“The lionesses didn’t like her. They weren’t honest with Nathan about her progress. She couldn’t win for losing.”
I looked to Nathan, who said, “My decision is final. This was the best solution to a bad situation. Becca created the situation, but I’m the Amakhosi and had to handle it.”
Cora opened her mouth and Nathan stood, his look clearly warning her to keep quiet. “I’ve given you as much leeway as I intend to give. You’re a valued member of our team at Drake, but if you no longer wish to work for us, that’s your decision. Further discussion of how I handle my Pride will be taken up with your Alpha in attendance.”
Cora looked to the ground a good ten seconds before she curtsied. “As you wish, Your Majesty. Please accept my two-week notice. I’ll have it for you in writing within the hour.”
“Cora!” I knew she was troubled, but this was a bigger deal than I’d realized. “Let’s go somewhere and eat so we can calm down and talk it out! Give yourself time to make such a big decision!”
“Two things,” said Nathan. “Your contract states you’ll follow through on jobs you’ve been assigned, which would take you to midsummer. If you wish to pull out of your contract, it’s probably best for you to go through that with Aaron, since you aren’t pissed at him.” He took a breath. “And Kirsten’s right. I’d like you to calm down before making such a heavy decision, so I won’t accept your oral notice. I’ll need it in writing. Again, though, it’s probably best you communicate with Aaron and not me.”
Cora spun on her heel and left, and Nathan and I stared at each other at least a minute before he walked to the door and closed it. I supposed Cora had left it open to keep from slamming it.
“You said part of the deal was that no humans find out about it. I assumed Xaephan set that part of the deal, but I assumed wrong, didn’t I?”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah. I knew you’d have a hard time with it.”
“I thought you could make your lions do whatever you want? How could she defy you so badly she had to be sent to Hell?”
“I’m not interested in having people close to me who need to be forced to obey. Once I brought her into my Pride, her choice was to conform or die.” He shrugged. “I found another option when she refused to get along with any of us. I beat her nearly to death on more than one occasion, and I had my lionesses nurse her back to health since I wouldn’t let her change and heal, I fucked…” He stopped. “I did everything in my power to mold her, and she refused. Now she’s the devil’s problem. I hope she finds peace belonging to him. If she doesn’t...” He shrugged, but I read between the lines. He’d find a way to kill her.
If Nathan hadn’t been forced to take on the marks because he had to rescue me, Becca wouldn’t be in Hell. I’d never met her, but the glimpses I had through Cora’s memories made me feel as if I had. I’d seen a duplicitous, passive-aggressive manipulator in those quick glimpses, but I still felt responsible.
I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. “I need to know more.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“I bear part of the blame. Perhaps Becca bears most of it, but you wouldn’t have needed to get rid of a mark if I hadn’t gotten myself trapped in Hell.” I sighed. “I trust you and I believe you, but I also value Cora’s input. She just quit the job she loves. It’s a big deal.”
“Can we switch gears a second?”
I nodded, happy to move away from the subject a few minutes.
“The Siabhra still technically owns Josh, since it has the sliver of his soul. As long as we keep him out of Faerie, he should theoretically be safe, though we can’t guarantee someone won’t pop up with a valid claim we can’t refute.”
“How do we get that piece of his soul back?”
“Negotiate. Bargain. No one’s interested in storming the Siabhra’s stronghold to try to take it back.”
“Not even Ryan?”
“We haven’t asked him, but if he’d take the job, it’d likely be more expensive than any of us is prepared to pay.”
“So what do we do?”
“Aaron and I haven’t come up with a workable solution. Sophia’s worked with both the Summer and Winter Queens, and they’ve fixed it so he can’t leave Faerie for a few years, but neither is interested in demanding he turn over the piece of soul he legitimately bargained for.”
“It’s the Celrau who broke the rules by fucking with Josh’s head to get him to agree to give up part of his soul.”
“Exactly.”
“What if someone were to help the Siabhra get retribution? Would he bargain the piece of Josh’s soul to make Aquila pay for tricking him?”
“Aquila tricked Josh, not the Siabhra. He offered a piece of a human soul and the blood to go with it, and delivered them both.”
“I want to talk to Becca.”
He shook his head. “I’m sitting here going over my options, and hoping you never turn to the dark side. I’m pretty sure you won’t blow my head up if I physically keep you from leaving, but I’m not so sure you won’t cut pieces of me off, since you know I’ll heal and they’ll grow back. I’m not willing to hurt you to keep you here, and I’d have to knock you out and keep you knocked out to hold you without injuring you.”
“You could probably kill me before I’d have time to react. Our enemies don’t have your restrictions, and someone can always take a sniper shot from down the street when I don’t expect it. I’m not invincible.”
“No, but you’d be a formidable enemy. Is there anything I can say to convince you to leave the Becca situation alone?”
“Tell me why I feel guilt rolling off you, and tell me why you wanted to keep it from me in the first place?”
“The guilt is because I let Jessica — her old Pride leader — think she’d have a say in where Becca ended up. She thought she’d be able to kill Becca to keep her from going into slavery if things didn’t work out here, which was my intention. However, it’s my right to do what I want with my lions, whether their Pride leader agrees or not. Still, I don’t like where it’s left Jessica and me. I didn’t technically go back on my word, but I let her think I’d made a promise when I hadn’t.” He sighed. “And I wanted to keep it from you because I worried you’d feel responsible.”
I sat back and considered it from all angles. “I need to talk to Cora.”
“She’s waiting for you in the hallway. I’ll let the two of you have my office to talk. I need to check in with Lou on some things. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
Nathan left, Cora came inside, and I stood and walked to her. Her heart wasn’t in our hug, and I knew it was my job to make things right between us.
“You caught what I saw, when you showed me your memories of her?”
“Yes, and I value your opinion, but it isn’t right. The other women didn’t like her. She never had a chance.”
I sat down at Nathan’s computer and realized he hadn’t locked it before he left. I went into his contacts, found four listings for a Jessica, looked up their cities, and only one lived in the middle of nowhere.
I called her from my cellphone, and kept it on speaker.
“My name is Kirsten. I’m Nathan’s friend, and I feel responsible for him needing to make the trade for Becca. He doesn’t know I’m calling you, and I don’t want you to get in trouble with him, but if you could tell us a little of what she did to get sent here, maybe it’ll help us figure out how best to handle things?”
I wasn’t sure I had the right Jessica, but I assumed she’d let me know if I didn’t.
“I know who you are. Define handle things.”
“My partner wants to mount a rescue mission. However, I’m worried that she has a shot at life down there, but will be killed if she returns.”
She sighed and was silent so long, I was afraid she might not answer. Finally, she said, “I’m pissed at the Amakhosi for sending her, but not because he was wrong to do it. If I’m honest, I’m a little relieved I didn’t have
to kill her. I would’ve done it because it was my duty to take care of her, but it would’ve destroyed something inside me.”
I glanced at Cora, and she said, “My name’s Cora. I’m Gamma in the Chattanooga Pack, under Randall. I also work for Drake Security.”
“I know who you are, too. You found Becca when she escaped. None of this is your fault. Becca made one bad decision after another and brought everything that’s happened to her onto her own head.”
“She never had a chance here. The women in the local Pride didn’t like her from the beginning. She had no hope of being accepted.”
“They didn’t like her because she’s a bitch. I tried to help her adapt, but… look — I get that you both feel responsible, but you aren’t. Becca made bad choices. I’m respectfully pissed at His Majesty, but I don’t disagree with his decision.”
“Has he coached you in what to tell us?” Cora asked.
“He hasn’t mentioned either of you to me, nor has he told me what to tell anyone who called asking. I know about you because I’ve made friends with his top lionesses in the local Pride.”
“Thank you for talking to us,” I told her.
“You’re welcome. I’m told you’re important to His Majesty, so anything I can do to help, please let me know.”
Important? I wasn’t going to touch that with a ten-foot pole. “He’s a good friend, even when I want to punch him.”
Cora laughed. “He’s also right outside the door, listening. Thanks again, Jessica.”
“You can call me Jess. Only His Highness calls me Jessica.”
Nathan stepped in the door as I disconnected. “I didn’t lock my computer down before I left.”
“Nope.” I met his gaze and didn’t look away.
“Did you get what you needed from Jessica?”
I looked to Cora, and she telepathed, I’m not happy, but I’ll bow out.
“Yes,” I told Nathan. “I think we did. I’m not promising not to bring it up to Xaephan if I happen to talk to him, but I won’t initiate contact just to check on her.”
Nathan looked to Cora, and she shrugged. “If I change my mind, I’ll talk to Aaron before I do anything.”
“For the record, Becca’s a strong lioness. Even if she spends six months in Hell, she’d be able to change a few times in the outer ring, cross over to Earth and change a few more times, and be okay. I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics, but there are a few loopholes in the deal I made.”
I wanted to throw my hands up and shout, but I stood as still as possible and kept my voice even. “Why couldn’t you have told us that from the start?”
He looked at Cora. “You wanted to think the worst of me, and I was inclined to give you what you wanted.”
Cora glared at him a fraction of a second before she looked down, turned, and left the room without saying anything.
“Want to tell me what’s going on? This feels like more than Becca.”
“She picks up on more of your emotions than you realize. She’s pissed at me for hurting you.”
“You didn’t hurt me. Circumstances did.”
“I’m glad you see it that way, but she’s blaming me. She isn’t entirely wrong. I was selfish to think we could have sex and go back to the way we were. I needed to try to erase the memory of having to…” He shook his head. “I made things worse, and I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know if I’m sorry or not. I treasure the time we spent together, but we can’t keep doing it.”
“Agreed. Only a few people in Chattanooga know about Jessica. Please don’t talk to anyone about her, or especially about where she lives.”
Chapter 10
My days were spent practicing with Ryan and sometimes Cora, making sure my patients would be fine while I was gone, and spending as much time with Lauren as possible. Ryan shipped our body armor, boots, and other heavy items ahead of time, so I only had one carry-on for our flight, and no checked luggage. If I had a chance to shop, I’d have to buy a suitcase and check it on the way home.
The short trip from Chattanooga to Atlanta was painless, though the trip through the Atlanta airport is never simple. We made it onto the overnight flight, stowed our bags, and got comfortable in the first-class seats. Ryan and I sat in the center aisle, and Cora was just across the aisle from me since she’d be able to hear us whisper, and Cora and I could telepath.
I wore a vest with my wallet, passport, tickets, and phone zipped inside, and carried a shoulder bag with my laptop and other items I might need on the flight. However, Ryan handed me a tablet soon after we were airborne. “I’ll need it back. The first document has pictures and bios of the highest-ranking gazelles. The second has pictures of the most dangerous supernaturals in the area — mostly crocodiles, but some others as well. I’ll post the top twelve on the wall of your room, so you can see them every day. The third document is a reiteration of mission rules and procedures. Please at least glance through it to be sure you remember everything, but you should spend the most amount of time on the first two.”
Cora’s tablet was more about the bad-guys than the gazelles, which made sense since she’d be responsible for the outer perimeter.
I sat between the slayer and the werewolf, and read until my eyes grew too heavy to stay open.
I awakened with slobber on my face and my bladder screaming at me to find a bathroom. Cora was asleep, Ryan wasn’t. I used my shirt to dry my cheek, and excused myself to the bathroom. We were only six hours into the eight-hour flight. I’d hoped to sleep longer.
I needed to go through customs in order to be there legally and get my weapons license, but I really wished I could’ve gone through the nothingness to get there.
We weren’t in Amsterdam terribly long before our flight to Nairobi, but I was exhausted. We had time to get a decent meal and stretch our legs a little, but I wasn’t looking forward to another eight hours in an airplane seat. Ryan was silent, and Cora and I took to speaking telepathically because talking around him felt awkward — like he was a spy, which I acknowledged might be the case.
I waited until we were taxiing down the runway to ask Ryan, “The operations guide says we’re to return juveniles to the control room so their parents can retrieve them — how do we know for sure which are teens and which are of age?”
“Their lanyard — black is adult, red is child.”
“Right, and green means they’re in a leadership position, but you have to know the teens are going to take their lanyards off when they try to sneak out.”
“We’re only responsible for protecting those with lanyards on, clearly showing them as part of the conference.”
I shook my head. “If I recognize people from the conference and see them headed for danger, I’m going to point out they’re about to move out of the safe zone whether they have a nametag on or not. If I’m certain they’re teens, I’m going to take them into custody and find their parents.”
“If you’re certain they’re with the conference, by all means warn them. However, you aren’t to physically keep them from leaving unless they’re wearing a nametag identifying them as a minor. Doing so will open the company — and you — up to legal issues we don’t want to deal with.”
During our first flight, Ryan’s unwillingness to hold a conversation aggravated me, but once I discovered he was willing to talk when his notes weren’t enough, it became a comfortable silence. He’d given me what he thought I needed, so conversation wasn’t necessary. I still talked to him during the second flight, but his one and two-word answers didn’t bother me. If he had more to say, he would.
“Have you ever considered dying your hair brown?” Ryan asked, a few hours into the flight.
“Why do you ask?”
“There’s something to be said for being able to blend into a crowd. I’ll make use of your red hair for security purposes, but you may want to consider it in the future, if you need to blend instead of stand out.”
“I’ll do whatever’s necessary to be sur
e I return home to Lauren, but a wig should do the trick. If for some reason it won’t, or I can’t get to one but can buy a bottle of hair product, then yeah, I’d dye it.”
“Good to know.” He sighed. “I need to alert you — the advance team senses a strong Strigorii. The Master of the City has agreed to leave us alone, but they believe the one they sense to be far stronger than any of the locals.”
“Are gazelles especially tasty?”
“No.”
I waited him out, and gave him a look to clearly let him know I expected more information.
Finally, he said, “You have to know there’s a good bit of intrigue around you.”
“Then why did you bring me?”
We’d been talking low, but he put his face closer to mine and spoke lower. “You know why. I need non-predators helping me on the inside.”
“It isn’t because you want more time around me, so you can decide whether I’m human or not?”
“You smell human, and you usually feel human.”
“But?”
He sat back in his seat and shrugged, but I couldn’t blame him. I’m not sure what to think of myself sometimes either. I feel human, I don’t have herculean strength, and I get out of breath like a human — but then I can make weapons of light, I can levitate, and I’m apparently faster than a human, though I still maintain my speed and reflexes come from my juggling skills.
The foreign Strigorii is troubling, Cora telepathed. Make sure you keep your shields strong.
I know I’m in danger from the local crocodiles and tigers because I’m under Nathan’s protection. Let me guess — I could be in danger from Abbott’s enemies since I’m under his protection?
It’s more than that. You broke up with him, which means he couldn’t control you. A strong Strigorii might want to control you just to show he — or she — can bend you to their will even though Abbott couldn’t. It’ll prove they’re stronger than Abbott without having to go to America and fight him.
Defining Human (Only Human Book 4) Page 7