Chapter 2
Chapter Two
B ain
Bain loved the offices of Protective Solutions. They were his home away from his own, so he spent a lot of time there, even when he didn’t currently have an assignment. The offices took up the third floor of a tall building in downtown Seattle, Washington, everything decorated in shades of black, gray and white. It had modern furnishings, the occasional plant that Xavier himself watered and fed—or probably used his magic on—and plenty of windows to let in sunlight. Bain had a small desk area to himself but rarely used it, spending most of his time in Xavier’s main office.
Xavier was his best friend and had been for over fifty years. Preternaturals lived long lives, so although Bain was over two hundred years old, he looked around thirty. He honestly had no idea how old Xavier was because the sorcerer would never say. But he got the feeling the man had put in a few more centuries. Possibly millennia, though Bain had never met any preternaturals that old. The oldest one he knew of was around a thousand years old.
Bain swept into the bright office and took his usual spot on the gray couch, knowing it would be a few moments before Xavier stopped his studying long enough to address him.
Like Bain, Xavier stood over six feet. The only other trait they shared was a preference for keeping their hair long. Bain kept his own silvery locks pulled back in a tail most of the time while Xavier let his black hair stream around his face. Other than that, they couldn’t be more different. Xavier preferred dark clothing while Bain loved all things color. He glanced down at his midnight blue leather pants and multi-colored, silky button-down. So what if he looked like he was headed to a dance club? He liked what he liked.
It sometimes made clients think he wouldn’t be good at his job, but he always quickly refuted that belief.
While he was waiting, Bain picked up a book off the table next to the couch. It was a spell book, and he thumbed through the pages carefully since the volume was old, the pages yellowed and thin. Spell casting wasn’t something he could do himself, but he’d always found it fascinating. Xavier employed a lot of magical beings who could perform spells that ranged from small forgetting potions to actual warp travel. But Xavier was more powerful than them all combined, had more abilities with magic than anyone Bain had ever known.
Xavier finally looked up from his books, his face impassive as always. “Everything’s wrapped up from your last assignment. I know you left Alisha’s husband for the animals, but I couldn’t risk his body being found, so it’s been taken care of. She really liked you, by the way. Said if she ever marries another psychopath, she wants you to protect her.”
Bain smirked, not surprised Xavier had sent his wizards in for cleanup. He made sure nothing about their business was ever brought into question. “Hopefully, she chooses better next time.”
Xavier gave him a pointed look. “As opposed to you and your choice of partners?”
Bain picked a piece of lint off his shirt sleeve and crossed his legs, leaning back against the uncomfortable couch. He’d always hated this gray monstrosity. “I only fuck the best.” He did go for humans often—they were always unpredictable in bed. Bain absolutely loved them. Loved their intriguing moods, their drive to pack so much into their short lives.
“What about that man in Queensland?” Xavier asked with one lifted brow. “Psychopath would have been a tame description of him.”
“I didn’t marry him.” Bain shrugged, then grinned. “And at least I got laid more than…what was it, six times in ten years?”
“I didn’t keep count.”
Bain hadn’t counted either, but he’d bet he wouldn’t even need both hands to sum up Xavier’s sexual encounters during their ten years of travel. For himself, he’d probably need an army’s worth of hands. His basilisk nature meant his hunger for pleasure was high at all times. “In any case, I make better choices now. No more psychopaths.”
“Nice to know you’ve ruled out one demographic.”
“Two demographics,” Bain said with a wink.
This time, both of Xavier’s eyebrows went up. “What’s the second one?”
“It’s your own rule.”
“Ah, yes. No sex with the clients. However do you cope with it?”
Bain snorted. “Easily. I can pull anytime I want.”
“Which is often.”
“Exactly. Makes not letting myself be attracted to clients easy.”
Xavier nodded in acknowledgment. They’d known each other for so long, Bain knew Xavier trusted him implicitly. It was one reason he got the toughest clients.
“So, what’s my next assignment?”
“Our new client is an accountant who freelances. He recently expanded his business, taking on a bunch of new clients. One of them is dirty. He doesn’t know which one yet, but he’s received death threats, and last night, someone broke into his home. He managed to sneak out the back, but he’s holed up in a hotel, scared out of his mind. He hired us this morning. I want you to take this one.”
“Why me? I thought Alaric was up for the next job.”
“Alaric was called away on family business, and all the others are currently on jobs.” Xavier folded his hands on his desk. “I know you just got off a long assignment and are due for a break from back-to-back jobs, but I need you.”
“Of course.” Bain nodded, tucking an escaped strand of hair behind his ear. “Want me to take him to one of the safe houses?”
Xavier shook his head. “Not yet. Take him back to his home and stay with him there. We’ll draw these people out, find out just what their plan is. After talking to him on the phone, I was able to pull a clear image of his nature. He’s…skittish. Easily rattled. And a homebody. He’ll be more comfortable in a familiar environment.”
Xavier wasn’t a wizard who had learned his magic. He was a sorcerer and had been born with it, coming from ancient bloodlines that could have originated from any magical being. His ability to read humans deeply—even through nothing more than a phone connection—made him fantastic at his chosen work.
And Bain was the only creature who knew why Xavier’s need to help and protect humans was so strong. Though he’d gotten that information after Xavier had indulged in too much wine one night. Unfortunately, Bain hadn’t learned the answer to the biggest question he’d had all these years, one Xavier refused to answer. His surname.
“What’s the client’s name?” Bain asked.
“Clive Manning.” Xavier held out a piece of paper. “Here’s the address of his hotel and also his home.”
Bain slid to his feet and walked across the room to take it. “Anything else you can tell me about him?”
“He doesn’t trust easily, mostly because he can’t handle chaos in any shape or form. So he keeps his life in order. He has a sweet nature, Bain. Is a truly good person who needs that order desperately. This has thrown him off so much, he’s feeling…vulnerable.” Xavier pinned Bain with his black eyes. They’d always reminded Bain of polished onyx, the brown around his pupils so dark it blended. “I’m trusting you to set him at ease. Make him feel safe. He needs it.” He paused, gaze probing. “This human is special, and he doesn’t know it.”
Bain frowned. “What do you mean special? I thought all humans were special to you.”
“There are some who are more.”
Rolling his eyes, Bain dropped into the chair that was across Xavier’s desk. “Again with this cryptic shit? You know how much I hate that. If there’s something about this human I should know, then you should tell me.”
Xavier shook his head, his black hair swishing across the book open on his desk. “In time, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.”
“In time?” Bain crossed his arms on his chest. “You’re my best friend, Xavier, and have been for so many years we should be sick of each other by now, yet still you keep important things from me. Do you have any idea how much that annoys me?”
A rare smile tilted one corner of Xavier’s lips. “I’m aware.”
Bain waited for more, knowing he wouldn’t get it. Still, he always tried, always fought with his own impatience when it came to getting information out of his friend. With Xavier’s ability to know, well, all things, he’d only once told Bain that sometimes information should be doled out in doses or it disappeared in the chaos that was life. That everyone derived meaning and understanding in certain ways. Ways that worked for their own individual personalities.
He’d also told Bain more than once that his impatience wasn’t a virtue.
But he was who he was.
“Does this Clive have any idea which company could be after him? And how does he even know that it’s one of his new clients?”
“The first threatening email ordered him to stop working on all his accounts, but it came soon after he took on a lot of new ones.”
Bain frowned. “But that’s ridiculous. It could be anyone threatening him.”
“That why I need you on this job. I’ll be sending Alaric along to help as soon as he returns. When you go to his hotel, tell him that I sent you and that you’d like a cup of coffee. It’s a code phrase he asked for.” Xavier opened a drawer on his desk, then tossed Bain a pair of tinted glasses. “Wear these around Clive. You’ll need them.”
Now that truly stumped Bain. He used a glamour to mask the parts of his human-form looks that didn’t pass for human—his eyes—and he had complete power over his ability to mesmerize with them. And to kill with them, though that only happened when he took on his other form. Xavier knew this; he’d been around to see Bain struggling to control his powers when his exhaustion with his long life had set him back. So Bain lifted an eyebrow at his friend.
“Trust me.” It was all Xavier said.
And the truth was, Bain did trust his friend. More than any other being in the world. He owed Xavier everything.
“I’ll take care of this, Clive. No worries.”