Page 10

Calisto

It was Cade at the gate, Asher letting him in and showing him to the living room without the TV. He headed straight for me, the dark shadows under his eyes telling a tale of little sleep the night before.

“How are you doing?” he asked before I could say anything.

“I’m okay.” One eyebrow lifted in a silent denial of my words. “I am,” I insisted. “Things would be a lot worse if Asher hadn’t reached me when he did.”

“True.”

John and Bellamy arrived soon after, John’s reaction to the house an amusing mixture of awe and derision, depending on which side was currently winning the battle. I got a hug from Bellamy and a whispered, “I can’t wait to hear how you ended up here of all places” from John. When John handed over a large polystyrene cup of coffee, just the way I liked it, and a blueberry muffin, I could have kissed him. Given there were at least two people in the room that might take issue with that—three if you included John himself—I settled for covertly eating the muffin instead, not wanting Asher to see from my face that it was far more enjoyable than the smoothie had been.

Griffin arrived on his own, explaining that Ben’s latest case had him tied to his desk, but that he’d join them on speakerphone once we got down to the nitty gritty. I smiled when John produced a coffee and a muffin for him, as well. Those two had come a long way since the days when John had nothing good to say about his colleague.

There was no coffee for either Cade or Asher. Although, I suspected that had John known Asher’s opinions on caffeine, he would have produced one just to be contrary. There was a tiny part of me that would have liked to see how Asher would have handled the gift of something he wouldn’t dream of touching.

Griffin came to speak to me while small talk was still ongoing. He jerked his head in Asher’s direction, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. “So you met, then?”

“Yeah, we met.”

Asher stood apart from the group, which struck me as strange when it was his house that everyone had invaded. He looked like nothing and no one could ruffle him, and that it didn’t bother him one iota not to be included in anyone’s conversation. It was easy to see how he’d earned the ice nickname from John.

As that calmness under pressure had saved me the previous night, all I could do was admire it. How would he fare in my parents’ home during a family dinner? Would he remain serene as chaos raged around him? I somehow suspected he might. I caught myself before I went too far down the rabbit hole. Why waste time imagining a scenario unlikely to ever happen?

“Did he offer you an explanation?”

I snapped my attention away from Asher and back to Griffin. “Yeah… he did. Actually, I need to talk to you and John once this meeting is over. Away from Cade and Asher.”

Curiosity sparked in Griffin’s eyes, but with Cade already calling the meeting to order, he didn’t have time to question me further. I took a seat on the sofa, frowning as Asher leaned over to pass an agenda to Cade. “When did you have time to write that?”

“Last night,” Asher answered as he took up a position at my back.

What was that about? Protection, or was I reading too much into it, and it just happened to be the closest free space? “When, last night?”

“I got up early.”

Yeah, he had. But he’d already been deep into a Tai Chi session when I’d gotten up early myself. To drum up an agenda before that, he had to have done it at the crack of dawn. Poor guy couldn’t have had more than a couple of hours of sleep.

Once Griffin had Ben on the phone and he’d greeted everyone, Cade started by outlining what had happened. I soon realized everyone had received only a summary of the previous night’s events, and their incredulity grew as I provided the details. “That fucking bitch!” John said when I reached O’Reilly’s comments about my family. “My biggest regret in life is letting her get away in that graveyard. If I could have a do-over, I’d send every damn skeleton after her, and not give a fuck who saw or what the damn council might have had to say about it.” Bellamy reached over to squeeze his boyfriend’s hand, but it didn’t seem to calm John any. “I would! She’s a poisonous bitch. Can’t we hire an assassin or something?” That question was for Cade. “You must know people?”

Cade arched an eyebrow. “You think I know assassins?”

Ben’s tone was dry enough that it transmitted over the phone line. “If you do, perhaps you could discuss it some other time. Like when there isn’t a detective listening in on the conversation.”

Griffin laughed. “He’s joking,” he said when everyone looked at him. “That’s just Ben’s sense of humor.” He turned to Cade. “Do you know an assassin? What about that guy you went to uni with? The one you used to describe as having something of a checkered past.”

“Not an assassin,” Cade ground out. He waved the piece of paper Asher had given him in the air. “I’d like to stay on topic, if that’s alright with everyone here. I still have a business to run.”

“Did she do any damage?” I’d been too upset to give much thought to my place of work the previous night, but now things had settled down somewhat, curiosity demanded I ask even if it wasn’t on the agenda.

Cade shook his head. “Nothing that isn’t fixable in a day or two.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “I’d hate to think she wrecked anything.” John gave me one of his best derogatory looks. “What?”

“It would hardly be your fault,” he drawled. “Not unless you’re holding out on us and you invited her round for tea and crumpets. If so, you really ought to choose your friends more carefully.”

“What John is trying to say,” Bellamy interjected, “is that you can’t take responsibility for other’s actions. Particularly not someone like her. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and she knows she’s untouchable.”

“Is she?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Ben’s disembodied voice said from the phone. “We’ve dug into her background and it’s all hearsay and minor misdemeanors, which, incidentally, are never committed directly by her. She might give out the orders, but she works hard to keep her hands clean.”

“Clean!” John snorted. “She kidnapped me and Bellamy at gunpoint. How is that clean?”

“Was she holding the gun?” Ben asked. “Did you even see her with a gun?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

John muttered something to the floor, but seemed to get the gist of what Ben was saying. After a few moments, he raised his head, his expression mutinous. “Which brings us right back to an assassin. Kill the bitch and this whole thing ends. Hell, forget the assassin. I’ll do it. Somebody get me a gun and I’ll happily put a bullet between her eyes.”

“No, you won’t,” Bellamy said firmly.

John narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. “Why not?”

Bellamy placed a hand on his shoulder, his fingers curling around John’s neck. “Because then you’ll go to prison for murder, and I love you too much to let that happen.”

Despite the subject under discussion, I couldn’t help but smile. It was hard not to be at least a little envious of Bellamy’s fiercely protective streak toward John. I fought the temptation to turn in my seat to see Asher’s expression and find out if he thought it sweet.

“And knowing your luck,” Griffin added, “you’ll get Flynn as your cellmate, determined to wreak revenge for his mother’s death. And we all know how shy he is about killing people.”

John grimaced. “I’m glad he wasn’t hanging out with mummy dearest when I was there. He sounds like an absolute tool.”

“Actually,” Griffin stated. “He was about as charming as it’s possible to be. That’s how he had us all fooled.”

“Even worse,” John said. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Or whatever is worse than a wolf. A dragon?”

“A great white shark,” Bellamy offered.

Griffin laughed. “He had the teeth.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Cade asked tetchily. “I could come back when you’ve finished your little chit chat about which animal is the deadliest.”

We all fell silent and obediently looked to him, even John falling into line now that there were signs of Cade being genuinely pissed. “Thank you,” he said, sounding not at all grateful. He focused on the phone Griffin held. “When we spoke earlier, Ben, you said you were going to talk to DCS Baros about putting surveillance in place for Calisto’s family.”

The words were like an icy trickle of water down my spine, my heart rate immediately picking up. “Wait! What do you mean?”

“She threatened your family,” Asher said calmly, his first contribution to the discussion. “We have to assume, given the type of person she is, that she wouldn’t be above weaponizing them to get to you.”

My body couldn’t decide whether to go hot or cold, so settled for alternating between the two. “I…”

“We won’t let that happen,” Cade said before I could get my words out. “That’s why I asked Ben to find out what the police can put in place.”

“Bad news on that front, I’m afraid,” Ben said, the regret clear in his voice. “Baros won’t go for it. He says funding won’t stretch to the amount of officers it would take.”

“I have a big family,” I offered, my voice thin. “Two sets of grandparents, parents, aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters who all have families of their own. It would be a nightmare to cover them all.”

“Baros said,” Ben continued, “that the most we could provide would be surveillance for two addresses, that if you can prioritize—”

I didn’t let him finish. “Prioritize! What, like pick which members of my family I like the best?”

“No one is saying that,” Cade said.

“Definitely not,” Asher added. Something in his voice had me looking his way. There was something calming about the way he met my gaze without blinking. Something that eased the tightness in my chest and made it possible to breathe again. And of course, that was the moment Baxter strolled in, his gaze darting around the room. “Hey! The entire gang’s here,” he said cheerfully. “What did I miss?”

Ignoring him, I turned back to Cade. “What are you saying, then?”

“One reason I called this meeting was so we could come up with a solution. If your family is vulnerable, it leaves you vulnerable. If you’re vulnerable, we’re all vulnerable.”

“All for one and one for all, and all that shit,” John said.

Asher cleared his throat. “Some of your family could come and stay here.”

The surprising offer had me blinking at him. “Here?”

He didn’t so much as twitch. “Why not? I have security cameras. I have an alarm that notifies the police immediately in case of a break-in, with an expectation of their arrival only taking minutes. I have spare bedrooms.”

“How many?” Griffin asked, his question either for practical purposes, or because he’d seized on the opportunity to be nosey.

“Four,” Asher supplied.

I hadn’t explored the upstairs, so my next question was necessary to glean an overview of the situation. “Does that include the one I’m in?”

“Three,” Asher corrected. “And two rooms with a perfectly good sofa if you have relatives that wouldn’t mind roughing it. As for the rest of the family, I’d be happy to pay for security.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’d do that?”

“He lurrrrrves you,” Baxter said with laughter in his voice. He’d positioned himself over by the window where he could stare out of it.

“He’s loaded,” John pointed out. “Have you seen this house? And his car? To him, it’s probably like buying someone a sandwich.”

“That’s extremely generous of you,” I said to Asher, not allowing John’s cynicism to influence me when I knew it stemmed from the antagonistic relationship between the two of them.

Asher waved my gratitude away. “We can sit down together and work it out after this meeting.”

“Together,” Baxter echoed. “Probably naked and with lube to hand.”

There were times I would have given anything for Baxter to have a physical presence, just so I could douse him with cold water. This was one of them. I couldn’t even glare at him or tell him to shut up. I just had to trust he’d eventually work out that things were stressful enough without his wisecracks.

Cade shifted in his seat. “It goes without saying that the necromancy department is closed until further notice.” The three of us affected by that announcement all frowned in unison. “You all have a target on your backs,” Cade explained. “John, because he killed a good portion of O’Reilly’s men and stopped her from getting her hands on the mask. Griffin, because he ruined her son’s plans, and you…” His gaze settled on me with a question in his eyes.

“Yeah, what exactly does she think Calisto can do that we can’t?” John queried. “Why has she got a hard on for him suddenly? It makes no sense.”

All eyes were suddenly on me, and it took all the mental strength I possessed not to wilt beneath their scrutiny. The worst thing was the expectation of an answer. I shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps she sees me as the weak one.” I waved a hand at John and Griffin. “I’m not like you two. John’s much more outspoken, and Griffin knows how to look after himself. I’m just… me.”

John’s brow creased as he considered my words. Finally, he shook his head. “No, I’m not buying it. There has to be something more to it.”

“Brains, as well as beauty,” Baxter quipped.

John’s gaze had something of a heat-seeking missile quality to it as it fastened on me. “What gives, Calisto? What aren’t you telling us?”

“N… nothing,” I lied, my stammer giving me away.

Before John could push for more, Asher cut in. “Calisto had too much of a traumatic night and too little sleep to have to face an inquisition.”

Three things surprised me about his interjection. One, that he’d done it at all, especially in front of the entire group. Two, that he knew I was lying and not only wouldn’t rat me out about it, but he was going to make sure no one else harried me into a confession. And last, that he’d done it with a look in his eye that said he’d unleash hell if anyone even thought about arguing with him. A look that even had John backing down. “Fine,” he said. “I’m entitled to a bit of paranoia about that woman.”

To my relief, the meeting wound down after that, Ben needing to give his current murder case his full attention, and Cade and Asher excusing themselves for a private discussion. Which gave me the perfect opportunity to speak to John and Griffin alone. Baxter hesitated for a moment, torn about which conversation he wanted to hear the most. In the end, he followed Cade and Asher. I wholeheartedly agreed with his choice because it meant he’d be able to tell me what they’d discussed. And if it wasn’t of any relevance, we’d both be sorely disappointed.

“So…?” Griffin asked. “You wanted to talk to us?”

John arched an eyebrow while Bellamy frowned. “If this is necromancer stuff, I can leave you to it?”

I shook my head. Bellamy was a friend and even if he hadn’t been, I knew John would relay everything to him later, so there was no point in keeping him out of the loop. I would have been fine with Ben staying on the phone as well. “No, it’s fine.” I took a seat on the arm of the sofa. “Erm…” I might have instigated this meeting, but it was hard to know where to start.

“What’s with Asher?” Griffin asked, while I was still pondering the right words. “First, he rescues you and brings you back to his lair. Then he offers to move your entire family in and pay for security for any you can’t squeeze in. And then he goes for John just because he wanted to ask you some questions. He’s not acting like himself at all. He’s almost…” He frowned as he searched for an appropriate word.

“Emotional,” John provided. “Maybe the heating is on too high and he’s melting. Quick! Let’s put him in the freezer.”

I wouldn’t get a better opening, so I took a deep breath and forged ahead. “That’s… kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. He told me some stuff last night, that, well, came as a bit of a surprise, and that I don’t quite know what to make of it.”

John clicked his fingers. “He’s a serial killer, isn’t he? Let me guess, you stumbled across his secret stash of severed heads in the basement.”

“John,” Bellamy said with gentle reproach in his voice. “Let Calisto speak.”

“Less talk about serial killers, if you don’t mind,” Griffin said with a grimace. “That’s a touchy subject for some of us. After one befriends you and you spend a cozy evening eating pizza with him while he plots to kill the love of your life, then you can talk about serial killers.”

Griffin had divulged little of his dealings with Flynn O’Reilly. You could hardly blame him for not wanting to talk about how blind he’d been to his true nature.

It was the wrong thing to say to get John to stop talking, a glint appearing in the other man’s eye. “Did you two…?”

A muscle ticked in Griffin’s jaw as he turned his head slowly John’s way. “Did we what?”

“You know…” John said.

Griffin sighed. “No. I don’t. You’ll have to use actual words.”

John rolled his eyes. “Words… Fine. Get up to funny business? Hanky panky? Tap some ass? Make the beast with two backs? Have a bit of how’s yer father? Is that clear enough for you, or do you need more?”

Bellamy turned away. Not fast enough to disguise the fact that he was struggling not to laugh, though.

Griffin folded his arms across his chest and regarded John coolly. “Oh, I definitely need more. How many more have you got?”

John smirked. “Take a trip to pound town? Do the no pants dance?”

“Stop,” Bellamy said calmly, having recovered from his moment of finding his boyfriend amusing. He threw a look at Griffin. “You know he’ll go on all day, if you let him. So either answer the question, or tell him it’s none of his business.”

“It’s none of your business,” Griffin said.

“That’s a yes,” John said smugly. “How far did you go? That’s one hell of a notch to have on your bedpost.”

Griffin opened his mouth to say something stinging, but Bellamy got in first. “Do you think you could finish your pissing contest later? Calisto asked for your help, and so far, you’ve been no help at all, unless he needed the distraction of watching a pair of idiots try to one-up each other.”

“Ouch!” John said, shooting a genuinely wounded look at his boyfriend. “Can’t a man show a bit of curiosity anymore?”

Bellamy pulled him close to plant a kiss on his cheek in a gesture meant to soothe. “Not the time, sweetheart.” He offered me an apologetic look. “Go on. I can put my hand over John’s mouth if need be. What were you trying to say about Asher?”

It was jarring to have all the attention back on me. I needed their input, though. This was a necromancer thing, and as imperfect as they might be as human beings, they were the only ones I knew. “Asher said… Asher thinks…” John raised an eyebrow and Griffin leaned closer. “There’s no easy way of saying this, so I’m just going to come out with it. Asher thinks he’s my fated mate. Well, he doesn’t think it. He told me he is, that he’s been having visions about me for years. Visions where we hadn’t met,” I directed at Griffin. “Which is why he engineered things so we didn’t. It’s really flattering,” I said, the words coming out of me in a rush now I’d gotten it off my chest.

“But?” Bellamy asked when John and Griffin seemed struck dumb by my announcement. Which had to be a first for John.

“But…” I cleared my throat and tried to sound less guilty about it. “I don’t… feel it. Like at all.” I looked between the three men. “Maybe it’s not instantaneous, right? I always thought it was, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s something that grows. I thought you could tell me what it was like for you?” I focused on John and Bellamy first, figuring that with both of them present, I’d get a more balanced view. “Did you two know the first time you set eyes on each other?”

Bellamy gave a little laugh. “Well, I was dead, so I can’t tell you anything about the moment John lay eyes on me.”

“I knew,” John said. “Even though he was dead, I knew. It was like…” He pressed a hand to his chest, looking far more serious than I was used to with the blond necromancer. “Like being hit in the solar plexus by a ten-ton truck. Although, some of that might have been grief. But I knew.”

“I wasn’t firing on all cylinders,” Bellamy offered, “when I searched out John’s place, so it probably took me longer.”

“How long?” I asked.

Bellamy shrugged. “I don’t know. Thirty minutes. An hour. It was just a feeling of rightness despite all the crazy going on.”

I looked to Griffin, hoping he had a slightly different story to tell. “Ben and I are that classic story of eyes meeting across a crowded bar. We both knew instantly. The only difference was that Ben didn’t understand why the connection was so strong, and I did.” He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up. “Of course, I well and truly fucked things up later, so… Make of that what you will.”

“That’s it, then,” I said. “Asher’s obviously confused. Maybe he had visions about me for a different reason, because of all this O’Reilly stuff, and he added two and two together and came up with five.” I frowned. “He says he can feel it, though.”

John coughed out the word “stalker” and then looked innocent.

“You can’t manufacture feelings you don’t have,” Griffin offered.

“Oh, I don’t know,” John said with an exaggerated look around the room. “How much do you think this house is worth? What about the car? Tell him things might be clearer if he shows you his bank statement.”

“Do you feel anything for him?” Bellamy asked.

“I think he’s incredibly attractive,” I said honestly.

“His bank statement and a quick test drive in the sack,” John said with a smirk.

I ignored him, my mind still on Asher. “We couldn’t be more different. He’s all get up at the crack of dawn to exercise, eat quinoa, and have zero vices, and I’m… Well, I’m not like that at all.”

“Don’t buy into all that,” John said. “You just need to find his chocolate stash.” Thinking he was joking, I laughed. “Seriously,” John continued. “Ask Griffin.”

Griffin gave a slow nod. “It’s true. He hides them in his desk drawer at work. I bet he’s got a cupboard full of chocolate here somewhere.”

“Look…” Bellamy said. “If you don’t want to stay here, you can come and stay with John and me. We don’t have a spare room, but we’ve got a couch you’re more than welcome to sleep on.”

“That’ll be really convenient,” Griffin drawled. “It’ll mean O’Reilly only has to make one house call in order to get her hands on all her favorite people.”

Bellamy pulled a face. “Yeah, there is that. The offer’s there, though.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate it. I can hardly have my family stay here and not be here myself, though. It’s going to be difficult enough once Asher realizes what he’s let himself in for. My family is what you might call an interesting bunch.”