by Lola Gabriel
His shoes moved away from the bottom of the door, so she went back to changing. She wanted to look good for Hale. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and she wanted him to be impressed. She had several outfits in the running. All she had to do was decide.
She’d narrowed it down to a sleek red dress with a slit along the right thigh and a little black dress that showed off her killer body.
Little black dress.
That phrase always amused her ever since people started using it. It was even some dictionary’s word of the year: LBD. Back she was born, people weren’t so strange. They didn’t have cutesy little acronyms. She was rather fond of saying it: LBD. It sounded naughty.
She held up the two dresses to herself. The red dress was hot and sexy, and it seemed to say, “Come hither.”
On the other hand…the LBD was nice. It fit her like a glove and somehow isolated all her good features. The only problem with it was that it was practically impossible to move in. She was convinced that fashion had always existed to prevent women from moving. Paired with a nice pair of heels to make her look taller, she’d feel sexy in either dress.
Finally, she decided to go with the red dress. Go big or go home, right? It was colorful and bright, just like her personality, but it also felt like it gave off a dangerous vibe. It had a certain don’t mess with me feel to it with the exposed shoulders and confident design. She pulled it on and checked herself out in the mirror.
She glanced back at the door. Nobody was there. She looked back at the mirror, twisting to see her legs under the formfitting dress.
“Hale, you are a lucky man,” she said.
“Hello?” said someone from the door, a woman this time. “I’m here to clean up the glass.”
Cassia didn’t move. She just threw back her shoulders dramatically and groaned, closing her eyes like it would help. Of course. Of course someone had walked up in the half second it had taken her to look away from the door and back at herself. Luck would have it no other way.
“Yes,” Cassia sighed. “I’ll be out in a second.”
She pulled on some heels and opened the door to reveal several members of her guard: two behemoth men and a petite woman sniper.
Cassia was familiar with her guards; she always felt odd getting protected and watched at all hours by strangers, so she’d gotten to know them. The two guys were actually Russian brothers, who were also werewolves. They had given up a career of wrestling after one of the men, Igor, had suffered a career-ending knee injury when he was cut with a silver knife. Now they were both in private protection, and they were some of the best in the business.
The sniper’s name was Sam, which delighted Cassia. She loved it when women went by traditionally male names. Sam was a crack shot in the military when she’d been dishonorably discharged for taking out a target she wasn’t supposed to. Sam was the kind of girl that really loved tattoos, so she had two full sleeves and other ink that practically covered her body. Her favorite was a dragon she had on her shoulder blades.
The three of them were Cassia’s personal security team. Cassia had handpicked them, mostly because they were good at their jobs, but also because she liked them. Igor and Ivan, who had gone by the Fabulous Flying I’s in their wrestling days, were the brute forces that dealt with anyone that tried to directly harm Cassia. The name of their wrestling tag team always made Cassia chuckle to herself. It was terrible, and she had no idea why they had picked it.
Sam was much better suited for taking out targets from a distance, but her size didn’t mean she wasn’t tough in one-on-one combat. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Sam was also Cassia’s best friend. Cassia had never found good friends in Hale’s social circle. Most of the women she met were callous, snobby, and preferred to talk about their newest handbag than anything that really mattered.
Sam was different. She was intelligent, kind, and she could kick anybody’s ass. Over the years, Cassia had become quite close to Sam, who she later learned came from a line of powerful fae blood. When Cassia grew closer to Sam, she once asked her if she had wings like other fairies, and much to Cassia’s surprise, she did. Sam just kept them hidden and kept her fae lineage hidden from most people because in general, fairies were seen as weak.
In addition to all of Sam’s secrets, Cassia also valued her strategic knowledge of where to avoid driving through because of target zones, open areas, and basically anywhere that a sniper could shoot them. The car was bulletproof, so most snipers couldn’t do much more than scratch the paint, but it was nice to talk to Sam.
Hale had made a lot of enemies over the years, which is why Cassia needed to be protected. Typically, she was left alone, which she believed had something to do with her connection to Terran. However, she had been attacked on two separate occasions in the past ten years, which is when Hale increased Cassia’s security, further isolating her from the outside world.
Sam grinned as she looked at Cassia’s dress. “Hale is a lucky man.”
“Oh, shut up,” Cassia hissed, playfully.
The benefits of working for Hale were great—high pay, paid vacations, insurance, the works—but when someone got hired as a security agent, they were stuck working for Hale for the rest of their careers. Everyone knew that. He hated for people to figure out his security and then go work for a rival. They could quit when they retired, which was typically about ten years out because the pay was so high. Supernatural beings stayed much longer because of their lifespans.
Cassia was led towards the car convoy. Hale insisted on having multiple car convoys for safety, which Cassia hated because it made leaving the house a huge production.
Hale’s business as an oil baron was legitimate…mostly. The way Hale liked to explain it was that he, “…owned a rule-following company whose rivals usually failed due to tragic, unforeseeable circumstances.”
Cassia had often questioned Hale’s business decisions—especially when a death was involved—but Hale had always explained his decisions as doing what he needed to do because someone was out to harm him. Cassia believed that the world was full of bad people, and that her boyfriend was the good guy.
Maybe Hale really is the bad guy, Cassia thought. How could I have ignored the obvious all these years?
Hale protected his assets, which is what he liked to call Cassia. An asset. She still wasn’t entirely sure if that was something she could be happy about or not. Probably not.
In the convoy, the first car was the dummy car. If there was a mine or a motion activated trap, that first car was always the first one to find out. The second car was the biggest and strongest vehicle—a military-style car strong enough to plow the remains of car one should that car meet a sudden demise. Then there was car three, where Cassia, Igor, Ivan, and Sam would be. Car four brought up the rear. Cassia never quite understood the role of car four. Maybe it was to avoid anyone ramming her from behind.
All the blacked-out SUVs were lined up and waiting. They loaded up into car three. She never knew her driver. She didn’t like to bother him because he had to be constantly vigilant for threats. All she knew about him was that his name was Ralph and that he had no family. Sad. She was also fairly sure that he was on drugs despite passing the frequent drug tests.
The first part of the drive to the landing strip, Cassia chatted it up with her security team. Igor had met a girl, and they were dating. Apparently, it was pretty serious. Ivan was planning a cruise vacation. Sam had bought herself a twenty-thousand-dollar scope that she was very proud of.
They were laughing and carrying on, but Cassia’s mind kept drifting to her boyfriend.
Finally, she just blurted out what was on her mind. “Do you think Hale killed the Chancellor?”
Sam had been explaining how to successfully do a backflip to Igor (like Igor would ever be able to do that), but she silenced with a stunned expression. All three bodyguards looked over at Cassia.
“What makes you think that?” Sam asked, always the most talkative
of the three. “I thought nobody knew who did it.”
Cassia hadn’t actually meant to say anything, but she had, so she had to run with it. “I don’t know. I just… I’d heard they found traces of Hale on the body.”
She didn’t tell them about her ankle bracelet. They were her closest friends, but if she told them about that, Hale might find out. The twins’ loyalty was definitely to Hale, not her. And Hale knew how to extract information.
Hale was very persuasive when he wanted to be. He even had a special room for his questioning. Cassia wasn’t allowed down there for the obvious reasons—he didn’t want her to see what was going on in there.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait… She wasn’t going to turn on her boyfriend that fast. Hale had always been nice to her, and he did save her on the few occasions her life had been in danger. When she questioned his business practices and dealings, he always had good explanations. She trusted Hale. Didn’t she?
Cassia collected herself. Surely, Terran must be wrong.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Terran.”
Cassia mentally slapped herself. Dammit! She was trying to keep that secret!
The three bodyguards leaned back, startled by the name of the dragon. Terran’s name carried a weight with it. He had quite a reputation, and the three of them knew he’d also been Cassia’s ex-husband a million lifetimes ago.
“Don’t take his word for it,” Igor huffed. “You know you can’t trust him.”
“But I can,” she protested halfheartedly. “He’s never lied to me.” She couldn’t stop herself from talking.
“Hale hasn’t either,” Sam pointed out, while giving Cassia a warning look with her eyes. It was obvious Sam didn’t want Cassia to say anything stupid in front of the twins.
Cassia couldn’t agree with that. She’d never caught Hale in a lie, but she had a feeling that he was just exceptionally good at it, not that he was honest.
“Can we just forget I said anything?” Cassia asked. “It’s silly. I shouldn’t have said anything. I trust Hale. Just please don’t say anything about this. I totally trust him. And please don’t mention Terran. It would really cause a lot of problems for me.”
Her three guards smiled. Cassia hoped she could trust them.
The car convoy pulled up at the landing strip. Strangely, Cassia felt her stomach tighten and her palms begin to sweat. She had no idea why. Hale was the same man that had left only two weeks ago. She knew him and knew him well. It’s not like he had changed. But she still couldn’t get that picture of him on the subway in New York out of her head. She could live with him just fessing up and admitting that he had been there, but he’d outright told her that he hadn’t.
She was stuck. Did she believe Terran or Hale? She was a firm believer in the fact that there aren’t versions of the truth. There’s the simple truth, and that’s it. There are not separate editions of the truth, no spins. It’s truth, plain and simple. Either Terran or Hale was telling the truth.
Why were things so complex?
The obvious answer was that Terran was telling the truth. When her mind chose to ignore her ex-husband’s words and believe Hale, she felt a knot grow in her stomach. When her mind bounced back to believing Terran, the knot released, but panic took hold. Both versions of the truth were complicated and just plain awful.
So she just waited for her boyfriend.
4
When Hale deplaned his private jet, his eyes immediately fell on Cassia. He was dressed in a custom-made Italian suit, and she watched as his dark hair blew in the warm, summer wind. He was handsome. Really handsome. But something wasn’t right. He looked tired, worn down, and was covered in sweat.
“Ah!” he exclaimed. “Cassia, my love. I am so glad you decided to meet me here instead of waiting at home. I have missed you.”
“I missed you, too!” She lied.
Cassia’s eyes trailed to the two bodyguards standing behind Hale. She was never fond of them. They were brutes. Hale’s personal guards were savage beasts that dressed in men’s clothing.
Cassia waited for Hale to compliment her dress and how she looked, but her heart sank when the compliment never came. Hale’s eyes were on her, but his mind was elsewhere, which was evident by the glazed-over expression he wore.
When he approached her, she expected a warm embrace. She longed to smell his familiar scent of frankincense and pine. She hoped they could talk it out, so she could put her worries behind her.
But then, he didn’t say anything. He just gave her a stiff hug and brushed on past, like he was eager to get to the car and go back home. She stood silently, clearly surprised.
She turned to catch up with him. He was walking fast, abnormally fast.
“How was the trip?” she asked.
“Long,” he replied.
A one-word answer, really? He couldn’t put forth the effort and say two words?
“Did you get it done?” He’d originally told her he took the trip to close a deal.
“Yes.”
She scowled. What the hell was wrong with him? He could normally at least feign an interest in a conversation. The guy was a natural-born salesman. He could prattle on like a schoolgirl when he wanted to, but he was evidently not in a talkative mood.
But that wasn’t the only strange thing. As though the curt responses weren’t odd enough, he was walking quickly and appeared to be looking over his shoulder endlessly, like someone was following him. Cassia, with her shorter legs and high heels, could hardly keep up.
“Are you nervous about something?” she asked.
She knew he was nervous. She could recognize every one of his moods with pinpoint accuracy.
“No,” he lied. “Everything’s fine.”
That was about how it went the whole car ride back to their house. Something was different about him. Was he addicted to something? Drugs? She’d never seen him with any. He appeared to be sweating constantly, licking his lips compulsively. Normally, he was excellent at hiding whatever bothered him. But in that moment, he was actually plain weird.
“Are you okay?” she asked him when they pulled up to the house. “You’re not yourself.”
His veins seemed slightly blue, which was obvious because they were sticking out of his neck. One around his temple throbbed. “For the hundredth time, I’m fine.”
He strode towards the house. He waved his hands at the security personnel. “Get me some salt water and put it in a chilled wine glass,” he ordered.
“What?” asked the guy. “Salt water?”
“You heard me. Get it, and get it now.”
Cassia was, by this point, totally confused.
Salt water? To drink? Wouldn’t that make him sick to his stomach?
She hurried after her boyfriend, determined to give him another chance. She normally wasn’t so forgiving, but Hale wasn’t normally a bad guy. He was typically rather romantic. As romantic as Terran? Questionable.
She followed him into the house and towards the master bath, which was the size of a small house. Cassia loved it and had helped with the design. It was created to look like nature, with real plants and trees growing everywhere. A flock of gardeners made it look natural, but it was actually carefully manicured. All the unsightly bits of nature like dead leaves and twigs were gone, leaving behind only luscious greens and vibrant flowers.
Hale stopped in front of the door. “I’ll be right now,” he said.
“Right now?”
“Right out!” he corrected. “Right out. I’ll be right out. Yes, that’s right.”
With that, he entered the bathroom and left her outside.
She scowled. “What’s going on?” she hissed.
She stood there for probably thirty seconds in anger before deciding she would give her boyfriend some privacy. When she turned her back, the door opened to reveal Hale, who was smiling and handsome with no veins sticking out.
“Ah, my dear!” he said silkily. “My God! You lo
ok stunning.”
“Thanks,” she said curtly. He just noticed? “Is everything all right? Are you okay?”
“Never better.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close to his body. She felt his bulge grow beneath his pants as he kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss but was turned off by how his kiss tasted—a mixture between something metallic and sweet. He brought his hands up to her breasts and massaged them outside of her dress. She willed herself to respond to his touch, but she couldn’t. She just didn’t feel attracted to him. He pulled away without finishing what he started, which was completely unlike him. Typically, his sex drive was insatiable.
“Please, let’s sit down. I’d be happy to talk to you about the trip. I’m just sad you weren’t able to attend.”
“Talk? You want to talk?”
Cassia frowned. That didn’t add up. She tried to look past him into the bathroom to see what he had done that made him act so differently. One moment he’d been panicky and obsessive, twitching incessantly, and the next second he was calm and normal.
Even beyond the mannerisms, he looked like a completely different person. Before, he’d been soaked in sweat, his hair had been something of a mess, and his pupils were abnormally dilated. And then there’d been the nasty vein business. Right then, he looked professional, like he was ready to walk in and seal a big deal instead of thinking about robbing someone for drug money. He was still sweaty, but he seemed to have washed off his face and refreshed himself.
“What were you doing in there?” she asked him.
He scooted between her and the door, guiding her away. She thought she could see a blue tendril of something vanish off the counter like a fire, but before she could decide if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, it was gone.
“Just freshening up,” Hale assured. “Nothing to worry about. So how have you been? Good, I hope?”
He was saying all the right things, but he wasn’t saying the right things right. She could see through his facade in a way that most people probably couldn’t. He was hitting all the notes he was supposed to, but Cassia could tell he was running straight off his intelligence to say the right things, not because he was actually interested.