She raced into the bathroom, slamming the door just as Silva came back into the room.
“I’ll leave gear on the bed and coffee on the nightstand. Put your hair up in the bun you like so much and I’ll meet you in the living room. You’ve got twenty minutes.”
Kalinda frowned at the bathroom door. “Who died and made you boss?”
“Things change, Ales.”
Wait, how did Silva know about that? Driven to know exactly what was going on, and wondering where Romano was anyway, she raced through her morning ritual. She came out of the bathroom—that was completely going to get a long appointment with her in the future because whoa—and found a similar black and silver outfit waiting for her.
Once she had it on—figuring out the mage-elastic allowed her to pull it up over her body and it formed to her shape—she had to admit it was stunning as she admired it in the bathroom mirror. Her dark hair pulled into a bun made her angular cheekbones stand out, and her shape was accented. She looked alluring and deadly at the same time. That was a first.
Kalinda grabbed her second cup of coffee and guzzled it down on the way to the living room. Silva was there waiting, sipping her own cup of coffee.
She let out a low whistle. “I’m happy Romano isn’t here. He would never let you outside in that.”
“Romano doesn’t tell me what to do.”
Silva snorted. “Says the newly mated woman. Right.”
“Silva, I know we’ve been working well together, but this is a bit weird. I followed the instructions, but now I need clarity. Why are you here? And how do you know about the Ales?”
Silva put her cup down and placed her hands in her lap. “Romano called me. He had to go to a meeting with the Moretti and Lombardi Pack powers that be, and when he told me what happened with you, I knew I needed to be here.”
Well, that answered the questions of where Romano was. Though she would have liked to get some sort of message or something. Ugh, it was already starting. That’s why she didn’t do stuff like this. Trust was hard earned, and most men wouldn’t be able to keep up with her demands. She’d always known this.
“He left you a note on the bed, but I moved it in here when I woke you. Wasn’t sure if you were going to smack the coffee out of my hand or not.”
Sure as shit, Silva held a white note with black scrawl in her hand.
Headed to a meeting but made sure you have protection. If you need me, I’m now speed dial one on your phone.
Sorry,
Zoey.
She couldn’t help but smile. Zoey would lose her shit, of course, but Kalinda would make sure she was number two. Silva chuckled, and Kalinda cleared her throat, embarrassed to be caught grinning like some teenager in a new relationship.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain it all,” Kalinda told her.
“You know I’m Fae? There are blood pacts for Fae kin to be attached to certain families. The agreements are as old as time and can’t be broken. The minute I knew you were an Ales, it made sense why I’ve been so drawn to you.”
“The thing you couldn’t tell me before was that you were drawn to me,” Kalinda figured. “It might have been a bit weird to tell an employer you were applying for the job because their blood called.”
“A bit. Although, I didn’t know that’s what it was. I just couldn’t stay away.”
“You just left home?”
Silva frowned. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I can’t remember. When I told you there were things I couldn’t tell you, I meant it. Most of my memory is a fog, and when I try too hard to remember, it hurts.”
“Hurts?” Kalinda felt like a parrot. Polly, want a cracker?
“Yes. It’s hard to describe, but everything inside of me wants to shrivel up and die. So since I like living, I don’t try so hard anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Silva.”
