Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel

Xander. Before I could close the door behind me, Tyler jumped in and slid beside me, to make an already uncomfortable moment unbearable. He and I faced Raif and Xander, and not a single one of us spoke.

The king glowered at Tyler, and it should have burned a hole right through him. Raif seemed merely amused, while I opted to stare out the window and watch as we negotiated traffic. I’d been utterly embarrassed, and I didn’t think I could look any of them in the eye again. The car rolled along the city streets, while its company sat brooding. I was having an internal argument with no end in sight.

I didn’t know if I loved Tyler. At the moment, I didn’t even know if I liked him. Aside from his constant proclamation of I’m yours, I had no clue whatsoever to his true feelings. What the hell was that supposed to mean anyway? I’m yours. My what? My slave, my guardian angel, my own personal pain in the ass? Of course he cared about me. You don’t just give your life over to someone that you’re not particularly fond of. But what was this between us? I knew about as much about tender feelings as I did about my own Shaede nature. Would I even recognize love if it slapped me in the face?

“Darian, did you hear me?” Raif asked.

Shaken from my thoughts, I looked at Raif. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Tyler snickered beside me. I wanted to punch him in the face.

“I will sit beside the king and you will be posted at his left shoulder. Most of the representatives present will have security personnel, and they’ll be standing, like you. In the past, you would have been referred to as a shield bearer. It’s a formality for the most part, a long-standing one, and not usually performed by a king’s champion. But after this morning’s near miss, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry by having a formidable warrior stand at Xander’s back.”

“What near miss?” Tyler interjected before I could ask Raif what in the hell a king’s champion was.

“Mind your own business,” I said.

“You are my business.”

“Darian killed a Lyhtan attacker this morning,” Raif said, ending the discussion. “She stood like a true warrior and sent her enemy’s soul into the light. I might add, with no help from you, Jinn.”

I couldn’t help but smile that Raif thought so well of me. Tyler sank into the leather seat, pissed and pouting like someone had taken his lollipop.

Xander didn’t speak the entire ride. A couple of times I caught him staring at me, but when I met his gaze, he looked away. He might have been nervous about the Summit or upset that Tyler had tagged along. Whatever the reason, he was in a darker mood than I’d ever seen him, and I didn’t like it at all. He tapped his foot impatiently and folded his arms in front of his chest. A deep sigh escaped his lips and he glared in Ty’s direction.

We drove along the waterfront to the Industrial District, near Xander’s warehouse. The heavy, sea-tangy scent of Puget Sound made me think of Azriel. He loved the almost-musty odor, too thick for a deep breath. Where had he been hiding these past few months? He could’ve been right under my nose the entire time, for all the attention I’d paid. Because of his lies and misinformation, I’d all but lost myself in the populace. A virtual ghost, wary of making contact with anyone or anything, lest my true nature be discovered. But thanks to Raif and his obsessive-compulsive training tactics, I was ready. And when I got my hands on him, he’d damn well wish he’d stayed hidden.

Chapter 19

Not far from the building where I’d trained for nights on end with Raif, we arrived at the location of the Pacific Northwest Territories Summit. The commercial-sized warehouse looked like it had at one time been a storage facility for the large metal shipping containers sometimes seen on tankers. A few of the steel boxes remained, stacked neatly to the sides and rear of the complex. A chain-link fence, topped with curls of razor wire, guaranteed the place would be left alone. A metal mesh gate slid open on electronically controlled wheels, and the limo crept through the entrance, depositing us just outside a gaping maw of a door.

Rows of lights illuminated the central space of the building, and four long tables had been set end to end, forming a large square. In the center of the square sat a great, round brazier. Inside the shallow bronze bowl, bright orange flames danced and frolicked. An assortment of bodies milled around the warehouse space, some with their own entourages hanging unobtrusively behind.

Tyler walked right past me, winked, and joined a group of delegates directly across from where Xander had decided to settle in. My jaw dropped and I quickly snapped it shut, hiding my curiosity at Ty’s role in this strange meeting of mystical creatures. He inclined his head toward his neighbor and flashed a cheerful smile, then nodded to someone a few groups down. I’d never seen him look so comfortable, so immersed in his element.

“This is what you do?” I murmured as Raif came to stand beside me. “Walk around and bullshit?”

“Have you ever seen Congress in action? This is what the gallery looks like right before a voting session,” he said.

“I’ve never been to D.C.” I said. “Have you?”

His knowing smile was all the answer he’d give before he went to stand beside his brother.

As I contemplated the possibility that Raif had actually visited Washington, D.C., I fell into my role as a stoic man—well, woman—in black and tailed the king as he traveled from group to group. Raif was right; politics in the supernatural world were just like politics in the human world, with everyone jockeying for their views to be heard and backed up.

“Alexander!” A tall, drop-dead gorgeous woman approached, and I took a step forward, astonished at the protective instinct. Her red hair was streaked with gold and cascaded down her back in curling locks that shone with an unworldly light. Creamy peach flesh and golden eyes complemented a silk dress of peacock blues and greens. Her refined features were good enough for any fresco. Hell, Botticelli would have wept at the sight of her. My skin tingled as waves of energy emanated from her, the power seeping into my pores.

“Gods above!” she exclaimed, planting a kiss on Xander’s cheek. “Your entourage reeks of gin.”

Wait just a damn second! Indignation flushed my cheeks; I had not been drinking. Xander chuckled, and the blood drained from my face. Not gin. Jinn. Oh, give me a fucking break!

“Yes, well, my new security team leader has a little pet, my dear Luna. I hadn’t realized you didn’t favor the Jinn.”

Luna pulled her eager gaze from Xander’s face long enough to give me a sneering appraisal that would have made Anya proud. “It’s not that I don’t favor them. But have you heard what their delegation is proposing on the Shape-Shifter Initiative? Surely, you won’t be voting . . .”

I’d blocked her out once I realized Luna liked the sound of her own voice almost as much as Xander did his. Besides, if I’d had to listen to her disparage the Jinn delegation for a moment longer, I may have been persuaded to try out my fist on her perfectly shaped nose. But the king listened like a devoted admirer, nodding and hanging on every word. If it came to a vote, of course he’d consider her stance on the issue, and, yes, he would be honored if she’d return the favor to his issues as well. Spare me! Next group, please!

As if he’d heard my mental urgings, Xander kissed Luna’s hand and continued on his stroll. “Shape-Shifter Initiative?” I asked Raif as he fell back to walk with me.

“Politics.” He shrugged. “It never changes. The shifters are asking for the embargo to be lifted on their hunting grounds. The pheasant population in northern Idaho has diminished over the years, and the bird happens to be sacred in one of their coming-of-age ceremonies. They want to be allowed to hunt before the harvest moon and the autumnal equinox. It’s up for vote in a few months.”

“You mean the supernatural community actually makes environmental-impact decisions?” My brain reeled as it fought to soak up all of this new information. Levi would shit a brick if he could’ve been there to hear it all!

“Why wouldn’t we?” Raif said. “We inhabit this world, just like the humans. We must make decisions to protect natural resources, enact laws and policies. This is not chaos, Darian. We are not ungoverned animals.”

Hands tucked behind my back, I followed Xander as he paced from group to group. From the corner of my eye I watched as Tyler did the same, his hands flashing in animated gestures as he talked, sometimes emphatically with a stern expression on his face. I wondered as I watched, What is his stance on the Shape-Shifter Initiative?

“Darian,” Xander said as we approached a small group comprised of men in tailored business suits, “I’d like you to meet Dylan McBride. He owns a consulting firm out of Portland. Though didn’t I hear, Dylan, that you’re