Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

I should have known it wouldn’t end there. Should have guessed that it wouldn’t be that simple.

Given the day we’d already had, Callum decided to take me home early, but not before stopping by the office for a brief errand. I stayed in the car, and when he returned, he handed me an envelope.

“First week’s pay, as promised,” he told me.

The envelope was fatter than I’d anticipated. “We didn’t agree on a salary.”

“I know. So I took Angelica’s base salary and added hazard pay.”

My eyes about popped out of my head. I had no idea what an executive assistant like her would make in a week, but it was way more than I could have made waiting tables and mopping floors.

“Thank you.” I said it as sincerely as I knew how. “I know it’s against the rules, and I appreciate it.”

“You certainly earned the hazard pay today.” Callum started to drive away, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Actually, I’d like to walk home.”

He side-eyed me a little. “Are you sure?”

“I think me pulling up to the hostel twice in one day with the shapeshifter king as my chauffeur might be a bit much for the locals.”

He winced visibly, and I almost felt bad, but not enough to change my mind. I needed the walk. Needed to plan the best use of my first paycheck.

“All right.” He stopped the car, and I hopped out.

I turned back before shutting the door and found him watching me with a peculiar expression.

“Be safe?”

“Yeah. Uh. You too.”

On that sublimely awkward note, I shut the door and walked off before I could say anything even more embarrassing.

I didn’t go straight home, though. After a bit of a hike, I found a small grocery store on Classen Boulevard and spent part of my cash on necessities like soap, toothpaste, deodorant, and a small selection of non-perishable groceries. On impulse, I added in a few extras for dinner, reasoning that we could all use a break from oatmeal and ramen.

While waiting in the line, I surreptitiously counted the money in the envelope and nearly passed out. I’d been paid five grand for a single week .

It was a staggering amount, considering how little I’d done so far, and suddenly Angelica’s animosity began to make more sense.

But now that I’d decided to embrace this job—and allow my shapeshifter magic to be revealed—I wouldn’t be as useless. From here on out, I would be earning this money in whatever ways I could.

The trek back with full grocery bags threatened to pull my fingers off, but I made it just in time for dinner, which took on the atmosphere of our first real celebration. Logan heated up an entire box of pizza rolls in the microwave and polished them off with an expression of bliss, while Ari dined on mac and cheese with a side of applesauce. Kes and I ate turkey sandwiches, and afterwards, we all shared a package of cookies.

It felt like heaven, but even better was when I handed over the money that would allow us to stay in our room for another week.

“Your employer is very generous,” Kes said softly as we watched the kids play outside after dark. “But are you sure this is all… legitimate? That he’s not planning to use you for something illegal rather than dirty his own hands?”

It was a smart question, and we’d earned our suspicions, but for whatever reason, I’d already put my doubts to rest. “I’m as sure as I can be.” I shrugged in the darkness. “And he did almost get me blown up, so I don’t feel too bad about taking his money.”

After a long pause, I risked changing the subject. “I met Prince Rath today.”

Kes went still, like a deer scenting a predator. “Oh?”

She wanted to ask. But part of her was holding back, as if afraid to know what I would say.

“He seems jaded, but I don’t think he’s a terrible person,” I observed carefully. “And my boss seems to like him. If you want me to arrange a meeting…”

“No.” It sounded almost frantic. “I… I’m not ready.”

“Then I won’t say anything,” I assured her. “Don’t worry. Even if he recognized you, he’ll be way too busy with the Symposium to do anything about it.”

She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them for warmth, even as Ari’s laughter rang out over the sounds of traffic that surrounded our little outdoor space.

Soon. Soon I would find a way to get them out of here and build them a new life. Think about things like school. Maybe that would never be a reality for refugees like us, but… at least I had hope now. Maybe I could ask Faris or Kira for advice, once the Symposium was over. Maybe I could look into the idea of doing school at home. Maybe…

But that was enough dreaming. First, I had to get through this week and earn the rest of my pay without dying, or slipping up.

Everyone needed to believe I was just a half elemental, half shifter who’d never known my parents. Nothing too out of the ordinary. And after the Symposium, most of them would go home—including Callum—and then it would be far easier to hide the rest of our secrets.

I ignored the quick pang that suggested I wasn’t entirely happy with the idea of Callum leaving. Because that was ridiculous. I needed him to go home. Needed him to forget that we existed. I kept forgetting that someday his shapeshifter nose might tell him the truth about me. He already thought I smelled weird, and if he ever figured out why…

“Rainy, come play tag with me!”

…Playing tag with a six-year-old who could teleport was less likely to end in abject failure and humiliation.

“Coming,” I called out with a rueful smile. “But no cheating!”

Her giggle suggested she intended to cheat outrageously without the smallest shred of remorse.

But I didn’t care. She was happy, and for the first time in months, we weren’t flat broke. Everything else could wait for tomorrow.

Of course, tomorrow dawned with a chip on its shoulder and an evident determination to laugh in the face of my optimism.

It all started when I arrived at work and made my way up to the fifth floor office, but only after strolling past Kevin with the most shifty-eyed expression I could manage. Poor man probably was going to have an aneurysm if I kept this up much longer.

Angelica and Heather were standing in front of an interactive whiteboard when I walked in, drawing circles and scribbling beside them in a state of agitated focus.

“We can’t have three fae at one table,” Heather pointed out in a near whisper. “It’s unbalanced.”

“Well, we also can’t have the goblin delegate seated next to Marilee Springvale,” Angelica returned, distraction making her sound almost human. “They apparently dated for a few months until she caught him making out with a sprite and tried to drown them both in an ornamental fountain.”

Note to self: do not annoy the naiad.

“I thought the seating chart for the banquet was already finished.” Callum strode across the office and offered me a brisk nod before pausing in front of the board, crossing his arms and tilting his head as he tried to read the scribbled names.

I’d only learned about the banquet a few days ago. Apparently, there were traditions that had to be followed, carried over from the days before Idrians became refugees on Earth, when these symposiums were far more regular—and often more violent—events.

The first day of the Symposium—today, in fact—would feature a welcome reception. The following morning, they would engage in a closed deliberation among the delegates, and on the third day, solutions would be proposed, edited, and voted on before they were hammered into the form of law. At the end of the third day would be a celebratory banquet, followed by a ceremonial signing on the fourth. Thankfully, the Idrian process seemed to be far more speedy and streamlined than the human one.

“Yes, well, I thought we were finished, too.” Angelica looked almost frazzled. Almost. Three hairs had fallen from her chignon and there was a slight crease along the side of her jacket. I had a feeling both the hairs and the jacket would pay later for their insubordination. “But three of our plus-ones were canceled after the attacks yesterday, and that’s thrown off the numbers.”

“I don’t see Raine’s name.”

Both Angelica and Heather turned to regard their boss with puzzled agitation.

“She’s not a delegate,” Angelica reminded him, shooting me an annoyed frown. “And rumors are already circulating that she’s more bodyguard than assistant. Are you certain this is a message you wish to send?”

“Then make her my plus-one.” Callum just dropped that bomb into the conversation and then shrugged as if it were utterly inconsequential. “That should help even out the numbers.”

“I…” The ever-collected Angelica actually sputtered in shock. “She’s not…”

“Raine is half shapeshifter, and a member of my court,” Callum replied evenly, dropping jaws on every side.

Thank you, Your Majesty, for announcing that in the most awkward way possible.

“And if you believe that none of the delegates or their companions were chosen for the sake of protection, you’re far more naive than I expected,” he continued. “Not when a full third of them are also seneschals. Regarding my own choices… I don’t care what the other delegates choose to think. I want Raine there.”

Aaaand he doubled down on the awkward. Angelica and Heather were both staring at me, I could feel eyes on my back from the other side of the office, and I had to remind myself to breathe normally. To pretend I’d known this was coming.

While also plotting the violent death of a certain dragon who had most certainly not warned me what he was planning.

“She will need a dress,” Angelica stated flatly, her gaze raking me much as it had when we’d first met, only this time with more apprehension than dismissal. “And very likely an etiquette lesson.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Callum said briefly, his eyes meeting mine firmly with an unspoken request to let him do the talking.

I complied, if only because I was too dumbfounded to speak. Dumbfounded, furious, and more than a little horrified.

I managed to hold my silence all the way through the next half hour when he finally gestured for me to follow him out of the team office and down the stairs.

But the explosion could only be put off for so long. The pressure continued to build until the moment we set foot in the event space on the first floor, which had already been prepared for the opening reception, with tall cocktail tables, a few clusters of elegant but uncomfortable looking chairs, and a gentle rippling sound from the wall fountain now covering the spot where the graffiti had been.

“Have you lost your tiny dragon mind?”

Callum stopped as if I’d hit him.

“What in the actual heck were you thinking?” I demanded.

I probably should have been a little scared of the consequences of my outburst. He was still the same dragon who could throw a lion across a room or crush me where I stood. Still both wildly intimidating and unbelievably gorgeous, with his slightly mussed auburn hair, perfectly cut cheekbones, and that barely shadowed granite jawline.

But at some point, I’d stopped being afraid of him. So I did not flinch, even when those eyes of amber flame burned hot in response to my question.

“I thought we agreed to announce your shapeshifter heritage,” he said, sounding puzzled. “This strategy seemed like the best course under the circumstances. Our saboteur is likely getting desperate. They’re going to try stopping us again, and I’m going to need all the help I can get to ensure that no one is hurt if they decide to attack the delegates. Whether you believe me or not, your defensive abilities are strong and your instincts are good, so the closer you can be to the center of the action, the better.”

It seemed he truly believed that, even though he knew less than half of what I was capable of.

“Also, I was thinking about Leith’s warning, and decided that if he intends to start a rumor, we might as well get ahead of it. He can’t create any shock or outrage with a dating scandal if we’ve already hinted at the news ourselves.”

But that meant… He was insinuating…

“But then everyone will think…” I didn’t even have words for this. How could he just casually throw around the idea of everyone believing that we were a couple?

“Unless it makes you uncomfortable. There’s no rule that says you can’t be my employee and… my date.” He’d hesitated oddly before that last word. As if he’d almost said something else.

Not that it mattered. The entire concept was…

Ridiculous. Appalling. Panic-inducing. But also somehow perfect. With a side order of completely impossible, threaded with an undeniable ache of longing.

He left me with no choice but to argue. “What about the fact that no one will believe it for even one second that we’re telling the truth?”

“How so?” There was an almost dangerous light in his eyes. A challenge. Daring me to contradict him.

I didn’t need the extra motivation. Contradicting him was now one of the top five things that got me up in the morning. “You’re… you ,” I sputtered vehemently, and utterly unhelpfully.

Why was he pretending that he couldn’t see it without my help?

“I’m a fox, you’re a dragon. I’m barely even a shapeshifter, while you’re their king. I can barely figure out how to use my magic, while you have the power to squash me like a bug. Burn me to a crisp. Turn me into a pariah and make me disappear.”

Strangely, I no longer worried about him doing any of those things. But the point was that he could . “Why would they buy this story that you’re bringing someone like me as your date when you could have asked anyone and they would have jumped at the chance?”

His lips pressed together in a flat, unimpressed line. “Believe it or not, Raine, the world is not overflowing with women clamoring to date a dragon with my reputation.”

I did find that hard to believe. “What reputation?”

“You’ve said it yourself—bullheaded, impossible to reason with, and often a pain in the ass. Not to mention paranoid, inflexible, and utterly obsessed with rules,” he added helpfully.

He could tell himself that, but I doubted it would stop very many women from at least trying. Not when he looked like that .

“I’m literally in this position because I’m intimidating,” he pointed out calmly. “How many shapeshifters do you think go out of their way to date someone they find terrifying?”

Point to him. I’d seen the way Heather cringed in his presence. “There must be other dragons, at least,” I protested weakly. “Gryphons, maybe?”

He sighed and grimaced in distaste. “Okay, yes, fine. There are dragons who have tried. But what they want is proximity to power, so they always give up when they find out how much I work and how seriously I take my responsibilities. They want to take the private jet to Paris, but I’m too busy settling petty arguments.”

That checked out, actually. But it didn’t address the meat of the problem.

“But… Callum, there’s no way this is going to work,” I insisted. “Everyone is going to see through it. We don’t act like we’re dating. We argue constantly, plus, they all know you’re my boss as well as my king, so you can force me to obey your orders—including this one.”

His expression didn’t change, but I would have sworn he looked hurt. “Do you feel as if I’ve forced you into something you cannot say no to?”

“You literally just ordered me to attend this banquet thing as your date.”

He stared back at me stubbornly. “All right. Would it fix this if I fired you?”

For a moment, I gaped at him in shock. Had I just lost my job?

“You’re still technically employed by Faris, on loan to my team for the duration of the Symposium. I will pay you a generous severance package, and you’ll have your original job back as soon as the Symposium is over.”

I threw up my hands and let out a strangled snarl of frustration. “Really? That’s your solution?”

“It’s a perfectly good solution,” he insisted. “If you no longer work for me, I have no hold over you as your employer, and as your sovereign, I am making no attempt to force your compliance. So,”—he fixed me with a fiery, amber-eyed stare—“Raine Kendrick, as my non-employee, will you please agree to be my date to the Symposium banquet?”

My heart lurched with such painful longing that for a moment I couldn’t answer.

When had my heart decided that this was what it wanted? A stubborn, paranoid dragon who could never be allowed to know my story. A man of honor and integrity who would despise me forever if he knew the truth.

“Why not ask someone else?” I argued, feeling almost frantic. “Surely you have other… people , who would do a far better job of keeping everyone safe. I’m likely to panic. Forget to use my magic. Or mess up and hurt someone because I haven’t practiced enough!”

Something in him seemed to snap. He pivoted on his heel and stalked towards me, all that coiled power and frustration visible in the flex of his hands and the spark behind his eyes.

But he stopped before he reached me. There was less than an arm’s length between us, and I had to look up to meet his gaze. But I still wasn’t afraid.

“I didn’t ask someone else, because I want you there.” He said it quietly. Clearly. With such perfect control that an outsider might have assumed he was calm.

He was anything but calm. I’d somehow stripped away his controlled, logical veneer, leaving only the man, the dragon, and their frustrated instincts.

“Raine, you were right to challenge me when I tried to keep you from coming with me to see Leith. Right to insist that I respect your choices. But in that moment, all I could see was that you’d nearly died, and it brought out the worst in me.”

If that was his worst… his best might ruin me forever.

“The truth is, I want you with me for this. I want you there because I trust you to have my back, even if I don’t know why. I want you there because you don’t treat me like I’m nothing more than a path to power. You aren’t afraid of my strength and you don’t cower when I’m frustrated. You have your own thoughts and your own desires, and you act on them. But you also hold yourself to a standard. You protect the weak. You keep your promises. And you don’t back down from a challenge, even when you should for the sake of your own safety.”

He’d seen me. No matter how hard I tried to hide, he’d seen me, and I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Out of all the people in the world… He was the one person I should have run from, and the one person who made me feel safe.

He wasn’t saying he had feelings for me. I knew that. But he genuinely trusted me, and that was both a beautiful gift and the purest agony.

It could never last. The Symposium would end, and he would go back to wherever he’d come from. But for just these next few days…

He already knew about my family. Already knew I had dual magic. Surely I could manage to keep the rest of my secrets just a little bit longer. Long enough to embrace this fleeting moment of pretend closeness with a man I could no longer bring myself to think of as my enemy.

“What about your brother?” It was a last-ditch effort to protect my heart. Useless, really, but at least I could tell myself I’d tried.

Callum only looked puzzled. “What about him?”

“Why not take him to the banquet instead of me?”

He shook his head. “Nice try, but no. It was part of the agreement when I took this job. My family members aren’t allowed to interfere in court business. We were pushing the boundaries of propriety just having him be my driver.”

I shut my eyes. “Okay,” I whispered.

“What was that?”

I heard one footstep, then another. Felt the warmth of someone looming over me.

“I said okay. I’ll do it.”

A pause. “Thank you.” His voice was quiet and warm, so I dared to open my eyes.

Oh help. He was so close. And as I watched, his hand lifted, flexed, reached out…

“Rainy?”

I whirled, heart in my throat.

Ari stood in the open doorway.

Her smile was bright and filled with glee, as if she knew she’d done something wrong but refused to regret it.

And she wasn’t alone.

Her tiny hand was wrapped around the fingers of a tall woman in a dark suit…

Angelica’s hair was once again tucked neatly in her chignon, and she was looking at me with narrowed eyes that suggested she’d caught me doing something nefarious. My gaze shot to her grip on Ari, and I was relieved to note that it was careful. Almost gentle.

“This child just appeared out of nowhere in our office and asked for you, Miss Kendrick,” she said coolly. “Is she yours?”