It was one of those mornings where you dreaded to open your eyes. In all fairness, today should be a happy day not a ho-hum-I-can-get-through-this type of day. My brother, Sophie, and Luke were all getting in at various times and after last night, I was starting to think having them all here would be bad.
I rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, trying to ignore just how tight the bandage around my wrist felt. Thank god it was long sleeve season or I would be answering questions I didn’t want to. My brother was nosey as hell and Sophie would probably ask what happened followed with asking if they sutured it right. I would have to give them the lame excuse I gave to everyone else of “I nicked myself during knife practice”.
The bathroom door opened and Gregori stepped out, steam billowing out above his head. Sadly, that stunning image was lost on me as I didn’t look over at him. He’d spent the night on the couch to keep an eye on me and he just happened to be the one driving me to the airport to pick up my brother and Sophie.
My eyes slanted over to him as he smoothed down his still damp hair.
“Hey,” I said quietly, feeling the need to say something.
He dropped his hand and looked me over. Every time he did that, I thought he was literally checking to make sure I wasn’t about to break into a million pieces.
“Good morning. I didn’t think you’d be awake yet. How are you feeling?”
I sat up slowly as he walked over. It literally felt like I’d aged years overnight. Everything was stiff and I actually still had my blood staining my right hand fingertips.
“I’m fine,” I finally managed to say.
“Thankfully I can see through the bullshit. I started the coffee before I jumped into the shower and your brother’s flight is arriving in an hour.”
“Is that your way of telling me to get my ass out of bed?”
“It’s my way of reminding you that life goes on and so do you. Don’t let this set you back.”
This was one of those moments where I was supposed to tell him that it had set me back. Tell the truth, always. That’s what I’d agreed but it had crossed my mind that keeping the truth by omission was the same. And the truth I didn’t want to admit to was I felt like I was back to where I was when I first got here.
I hated that girl. In my mind she was weak and I didn’t want to be weak. But there I was, feeling like I was looking at the world through sludge. Worst of all, I was dreading seeing my brother and Sophie because of the possible things their visit might bring up.
I couldn’t understand why I had to remember everything the way I did and why there was such an emotional response to it. In my mind, afterwards, I could rationalize it. There were good parts as well as bad parts and there was no reason to freak out over it every single time I thought too much about it.
But I did. Every. Single. Time.
“Yeah. If you say so.” It was the only thing I could think of to say.
I got out of the bed and headed straight to the bathroom. Gregori was putting off that cautious vibe I hated. He tended to walk on egg shells for days when I got like this and I didn’t want him to.
“Geo…”
“Yeah.” I slammed the door closed, not wanting to talk about it. Thankfully the mirror was still clouded over from Gregori’s shower that I didn’t have to look at the complete mess I was. “Yeah,” I repeated mostly to myself.
It was another day in hell.
I got my wrist wrapped up in plastic and my shower done. By that time I was anxious to go get my brother but when I finally left the bathroom, Gregori was nowhere in sight. There was a note propped up on my kitchen table, a steaming cup of black coffee keeping it upright.
Going over last minute plans for the party tonight. Come up to the security office when you’re ready to go.
Space. He was giving me space. Interesting. It wasn’t his usual style. Normally he stayed a comfortable visible distance away and kept the training intense so I would have something else to think about.
Guess he was trying a new tactic.
I had half a mind just to call him and say I was just going to take a cab but I knew if I told him what I was going to do, he would fight me on it. I had to suggest it, especially after my little episode the night before. So I grabbed my jacket, keys, and phone and headed up to his office. Jesse told me around this time of year, the security office was at its busiest. Otherworlders wanted Slayer security for their fancy parties, Time Square wanted a little extra security in case the Underworlders decided to rear their heads during the festivities, and of course there was the Guild’s own New Year’s Eve bash. Everything had to be planned to the very littlest detail or it would all go to hell.
My plan for the evening was to go to the Guild’s party, drag my brother, Sophie, and Luke along with me. We’d stay for a little bit before heading over to a party Mark was supposed to be having on a roof top overlooking Time Square. He’d assured me that Aidan wouldn’t be making an appearance, that he had other plans for the evening and had apologized profusely when Mark accidentally mentioned it. I was hoping he was right only because I’d received Mrs. Hanover’s invitation for her New Year’s Bash and heard Gregori talking about it since she’d requested a security detail.
“Well, well, well. The princess has finally arrived.”
I managed to crack a smile for David. He was sitting at James’s desk talking to one of the guys watching the monitors. I plopped down on his lap, slung an arm around his neck, and took a look at the monitor the two of them seemed to be focused on.
“Whatcha watchin?”
“These two…idiots,” the monitor guy, Everett I think his name was, said. “I have no idea what they’re doing.”
I squinted at the monitor. “Looks like they’re hauling liquor upstairs.”
“Yeah. That’s what it looks like only the liquor doesn’t go straight upstairs. It goes through the kitchens first.” He zoomed in and pointed. “They are clearly not kitchen workers.”
“So send someone to check it out,” I said.
“Did that. We’re waiting on them to get there,” David put his two cents in before putting all his attention on me. “Here to see Cap?”
I shrugged. “He’s supposed to give me a lift to the airport but it seems pretty busy around here at the moment. I might just take a cab.”
David nodded. “We’re spread thin this year. More security requests came in than usual.”
“How many recruits are going to be back before then?”
“A few but Cap is reluctant to put them on a detail unless their mentors are here as well.”
“Please tell me he’s not going to make me work tonight.”
“Nah. He said you needed some time off and I have to agree. I’m tired of your face.” I pushed off his face when I stood up, making him start to laugh. “What?! Don’t tell me you’re offended!”
“Only by your face.”
He acted all offended by putting his hands against his chest. “Ouch, Princess. You wound me.”
“Good.” I knocked on Gregori’s door and stuck my tongue out at David. “Someone needs to wound that ego of yours.”
“Come in!”
David made whinny noises behind me as I stuck my head into Gregori’s office, fully intending on just suggesting and running. But I could tell by his posture and the way he was staring down at a file on his desk that there was no way I was going to get away that easily.
He had one hand on his hip, the other holding the desk phone…
Yeah, I was screwed.
“Do we have any other details?” His voice was strained, tight as a guitar wire. Whatever he was discussing had gotten under his skin. “Where?”
Quietly, I entered his office and sat down in my usual chair without making a fuss. He would get to me when he got to me and at this point, I would wait as patiently as possible.
Gregori jotted something down and pressed pen tip down on the corner of the paper, hard enough to puncture several layers of it. That was my cue, letting me know he was beyond pissed and it took a lot to piss him off.
Very carefully I leaned forward and gripped the pen, letting him know silently that whatever it was, it would be ok.
He didn’t look up at me, just tapped my knuckle with his pointer finger.
“There’s something I have to take care of and then I’ll be there to do the interview…no…no one else is to go near her. Do you understand me? This needs to be handled delicately. Last thing the girl needs is to be traumatized some more.”
That definitely didn’t sound good. Gregori let go of the pen and his hand went back to his hip. To make sure I didn’t startle him, I carefully put the pen down and rested my head on my folded arms.
“Alright.”
He hung up the phone and turned, without looking at me, to stare out the window. I waited for him to tell me what was wrong. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt his process in case he was working on something in that melon of his.
Gregori was generally an easy going guy. He told you like it was, no bullshit. But when he got like this, it was best to take a step back and let him work it out. Almost exactly like he did for me. I owed it to him to do the same.
“I have two options,” he finally said. “I can let you go to the airport by yourself while I take care of this or I follow through with taking you like I promised and deal with it after.”
I swallowed and it was now my turn to use the pen as a tick. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I would rather not.” Finally he turned to look at me, his eyes finding that point on my face like always. “And it’s not because of what happened last night. This incident is just—sensitive.”
“I can handle going to the airport on my own. I swear.”
“You were attacked at that airport…”
“And when I flew in, nothing happened. I’ll be fine.”
His eyes slid up to meet mine for the first time in a long time. “I would rather you not go by yourself.”
“And I would rather you tell me what’s going on but I respect that you can’t. Just give me this chance. Nothing will happen.”
“I’ll walk you out. You will call me when you get to the airport, text me when your brother lands, and check in with Hank at the front desk when you get back.”
“Yes, boss. You can even have David or Everett track me if you want. I won’t mind.”
He picked up his pen and started tapping it while still maintaining eye contact with me. “I might send David with you.”
“So he can what? Play babysitter? You know he hates that…”
“Right now I don’t care what he hates. All I care about at this moment is dealing with this new case and making sure you’re ok.”
My voice softened. “I’m fine. Stop worrying.”
“You were assigned to me. I’m supposed to worry about you.” He touched the com in his ear and I was still trying to figure out how that thing was supposed to know who to contact. Or maybe they just worked in pairs and since David was the only other head underling in the office, it was plausible he would be the only one listening on the other end. “Are you busy?”
Gregori stared off at nothing as he listened to the response. I sighed, knowing full well that despite his obvious trust in me, it was too soon in his mind to send me off by myself. I would’ve gotten angry and argued that he was treating me like a child but I knew how I acted sometimes. Adult supervision was occasionally needed. I didn’t need to be taking my problems out on an unsuspecting civilian just because they bumped into me the wrong way.
“I want someone to go with Geo to the airport.” His arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the other end. I think there was even a hint of a smile. “No. I’m sure she can handle herself…I’m not being a nag…do you want me to show you the file again? Do you want something to happen?...I didn’t think so. She’ll be out in a moment. Take her to the airport and keep an eye on her.”
He touched the com-link again and paused for a moment, like he was trying to gather his thoughts before speaking to me again.
“Go ahead and go. Don’t leave his sight.”
I got up and headed for the door, content with David as an escort. He would be entertaining for Sophie and Sebastis, maybe enough of a distraction that they wouldn’t notice certain things when it came to me. I would’ve preferred Gregori but I knew job came first.
“Geo.” I paused at the door and turned to look at him. He was still looking down at the open file. There was something about that case that was bothering him big time. He could handle anything from psychotic Otherworlders to disguised Underworlders but there was something about that particular one that was harder to choke down. At first when he looked up, he only stared at that point on my face but after a few more heartbeats he met my eyes. “Be safe.”
I frowned. “You don’t have to be worried.”
“Well, I am and I have every right to be.”
“You can call me any time you want. Simple as that.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
He was solemn, worried which just had me more than a little anxious. Nothing would happen. I had to believe that otherwise I would hole up in my room downstairs and never come out again.
“Call me if you need me,” were my parting words.
What else was there for me to say? I couldn’t reassure him even though I wanted to. When it came to me, everything was unpredictable.
~ * ~
Sorry about the wait, lovelies. I had to write this bit and the next chapter which I haven't completed yet. Thank you for your patience! Things at my house are a little crazy and stressful.