by B N Miles
She nodded seriously. “You’re right. Good thinking.” He got to his feet, helped her up, and put his pants back on. Together they left the room and headed toward the yard.
42
Jared found Lumi standing over Hank as he bared his teeth and struggled against her magic, but she had him pinned. There was no running from a Magi with that sort of power once she got her claws into him.
Cassie trotted over to a pile of clothes in the corner of the yard and began to get dressed as Jared hurried to Jessalene’s side. She was leaning against the tree, her eyes closed. They opened once he slowed and knelt down in front of her.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself.” He took her hand. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Lumi fixed me.” She held up her arm. The wound was no longer bleeding, but it still looked nasty. “Although the paralytic thing he gave me hasn’t worn off yet.”
“Anything else hurt?”
She shook her head. “Just my pride. He got the drop on me.”
“Don’t worry. He’s a professional. I doubt you had much of a chance.”
She clenched her jaw and met his eyes. “What happens now?” she asked.
“Now we find Wen Bet’s body, confirm that he’s dead, confirm when he died, and get your damn land back.” He leaned down and kissed her gently. “It’ll be over soon, Jessa.”
She leaned her head back and smiled. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“Stay here, don’t move. I have to call this in, okay?”
“Okay.” She let out a sigh as he stood, took his phone from his pocket, and called Wyatt. He saw Cassie trot over to Jessalene from the corner of his eye as he stomped over the long ropes of braided grass and broken branches of the twisted tree.
“Sir?” he asked when his Captain answered.
“Where the hell have you been?” Wyatt demanded. “I’ve been—”
“We have a situation. I caught an assassin, Jessalene is injured, and I believe we have the location of the Elf, Wen Bet. He’s dead, sir.”
Wyatt was quiet for a long moment. “You’ve been busy. Text your location. I’ll dispatch backup.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jared hung up, texted the address, and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
He knelt back down next to Jessalene and Cassie.
“I don’t like the look of that arm,” Cassie said, gingerly touching Jessa’s hand.
“She’s okay,” Jared said. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m good.” Jessalene managed a smile. “That fucker got me.”
Rage flashed into Cassie’s eyes. “I should’ve ripped his head off.”
“I’m pretty sure you broke a few ribs at least,” Jared said with a shrug. “But don’t worry. He’s not going to see the light of day for a very, very long time.”
Cassie stroked Jessa’s hair and Jared stood. He nodded at them then walked over to where Lumi stood, arms crossed, staring at Hank. The Dryad was locked to the ground, not struggling, not fighting. Lumi’s wards glowed bright, but she gave no outward indication that she was fueling them.
“Guess your plan didn’t work out,” Jared said to the Dryad.
“Worth a try,” Hank said. “Didn’t expect a Shifter back here.”
“She’s a Were,” Jared said. “And you’re under arrest.”
Hank just smiled.
“Can I torture him?” Lumi asked, tilting her head. “It’ll be so easy. Just break a few bones. Maybe cut open his stomach, show him his entrails. That usually works.”
“Lumi,” Jared said.
She sighed. “I know, I know.”
He put an arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him. She let out a breath. Jared’s desire flared, just his normal human emotions nagging him, pushing him to use more magic, to tear that Dryad apart, to fuck Cassie and Jessa and Lumi right then and there. He closed his eyes and pushed it away. He had it bad enough with the Need.
“Go check on Jessa. I think she’d like that.”
Lumi looked at him. “Really?”
“Really. You helped fix her.”
She bit her lip then nodded. “Okay. Yeah. I didn’t do much, though. Stopped the bleeding then came out to watch you.” She looked him in the eyes. “You have a lot of potential, Bechtel.”
“I’m well aware of that, Medlar.” He grinned at her. “I’ll watch him until backup comes.”
Lumi pulled away, giving Hank a look as she went.
Jared stood there, watching the Dryad, who just stared back at him with a little smile.
“How long do you think you’ll survive in prison?” Jared asked. “You’ll probably make it through your time at the local jail. But when they move you to Max, how long do you think? I’m sure you have enemies there, and I’m positive the Medlar can reach inside.”
Hank grunted in response. “I’m not sure,” he said.
“The Medlar are going to kill you. You have to know that.”
“I suspect someone will try.”
“Then tell me this. Why are you still here?”
Hank grinned at him. “Good question.”
“You killed your target. Why would you stick around for so long?”
“They weren’t done with me. Had me on retainer, said there were other targets I’d need to deal with.” He let out a breath. “I knew I should’ve left after that first kill, but the money was too good. They asked if I could handle a rogue Magi.”
Jared narrowed his eyes as his mind began to work double time. “I see,” he said, trying not to show anything on his face.
“Don’t think you can get me to talk more,” Hank said. “I know what this means for me. Even if I gave you everything, it won’t help at all. And I do have my pride, you know.”
Jared shrugged. He could hear sirens in the distance, getting louder as they approached. They were going to have a lot of work to do, cleaning up memories, clearing out this yard. It still smelled like burnt flesh and smoked grass, and the air was gray with ash.
“We’ll see,” he said, his eyes moving back toward the tree where Jessalene was sitting. He watched as Lumi said something to her, and Jessa smiled in return. Lumi reached out and stroked her hair, and Cassie beamed at both of them.
“You shouldn’t have fucked with my girls,” Jared said, his voice low, and walked away from the Dryad.
He lingered, watching Lumi. He felt a strange pride at how well she was starting to get along with Jessa and Cassie. But that pride didn’t last long. It was replaced with a deep, intense fear, and a strange sense of pity.
Her own family was trying to kill her.
The fucking bastards.
They planned on using Hank to finish her off, probably too lazy or too arrogant to find another assassin. That got him caught in the end. It kept him around the city for too long.
And now Lumi was going to know that her family wanted her dead. Jared didn’t know how she’d react to that, but he suspected it wouldn’t be pretty.
He shook his head and waited for backup.
43
Jessa’s eyes fluttered open as the soft beeping sound of her heart monitor and the whooshing of the air system filled the otherwise silent hospital room. The fluorescent lighting was enough to make anyone look sicker than they were, but Jessa still managed to seem both poised and beautiful.
Jared leaned over her and pushed the hair from her face. She had the thin blanket pulled up to her chin and wore a hospital gown, despite her protests. The floors were off-white and the walls were painted a strange cream color, and the cabinets and closets had an old fake wooden look, probably an attempt to make the space feel more comfortable.
“Hey,” he said as she smiled at him.
“Hey yourself. Did I fall asleep?”
“For a little bit. Probably a good thing. Gave Lumi and Cassie a chance to go get some food.”
“They’ve been here the whole time?”
Jared nodded. “Haven’t left your side for a second.”
“Huh.” She sighed. “I’m fine, you know. I can’t believe they made me put this thing on.”
He laughed. “But you look so cute in your gown.”
“Shut up.”
“I mean it. Really sexy. Suits you.”
“I swear, I’m going to get up and beat you senseless.”
“Doubtful.” He grinned at her and leaned closer. “So are you really okay?”
“Arm hurts,” she admitted. “But the paralytic feels like it’s wearing off.”
“All right. That’s good.” He hesitated. “The doctors were worried about you. Said they’d never seen anything like what Hank gave you.”
“Doctors are all full of shit.”
Jared laughed. “I’m not so sure that’s true, but okay.”
“Listen, when can we get out of here?” she asked. “We have a lot of work to do.”
“Slow down,” he said, touching her hand. “You need to heal. Hank’s in custody and we have plenty of time now. I heard from your council and apparently all legal proceedings to buy your land have been halted.”
Jessa let out a choked laugh and closed her eyes. She blinked them open again, tears at the edges. “That’s good,” she said
“Yeah,” Jared agreed. “It’s good.” He squeezed her hand then kissed her cheek. There was a knock at the door and Jared half turned to spot Wyatt standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.
“Miss Dorvahn,” he said. “You’re looking well.”
“Hello, Captain.” She smiled at him. “Lovely of you to visit.”
“Yes, ah, well. I’m actually here to speak with Jared.”
“You could at least pretend,” she said with a smile.
He laughed. “Jared?”
Jared nodded and gave Jessalene a look. “Cassie and Lumi will be back soon and I’ll be just outside the room, okay?”
“Jared, I’m fine. Stop acting like I’m an invalid. Go ahead and talk with Wyatt.”
He nodded, stood, and followed Wyatt out into the hall. Their room was across from a nurse’s station, and several women in scrubs gave the two of them strange looks. Jared hated hospitals, always had, and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was breaking some kind of rule at all times.
“Listen,” Wyatt said, moving Jared away from the station and over toward a supply closet. They stopped there and his Captain turned to him. “We finished our sweep of that house.”
“Anything good?”
“A few traps,” he said. “That laptop sitting alone in a room? That was rigged to explode. Almost got a tech killed.”
Jared shook his head, “That fucking assassin.”
“I agree. But we managed to defuse it. We ended up with those two computers, but there wasn’t much else, aside from a shit load of plants.”
“He admitted that he’s working for the Medlar,” Jared said, his voice low. “That has to mean something.”
“It does,” Wyatt said. “But not as much as you’d think. The Medlar could just deny it. We need hard proof.”
“What’s on that laptop?”
“So far, nothing. The hard drive is encrypted, but we’re working on it.”
Jared shook his head, frustration rising. “So you’re telling me that we have nothing to go after the Medlar with?”
“I’m telling you to be patient. Son, you’ve done enough, you know that, right?”
Jared looked away from Wyatt and back toward Jessalene’s room. She was injured, lying in a hospital bed because he couldn’t protect her. The idea that he’d done enough made his skin crawl.
“Not yet,” he said. “Not even close.”
Wyatt let out a breath. “You caught a wanted assassin, Jared. That Dryad’s on nearly every wanted list in the world. And you managed to bring him down.”
“I had help,” he admitted.
“Of course you did. But you still made that arrest. Do you have any idea how many confirmed kills that Dryad has?”
Jared shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
“No, it doesn’t. But the point I’m trying to make is, you’ve done a lot. Take a break. Enjoy some time with your… girlfriends.” A little smile crossed over Wyatt’s face.
“I can’t, not yet,” Jared said. “We need to find Wen Bet’s body and prove that he died before the Medlar began buying Jessalene’s land. That way, they can get back what they’ve lost.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.” He let out a breath and crossed his arms, looking at Jared through narrowed eyes. “Listen, I need you to understand something. I’m not sure how much longer I can protect you.”
Jared shrugged. “I’m not sure I need protecting.”
“You do,” Wyatt said. “You really do. So far, you’ve been operating just on this side of the line. I’ve been able to explain away your actions as official business. I’ve kept the MetaDept from coming down on your head. But if you keep going off the rails like this, they’re not going to let it go. The Medlar are going to get what they want.”
He looked away, down at the floor. He knew Wyatt was right, knew that if he kept pushing like he was, eventually the families would come after him. So far he’d been lucky, he’d skated just under the radar. But sooner or later, that luck would run out.
And he wasn’t sure he could handle an entire pissed off Magi family, let alone one of the nine.
“I still need to find Wen Bet,” Jared said. “Beyond that, I don’t know what’ll happen.”
“Fine,” Wyatt agreed. “I’ll assign a team to help. You have a location?”
Jared nodded. “Buried on a farm north of the city. I’ll give you more details when I have them.”
“Good.” Wyatt gave him a long, concerned look. “There’s more at play here,” he said, his voice low.
“I know,” Jared agreed. He’d been feeling that same thing for a while now. So much of what was happening made no sense. The Medlar didn’t need to steal land from a bunch of Dryads, let alone hire some outside assassin. They had their own killers, their own power. Even without Lumi, they were a bunch of formidable Magi. “How’s clean up?”
Wyatt snorted. “You cost the Department a lot of time and money, you know that?”
“Sorry,” Jared said with a grin. “I tried to keep it quiet, but for some reason that assassin didn’t want to come in with me willingly.”
“Yeah, well, it’s fine. We’re handling it. And hey, something strange happened.” Wyatt dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “We got a message from the Vampire Underlord. She requested permission to speak with Hank in custody.”
Jared snorted. “She was watching over him. Gave us access and offered help, actually.”
“No shit,” Wyatt said. “This is getting to be too much for me. I didn’t think she’d actually help you guys.”
“I know, sir,” Jared said. “Tell Nikita she’s welcome to Hank after we’ve spoken with him. Will that work?”
“That’ll work,” he agreed.
“Thanks.” Jared saw some movement over Wyatt’s shoulder. Lumi and Cassie were coming back, and carrying white takeout containers. “I should get going.”
“Just take it easy, okay?” Wyatt asked. “Just for a little bit.”
“I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”
Wyatt shook his head, turned, and walked back to the elevators. He nodded at the girls as he passed. Cassie came up to Jared and grinned at him, thrusting a takeout container into his hand. “Food,” she said.
“This one’s for Jessalene,” Lumi added, walking past and into the room.
Jared watched her go. “She keeps acting like she’s responsible for what happened,” he said.
“I know.” Cassie chewed her lip. “I’m a little worried she’s taking it too hard.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I think it’s good for her, you know? Found something to care about outside of her family. Probably a little strange for her.”
Cassie laughed. “Are Magi really that bad?”
“Oh yeah. You have no clue.”
“Back in my world, you humans are our slaves. Did I ever tell you that?”
He shot her a look. “No, you neglected to mention it.”
She laughed. “I’m just kidding, you idiot. You’re not slaves. Although magicians are super rare and humans aren’t in control of the world. You’re more like second class citizens than anything else.”
Jared sighed and shook his head. “Your world sounds awful.”
“Better than this place. A bunch of half-insane magician families run everything, own everything, and everyone else better shut up and get in line.”
“Magi,” Jared corrected. “And I agree it’s not great. But there hasn’t been a major conflict between humans and Metas for thousands of years.”
“No, but you said yourself that the Magi slaughter any Metas that get out of line. Sounds like you’ve been fighting that war ever since the day the Accords were signed.”
Jared frowned at her. She had a point. There were always some Meta groups that hated the Magi and wanted to overthrow them. Although they couldn’t directly act against the Accords, Metas were smart and capable, and were constantly finding ways to undermine the strength of the Magi. The war may have gone dormant, but it definitely wasn’t over.
“Come on,” Jared said. “Let’s go see our girls.”
Cassie grinned and slipped her arm through his. “Works for me, boss.”
They walked together back to Jessalene’s room. Lumi was perched on her bed, leaning over her, and whispering something in her ear. Jessalene was grinning, her cheeks a little red, and looked over at the pair of them when they entered. Lumi sat up straight and looked over her shoulder at Jared.
“Oh, hey,” she said.
“What are you two talking about?” Cassie asked, releasing Jared and skipping over.
“Just girl talk,” Lumi said.
Jared snorted. “The idea of you doing girl talk is a little ludicrous.”
“Lumi is very good at girl talk, thanks much,” Jessalene said.
Jared raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear her defend Lumi, but a smile slid across his face. “Yeah,” he said. “I bet she is.” He walked over and sat in the chair as the girls looked at each other and laughed. Even Lumi grinned, looking comfortable with the other two, as Jared put his feet up and let the moment wash over him.
