snapped my fingers and pointed at the wolf, nodding. “I’m pretty sure they don’t come around because they’re shut-ins. You’d have to convince them to leave their territory and enter a crowded place full of werewolves. That doesn’t happen all too often.”
Raphael nodded, staying quiet.
It was another twenty minutes before I felt the elevator move and a ding alerted the waiting group it was there.
Fucking finally.
The doors cre
aked open slowly and revealed an old fae, hunched over on a stool with a cap at his feet.
“Y’all lookin’ for a ride?” he asked, surprised by so many waiting.
“You have one job, old man,” I snapped, trying to fill the space of the door. I wouldn’t get on without his permission. “One job.”
“Aye, and I was doin’ it. Not my fault y’all picked the wrong floor today. Get in.”
“You’re always on three. What were you doing on a different floor?” I asked as I stepped on and found my place in the back.
“Nothin’,” the fae grumbled.
Probably avoiding his job, not that any of us can report him.
Raphael stood close to my side. It was a big enough elevator to fit everyone waiting with extra space, thanks to a neat bit of magic that made it bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.
“Pocket dimensions require doors,” I whispered to Raphael. “You’ve seen it before, meeting the Tribunal.”
“Yeah.” He stayed glued to my side, his eyes flicking at the group in front of us. A witch looked back at us curiously, while the rest of her group ignored me.
Probably some of Monica’s coven, I don’t know.
The elevator door closed, but it didn’t move. A moment later, the doors opened again and revealed a different building.
“Oh, that’s neat,” Raphael said with just the tiniest bit of awe in his voice.
“It gets neater,” I promised. I remembered my first time visiting the Market. I had been somewhat wrong about my intel to Raphael. Fae were banned unless they wanted to be on the wrong side of the law. Werecats never came because they were werecats.
I was the only naga to ever step foot in the place, as far as I knew, because it was too dangerous. No one could have prepared me for the visit. Hisao brought me for the first time, though he didn’t come with me. He’d showed me where and how to get in from Tokyo, then let me decide if I wanted to go in.
It had taken an entire two days to figure out how to get back to him.