19. Ben

19

BEN

“You’re distracted,” Kalos says.

“I’m not.” I turn from the window, unable to catch sight of Stella and Katarina on the patio below. She’s perfectly safe, but that doesn’t make it easier not to have eyes on her. I turn my wrist, the feel of the heavy bracelet there grounding me.

My boss gives me a bored look. “That wasn’t a question.”

I shake my head and focus my attention back on my tablet. “Things seem to be going well. Keller has really stepped up.” The words leave a sour taste on my tongue. “I guess I’m more replaceable than I thought.”

Kalos harrumphs and the disgruntled sound pulls a smile from me. “You are no such thing. Your absence is merely the price I must pay for this alliance.”

That’s not quite true, but the look on his face says that he’s aware that I’m the one choosing to involve myself in Stoneheart’s business.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to find something that won’t let your attention go,” Kalos says.

Would he say that if he knew that a portion of my mind is stuck in the memory of last night? Stella’s body bared and her soft pussy wet with anticipation. Her tart flavor nearly had me coming in my pants…as much as the throb of Stoneheart’s cock against my tongue. The gargoyle is a siren’s song I was unprepared for.

“I’m loyal to you,” I say.

“I would never question that, but—” He shrugs, and my heart falls. “It’s not a bad thing to find someone.”

I make a dismissive sound. “It is if she’s married to a different territory leader.”

Kalos arches a brow. “I’ve known you since you were a boy, don’t try and tell me she’s the only one on your mind.”

I blink in shock. How?

The dragon’s golden eyes trap me, and he does that head tilt thing predators do when scoping out prey but what he’s sniffing out are secrets rather than a tasty rabbit. “Gargoyle societies are polyamorous. I was suspicious when he requested your services as bodyguard for his mate. That’s not a position he’d give to many.”

I don’t know how to respond to the fact that Kalos was aware of Stoneheart’s intentions before I was and still allowed me to accept the position. “You’re my family.”

“As you are mine,” Kalos says as if this is a fact rather than something he never admitted to before having a mate opened his heart. “And family doesn’t stop being family just because a crafty gargoyle is courting you.”

My cheeks burn. “I have responsibilities here, and he’s not courting me.”

“Maybe he should be. You are worth the effort.”

“Kalos—”

“I know you like change as much as I do”—which is not at all—“but you need to realize that having a family isn’t only about responsibility. We want you to be happy. I want you to be happy.”

I glare at him, at a loss for how to respond. “This influence Katarina has on you is unsettling.”

He snorts, but shrugs. “That’s true. And there’s always the possibility that Stoneheart will accept paying a hefty price when he does make his move to keep you. The Leonid territory is quite an awkward chunk to keep all together.”

I choke and bark a laugh. “You greedy bastard. That’s never going to happen. You have plenty of territory.”

I shake my head and let the mirth flow at the ridiculous notion that Stoneheart would ever pay some sort of bride price to be with me.

I’m glad for the break in tension, but that doesn’t stop my thoughts. I become serious once more. “I won’t be leaving for them. This is a temporary,” I say.

Kalos only nods, not pushing for any more details, but the whisper of my thoughts doesn’t stop.

The door to the office opens without a knock, and my boss’s pregnant mate strolls in. The only person who can get away with interrupting the territory leader.

Kalos’s attention snaps to her, his brow furrowed with concern. “What do you need? Was it too cold outside?”

Katarina is gestating a dragon and at the beginning of the pregnancy nearly died from how much heat the child was drawing from her. She’d needed to have contact with Kalos to keep from going hypothermic.

Kalos’s focus is on Katarina, but mine is solely on Stella who follows her into the room. She tilts her chin up when our gazes meet. There’s a fire there I didn’t expect. She’d been sharp with me this morning, but this confidence is different. Pointed.

Katarina smiles at her mate. “I’m fine. Stella is just ready to go, and I missed you.”

Instead of scoffing that they’d only been separated for a couple of hours at most, Kalos pulls her into his lap as if he missed her more but held himself back to give her space.

This side of my boss is always a shock to see displayed. He’s always been caring and supportive, but never showed it.

I’m happy for them if a little jealous.

I turn to Stella who has the same bit of wistful wanting on her face mine probably shows. Even though we are intimate, we will never have what they have. Our arrangement isn’t about heart feelings even if I have permission to give her “comfort.”

“You want to go already?” I ask.

“We have things to do,” she says, but doesn’t elaborate.

We take a few steps away from the happy couple, and Katarina waves a cheerful goodbye to us before I grasp Stella’s hand, and we leave. Kalos’s nod of understanding stays with me as I slip into the shadows I navigate even after we get to her workshop.

Stella doesn’t waste any time. Her eyes snap open after squeezing them shut for the trip. “I want to check out the place of the last family to go missing.”

“What?”

“Their home is probably how they left it, and I want to see if I can pick up anything.”

I shake my head. “Stoneheart isn’t going to want you wandering?—”

“ Stoneheart isn’t the boss of me,” Stella says, her voice strong and level.

My brows lift. “You’re his wife.”

“Which doesn’t equate to servant. We are partners,” she says. “I am not a prisoner here.”

“And you think if you check out the scene, you’ll be able to help?” I’m trying to follow her train of thought. She’s a charm maker. She’s skilled at what she does as shown by the bracelet she gave me, but that doesn’t give her any advantages when it comes to tracking people down.

Stella keeps her response measured. “I’m a witch with a specialty in objects. I may be able to tell more than Stoneheart’s people have been able to glean. Tracking witches focus on other things.”

Stella is planning to involve herself in a search for people we may never be able to find. I want to object, to save her from the unsavory bits of this, but her eyes are steely. She won’t be deterred.

“This is my territory. I want to know what I’m working with. I need to do all I can for the people here—” Her voice breaks. The thread of vulnerability exposed pulls on my very soul. She clears her throat and glares at me. “And I’m not waiting for anyone else’s permission.”

The passion of Stella that lent so much urgency to her revenge and dimmed in the subsequent lull of victory, burns bright now.

How could I ever deny her?

She continues. “I know Silas has shared the details with you. Are you going to help me or hinder me?”

Are you with me or against me? She doesn’t say the words, but the meaning is clear. She’s doing this whether I help her or not.

“Your wish is my command,” I murmur.

Stoneheart will not be pleased.

We arrive at the address in no time, and it’s simple to talk the landlord into giving us a key. He takes one look at Stella and practically falls over himself to get her what she asks for.

The people of the territory know who their lady is.

Stella doesn’t show surprise at the behavior, but I know she is. The Firefly is full of Stoneheart’s people and shifters of the territory who are expecting to see her. They’re respectful, but not like this. This reaction is closer to reverence. Like she really is some prophesized leader coming to make everything better.

When we enter the apartment, thoughts of the landlord fall away.

The place is cozy, but the air is stagnant. There are the usual things that people surround themselves with. A throw blanket is bunched on the couch, curved in the way as if a child or petite adult lifted their legs out of it instead of casting it off to get up for something. There’s a bowl of popcorn on the counter that’s long gone stale.

The only disruption in all this is the red wax circle on the ground.

“That’s from the trackers, right?” Stella asks, pointing to the wax.

I nod. The presence of the spell is sobering, and I pull up the information I have on this case.

“Carrie and Beth Sova along with their two children, went missing the day Lorenzo was defeated. No one noticed anything until the kids didn’t show up for school on Monday.” I scowl. “And no one alerted authorities until Stoneheart came asking.”

“Do we know what they are?”

“Sirins. Owl women,” I explain. Their file says they fall under the designation of harpies, though that didn’t seem to offer them any additional protection.

“Rare?” she asks.

“Very,” I breathe.

“And no one said anything?” Stella frowns. “This territory is ripping itself apart.”

I agree. The people are letting fear eat them alive, and the sense of community that usually exists in places where paranormal creatures live in such close quarters is absent.

“They’re focusing on surviving,” I say.

“Letting part of the herd be picked off because then at least it’s not them.” Stella’s gaze burns with a frustration. “This type of fear is poison.”

I nod. This is a blight. There’s no trust and no care past those in one’s own household, and since it’s a whole family being taken at a time, there’s no one left to be their voice.

Especially in a territory where the leadership is one of the things to fear. “Lorenzo did a number here.”

“Why not just leave the territory?” Stella asks.

I shrug. “I imagine it’s for many reasons. People have roots here, it’s one thing to feel afraid, it’s another to be completely alone.” I pause for a moment on that thought. “People will suffer much to keep from being alone. There’s also no guarantee for them that another territory would be better.”

Stella avoids the circle on the floor and starts running her hands over objects, paying more attention to things of metal or stone before continuing. “What do the trackers think? The morning meetings are more about the problem as a whole than finding a single family.”

Silas has kept a running report of updates that I have access to, so I don’t have to sift through the information to answer her.

“They’re doing their best, but so far, they haven’t been able to deduce much. The perpetrators could have used a portal spell which would break any trail, but it’s more likely that they took them by vehicle, and the trail is too cold to pick up with starting to look for them so late.”

Stella raises her hands as if she’s feeling the air for a moment before returning to objects. She halts for a moment at a photo frame on the bookshelf before continuing. I can’t pick up on anything, but demons tend to be sensitive to the energy of people rather than places or things.

Not that I’m very schooled in demon abilities. I only started cultivating my ability to teleport to stop myself from ending up in the middle of the street in my sleep.

I stay silent as Stella works through the apartment. There’s a trinket dish next to the sink with a ring that looks like a wedding band. When Stella strokes the metal, she sucks in a breath.

“You found something?” I ask.

Stella shakes her head. “Not really. The wearer was really happy. I guess this territory isn’t the worst place to live.”

Moments of happiness to blot out any simmering unease.

She walks through the rooms until she reaches a window and freezes.

“This charm is one of mine.” Her hand goes to the windchime hanging in the window.

She frowns. “It’s a pretty potent one too. It links with the house wards. No one should have been able to enter the apartment with ill intent.”

I mentally sift through what is suspected about the perpetrators. “Would it work against fae magic?”

“I’d have to do research.” Stella sounds distant as she thinks. “Charms are more cemented in purpose, but it makes them inflexible. Fae magic is wilder, but I’ve never seen any strong enough to rip a ward or charm’s intention apart.”

That sort of magic only exists in the fae realm which doesn’t commingle with this plane much past trade and other various pursuits. The fae on this side of the gate are relatively powerless since their source of magic comes from the realm itself. Those who are here have fled the realm for one reason or another. Maggie came here some years ago because her mate was involved in a rebellion and was killed.

“What if they didn’t need to rip the ward apart?” My stomach sinks. “What if they could slip past it?”

“Like Kat does,” Stella says, her face whitening. “You don’t think her skill is unique?”

Katarina has fae blood, and it’s what we think allows her the nifty trick of walking through wards which made her such a formidable thief.

“I need to talk to someone who knows about fae magic,” Stella says. “The charms that people have, the wards even, may have loopholes to that magic system.”

“If that’s true, it changes all the protections people assume they have here. How would this not have occurred before?” I ask. How could the Council, or even Kalos, not be aware of something like this?

“Maybe no fae has ever had the inclination for this?”

I frown. “Or maybe they have, but a single person going missing here or there isn’t a problem. Maybe whoever is behind this got greedy.”

“Or desperate. If they are fae, they’ll be affected by the motion going through the royal court.”

“We thought that Lorenzo was desperate when he was dealing with Kalos for that gate,” I say. “And that was before we found out about his gambling debt.”

“Do you think…” Stella trails off, horror shows on her face. “Do you think that Lorenzo was trading people from this territory to pay off his debts?”

The fact that there was no outcry when people started going missing, no record of Lorenzo addressing it at all, no confidence that the authorities would do anything.

The sum of all the variables makes my answer grim.

“I do.”

“Fuck,” she says.

Indeed.