The Black Knights

by Matilda Reyes

  Great. He wanted to make friends with our prisoner.

  Worse, Nicholas was intimidated by Jones, who’d taken on the role of the hard-ass in Jordan’s absence. He didn’t love Hernandez or Marin either. They were too tough on him, drilling him on details during every free moment.

  “Why don’t they understand that I’ve got it under control?” he grumbled. “I don’t see the point in all this preparation. I should be out in the field already.”

  “No one goes out into the field unprepared, especially someone doing undercover work. Hernandez is good at what he does. Trust him.”

  “Brett wants to bring me to a bar where he rendezvoused with other cult members in the past. Marin is against it.”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t want alcohol impairing your judgment. If Brett wants to escape, all he has to do is get you drunk enough or drug you to make your attention slip.”

  “It will not happen,” he snapped. “I trust Brett. He’s not going to pull anything on me. More than that, trust me to handle myself.”

  I banged my head against my desk a few times. “I’m just explaining the potential reasons for not moving forward. Of course, I trust you. You’re doing great. Just give it a few more days. Let them reconnoiter the bar to get a feel for it before you go in. Devise a plan. Talk to Hernandez. I’m sure he’s already thought this through.”

  Nicholas sucked his teeth loud enough for me to hear. The sound made my skin crawl and curled my hand into an automatic fist.

  “I know that you’re busy with all your paperwork, so why don’t you let the mission staff figure out the logistics? We know what’s most appropriate for this situation. I’ll update you when I have time. Candice and I are going for a drive.”

  Red film clouded my vision as he disconnected the call. Putting aside that my former-and-wannabe boyfriend was a complete snot, a subordinate was getting lippy with me about details I had every right to discuss. Someone would have to bring him to heel, and it would be all sorts of wrong if I had to do it. I had to trust Hernandez and Jones to follow my instructions of keeping Nicholas grounded and in line or I’d lose my ever-loving mind.

  Voss entered my office. “Want the short update or the one that will take a few hours?”

  “Short, please.”

  “Everything’s fine. Missions went well. Training is on schedule. Logistics are moving along. Even Esai is behaving, well, mostly. I’ll let Mikael talk to you about that. Otherwise, this machine is running smoothly.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I said. “Jordan and Mikael will join us in a few minutes. Then I’m meeting with Danny, meditating with Dakarai, and going over the training module before I come back to do another mission assessment.”

  “How’s it going? With Nicholas as the main player, I mean.”

  Voss knew me, and by default, Nicholas, too well for me to lie. He’d had to put up with his paranoid phone calls searching me out, making sure I hadn’t died while he wasn’t looking. He’d also endured questioning on how much work I’d done and with whom I was working more often than either of us cared to admit. I tried to smile.

  “He’s enjoying the experience.”

  “California is nice,” he said.

  Mikael saved us from an awkward conversation with his arrival, Jordan in tow.

  “Jones called me this morning,” said Jordan. “He thinks that St. Nick is getting too friendly with Brett. They were up late watching movies and joking around. So was Candice. Smith stayed up to ensure Brett tried nothing. It’s concerning.”

  My worries had been spot on. I’d have to broach this with Nicholas. If not me, one of the team members on site would have to speak with him. No, it couldn’t be me. He’d only take it personally and ignore my advice. Shit. It was never this difficult with my friends. Nicholas was giving Esai a run for the most annoying colleague and we’d only been working together for a week. “I’ll handle it,” I said, biting back on a sigh.

  “Danny canceled our meeting and sent a report instead. There are a few outbreaks of Balance-threatening activity unrelated to the cult. He wants to do more research before presenting it to you. Nothing new on the cult front. The scouting teams have been successful in squashing all but the Los Angeles scene. If we shut down those blocs, we may end this once and for all.” Mikael put down the sheaths of papers and grinned. “You’ve done it.”

  “Don’t celebrate too early,” I warned him. “We have to infiltrate the cult, isolate and nab Carlo, and shut them down. This is bigger than anything we’ve ever done.”

  “If anyone can do it, you can,” said Voss. “Count on me to keep things running here while you kill people. Now that Jordan’s back, I’m not worried about Mikael and me watching your rear. He’s a one-man army.”

  Mikael pouted. “I miss the field. Although my ribs have not healed and it is not helpful to send me out so soon.”

  Phew. That was an argument I did not want to have. Mikael’s fighting performance had declined for reasons none of us, including him, could figure out. I needed him back here, handling all the little things that needed my attention. He was invaluable to the team where he was.

  “What is this problem with Esai?” I asked, glad that we were flying through our agenda. I loved working with these men. They valued brevity as much as I appreciated caffeine, more than I adored concealer and eyeshadow.

  Mikael and Voss exchanged uneasy glances. Mikael crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. No, shrunk back in his chair was a more accurate description. “Despite my best efforts, I could not dissolve this problem. I tried,” he said, “but they are persistent. I don’t know what to do and Voss, well, he is too busy to handle them.”

  “Them? Who are you talking about? Tell me.”

  “Remember Esai’s friends? The ones from South America who came here with him?” I nodded and gestured for him to continue. “They have expressed unhappiness that their members are not recruited for the assassins. Their complaints are being heard by others, and the gossip has made its way to me.”

  Voss continued, “I don’t know if it will turn into anything major or if it will amount to nothing more than sour grapes. Esai isn’t discouraging them.”

  “I’ll talk to Esai,” growled Jordan. “I told him to treat you with respect.”

  “No,” I said quickly. “Unless it’s a pressing issue, I will put them on the back burner until this mission is over.” I glanced over as my phone rang. Nicholas. “I have to take this. It’s the team.”

  They gestured to the phone without getting up. If it was about the mission, it wasn’t private. All three of them deserved to be in this room.

  “Hi,” I said. “You’re on with a room full of people.”

  “Take me off the speaker,” said Nicholas. “This is private.”

  I picked up the handset. “What’s up?”

  “Did you tell Jones to spy on me? He cornered me about staying up late last night. Am I not allowed to watch movies?”

  My temper snapped. “Stop being such a newb. You’re not on vacation and Brett is not your pal. Focus on the mission and get it done.”

  Jordan gestured at me and mouthed that I should make peace with Nicholas.

  “Don’t you think I have a plan?” he demanded. “I know what I’m doing. Brett doesn’t trust anyone else. He’s scared that they’ll kill him in his sleep. Even Marin. I need him to feel comfortable with me. How else is he going to back me up? Never mind. You have zero idea of what this requires. I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain.”

  “Zero ideas? This was my plan! I interrogated the prisoner. I hand-selected your handlers. I even approved the flight schedule and signed the rental agreement on the house you’re staying in. This is your first real mission, not mine, so please don’t act like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

  Nicholas swore at me in terms I didn’t think he knew how to use. “Dammit, Jas. For once in your life, you’re not the big badass. I am. Let me do my jo
b and accept your role on the sidelines.”

  Whoa.

  Given the looks on their faces, Nicholas had yelled loud enough for my guests to hear what had been said. Voss and Mikael averted their eyes while Jordan’s bored into my damn soul as if he could see the wound that Nicholas had salted.

  “Make nice,” he whispered. “We’ll punch it out later.”

  Since it would have been unprofessional, not to mention humiliating, to cry in front of them, I plastered a smile on my face to match my saccharine tone. “You can’t talk like this, Nicholas. I don’t care if you’re angry. It’s wrong, and it hurts my feelings. Can you get it together? For me?”

  “Maybe you should get your updates through Jordan. He can talk to Hernandez. You’re too emotional about this.”

  Steam might as well have come out of my ears. Esai had once said the same thing. If I wasn’t mistaken, Nicholas had a new friend who didn’t like me. The two of them must have been talking, and it was taking a toll on the mission. “We’ll figure it out,” I said, my voice still drenched in honey. “I have to dive into a load of paperwork like you wouldn’t believe. I was gone for a few days, and it all went to hell. Call me tonight? Just to talk?”

  Nicholas huffed. “Yeah, sure. I don’t want to argue with you, sweetheart. I think that you should step back from this mission. We can’t work together because you don’t trust my judgment and I’m the only one who can pull this off. You need me.”

  Mikael coughed. Voss stared at the ceiling. Jordan snorted. I rolled my eyes. We should have waited and trained someone else. Anyone else. Hell, even Esai would have been a better option. Esai, the bane of my existence on many levels.

  “You’re right. Focus on training today, okay?”

  Nicholas agreed and hung up the phone.

  “Shut up,” I snarled.

  “Not that you don’t already know this,” said Jordan, “but you have every right to question what everyone does at any moment. You’re still the boss, no matter how much you delegate. Talk to Hernandez. He’ll whip him into shape.”

  Voss scratched the back of his neck. “I know he’s your boyfriend and all…”

  “Ex-boyfriend.”

  “Still. He thinks he still has the freedom to talk to you. His subordination is galling. It’s a shame he doesn’t work for us full time. Firing him would have been satisfying.”

  I raised my brow at Mikael, daring him to speak.

  He shrugged. “What do you want me to say? The way he yells at you, I dislike it. If you would allow me, I will tell him as much.”

  “I will not allow you, and I thank all three of you for not butting into my personal life.”

  “An operative is yelling at the head of the assassins. That’s not personal. He’s jeopardizing the most crucial mission we’ve had in years all for his ego.” Voss shook his head. “What happened to him? I thought he was such a nice guy.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. “St. Nick got a taste of what it’s like to be important, and it’s gone to his head. He thinks he knows better than the experts and is swinging his—”

  “Whoa, buddy. Language.”

  “His new best pal isn’t helping matters,” he finished.

  I itched to take off one of my pointy heels and fling it at someone’s head. Considering all three men were on my side, my conscience wouldn’t let me hurt them, at least not this time. Instead, I forced that smile back on my face. “Did we miss anything on the agenda? If not, I will start my meditation session early. Or take a nap. Or punch something. Anything to get away from this damn phone.”

  Rising in unison, they filtered past me, each patting my hand or shoulder, and exited my office, leaving me with pressure in my chest, tears in my eyes, and a whole lot of rage flowing through my veins.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  FOUL THOUGHTS SWIRLED IN my head, a vicious stew of anger and violence and self-pity. I wanted to strangle Nicholas. I was sick of his attitude. Jordan was right. He’d gotten a taste of what it was like to be someone within the Order, first as my boyfriend and now as a team operative. The team operative. He thought that he was better than the rest of us. He wasn’t an assassin, but we needed him. He was a healer, a mediator, a good guy. I was just… his ex-and-future girlfriend, at least in his eyes. An incompetent, inexperienced, unprepared kid taking on a role too big for her. There was a tinge of sexism in there, the way he looked to Jordan, who he couldn’t stand, rather than me. I hated that it made me feel unworthy, that he’d made me feel like an idiot in front of my friends and colleagues. He may have wanted a more sedate Jasper. I wanted this version of Nicholas gone.

  The door to the meditation room appeared in front of me. I wasn’t sure how I got there so lost in my thoughts. My feet had taken me to where I needed to go. The meditation room was as much of a sanctuary as it was a classroom. It was there that Dakarai had taught me how to control my abilities and where we’d tested out my capacity to manage the powers I’d inherited from my dead siblings. Dakarai had also taught me to quiet my mind and set aside the ire that sometimes threatened to overwhelm me. The room had also become a place where I’d hide from the frenetic energy that filled my life.

  Opening the door, I found Dakarai laughing with his newest, and only other, protégé, Adriana. The fourteen-year-old had a way of bringing out a lightness in him. She was a kindred spirit, able to sense changes in the Balance and read auras. She understood him better than most, even me.

  Her mass of curls quivered with each tickled gasp and wheeze. Dakarai wiped a tear that streamed down his cheek and beamed at me.

  “You’re early! Wonderful. Adriana and I were just discussing the time you set Mikael on fire when you were learning how to control your abilities.”

  Adriana patted his hand. “Dakarai used his memories to show me the way you two ran around, flapping your hands.”

  I was in no mood to entertain a kid barely old enough to walk to school on her own. “Glad I could amuse you,” I snarled. “I came here for quiet.”

  Dakarai sobered. “Is this about Nicholas?”

  I threw a pointed look at Adriana. “We can talk about it later. And yes.”

  “Dude,” said Adriana, “I’m not too young to hear about your man problems. Besides, I might have insight. Men are only overgrown boys, and I deal with loads of idiots at school.”

  “I don’t have man problems. This is about work, and you’re too young for that.” I blew out a breath. “Sorry for being so cranky. I need a good meditation to clear my head.”

  “Dakarai says that we will work on magic next. Since I’m his mentee and you’re sorta still his mentee, he said it makes sense to teach us at the same time.”

  I arched a brow and glowered at Dakarai. “What happened to privacy? You know I’m not supposed to talk about certain things.”

  “And I have not revealed everything. If Adriana is to ascend to the leadership of the Order in the years to come, she should know what I know, at least parts. The magic practiced by our ancestors should be passed down.”

  Adriana crossed her arms. “I have a proposition for you. I’ll teach you how to read auras if you teach me how to fight.”

  “I can already read auras.”

  “No, you can’t,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone that made me want to throw something at her pert, upturned nose. The sass on this child was maddening. “From what I’ve been told, you can see aura colors. Do you even know what they mean?”

  “Um, not really. Why does it matter?”

  “Um, because,” said Adriana. “I can’t teach you to read an aura in the middle of a fight, but you can learn loads about people if they stay still long enough. Why don’t you want to learn? Is it because of me? Did I do something wrong?”

  I glanced at Dakarai, silently begging him to intervene. He crossed his arms, leaned back against the wall and waited for my answer. The jerk. I was starting to think he liked her better than me.

  “Reading auras sounds like fun. My time is limited, and I don’t t
hink I have the energy to learn something else.”

  “Or do you not want to train me? Because you’re the only person I can ask. Mikael is afraid of me because I hit on him the last time I saw him. He’s like a rabbit. I don’t get it. And Jordan.” She paused and fanned herself. “I can’t even bring myself to talk to him without giggling. How can he be so hot and so scary at the same time?”

  Girl, every woman in the compound has asked themselves that same question. I forced myself to smile. “He trained me, and I can be just as scary. My workouts aren’t like a gym class. I train assassins.”

  “I want to learn how to defend myself from the idiots at school who think it’s funny to mess with me.”

  Dakarai made sure I saw his focus jumping back and forth between the back of her head and me. Okay, I got it. Messaged received. “We’ll make time,” I said. “Meditation, magic, reading auras, and self-defense. Yay.”

  Adriana clapped her hands and turned to Dakarai, a massive grin on her still-childlike face. “I know you said that she’d say yes. I didn’t believe you. This is awesome. I get to teach her something and learn from the biggest badass of the Order.”

  “Language,” he chided. “Your mother would not be pleased to hear you saying, ‘badass.’ Shall we get started?”

  Adriana gathered her voluminous corkscrew curls into a messy bun at the nape of her neck as if it could tone down her excitement. She lowered herself onto her meditation pillow and formed her hands into her preferred mudras, giving us a beatific smile. I plopped down and used my hands to haul my legs into the proper position. Dakarai led us through one of my favorite meditations, a routine called loving-kindness, where you sent out good vibes to the world and to yourself. In the wake of my negative thoughts, I needed this more than Dakarai could have known. Maybe he knew. Whatever. It chilled me out and brought me to a place where I could focus again.