When he immediately stills, I get all the answer I need. Scoffing, I start walking toward the stack of crates. “Right, youdidn’t come looking forme, you were here to deal with the traffickers. Well, don’t let me stop you.”
He falls into step beside me with a scowl of his own. “You can’t go wandering off, Kiara, it’s dangerous. It’s what I was on my way to Mercy Ridge to tell you; we need to move you, it’s not safe there anymore.”
My eye twitches, but I play it off with a blase, “Cool, what is it this time? A stalker? Rogue dragon? Can’t be human traffickers, they’re apparently hanging out at pet expos now. Oh, maybe an evil band of pirates that want to force bond a mimic-healer hybrid for the power boost and to prevent scurvy? That’d be a fun story to tell at parties.”
He grips my upper arm to force me to stop walking away and growls, “This isn't a joke.”
“Of course not. I spend every day knowing damn well that half the world wants me for the wrong reasons, but hey, at least they want me.”
His fingers flex on my bicep. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind.” It’s easy to break free from him; it’s not like he’s trying to hurt me. At least, not physically. Emotional damage is just a fun consolation prize that comes with every Havoc Knight interaction.
As I climb the stack of crates and stretch up on my tiptoes to set Yukina down inside the open hole of the air duct, prepared to follow her in, Vic’s words make me pause. “You think I don'twantyou? Seriously?”
When I glance down at him, he’s staring at me like I just told him I like to riverdance naked in the moonlight for Twizzlers instead of money. Incredulous, questioning my sanity, and lowkey praying I’m bullshitting him. I get that; they’re like chewing on cherry HDMI cords. Not my thing, but who am I to kink shame? Most of my book boyfriends are serial killersbecause I’m attracted to borderline crazy levels of obsession and commitment.
I’m a simple girl. I just want to be wanted to the point a man would bring me a bouquet of severed fingers from every person that ever touched me before him. It’s the thought that counts.
“You spent less than five minutes with me before deciding I wasn't worth keeping around and sent me away without so much as a goodbye, let alone agodsdamnedreason.” My voice cracks as I swallow down the desire to cry. He doesn’t deserve my tears.
“Finding my fated mate was all I’d ever dreamed of. Of meeting the person that wasn’t perfect, but was perfectfor me.That wouldn’t care that I was damaged goods, because being happy and in love was more important than what abilities I have to offer. And then you saved me from a stray bullet and looked at me like I was something precious for all of five seconds before you realized I wasn’t worth the trouble andabandoned me. Pawned me off on your son to deal with.”
Silver mist rises off his skin, blurring his features as he gapes at me, frozen. “That's not... didn't you get my lett-” Voices on the other side of the door to the storeroom reach us and he tenses, knife in his hand before I ever saw him reach for it. Yukina yips, anxiously pacing in the vent and encouraging me to follow her to safety.
All the fight drains out of me until I’m not even angry at him anymore, just… disappointed. And realizing that no matter how hard you cling to hopes and dreams, sometimes they simply aren’t meant to come true.
“Just leave me alone, Havoc. It’s what you’re best at.”
Chapter 19
Havoc
How the hell did I fuck up this badly?
My mate thinks Iabandonedher. Cast her aside as if she isn’t the reason for… foreverything.
I don’t understand. I slid the letter explaining everything along with my number under her front door myself once she was moved into her place in Mercy Ridge. Made sure she understood why I had to keep my distancetemporarilyuntil I finished tying up loose ends to ensure her safety. The one and only time I allowed myself to risk personally checking that she was settling in okay, because I couldn’t fucking sleep until I saw her with my own eyes. From then on, every other week I had Rome deliver an envelope of cash to ensure she wanted for nothing, along with another letter updating her on the progress of my hunt and how much I missed her, couldn’t wait until I could bring her home. Even if all that somehow failed, her friend is mated to my adopted son, could have sent a message through him.
Arson and I have an unusual relationship, but I trust the shadow demon with not only my life, but my mate’s. Twenty-two years ago, I came to collect the bounty on his parents, only to find a five year old with a note pinned to his chest offering himup to the man that hired me as payment to save themselves. I chose to pay their debt myself and raise the boy as my own so that when he was ready, he could kill the bastards himself. The little psycho turned me grey before I hit thirty, but compared to him, leading an entire guild of assassins has been almost comically easy.
Turns out, having a seven year old magnet a face he skinned off to the fridge like it was gold-starred homework does wonders to keep men in line. It cemented my position as guild master as well as my faith in Arson, unhinged as he may be.
Guy’s a fucking psychopath, but he’s loyal to a fault. It's why I entrusted him to get my mate settled and safe when I couldn't. With Kiara beinghisfated mate's best friend? There isn’t a doubt in my mind he’ll protect her, if only to score brownie points with his mate like a stabby, overeager puppy.
Misting to the dining hall of the guild, I quickly scan the four long tables in the center of the room for my second in command. Each step on the stone floor as I close the distance between us echoes with the promise of pain. Itrustedhim. Roman was supposed to ensure she was taken care of. To scare the residents of Mercy Ridge away and let them know she was off limits.
Clearly, he failed. And now, he’ll pay the price.
“Rome.” He twists in his seat on the wooden bench to face me, choking as I grab his throat in a vice and haul him up. His hands latch onto my wrist to ease the pressure on his neck as he hovers an inch above the ground, but doesn’t struggle or panic. I trained him too well for that. “Care to explain to me whythe fuckmy mate thinks I hate her? All those letters, the money… did she even get them?”
He frowns, voice raspy as he rumbles out, “Of course she did, I slipped the envelopes beneath her front door so there’d be no chance of someone stealing them from her mailbox.”
I stare into his rapidly reddening face, but talk myself out of breaking his neck in a fit of rage. Roman has been steadfastly loyal since the day he joined the guild. There’s a reason I sent him to Mercy Ridge to shadow my mate in those first few weeks, why I entrusted him to deliver my letters and spread it around town that she was off-limits so I wouldn’t put her in danger if someone saw me frequenting her house.
If he could be trusted, though, why the hell does Kiara think I don’t care?
“Boss.” Begrudgingly, I let up enough pressure for him to suck a ragged breath in. “I swear on my brother’s life, I dropped off every letter, every envelope, the day you handed it to me. Look for yourself.” Glancing down at his phone, I watch him use one hand to pull up video after video evidence of him sliding my sealed envelopes under her door, slowly easing him to the floor with each one. He recorded every single delivery, and it steals the wind from my sails. There’s no denying he slips the envelope under my mate’s door too far for him to retrieve after stopping recording short of breaking into her house.
