37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Nearly a week later, I was standing in the bar, waiting for Carey to come over for our Monday hang out. Kick Shot still had its visitor, who had barely moved since he followed us home. I wasn't only in the bar waiting on Carey. On Sunday, after being forced to remain closed for an entire week, I finally broke and called the number Sorcha had given me. It hurt even looking at the card, knowing she had potentially been a great friend, snuffed out before I really got the chance to know her. I could barely walk around Kick Shot without thinking about how they had danced together, a beautiful couple, their love blinding those who dared to look at it for too long.

"Residence of—"

"Leith!" I exclaimed. "I'm so glad I got ahold of you."

"Miss Leon, what do you need?"

"For someone to come and get Cassius," I answered, feeling a pang in my heart. "He's been here, drinking my bar dry for five days, going on six."

"Of course…" Leith sighed on the other end of the call. "I know who to send."

"Tell me it won't be his…"

"I will never let that man see Cassius," Leith answered darkly. "I'll send someone who knows how to manage him without hurting him further."

"Thank you," I whispered. "He really helped me and Heath out, but…he's a broken man…"

"You have done a wonderful thing, letting him stay there as long as you have."

"I would put him up in my house, but he won't move, and…it's still being repaired." I had been staying at Heath's. I could do that since everyone was quickly learning we were together. It made the idea of a Monday hang out with Carey comical, but she and I both wanted the normalcy. We were meeting at Kick Shot, then I was taking her to the movies.

"No, no, it's fine," Leith said quickly. "They'll be there tomorrow."

So, waiting on Carey on Monday, I was also waiting on the people Leith was sending to pick up Cassius. It was a race to see who would arrive first. I sat at the bar, watching Cassius drink straight from the bottle. He had gone through all of my wine options and was slowly drinking his way through my harder stuff. He killed off the whiskey, scotches, and bourbons. Now he was on vodka.

Heath walked into the bar with Carey, frowning at Cassius as Carey came around the bar and stood beside me, leaning close.

"Is that him? The prince?"

"Yes," I whispered back. "Leave him alone. We'll leave soon."

"Okay." She went quiet. I could have diverted her attention by asking about school, but I already knew how school was going for her. She suffered through another week of bullying, but Heath had received good news about getting her into hybrid schooling, mostly online, at her own pace, with only two days a week in class. They would be driving her not too far away to Tyler for those days.

Heath sat on the other side, not caring to look at Cassius. I knew he was just as grateful as I was for the fae prince, and both of our hearts hurt for his situation, but there was nothing we could say that could fix anything for him, and if all three of us were staring, it was just rude.

"Can I join you both for dinner tonight?" he asked nonchalantly.

"No," Carey and I answered at the same time, then smiled at each other. It was certainly strange staying at their home, away from the center of my territory, but they were welcoming, and repairs were happening quickly. Heath promised I would be back in my own house before a month was up.

"It's girl's night," Carey continued. I pointed to her, giving Heath a look that she was correct.

"Fine, fine." He lifted his hands in mock defeat. "You're probably just going to talk about boys."

"Ew. That would mean Jacky would talk about you." Carey's face twisted in disgust, an appropriate response. She turned to me, looking sick. "I promise not to get into any more fights if you promise never to talk about how he kisses."

"That's a very easy promise to make," I said, nodding. We shook on it.

After a moment of quiet, Carey frowned.

"Your family knows about this now. Have they said anything? Are they going to visit like they keep saying they will?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "They…they haven't spoken to me in the last week. We just need to give them time to adjust. They're…fighting a lot of old pain. My family fought wars against werewolves, so it's going to take them some time to understand and be okay with this."

"But they will be okay one day, right?" Carey leaned on the counter. "I mean, Jabari is nice. He wouldn't throw you away just because you love my dad."

I couldn't answer her honestly, so I remained silent.

"Jacky?"

"Leave her family to her," Heath said gently. "It's complicated. They're old, and they've seen a lot. They don't trust me and have their reasons not to trust werewolves."

"That's not fair," she said softly, kicking the cabinets underneath the bar where we hid the cleaning materials. "I mean…we don't like that people judge Landon for things he can't control. You can't control being a werewolf, and Jacky can't control being a werecat. It's not fair."

"No, it's not," I agreed. "Zuri is okay with your father and me, and she's trying to talk some sense into them." That I did know for certain. She and I exchanged a short set of emails, talking about how Hasan was reacting. He was certain Heath was playing me and wanted his children to help him figure out how to convince me to walk away.

At least killing Heath isn't on the table. Something to be grateful for.

"You could have told them in a better way," Heath pointed out.

"It was an emotional moment," I reminded him. "Either way, it's done. We were planning on doing it, anyway. We should have never let Brion blackmail us, should have said something sooner…" I sighed. "It's done."

"No second thoughts?" he asked softly.

"None," I growled at him. He smiled, which made me smile in return.

We let the conversation die and waited. Finally, I felt two supernaturals enter my territory. Based on the direction they were coming from and the speed they were moving, they were driving from Dallas. I felt their signatures and tried to identify what they were. One brought images of snakes to my head, and I froze, putting that together quickly.

Kaliya was her name, right?

I couldn't identify the other unique signature.

"They're almost here," I told Heath and Carey. "Maybe you two can wait upstairs and let me deal with this."

"Are you sure?" Heath narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," I whispered, thinking about everything I knew about Kaliya—assassin trained by my own brother, Tribunal Executioner, ruler of the nagas. The Demon Serpent, Sorcha had called her.

Heath grabbed Carey, who whined about missing out, and took her out of the room. I moved out from behind the bar and stood in the center of the room. Cassius frowned in my direction before taking another swallow.

"Who is here?" he asked darkly.

"Friends," I answered softly—not a lie. Hopefully, they were his friends. I didn't know them.

I saw the black SUV park outside and watched a beautiful white-haired Indian woman get out of the passenger's side. From the driver's side, a Latino man who was definitely over six feet tall and only made of muscle got out and stretched his arms.

Kaliya made a straight line for my door, which I opened before she got the chance.

"I'm Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan," I greeted. "You are in my territory. You are?"

"Kaliya Sahni, Queen of the Nagas," she answered with a smile that revealed fangs. "That is my mate, Raphael Alvarez, Warlord of the Cambions. You have someone who belongs to me."

"Leith sent you," I said, stepping back to let her in, but she didn't enter immediately.

"He did," she confirmed, inspecting me head to toe. Whatever she saw, she didn't comment. She entered my bar and saw him, sighing heavily. "Thank you for calling. I've been worried."

"They called you their best friend."

"They are…were…Sorcha was one of my only friends," she answered, tilting her head to the side, and I couldn't see her face anymore. "Cassius is the other. Again, thank you."

She walked across the bar and sat down next to him. He looked up and glared at her.

"They're under Sorcha's protection, so they're under mine," he growled. "I can't leave."

"You're not good to anyone like this," Kaliya whispered, reaching out, but he jerked away from her touch. "You have to come back to Phoenix."

"I can't," he whispered harshly. "I can't go back to that house, and…"

"Come to mine," she pleaded. "Please, Cassius. We, Raphael and I, didn't get an invitation to her memorial service. Nothing. Please. Come home and grieve with us."

"No," he growled.

"Fine," she snapped. "We'll do this the hard way." She got up, stormed to the door, stuck her head out, and screamed, "Raphael! Come get this stupid ass of a man for me!"

Raphael was there quickly, paying me no interest, and headed straight for Cassius. Cassius, who could threaten my father and get away with it, made no move to stop Raphael from grabbing him and forcing him to stand.

"We'll be damned if you think we're going to leave you to handle this alone," the cambion snarled. "After everything we've been through, you should have come to us."

"I…"

"I don't want to hear it," the cambion said, yanking Cassius to start walking with him.

"Thank you again," Kaliya said as she stopped beside me, watching Raphael load Cassius into their SUV. "It's safer if he's with us. I know you're under his protection. Leith explained it all to me. If you may need a favor from him one day, you can just call Leith at their home, and he'll get ahold of Cassius. Good luck with you and your werewolf."

"You…you know about that?"

"Oh…" Kaliya snorted. It wasn't very queen-like. "You know I know your brother, right?"

"Yeah, it's been mentioned," I mumbled.

"Yeah, I keep up with all the gossip about your family, thanks to that. He didn't tell me, though. I heard through the grapevine. Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan, the entire fucking world knows about you and your wolf. Take it from someone who mated out of species, it's not easy, but it's worth it. If…" Kaliya's expression turned serious and thoughtful. "If Sorcha thought your relationship was worth fighting for and protecting, then it's worth it. Fight for it. She was never wrong about these things."

"Sounds like you know from experience."

"I do," she confirmed. "It was nice seeing you again."

"I don't remember the first time," I said, frowning deeply, then it dawned on me. She was the naga I smelled at my trial, there to be my executioner. How had I forgotten that little detail?

"That's a good thing," she pointed out. "But it looks like you figured it out. Well, have a nice day." Walking into the sunlight, she joined the men in the SUV, and they wasted no time. Raphael, in the driver's seat, hit the gas and kicked up gravel. They disappeared from view, and I was left reeling.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked loudly.

"She seemed cool," Carey said, coming out with her father.

"And dangerous," Heath pointed out.

"Yeah." I agreed with both of them. I wondered if I would ever see them again and then decided I wasn't too keen on the idea. Cassius, sure, but not those two. "Now, Heath, get out of here. I'm taking Carey to dinner."

"I'm going!" He laughed but didn't leave until he kissed me once, deeply for good measure. Carey, at her most mature, made not a peep.