by K. N. Banet
It had been so easy to fall into bed with him, desperate for a touch to make me feel alive. I didn’t know how to go back to that. Now, I understood why nagas mated so quickly once they met their match. I knew why they bonded the other person to them with their venom and refused to be far from them.
And here I was, trying to say goodbye without actually having to say the words.
In the end, the entire affair left me shattered. He groaned over me and murmured my name as he finished. Unlike any of the men I had been with before, he didn’t fall asleep immediately. Neither did I, this time.
“You didn’t need your venom this time,” he whispered over me.
I hadn’t even realized, but he did. He always did, always too observant to be careless around. “Yeah.”
“Does that mean you actually enjoy being with me?” He chuckled and rolled onto his side, staring at me.
I could see him even though my hair was everywhere, falling in my face and obscuring my vision. He was a beautiful man, lounging on my bed, satisfied and content. The scars on his face and body seemed to disappear. The scars never bothered me, never would. I could see beyond them and knew there was once an attractive face there that broke the hearts of women before me. He could still break hearts if he wanted to. Women liked bad boys with scars.
“If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t have asked you to stay,” I said, smiling. “I’m going to clean up. Care to join me?”
He growled and was up faster than me, picking me up off the bed and carrying me into my bathroom.
An hour later, we were truly exhausted but clean. I was curled up, and he held me from behind. His warmth was making my eyes drift closed.
“Hmm…”
That sound made my eyes shoot open. It was sad and thoughtful.
“What is it?” I asked, staring at the darkness of my room.
“I was thinking about you being a naga and me being a cambion. You don’t want to hear it,” he said, pulling me against him tighter.
“I do,” I whispered. I always wanted to know what he was thinking.
“One day, you’re going to find your mate and move on from me,” he said, sighing into my hair. “I was wishing that day never comes. I’m growing a little attached.”
My heart squeezed, and the truth threatened to tumble off my tongue and free itself.
“Don’t think about it,” I said, swallowing everything back other than those words. “It’s a long way off if it ever happens at all. I don’t like fated mates, biological mates, or whatever my people want to call it. I like having a choice. We all deserve to have a choice.”
A choice to leave you. A choice to keep you safe. A choice you don’t need to know about.
He nodded, and I felt him relax sometime later, but sleep evaded me as his words repeated in my ears.
“I was wishing that day never comes.”
Oh, Raphael. I’m not the woman you want to fall in love with.
22
Chapter Twenty-Two
I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, but it didn’t feel like enough. I got out of bed before Raphael and dressed silently, leaving him to get sleep. I wasn’t up before Leith, though.
“You and Master Raphael should have breakfast before you leave,” he said as he found me on the back porch. I was hoping to enjoy the warm night, even though it felt cool in comparison to the man I left in bed.
“I was trying to forget you were here,” I said honestly, turning to look at him and not at my desert. “I’ll be fine with something small.”
“You need to stock up more than everyone else. You digest slowly and need a large meal before you go for more activity. Lord Cassius told me about the incident in Sedona and requested I make sure you are at your best.” Leith looked slightly down from my eyes. I knew he was staring at my neck. It was days from when it happened and less sore, but I knew it still looked awful. Bruising had the tendency to look worse than it felt. “You have other distractions that might keep you from caring for yourself properly.”
“When is he going to realize I don’t need him to take care of me?”
“When you realize you need to take care of yourself better,” Leith said, meeting my eyes again. “You know, he still keeps a room for you at their home with everything you might need.”
“I told him and Sorcha that this was an accident,” I snapped, waving at my neck, feeling a sudden crushing need to protect Raphael’s reputation. Leith didn’t move, and his expression didn’t change. He knew me. At that moment, I was beginning to think he might know me better than Cassius. His unblinking stare saw right through me. He saw me say and do things I would never in front of Cassius.
What did Hisao say once? The help knows everything.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, looking away. “I shouldn’t take my anger at Cassius out on you.”
Leith bowed his head and turned to head back inside, but didn’t make it all the way there before looking back at me.
“You are one of the most intelligent people I know, yet you don’t apply that intelligence to your own life,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “You can work out the motivations of everyone you meet and force criminal masterminds to twist their tongues, trying to find new lies to tell you. You know how to play the game of politics like a master tactician, like you belong on the Tribunal, not as one of their lapdogs. Yet you foolishly ask why Cassius still works to look after you, even as you make more enemies. You see so much, yet you’re blind.”
That felt like a punch to the gut. Leith went inside without another word, not even an apology for technically overstepping his position, something I had once told him to stop giving a fuck about.
Yeah, I brought that on myself.
I ate the breakfast he offered when it was ready, listening for Raphael to come out of the shower. He didn’t seem surprised I wasn’t in bed when he woke up, sitting beside me with a smile.
“Good morning,” he greeted.
“Morning,” I whispered, not looking at him, focusing on the rest of the food in front of me. I knew I needed to take a couple more bites to appease the fae butler hovering over me, but they seemed impossible now as my stomach twisted with anxiety.
I faced down a cambion in demon form and hadn’t blinked. I had been scared, but I hadn’t blinked. I faced it and won with the help of those around me. I fought Sinclair, even when I had no idea or concept of what was happening. I took on a prison break that would have brought others to their knees. I was a Tribunal Executioner, one of the deadliest classes of individuals in the world.
Yet the thought I would be leaving this man soon had me sick to my stomach.
“I’m done,” I said softly, pushing away the plate. “I can’t take another bite, Leith. I’m going to pack my stuff into the car. Do you have a bag?”
“I’m staying here, remember?” he said, taking my plate off the table. I nodded, and he walked into the kitchen. I left Raphael to his food and loaded up for our trip. First stop was going to be Cassius’ mansion in La Place Du Sommet to confirm plans. I was leaving travel details to the lab up to him because all I could do was buy plane tickets through the human companies. I didn’t have a private jet like some believed. I flew first class, but I flew with the humans. Cassius had better ways of getting around.
Once Raphael was done eating, he grabbed a bag he had prepared while I wasn’t watching him.
“I didn’t know what all to bring,” he said as he put it into the trunk. “Clothing was what I went with.”
“That’s all you need,” I promised, nodding. “I’ve got weapons for everyone and their extended families.”
“So enough to bring down a small militia?” He chuckled. “I think we’re going to need every single bullet.”
“Me, too.” I nodded, trying to remain detached. I needed to get used to it, even if it bothered or hurt him. It went against every damn instinct, but it was time for me to let go, and by the fucking gods, I was going to do it.
We headed o
ut, leaving Leith in charge of my house, an odd sensation, knowing he was still going to be there when we got back. If we got back. There was a possibility someone didn’t make it out of this…or anyone at all.
Even if the Tribunal sends in a second team as I think they will, someone could still die. Fuck, I hope not, but it’s possible.
When we arrived at Cassius’ mansion, he and Sorcha were already in the garage, ready to go. They looked tired, though, which felt off to me. They knew how important getting a good night’s rest was and were more responsible than I was on my best day.
“What’s wrong with you two?”
“We had multiple breaches to our security last night,” Cassius answered. “You?”
“I had sex and couldn’t sleep as well as I hoped,” I answered, frowning at his words. “Did you catch the person or persons? I feel like that’s not the entire story.”
“I think it’s a very good thing I have strong security and that we’re going now,” he said carefully. “I wonder if it might be Lewis’s handler or someone from Mygi, but now isn’t the time to investigate. If we get to their lab quickly and expose them, their attempts to enter my property go to waste.”
“No one broke into my place,” I said, looking down, “since I’m not holding the chatty ex-researcher.”
“That was my thought as well. I knew Leith would have called me if you had any security issues. I talked to him about thirty minutes ago, he confirmed it. You had already left. Whoever it was wanted Lewis, but it’s too late for that.”
“Did they get on the property?” I felt like Cassius wasn’t worried enough, meaning I shouldn’t have been, but I didn’t like it. People came after me, not him, even Sinclair. He’d attacked my house, but he hadn’t been stupid enough to go after Cassius.
“No,” Cassius answered in a clipped fashion. “They’re good, but they can’t do that. Not many can unless they’re related to me…or my wife. She could break through my security. Lewis will be in Hasan’s custody in a few hours, anyway.”
“Okay,” I said simply, shrugging. Then I stopped. “A few hours?”
“Yes. Come on. I called in a favor to get us to Denver quickly. From there, it’s only a few hours to our location, then we’ll be able to send the Tribunal in to pick up Lewis. I promise, once Hasan knows about him, it’ll take less than an hour for him to be secured in a better location.”
I looked at Sorcha, then Raphael. Sorcha smiled and waved for us to follow them while Raphael shrugged. I knew he wouldn’t have understood any better, but I still felt the need to look at him.
We headed into Cassius’ home, taking our bags with us. Sorcha was kind enough to take one of mine from me and chuckled when she realized she picked the weapons bag.
“We’re raiding an illegal laboratory, not fighting a war,” she teased.
“Same difference, and not all of us have a magic clutch full of surprises.”
“A clutch doesn’t match your fashion sense, anyway.”
I snorted.
We ended up in Cassius’ basement and put our things down as he called someone. I saw the three bags he and Sorcha were also bringing.
“Hey, old friend,” Cassius said with a smile. “Remember that favor you owe me? We talked about this last night. Yeah, now is good. I’ve marked the doorway I want you to grab on to.”
My eyebrows went up. “No fucking way. He knows a fae that can do this? Why did he never tell me?”
“Because it’s someone who is a known enemy to his family,” Sorcha answered softly. “And the favor owed is from our last trip to the fae. Cassius doesn’t like to hold on to favors, so he’s using it now that he has a chance.”
I wasn’t surprised he was using it as fast as possible, just amazed he was owed a favor for something like this at all. From a supposedly closet door, a fae I recognized walked in. His face was sometimes found on gold coins.
“You’re a founder of the Market,” I said softly, a little stunned.
The fae ignored Cassius and turned to me, frowning. “You know me?”
“She frequents the Market as a customer,” Cassius explained. “This is Executioner Kaliya Sahni. That’s the only name I’m willing to give you.”
“Well, there’s only one other name I don’t know since I obviously know your wife,” the fae said, snappy that Cassius addressed him at all. “Let’s go, so I never have to do this again and the people I work with don’t find out.”
“Are we going through the Market?” I asked.
“No, I made a direct door,” he said, heading back through the door. When I got in front of it, I saw a nice little living room with large windows looking over Denver proper. The fae waited for us on the other side. We picked up our bags and looked at each other, and I shrugged. If this was the route Cassius wanted to take, this is what we would do. Cassius went first, then Sorcha. I waved for Raphael to go, then headed through last. We all kept our bags in our hands as we stopped in the living room.
“I got you a rental under a false name. Here,” the fae said, shoving keys at Cassius. “And I’ll cover the fees and shit if you destroy it. We square?”
“We’re even. The favor owed is no more,” Cassius said with a nod. “You know, I don’t hate the Market.”
“Oh, I know,” the fae said with a bitter smile. “But you decided to skip taking the throne from Daddy and left it to Oisin, who sees it as a lost revenue source and thinks he should get a cut of every fae business.”
“Taxes are due to the king,” Cassius reminded him softly.
“These aren’t taxes,” the fae snapped. “And you know it.”
I tried to forget everything I just heard as Cassius led us out of the condo and down to the garage.
“Oisin is getting more power-hungry by the year,” Sorcha whispered as we loaded up the Escalade.
“Yes,” Cassius agreed softly. “But it’s for my family to deal with. No one else.”
“You know I’ve got your back,” I said as I slammed the trunk shut after everyone was done.
“Sadly, you can’t,” he said with a sad look, both thankful and regretful. “This is truly my family’s problem. We can’t properly unseat him unless we’re willing to kill him.”
“Or bring your father back,” Sorcha said, staring her husband down.
“A problem I’ll face on another day. Even if I wanted your help, Kaliya, it would only complicate matters, but I promise to call you if things get too bad. If they do, you’ll need to take cover from him as much as I would.”
I nodded and got into the back seat with Sorcha, letting Raphael have the front to stretch his legs, although that was just an excuse to get him in the front. I didn’t want to sit next to him, but I wanted to be able to see him. I couldn’t do that from the front.
The drive was quiet as we used the map to direct our trip, finding old dirt roads, and eventually, nowhere left to go.
“Looks like we’re walking from here,” I said, leaning between the front seats and staring at the trees. We were deep in the mountains. Any backup could take hours to get to us.
“It’s time.” Cassius looked at me expectantly.
I pulled out my phone and was amazed to see just one bar of service. I knew it would be lost when we went into the trees.
Kaliya: Hasan, this is Executioner Kaliya Sahni. I’m reporting that Cassius and I have furthered our investigation. At his place of residence in Arizona, you’ll find a prisoner we’ve taken. His name is Lewis Greendale, a powerful sorcerer and a former employee of Mygi, who went rogue. They blackmailed him into orchestrating the prison break. There is also a report written by Investigator Cassius of the fae that must be read, explaining our decision process about going forward with such little warning to you. We’re about to infiltrate and shut down a Mygi lab. I’ll be in touch when I have more. Wish us well.
23
Chapter Twenty-Three
I loaded up with everything I could. I had two sidearms, an array of sharp pointy objects to throw, a
nd my favorite swords, both on my back. I finished it off with my favorite thigh sheath and a long dagger.
“What do you think we’ll find?” Sorcha asked nonchalantly.
“People who want to kill us,” I answered, looking toward the woods. I wondered if Hasan was already reading my text or if he was sleeping. I didn’t know the man’s schedule, but it weighed on me. This had to go perfectly right, and there wouldn’t be backup if he didn’t send it in time…or didn’t think he needed to. Only he could be the judge of that, though.
“Cassius, the report covered everything, right?”
“Everything but the fate of Saleem. I don’t want to give them any reason to think Raphael and the other cambions are a danger. Just another type of supernatural who needs our assistance. We made a promise to Raphael to protect his people, whatever they could be. I made sure to remind him of that.”
“Good,” I said, looking at Raphael. I had brought a holster I had made for him in secret. He didn’t carry weapons for two reasons—he didn’t ask, and he never seemed to need them—but this time, I broke and was forcing him to carry the sword I let him train with and a sidearm. Better safe than sorry. Enough people were dead because I was careless. Raphael could not be one of them.
We locked up the Escalade and walked into the trees.
“You know, if I knew the trip would be so short, I wouldn’t have brought a bunch of extra clothing,” I said, looking back at it between the thick trees. “You could have given us a heads up.”
“I didn’t want to risk our transportation method being compromised,” Cassius answered. “Not with them testing my security.”
“Do you think it was a hit team or a single assassin?”
“Single assassin,” Sorcha said, very confident in her choice. “This person was moving around the entire perimeter to find a weak point. Or…pacing while they tried to find a solution. They weren’t expecting Cassius’ level of security. You know, some of those spells turn intruders into trees.”