Chapter 13
Even in deep sleep, Kade heard his phone vibrate.
Morning light spilled onto the bed, where he had made the most amazing love with a woman he was supposed to kill.
He had no doubt that he’d made the right decision, but the consequences were going to be tricky as hell.
Because keeping Violet alive was now the most important thing in his life.
Her dark hair spilled across her pillow, eyelashes fanning her cheeks as she slept.
Her mouth curved in a slight smile, and her fingers twitched where they laid on the bed between them.
He wanted to wake her and lose himself in her again.
They had connected in a way he’d never done with anyone. And he had no idea what to do about it.
He rolled out of bed and grabbed his pants, then went into the bathroom.
When he came out minutes later, she was still asleep.
He stepped outside and squinted in the bright sunshine.
Chumley followed him and wandered out to the yard, though the dog kept an eye on Kade.
Maybe he wasn’t used to seeing strange men at Violet’s house. Kade liked that idea way too much.
Birds called to one another in the trees, and in the distance, he heard an engine. Kade couldn’t put off reading the text he’d heard come in earlier, assuming it was from Ferro. Kade had to buy time with some valid excuse. But it wasn’t a text from his boss; it was from Mia: CALL ME ASAP!
She never bothered him when she knew he was on a mission. Kade walked beyond the trees that bordered the house and called her.
She answered with, “Thank the gods. Kade, are you all right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Good, because I’m going to kill you. Ferro called me into his office this morning. I was freaking that something had happened to you, because why would he want to talk to me?”
Uh oh. “What did he want?” And please get to the point.
“First it was about Dad. Tell me, Kade, did he get involved with a woman in prison and die trying to break her out?”
Hell. “He told you that?” He smacked the trunk of a pine tree.
“Yes, and I wanted to tell him he was full of shit, but he’s a superior officer, so I had to sit there and stuff my shock and disgust. Which you know is very hard for me. So now I’m asking you: who’s the one full of shit?”
Damn, it wasn’t Ferro’s place to tell her that. “I fudged the truth.”
“Fudged!” She took a deep breath, and he knew her pain because he’d felt it, too.
“You were seven at the time and didn’t need to know all that. Later…I wanted you to consider him someone to look up to.”
“That’s why Mom killed herself, isn’t it? The scandal? The betrayal.”
“I’ve always thought so. But I don’t know the whole story about our father. We can’t be sure that he was romantically involved with this woman. I’m beginning to wonder—”
“And now you! That’s why Ferro told me. He thinks you’re doing the same thing with this Violet. Are you in love with her?”
A flash of his hands on her body…
“You are!” Mia hissed. “Otherwise you would have denied it immediately.”
“I’m not in love with her,” he whispered, though the images, and the way they made him feel, mocked his words. He couldn’t have Mia believing he was. “How could I be? I didn’t really know her until this assignment.”
“And your assignment was to kill her.”
“Yeah.”
“But you know her now? You took time to get to know her when you were supposed to just go in and terminate her?”
Cripes, his little sister was questioning him. He couldn’t say how he’d come up on Violet crying, how her vulnerability had touched him in a way he couldn’t explain. How her strength, smile, and sass touched him, too.
Mia went on, “You’re the one who told me to do what I’m told, that the Guard has a reason for everything.”
“That’s what I thought. But nothing about this assignment makes sense. A good friend and former Vega recently told me to trust my gut when something didn’t feel right. That’s what I’m doing. You should, too.”
“By going against the Guard and losing everything you’ve worked for? What are you thinking?”
“That’s just it, Mia. I’m thinking that this assignment isn’t right.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why does Ferro suspect I’m involved with Violet?”
“He didn’t say. He told me to talk sense into you before he sent someone else to…remedy the situation. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like the sound of it.”
Kade kicked the dirt. Why had Ferro dragged Mia into this?
Because…holy shit. Ferro must know the Carnelian Dragon.
It all fit together, the way the pieces of teak he’d installed on his old boat had.
The Carnelian had reported to Ferro that Kade was fighting beside Violet.
And now he was going to send someone else out.
Kade didn’t like the sound of that either.
“Mia, I’m not going rogue because I’ve lost my head over a woman. Tell Ferro I’m deep undercover, unraveling a bigger conspiracy. Buy me time but stay out of this. Tell him I’m making perfect sense.”
“Why can’t you tell him?”
“Because if I talk to that son of a bitch right now, I’ll spew.” He broke off a branch, crushing it and getting sap on his hand. The pungent scent of pine filled his nose. “Did he tell you anything specific about the woman our father tried to release?”
“No, just the overall story. Why?”
“I never heard the details either. They were confidential. You don’t remember much about our father, but he lived the Guard and then the Concilium.
He also trusted his instincts and taught me to do so as well.
Even if he caught hell for it. After he died, I shoved his advice into a deep well inside me.
I lost respect for everything he was and told me.
Now I’m wondering, what if his saving that woman was part of something else?
What if she was telling the truth?” There had been evidence pointing to multiple kidnappings, all involving children.
His father had worked the case. What if it had been one of the Concilium members his father had trusted?
“Now you’re sounding paranoid.”
“Maybe. But right now I’ve got to take care of Violet.” Take care of her. His chest ached at the thought of keeping her safe, in his arms, in his bed.
“Kade, are you sure about this?”
He could hear the strain in her voice, strain he’d caused. “I’m sure, Mia. I’m sorry you got dragged in.” Not only was his own career crumbling around him, but hers might be, too. She would be associated with the Vega who went rogue. He knew the taint of that.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood in the same moment he heard a whisper of sound nearby. “I have to go.” He turned to find two murderous-looking men coming toward him: Violet’s brothers.
* * *
Violet heard the front door close and more than one set of footsteps clomping down her hallway. Her eyes flew open, and she lurched upright. Kade was gone.
Jessup’s voice shouted, “Vee! Get out here.”
She scrambled out of bed, her mind searching for reasons they could be summoning her like this. “Hold on a damned minute.” She threw on clothing and pulled open the door.
Where was Kade? Not in the bathroom.
Jessup’s expression was grim. Behind him, Ryan didn’t look any happier. And both looked as though they’d just been in a scuffle, hair mussed, Jessup’s face bruised.
“What happened?” Her heart lodged in her throat like a clump of mud.
“No, nobody’s dead. Yet.” Jessup’s mouth tightened. He was pissed. “I overheard your boyfriend out there on the phone talking to a woman.”
She had to backtrack her harrowing thoughts. This was about Kade being a cheater? “Yeah, so what? I told you I wasn’t serious about him.” Still, her heart tightened even more.
“He’s not serious about you either. He told the woman he wasn’t in love with you, and how could he be when he didn’t know you until this assignment? Want to know what that assignment is?” He waited a beat. “Killing you.”
“What? That’s crazy.”
“He said he’s undercover. What he’s doing is pretending to be in love with you so he can strike when you’re not expecting it.
You think there’s a conspiracy, that someone’s targeting the Fringers.
Well, guess what? Your boyfriend is targeting you.
” He jabbed his finger within an inch of her nose.
“You can say all you want, but you’ve got a thing for him.
Your bad judgment where men is concerned brought an enemy right into our camp. ”
“Wait.” She shook her head, unable to even fathom what Jessup was insinuating. “What exactly did you overhear?”
“Someone named Mia was all pissed.”
“Mia is his sister.”
“Well, that makes sense. She was all over him about not telling her the truth. Because the guy lies.” He nodded to punctuate that.
Kade wasn’t in love with her. Why those words hit her hardest, she didn’t know. And of course, they’d only recently gotten to know each other, so it wasn’t love. But it felt like…in love.
“You’re sure he said he was supposed to kill me?” she asked.
“The woman said his assignment was to kill you, kind of a question. Even with my Dragon hearing, I couldn’t tell the context. But he said yes.”
She processed that. It explained why Kade had come here, why he’d sneaked up on her instead of calling like any normal person would.
If she hadn’t sensed him, she’d be dead.
But she had, so he’d had to concoct a story.
Her blood felt as though it were thickening by the second, slowing her heartbeat.
Seducing her must have come easy for him.
She tangled her fingers in the fabric of her shirt.
Even worse, she’d been the one to invite him—no, order him—to her bedroom.
She’d responded to his touch, his magick, so easily.
I’m a bad, bad man, Vee.
She turned her focus from the ache in her chest to her brothers. “What were you doing out there anyway?”