by K. N. Banet
New rule, no drinking around Raphael. Obviously, I have no self-control and can’t be trusted. I still barely fucking know the man, damn it. What is wrong with me?
I stripped and walked into my bathroom, washing my face with the coldest water I could get, then slammed my hand on the counter in frustration.
“Damn it!” I snapped. “He can’t…”
I had made a promise to myself that Raphael couldn’t know about the naga biology I was dealing with. He could never know he was a potential mate. If no one else knew, he certainly couldn’t.
I can play this off. Drunk, living with an attractive man, of course I would hit on him once, and I feel terrible. I’ll apologize to him tomorrow. He doesn’t need to know it’s not just that. He never has to know.
I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing the resolve in my own face.
Tomorrow, I could fix this.
First, I had to sleep and sober up.
I was up later than normal, groaning as I groped to hit my alarm. My room wasn’t cold, so I was able to roll out of bed without feeling too sluggish and made my way into my bathroom, looking for a bottle of painkillers I normally kept on hand.
As I took two, I thought about the night before.
It’s been years since I got that drunk. What the hell was I thinking?
Needless to say, it was going to be a night I would remember for a long time and a cautionary tale about why I slowed down my drinking habits years ago. It had been shortly after Cassius walked out, leaving behind our unhealthy relationship. I knew I had needed the wakeup call.
Throwing on clean clothes, I walked into the living room, smelling breakfast even though it was three in the afternoon. I walked quietly into the kitchen, but he knew I was coming. Raphael looked up the moment after I entered even though I hadn’t made a sound.
“Sorry about last night,” I said, tapping my hand on the counter anxiously. “I was drunk—”
“I get it. It’s fine,” he said, looking back down at the eggs he was making. “But…” he sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Okay. I just don’t want things to be awkward. You still have to live with me for eight more months, and I didn’t want you to think I was actually trying to jump you or something.” I wasn’t sure where to go from there. If he was cool, I should have been cool, but for some reason, I wasn’t. I wasn’t cool in the slightest, which really annoyed me.
“Do you want bacon?” he asked softly, looking over at me again.
“No thanks,” I said with a snap he didn’t deserve, regretting it immediately.
“What?” he demanded, his chocolate eyes narrowing.
“Nothing.” I walked around him to get to the fridge and pulled out a breakfast shake. I hoped it would settle my stomach without needing to eat anything more. Before I could bring myself to leave the kitchen, I turned to him and tried to speak without hostility, keeping myself from being aggressive. “What were you going to say?”
“Nothing,” he answered, keeping his eyes on his food.
“Don’t bullshit me. I came out here and apologized, but you’re obviously holding something back.” I wished there wasn’t a little bit of desperation in that, but Raphael was so good at keeping himself locked off from me, and it was driving me up the wall. I finally had the chance to hear what he was thinking, and I knew I wasn’t going to.
“It’s nothing,” he repeated, no anger in his words, but there was a definite feeling he wanted me to drop it. “You propositioned me last night, then you freaked out. You were drunk. I get it. It happens. No harm, no foul. What else I was thinking is my business.”
“Fine.” I turned and walked out again, opening the shake. Going to the patio, I fell into a seat, soaking up the heat of the sun. In the winter, it didn’t get much warmer than the sixties, but it was better than nothing.
I wanted to be angrier than I had any right to be. He was allowed his own thoughts, but the immature part of me wanted to get a little saw, open up his head, and figure out what he was thinking, going directly to the source.
I hate this. I hate that I even fucking care. I hate biology.
I stared at my view from the wraparound rooftop patio and sighed heavily.
4
Chapter FOUR
“I’m going to the gym,” I called out after the sun went down. I had spent the entire day reading on my patio to avoid Raphael, my biological urges, and the frustration that came from both.
“Okay.”
I knew he was in the living room, reading printouts about species he probably found on the database. I printed out dozens of them, anything I thought he might run into. He spent at least four to five nights a week reading through them over and over, but I had no idea how much he was learning. He didn’t ask me many questions, and I knew better than to pry.
I stomped into the gym and got to work, hoping physical exhaustion would chase away the remainder of the hangover and my attitude.
Never in my life have I ever bitten my tongue so fucking much, yet he’s got me biting my tongue and toning myself down every fucking second of the day.
I was halfway through my planned three-hour workout when my phone rang. I slammed the stop button on the treadmill, hissing as it interrupted the music I had been listening to. The caller ID showed a private number with no other information for me to glean. Whoever was calling could have been anyone, and that pissed me off more.
“Kaliya Sahni speaking. Who’s this?” I demanded, leaning on the front of the treadmill, wondering who was dumb enough to call me. The Tribunal, my bosses, had made it a point to leave me alone since the Sinclair and Mygi incident that left me living with Raphael. I actively avoided the vampires in Phoenix because their Mistress was furious with me and would be for a long time. I didn’t talk much with the local werewolf pack or anyone else, so I was left annoyed and confused by the sudden unknown caller.
“It’s Tarak, from the prison,” a smooth, accented voice answered. “I called my contact with the Tribunal to get your number.”
I sighed. Tarak was one of the head honchos of the prison down in the Sonoran Desert. Specifically, he was one of the three Wardens, and even more specifically, he was the werewolf Alpha who kept the other furry moon-cursed in line. He was a beautiful and very dangerous Apache who had been a werewolf longer than I had even been alive. He was a werewolf before the War even started. My little slice of desert had more ancient werewolves than any other place in the world. Most wolves just didn’t live that long.
If he was calling me, he wanted something.
“Is there trouble?” I asked, getting off the treadmill as I realized my night was probably ruined.
“Actually, no. We’re late on a Tribunal review. They’ve told me, in no uncertain terms, you need to get here and get it done. They left it to me to call you.”
“Oh, are you fucking serious?” I asked, snappy as I jumped off the treadmill. “Is it really time for a review?”
“They want one, and they’re going to have it. They’re my bosses as much as yours, so yes, it’s time for a review. I’m going to need you to do a walkthrough and verify we’re doing everything they want.” Tarak didn’t sound pleased, either, but he had a point. The Tribunal called the shots.
“How late are we with this?” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d walked through the prison just to have a look. It wasn’t recently, which meant we probably were behind, but I wanted to verify. Half the time, I forgot it was even a duty I had.
“The last time we sent in a report about the status of my prison was six years ago,” he answered. “You’ve visited since, but for…other duties. Technically, we’re nearly a year late.”
“Damn it, I knew I should have written those visits up. This is by far the stupidest duty I have. Fucking hate this stupid paperwork shit.”
“I also find it foolish. I can easily write reports with the other Wardens, but they really want someone to walk through who reports closer to them. Is Cassius in town a
gain? I heard he was, but I was told to reach out to you, not him.” Tarak sounded disappointed. I couldn’t blame him. Cassius was better at this than I ever was. My region never had a permanently stationed investigator aside from Cassius, and he had bolted from my region when we ended our terribly thought-out relationship.
“He has moved back to Arizona with his wife, Lady Sorcha,” I answered, leaning on the wall of the gym. I looked out for anyone, but I knew the gym didn’t have audio surveillance, so I was comfortable talking as long as I was alone. “But they were just called back to the fae lands. If they haven’t left yet, they will soon. The timing of this sucks, Tarak. I have someone under my protection right now.”
“I heard, but you know how people get when I need to call them in from other regions,” he said almost kindly. “They wouldn’t even know what to do. You and Cassius have handled this for a long time, so no one else has had to.”
“I’m going to have to bring him,” I said, running a hand over my sweaty hair, pulled back in a ponytail. “I’m not allowed to leave him alone for very long, and a trip to the prison generally takes a long time.”
“I can up security for your visit if that worries you, but I would rather you bring him here than piss off our bosses. Callahan made it clear he didn’t appreciate the ‘air of laziness’ the prison gave from its lateness with reports. Dian and Eliphas also got phone calls, chewing them out. I think Hasan is making the Tribunal clean house,” Tarak mumbled, a little bitter. “That fucking werecat. Comes back and stirs up shit.”
“I barely know him. Only met him the once and really don’t want to meet him again,” I said, ignoring Tarak’s tone. I also recognized the names of the fae Warden and the witch Warden. Between the three of them, they had what felt like a small army of Tribunal guards who could handle anything. They had two types of magic and a pack of wolves.
Only the best criminals ever escaped, then they became mine to deal with.
“You were trained by his son,” the werewolf reminded me.
“Yeah, and?” I snorted, walking for the door of the gym. So were a handful of other Executioners and a couple of freelance assassins, pretending to be normal bounty hunters. “I can be there in two nights. Does that work?”
“Yeah. Sooner the better. I’ll put you on my schedule, and if anyone calls and bothers me, I’ll at least be able to tell them you’re on your way. Let me know what sort of security you want for that…”
“Yeah. His name is Raphael, and I don’t know what to call him, either.” Chuckling, I opened the door and walked to the elevator, waving at the janitor who handled the common areas of the building. He was the only supernatural who operated in the building other than me. A troll who could make a human glamour, he stayed out of everyone’s way. I’d known him for over two decades and got him the job in the building when it was built. “Let’s just call him human for now and leave it at that.”
“We can do that,” Tarak agreed softly. “Well, two nights from now. See you then.”
“Yup.” I hung up and stepped into the elevator when it opened. Leaning on the back wall I resisted the urge to dent the metal with a punch as I thought about dragging Raphael to a prison.
I walked into my condo and looked around, frowning when I couldn’t find said not-human. I jogged up the stairs to the bedrooms and knocked on his.
“Hey, Raphael?”
“Yeah?” he called out.
“We need to talk. Something came up, and I want to get it all planned out ASAP.”
“Give me a moment.”
Shrugging, I walked back downstairs, noting how he neatly put all the dossiers I made on supernaturals on the small table that was becoming his desk. I didn’t need to eat for a few more days, but I knew I needed to make a plan if I was going to be exposing myself to the criminals of the prison. I grabbed a premade protein shake from the fridge.
I should eat tomorrow, so I’m not sluggish, but I have energy. I can’t survive on shakes. Not if I’m going to maybe run into…
As I finished the shake and threw the container away, a cold rush hit me.
Ah, shit. He’s still going to be there. He’s always going to be there.
I tried to take a deep breath, tried to banish the face from my mind, but it was difficult. It was hard to forget the face of one of my own people—especially that one.
“Are you okay?”
I looked up and nodded, glad for his sudden appearance.
“Yeah, I’m fine. So, I just got off the phone with a colleague, Tarak, one of the Wardens of the prison. The Tribunal is giving him a hard time about getting a report done and turned in. We’re a little late, so we need to go down there two nights from now and do a walkthrough.” I was rambling, but the longer I looked at him, the more I relaxed. There was no reason to worry about Nakul. He was behind bars. “It should be routine. In and out, and no dealing with prisoners for the most part. Tarak already assured me he’d up security for our visit, thanks to your presence.”
“I have to go?” he asked, frowning. He had one of those frowns that was too severe, but it, like every other expression, looked good on him.
I licked my lips, considering his question, and caught something in his scent I wasn’t expecting. I had been staring at him but hadn’t been looking for the right things. His cheeks were a little flushed, and his chest was moving a bit more than it normally did as if he had just exerted himself. The taste in the air was sexual arousal and sweat.
The questions raised were something I needed to come back to later because he was looking for an answer.
“Yeah, you do. I promised Hasan and the rest of the Tribunal you would stay with me, and this is something that will take longer than a couple of hours. I can fudge those rules in the building when we go to the gym at different times, or I let you sneak off into the grocery store while I wait in the car, but…”
“You can’t leave me for most of the day and night,” he said, his sigh punctuated with annoyance.
“Yeah. For practical reasons, it’s better that you’re seen with me. They’ll know we’re taking this protection detail and training seriously. Plus, the prison will tell the Tribunal about my visit, so they’ll note you aren’t with me for the eight hours a walkthrough could possibly take. On top of that, even driving fast, it can be a two-hour drive there and back…”
“I understand.”
With that, there was a heavy silence between us, and I watched his face as his eyes turned thoughtful.
“Is that why you came back from the gym early? To tell me that?” he asked, looking down at his hands on the kitchen counter.
“Yeah. Well, not all of it. If I’m taking you to the prison, there’s more you’ll need to quickly learn about how to stay out of trouble there. It’s not a great place to make enemies, believe me.”
Ooh. I did come back really early…no wonder I might have interrupted something he was doing, he probably doesn’t want me to bring up.
“Oh, I can only imagine,” he mumbled. “Teach away.”
“Really? You have no problem going with me?” I had expected more of a fight. Now that I didn’t have one, I was downright confused.
“I know we got off to a rocky start, but it’s been four months. I know you’re trying to help me and do your job outside of my…problems. Let’s get started, and hopefully I won’t be in your way.”
I watched him walk out of the kitchen into the living room. I spent a moment to be grateful. I had no idea what Raphael was thinking most of the time, but he was a sponge for new information, like when I had met him. His level of understanding was damn near touching.
Before I walked out to tell him more, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Cassius a quick text explaining the situation. I didn’t think I would get a response, but it was worth a try. Maybe Cassius could put off his visit to the fae lands for a few days.
I put the phone down and walked into the living room, glad to see Raphael was waiting on the couch, holding his stacks of dos
siers on supernaturals.
“I’m going to teach you the protocol of the prison and how it’s run, then who to avoid,” I explained, taking them from him. “You might need these if you want to know more about someone’s species, but really? This is only in case we need to go into the yard.”
“Okay…” He seemed tentative, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him.
5
Chapter Five
“Okay, go through it again,” I said patiently, keeping my eyes on the road. Raphael groaned. I was asking him to talk through the planned evening ahead of us—for the fourth time in less than two hours.
“We’re going to be let in by a fae and a witch who monitor the magic they use to mark the border of the prison’s land.” He seemed bored, which I didn’t know if I liked. He was quietly confident about our visit to the prison as if he wasn’t worried about anyone there giving him a hard time. “If they don’t approve of us, we set off the alarms, and the werewolf pack that the Tribunal keeps on hand treats us like enemies, trying to break out the prison’s inhabitants.”
“Good. What’s next?”
“Some of those wolves will meet us on the road and run with the vehicle until we reach the actual guard gate. The guards at the gate check our IDs, and the wolves will back off and continue patrolling the desert. We’ll be allowed in, and you’ll take us to the parking lot, where we’ll probably be met by one of the Wardens.” He sighed. “Then we go inside with whoever that is. Tarak is the werewolf, Dian is the fae, and Eliphas is the witch. They’re all called witches, right? Not warlocks or anything?”
“Depends on where you live and what type of magic they do. It’s something they pay attention to, but not really anyone else does. Any human who dabbles in magic is a witch in our eyes, and whatever rules or terms they want to use is their own business.”
“Our?” Raphael gave me a strange look I caught out of the corner of my eye.
