by K. N. Banet
Now the man was carrying me.
“Are you going to put that away?” he asked softly. I looked at my hand.
I was still holding the dagger.
“No,” I mumbled, leaning into him as another wave of dizziness washed over me. He started walking, leaving the wolves behind. No one said a word. The silence was respectful.
21
Chapter Twenty-One
The storm was already beginning to die down when Raphael got me to the car. Once there, I made it known I wanted to be put down.
“I can get in the car on my own,” I said, somewhat indignantly. “I’ll admit, I needed the help here, but I can sit down by myself.”
The noise that came from him wasn’t human. The deep, guttural growl made his chest vibrate, making me do the same. When I looked up at him, his eyes were black.
“I’m amazed you’re not dead. Do we have anything in the car we can put on your head?”
“Yeah, in the trunk.” I kept a small emergency kit for first aid. I wasn’t a complete fool. Normally, when I got injured on the job, I was the only one around. I had to be able to handle the small shit to get myself home to handle the big stuff. Or to a healer who would charge me out the ass for services, some worse than others, depending on who was available.
He put me down, so I hobbled to the passenger’s side, fumbling to get my keys out of my pocket, amazed they were still there. Once I got it unlocked, I fell into the seat, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. The ointment was either completely gone or totally ineffective at this point.
Raphael came around with the very item we needed, and I was glad I didn’t have to find it for him. The red bag was red for a reason. I needed to be able to see it among all of my black bags, and red normally meant medical. It was easy to remember.
He said nothing as he put the bag on my lap and opened it. I sat patiently as he grabbed several items—first, the alcohol swabs, which stung as they always did, then bandages and gauze pads. The pads went on first, the bandages next, then he got a fucking ace wrap and used that.
What I wasn’t expecting was when he pulled his shirt off, making my fangs drop. I blinked several times as rock-hard muscle entered my vision. Beautiful, tawny skin was marred by light scars that seemed older than they probably were, but even those were attractive to me.
I could fucking melt into that fucking body, and he just carried me to my car.
It took me longer than I cared to find the words to address the elephant in the room about his now shirtless appearance.
“What are you—”
I didn’t finish as he grabbed my chin and wiped off my face with his soaking wet, freezing cold shirt. I shoved it away, glaring.
“I’m not four,” I snapped. “Put that fucking thing back on.”
“I’m not driving you through the fucking city with blood all over your face and neck. If I wipe that off, we can tell a cop that you were just coming home from the hospital after slipping in the rain or something. Covered in blood, they’ll think I fucking beat you. Fuck, they might think that anyway, but you can at least try to make this easier for me,” he snarled. “I’m not in the mood for that kind of trouble.”
I grabbed the shirt from him, mad because I hadn’t thought of it. I was normally alone, so it was never a problem, but with the storm slowing down and the sun being high above us, I knew his concern was valid.
“Fine. Get in, and let’s get going.” I wiped my face off as he slammed the trunk closed. He jumped into the driver’s seat, making the car bounce. “Are you okay?” I asked, looking at him as he took the keys off the dash where I left them.
“I’m fine. You are a mess,” he answered, a growl punctuating the end. “I thought you were dead there for a minute, Kaliya. When Levi blasted you away, and I was holding Wesley…I thought you were dead, and that there was nothing I could do about it.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I turned away, closing my door. He started the engine and turned the heat on, but we didn’t pull out. He sighed.
“I’m not dead, though,” I finally whispered. “It’s really hard to kill me, and I don’t plan on dying for a very long time.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Raphael, I don’t know why…” you care.
“Because you’re all I’ve got, and that makes you important to me,” he answered softly. I hadn’t been able to stop myself in time. He knew. “I bet that makes you really uncomfortable because you have never seemed like the type who’s good with emotion. You seem to actively avoid it, really. It’s made talking to you about anything the last four months impossible because I’m actually not scared of emotions. I like that I still have them. They ground me in being human.”
I weakly chuckled, leaning back in the seat.
“I’m not scared of emotions,” I said, rolling my head to look at him. “I’m scared of what happens after everything falls apart.” When I rolled my head away from him, I jumped as I saw a figure standing twenty feet away. Instinctively, I reached for my hip, looking for a weapon. “Shit.”
Raphael leaned over and frowned. “Is that Nakul?”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out the figure. I blinked a few times, trying to focus through the rain. Sure enough, as the silhouette walked closer, it was my uncle. He stepped away from the vehicle, but he was obviously waiting on an invite to follow.
“Do we trust him?” my roommate asked.
“He’s survived this long, and he might be the key to breaking this wide open. Why not? But that doesn’t mean I’ll be stupid.” I reached into the glove box and pulled out a set of handcuffs.
“Really? And you think I’m kinky for being called Dom.”
I gave him a small smile before opening the door and showing the handcuffs to my uncle.
“You’ll lay down on the backseat and wear them, or I’ll get a bag and zip you in as a snake. Your choice. I’d feel safer with the snake option.”
“Snake, so no one sees me, human or otherwise,” my uncle answered.
I nodded at Raphael, who jumped out and opened the trunk again. A bag was emptied, Nakul shifted, got inside it, then was promptly zipped in. I didn’t have ratty equipment, so there would be no holes for him to get out. Raphael then left the bag in the trunk.
“Perfect,” I said as he sat beside me again. “Now, let’s get out of here before any other wanted criminals show up.”
He hummed in agreement and pulled out of the parking lot. Once we were on the road, I punched in the address for Raphael.
“We’re going to Cassius’ house,” I said as he took the first turn.
“Thank God,” he mumbled. I reached out and hit his arm, unable to find a witty remark in turn. “And now she turns to violence. I’m wounded.”
“I’ll show you wounded,” I hissed.
“I’m pretty sure you already are,” he fired back. When I turned to glare at him, he disarmed me with a small smile. Seeing my glare, it faded away, but then so did my glare, thanks to his smile. He wasn’t trying to be an asshole. He had wanted to joke around, and I had missed it, gone right over my head. It wasn’t like Cassius wouldn’t make a similar joke. Even Paden would have taken that opening.
“Sorry. I’m tired.” I turned away from him.
“It’s okay.”
The drive felt longer than it should, but when we pulled up to the gate, it let us in without incident. Raphael parked in front of the main entrance and got out first, going around the front of the car. I fumbled with my seatbelt and got it off in time for him to open the door for me.
“You’ve got to stop with the cute stuff,” I told him as I gingerly slid out of the BMW.
“I’m a gentleman,” he reminded me. “I wasn’t when we met, but that’s because I was an angry prick. I’ve had time to get over that. You can say you’ve given me a new lease on life.”
“Ha.” Or a death sentence.
I let him run to the back of the BMW to get Nakul, watching the front door. Normally, Leith
ran out to greet visitors. I walked up to the door and for the first time in a few decades, rang the doorbell.
Leith answered, peeking outside cautiously.
“Hey,” I greeted, trying to smile. Raphael came up behind me with the bag of deadly snake. Leith only had eyes for me, taking in every inch of me, then cursing.
“He’s going to be furious with you,” the butler finally said, opening the door farther. “Downright furious. You need to stop visiting looking like this. Come over for dinner, not half-dead or on the run from some great evil. Lord Cassius isn’t back, by the way. When you declared the Code Black, Mary Anne left to get him because we knew you would need help. She hasn’t returned, and neither have the Lord and Lady.”
“Do you have any word at all about what’s going on in the fae lands? I heard it was some clan challenges?”
He froze, and I took the chance to walk past him into the large entryway of the mansion.
“How?”
“I’m Kaliya Sahni, Tribunal Executioner and one of two leaders of the nagas. I have my ways.” I took a page out of Hasan’s book, giving myself a good private laugh.
Leith’s stare was unamused. He looked at Raphael as the big man passed him, then at the bag.
“Well, at least you’re in good shape. That healing factor you have is astounding. You should find a way to sell it, then charge Kaliya. If she’s not going to take care of her fragile form, you might as well make money off it.” He glared at me again, then walked out of the room.
“I always like seeing him,” Raphael said casually, following the butler. I glared at his back, then hobbled after them.
“You’ve got an attitude today, Leith, and I’m not sure I like it,” I said, limping all the way into a sitting room off the dining room and kitchen. I wasn’t in this space a lot, usually allowed to be much more casual and hang out in their kitchen. “When is everyone going to remember my literal job description is ‘kill people’? I have to maintain the power and authority of the Tribunal by delivering swift punishment for the crimes committed against them. Like, what about that sounds safe?”
“You’ll worry Lord Cassius if you keep showing up like this,” the butler said, pointing to a couch. “Sit down—”
“And why the hell should I care about that? Huh?” Anger took over the exasperation in one fell swoop. I sat down, though, not stupid enough to try to stay standing. “He knows me. He knows what I do. If he’s got a problem, that’s his problem, not mine.”
“People don’t like to watch their friends get hurt,” Raphael said, cutting in. I watched him put the bag with my uncle on the low center table. “It’s reasonable for them to worry.”
“Yeah, I know, but…” I trailed off as I realized what I was doing and sighed. “I get it, but there’s nothing I can do about it except quit my job, and I can’t do that. Asking me to fix this and stop getting hurt is the same as asking me to go back in time and never get the job to begin with. Once an Executioner, always an Executioner, with only a few, very rare exceptions. I’ve been doing the job too long to be able to walk away like those exceptions.” Like my semi-friend, Narumi, in the Pacific Northwest. The kitsune switched from Investigator to Executioner, then back again because they had needed someone for the job in her region. She hadn’t had the job long enough to make any real enemies.
“Forgive me, Lady Sahni,” Leith said, sighing heavily. “It’s been a stressful night.”
“No shit.” I looked over at him again, giving him the most exasperated look. “And I came here to rest and heal. I’ve been in a few hard fucking fights since this started, and I need to get off my feet before I fall off them.”
“Have a seat while I get a medical kit. Raphael, what’s in the bag?”
“A snake,” he answered. I watched the butler frown, confused.
“Another one? Kaliya—”
“He hitched a ride out of the prison without me catching him. He’s been following me around since,” I explained, meeting the butler’s confused gaze, watching the realization dawn on him, watching him remember the very snake that would be in the prison. “I need him for information, then he’s going back. I need a secure room to hold him until I’m ready to talk to him.”
“We kept the enclosure from the last time,” Leith informed me quickly, taking several steps away from the bag toward an archway. “It’s down in the basement.”
“I’ll take him.” Raphael grabbed the bag again. I wanted to say no, that I would, but once my ass hit the couch, there was no moving it. I was too tired, too hurt, too fucking dizzy, and there was no way I was going to manage more stairs.
“Nakul, if you leave that enclosure, I’ll kill you on sight,” I promised as they walked out of the room, knowing my uncle could hear me. Raphael held the bag uncomfortably as if he expected Nakul to pop out and argue with me, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. “No questions asked, no conversation to be had. You’ll just be dead. You can leave it when I come down to talk to you.”
I nodded at Raphael and let them walk out of the room. While they were gone, I considered the idea that Cassius and Sorcha had kept the temporary habitat. I didn’t even want to ask because it reeked of a private joke aimed at me.
I really hope Cassius didn’t tell her I sometimes like to sunbathe under my own heat lamp. That would be weird.
When they walked back in, my eyes were fighting to stay open.
“She needs to rest,” Leith whispered. “I trust you to wake her up. She needs those injuries cleaned and treated before she passes out.”
“I’m awake,” I informed him when he was done. “But thank you for the concern.”
“Of course, Lady Sahni,” he said gently, sitting on the small table in the center of the room, facing me. “Now, let’s see what’s wrong.”
“Who’s all here right now?”
“Just me and Terry,” he answered. “Hopefully, Lord Cassius and Lady Sorcha will be back soon.”
“Why don’t you just call them Cassius and Sorcha?” I was tired of the Lord and Lady business tonight. “You’ve worked for him forever, and you know he probably doesn’t care. I do it.”
“I’m not the leader of the nagas,” Leith reminded me.
“Ah, yeah. I am that, aren’t I?” I snorted. “Not that I really talk to any of them…”
“You okay?” Raphael sat next to me.
“Let’s just do this and let me get some sleep. It’s too cold.” As if on cue, I shivered.
Leith worked fast, patching up what he could. I winced as he stitched up some of the deeper cuts.
“Does she come here like this often?” my roommate asked, the nosy prick.
“Often enough,” the butler said ominously.
“Please, it’s only been a few times.”
“It’s always when you look bad. This is by far the worst I’ve seen you, and I saw how you looked when Lord Cassius brought you back from the fight with Sinclair,” Leith snapped. “You know I’m honored to work for a leader of my people. Lord Cassius, even though he passed up the throne, is a respected member of our community. He’s built bridges with different species and within our own since his father granted him title at his majority. He’s the only fae who claims to be a friend with the nagas, and you are the leader of them. I’ve been asked how it feels to work in a household that sees so many important people.” He gave me a hard stare, putting aside the needle he’d been using on my ribs. “I can’t tell them the leader of the nagas is constantly trying to get herself killed.”
“What is your deal tonight?” I demanded. “Shit, Leith, you normally aren’t such a fucking asshole.”
“He looks out for you, he worries about you, and when everything started happening, you didn’t come here straight away. He’s your ally, and I say you consider each other friends, but we were obviously the last option. You know he’ll be upset about it too. Locking down here is—”
In my haze, getting away from the place I killed Levi and Raphael helped me with those werewol
ves, I hadn’t considered why I had avoided the mansion for the entire night.
“All the important fae are missing,” I told him, watching how the butler reacted as I spoke. “You’re right. I’m the leader of the nagas, who are being silently exterminated. So, when all the fae I know in power suddenly disappear for whatever fucking reason, then there’s a massive prison breach where the inmates are trying to kill me, some consciously and some under spells, I get a little fucking paranoid. So, I didn’t come here.”
Leith’s eyes went wider and wider.
“You’re an Executioner. Why would they try to kill you? You’re supposed to be killing them. They’re the criminals and despots who escaped their cells when they should be serving time for the crimes they committed against the supernatural world and the Tribunal.”
“Someone wants me dead, and I don’t know who. For all I know, it could be one of the fae who conveniently went back to the fae lands right before it happened. See the problem?” I felt bitter all of a sudden. Everything I had ever done was to protect my people and uphold the Law. I gave both of those tasks everything, and I thought they were fairly honorable goals, even if the work I did for them wasn’t. I made mistakes and got people I cared about killed, but those were on me.
This was a grudge match, and I didn’t know who I was playing against.
“You don’t trust Lord Cassius?”
“I trust that he’s a loyal man who will do as he’s told, and someone could use that against him,” I explained. “But I’m here, so obviously, I didn’t really believe it.”
“It wasn’t Cassius that bothered her,” Raphael added. “It’s Sorcha, though don’t ask me about the politics.”
Leith looked like he had come upon some great discovery.
“Lady Sorcha does have a history of being on the wrong side of fae law,” Leith admitted softly. “Well, trust me when I say this, Lady Kaliya. Lady Sorcha is honorable in her own way, and she has never resorted to third parties to kill her enemies. And she’s never killed anyone else’s enemy for them. She’s an arms dealer, you see. Well, she was an arms dealer. Now, her most prized weapons float around in the world, and she’s working on getting them back. Anything she makes now is art out of silver and steel. Beautiful things. She only killed people who encroached on her business. She wasn’t an assassin like you, and she certainly has no reason to kill you. She only did business with fae.”