Ronin contemplated the night sky and the droning sound of the city below. All attempts at focusing on work failed. His mind kept drifting off to unwanted places. He abandoned his office for Sky Park, hoping the fresh air would clear his head. It didn't.
How did he have time to be distracted with everything going on? Ronin rubbed his brow.
Kaliope Barnes wasn't a shake-up he or the Occult world foresaw. In her first case, she created a giant crack in the glass dome of the witching society. He'd assumed responsibility for said crack, aware the backlash for Kaliope would be severe. Occult-Noccult relations were as unstable as the House System.
The most Ronin anticipated was a long lecture from his father. He called that a regular Sunday dinner.
But his interest in Kaliope's safety wasn't solely because she was a member of his team. As he'd suspected in their first meeting, the woman proved a puzzle. She was familiar, yet not. A fascination and a constant source of irritation. Ronin faced the reality of these contrasting facts when Andreas goaded him about Kaliope acquiring a mood stone to shield herself from him. The two almost came to blows in the elevator. Andreas relished him losing his composure.
You're slipping, brother.
He'd slipped alright. And hooked himself on an unforeseen complication he struggled to ignore.
~~
Ronin lingered at the door of his godfather's office, unsure if he wanted to start a fight or simply get answers. Eli was busy marking papers.
"Planning to stand there all night?"
"Did you know?"
"About what exactly?" Eli continued his work, shaking his head as he scribbled a note in red ink on one of the papers.
"About Kaliope."
Eli's hand paused. A second later, he raised his gaze. "What about Kaliope?"
Ronin reconsidered his stance on whether Eli was an intentional mastermind or if he, Ronin, happened across a stroke of fate.
"Ronin." Eli rose, his eyes gleaming amber. "If something's wrong with Kaliope."
"She's a match."
Eli flinched, the fire draining from his eyes. "A match?"
Fueled by Andreas' taunt, Ronin impulsively introduced his pheromones to Kaliope. He'd been on edge, as he was for days, and he acted on the urge to bridge the disconnection between them caused by the mood stone, unmindful of possible repercussions. Ronin hadn't considered there would be any. He hadn't expected Kaliope's reaction.
"She recognizes my pheromones."
"How? She's human. How certain are you? "
"Not at first." At first, Ronin convinced himself his aura overpowered Kaliope until he caught her response to Gideon's homemade tea made from bergamot essential oils squeezed over black tea leaves. The momentary shock when she tasted it and the panic as she shoved it away. And again during Ballister's press conference. Kaliope picked at the candies Inola offered, eating all except the orange flavor. "But I'm certain now."
Kaliope definitely distinguished his scent, and she avoided it. Her avoidance irritated him. Yet, he told himself it was for the best...until those moments when he slipped.
"You're distressed."
Ronin's irritation flared. "Of course, I'm distressed. You know what this means." Kaliope could only read his pheromones if she were a compatible match for him—a potential mate. Ronin hadn't recognized his disconnect from Kaliope when she started wearing the mood stone for what it was. And in one foolish moment, he crossed an irreversible line. Tried as he might to keep his distance, burying himself in work, nothing helped. Now she was having dinner with Andreas, of all people. And the way she was staring at him earlier. Ronin gritted his teeth.
"It's not the end of the world, Ronin."
"It will be the end of hers if Matthias finds out."
The room swelled with a terrible surge of energy. Eli growled, his voice assuming a guttural tone. "And it will be the end of his if he so much as whispers in her direction."
~~
Live your life, Ronin. It's the only way you'll be happy. Be free.
But at Kaliope's expense?
Eli should understand the dangers Kaliope faced entering Ronin's life. Ronin rubbed the pang in his chest as he pictured his mother. Her presence filled wherever she was with the purest light. And after she left, after Matthias destroyed her, Ronin's world plunged into cold, unforgiving darkness. It was a history he would never repeat.
"About to punch something, boss?"
Inola hopped up and squatted on the wall with the agility of a fox demon, her bushy tails ruffling in the breeze. She canted her head skyward and smiled as the night air caressed her skin. A ripple of her fox form briefly showed underneath her skin.
"You're sober." Inola smelled of expensive wine and meat. And...Kaliope. Ronin shoved his fists into his pockets. The woman was an ill-advised preoccupation.
Inola scrutinized Ronin lazily with one jade-colored fox eye. "Kaliope's safe. I drove her straight home, and your brother didn't come near her."
Ronin stiffened at the mention of Andreas and forced himself to relax. "Did I ask?" Andreas' proximity to Kaliope was irksome. His brother was trouble; Kaliope was trouble. The two together would level any chance of peace he had in his life.
"But you were thinking about it. About her." Inola pinned him with both eyes; her slanted pupils lost in a sea of green. "I smelled fear on you the night Kaliope collapsed at her apartment. We've been friends for years, and that was the first time. She's getting to you, and instead of plucking the thorn from your paw, you're protecting it. Why is that?"
Ronin angled away from Inola. "There's nothing in my paw. You're drunk."
Inola stretched her lithe frame, her balance unwavering on the narrow width of the wall. "She has a friend. Fox demon. Male. From his scent, he's of mating age. Possibly single." She leaned in. "They were close enough for his scent to be on her. Doesn't that bother you?"
Ronin maintained his show of disinterest despite the pulling sensation in his gut. A memory surfaced. "Is that why you doused her in your perfume? To hide his scent from me?"
Inola tapped her nose. "I memorized it. He's my rival, too. He's a Southender." She gazed off, squinting. "And we have no idea who this demon is or his intentions towards our Kaliope."
"Our Kaliope?" Eli called her the same thing.
Inola hopped off the wall and snaked her arm through his. The fox and the lycan. A most unlikely pairing.
"The Occult world is dark and full of unspeakable dangers. There's nothing for it, my friend." Inola nodded, resolute. "We must protect the human."
Ronin smiled at Inola's dramatized declaration. "Under significant duress. She'd rather die on her own hill."
Inola pulled away and faced him, her eyes cool gray. She searched their surroundings, ears perked before she spoke again. "Kaliope might be strong, but she can't face the repercussions alone. If word leaks that she's the one who proposed dissolving the Constitution, you know what will happen. That's why you're covering. Bet your father's going to have a lot to say about it. So will the Council."
Ronin nodded. "I'll handle it." He'll keep Kaliope out of his family's reach.
"And the breach?"
Gale was still assessing the extent of the breach, using a sifting program he created. The servers comprised layers of tech and magic. It slowed the process. So did their hacker's expertise. So far, Gale located several ghost glyphs outside of Katerina's records. Some newer, others faded to barely detectable imprints. The tech mage wasn't sure of their purpose. And none lead them any closer to a possible suspect.
Ronin smoothed his hair. "Either an outsider broke in, or someone on the inside betrayed us." His assignment to investigate the Assembly members pinpointed no likely suspects among them. Their plots and schemes revolved around the upcoming elections. His father wasn't pleased with his first report, lacking in scandalous details as it was. "The Assembly investigators are probing all high-level tech mages."
"You mean those on record. If I were an evil mastermind, I wouldn't leave my personal information lying around."
Ronin acknowledged the same. He allowed Darcy and his investigators to chase that lead alone. If they faked Katerina's records, it stood to reason they'd erased or replaced their own. Her murder was likely connected to that. To the black card. It was the only theory that fits. Perhaps her death served as a measure to cover their trail. They must have surmised she might become a liability.
"Gale suspects they entered the Server Room once and planted some door for remote access. But he hasn't found one yet." Ronin's eyes roved the nightscape. Even a single break-in was a massive feat. "We're looking for a tech mage and someone else. Another witch. With Supreme or Archaic-level talents. We'll have to be vigilant."
"Aye, aye. And what about the human?" Inola returned to her teasing.
Ronin growled. "Don't make me throw you off this roof."
~~~
Thank you for reading Season 1 of Love and Other Crisis. Want to read Seasons 2 and 3, join me on Ream. The link's in my bio on the home page. Hope to see you there.
STAY TUNED FOR A BONUS EPISODE LATER TODAY!