25. Dani

By the time my shift is over and Marco chauffeurs me back to Ashe's apartment building, I'm too mentally drained to pack for a weekend trip. Or a week-long trip. Ashe had neglected to disclose exactly how long we would be gone, or even where we would be staying when we got to Houston. And I was not entirely sure that I even wanted to go.

Rose was still not talking to me. She looked even less enthused when she learned that I would be off for the next couple of days, and David was equally as thrilled when I informed him about my spontaneous trip. Although he was more than understanding when I told him that I was going to see my sick aunt, my absence would leave Café Roasted shorthanded and he was already stressed enough as it is about finances.

I hated that I had to keep lying to the people I cared about, but I don't think I have much of a choice. All the threats and supposed dangers aside, would they even believe the truth if I told it to them?

“Have you given any thought to what you'll pack?” Marco asks as we turn down a hallway on the nineteenth floor. Although I appreciate his effort at small talk, I still find myself rolling my eyes.

“Does it matter?”

“It does if you don't want Ashe to pack for you. You've seen her wardrobe and trust me, you won't like what she picks out.”

I purse my lips as I reflect on her usually dark, often practical attire. For a killer who hunted under the cover of night she had little regard for fashion sense and, despite the 'street assassin in leather' look working really well for her, it was a stark contrast to what I would normally wear. The one time I had actually caught her wearing heels and a strappy top late one night I thought she was going to kill me for asking about it, although the image had burned itself into my mind and seared my insides well into the next morning. I probably wouldn't like what she would pack for me if I left that decision up to her, if she packed anything at all.

Was it bad that I was secretly hoping she packed that sexy outfit for herself?

“That's besides the point, Marco,” I groan instead, agitation leaking into my voice. “Does it matter if I don't want to go? Do I even get a say in any of this when it involves my life? Or is she just going to keep moving me around from place to place without my input on anything?”

And it wasn't like I could exactly fight her on it, either. By sheer force or stubborn determination, she would win either way. She didn't exactly strike me as the type who liked to lose and she definitely wasn't the type to ask twice. Or ask at all, really.

It was on days like this that I wish I was still taking my medication. I could feel my chest tightening at the rate in which my world kept changing and quickly swallow the lump forming in my throat. It might have helped with the night terrors I suffered from as a kid and my anxieties as I got older, but I hated the way it made me feel while I was on it and so after Monica left I decided to quit taking it. There were better ways to handle my anxiety than popping a little blue pill, even if medicating it all away was easier.

Deep breaths, Dani. Deep breaths.

Marco stops us just outside Ashe's apartment, withdrawing a set of keys as he cautiously sniffs the air and tilts his head, listening for any unusual sounds. I can't help but feel a little annoyed at the fact that Ashe trusted him with her spare key when I was the one who was being forced to live here.

After a moment, he nods to himself and unlocks the door. “I wish circumstances were different for you, Dani, I really do. But what Ashe does, she does to keep you safe. Even if you can't fully see that.”

A disbelieving snort sputters from my lips despite the twinge in my heart. “Please, she's only doing this to get her ring back and you know it.”

He grunts as he takes one step inside and freezes. “What the hell are you doing?”

I peek past the bear in time to witness Ashe ripping one of the couch cushions to shreds. A quick glance around and I can see the holes punched through the walls, splintered cabinets in the kitchen and glass littered across the hardwood flooring from broken windows and a shattered television screen. The apartment looked like ground zero in the aftermath of a war zone.

“What's it look like I'm doing?” Her tone is low, angry, and I get the distinct impression that whatever she went off to go do this morning did not exactly go over well. “I'm staging a fight.”

“Why?”

“Because that's what I told them happened, Marco, and when they send Public Affairs to do a sweep don't you think they'll find it strange if nothing is out of place?”

“Public Affairs?” I set my satchel down on the kitchen counter and quirk a brow. “What are they going to do, hold a press conference?”

“That's . . . what? No, that's not what they do.”

The knife in Ashe's hand disappears back into her skin, a sight I don't think I could ever get used to, as she turns to face me. Her hair is thrown up into a disheveled bun but a few stray tresses had managed to escape their binding and now frame her angular face like a frizzy auburn halo under the florescent lights. I couldn't help but think that she looked gorgeous when she was frazzled. Dangerous, but beautiful, like a lioness. Or a meerkat before a hunt.

Okay, I really watch too many nature shows. But at least I refrained from comparing her to a cephalopod this time. Although, given that I now knew what her tattoo was capable of, those chains could easily be mistaken for tentacles. I wonder how they work, or if she's ever used them in the bedroo—Oh my God, my mind went there!

“They investigate supernatural occurrences,” the redhead continues, snapping me out of my daze. “And they're damn good at finding leads. If anything seems off about my story, or if they find anything that would point them to you or to my ring, they will track it.”

I wasn't sure if it was due to the bitterness in her tone or to the prospect of being whisked away yet again out of her fear of discovery, but I was starting to feel confrontational. I was certainly not flustered after thinking about her chains in a sexual capacity, not at all.

Now's not the time to daydream! “Well what happens if they find me, then?” I huff. “I get a citation? A warning?” With a name like Public Affairs, how dangerous could they be, anyway? Did they have a supernatural jail, too?

“We don't issue warnings for something like this.”

“We?”

“You're human, Dani. That alone's a violation of our commandments and if there's one thing the Tribunal takes seriously, it's defiance of their laws.” Marco sighs behind me. “Think of our Public Affairs as the police of your world. They regulate our kind and uphold the laws of the Tribunal and, if they will it, they'll send the Reapers after you.”

I turn my attention back to Ashe. “So they'd send you to kill me, is that it?”

Would she even be capable of doing that to me after everything we've been through? After all the sacrifices that I have made, rearranging my life and shutting out those closest to me to protect her stupid secret, I would like to think that it all counted for something. Regardless of what she is or what she does, she was not a monster. That much I knew.

But the distance she keeps creating between us made it hard to feel any warmth at all, even for someone with fire burning in her blood. Despite the few moments we've almost shared or whatever it was I thought I saw every time she looked at me or touched me, was it really so hard to believe that she would forfeit my life to save her own if it came to that? Was the ring's power and the magic that bound her to me stronger than the chains that bound her to them?

“The ring won't let me hurt you. I couldn't kill you even if they forced me to.” She grits her teeth. “But that won't stop them from sending others to do it. And then they'd turn their blades on me, and Marco, and anyone else who can be traced back to you. I can't protect everyone, Dani.”

“You're not the only one with something to lose in all of this, sweetling.”

Movement down the hallway draws my attention and my blood turns to ice in my veins as the familiar click, clack of heels on hardwood echoes throughout the apartment. But I would recognize that voice anywhere.

Deep breaths, Dani! Just breathe!

A low growl rumbles in Marco's throat as a sense of fear grips me and reflexively I step back. “Ashe, what is she doing here?”

“She's—”

“Securing my investment.” Catalina hums, the sliver of a smile gracing her lips as she regards me with predatory eyes. “It looks like I'll be chaperoning your little trip. To ensure there are no more wrinkles, of course.”

Of course. Now I really didn't want to go.

Ashe's lips twist into a grimace as the devil in stilettos rakes her nails up the ink on her arm and along her sharp jawline. “Sorry about your apartment, Cat.” Her tone lacks any remorse.

Wait, her apartment? Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Now I just feel dirty.

The vampire flicks her gaze around with a shrug. “Yes, well, I've been meaning to redecorate for some time.” Then, pinching the redhead's chin, Catalina purrs. “Thanks for dinner, love, but I think I'll take my leave now. I have some arrangements to make and appointments to schedule before our visit to Nadia's tomorrow, and I believe that you have some packing to do.” She brushes her lips against Ashe's own and my heart skips a beat.

'Perhaps you really are just a foolish girl with a crush.' Catalina's words whisper in the back of my mind, taunting me, and my face reddens as I find myself wishing that it was my lips pressed against Ashe's instead of that devil woman's. What I wouldn't give for just a small taste of her fire, if only once.

Even from across the room I can see the muscles in Ashe's neck tense, but she doesn't pull away. She doesn't look in my direction when Catalina finally breaks their kiss either, though, and a terrible thought dawns on me as I resist the urge to cringe. Was she here because she was feeding again?

My chest tightens, eyes narrowed as the devil makes her exit. I don't miss the sultry smirk that curls her mouth as she waltzes by, nor can I ignore the pang of jealousy that stabs at my insides. I wasn't blind to what they did and I understood, albeit barely, the reason why Ashe allowed it. But I didn't have to like it and I sure as hell didn't want to see it. Not after Catalina's blatant threats at the café last night. Not after the moment Ashe and I nearly shared only just this morning!

“I'm not going,” I say when Ashe finally looks my way. Although I don't feel as confident in my stance as I would like, I cross my arms for good measure. “If she's going then I'm staying.”

“If you stay then death will find us faster and we're already on borrowed time. The only chance we have at getting my ring off your finger without either of us dying is if Cat goes with us to Houston. This isn't up for debate.” Ashe's glare cuts to Marco. “You got anything you want to say about it?”

The bear grunts. “You know my opinion on this, Ashe. I don't like any of it. But”—he sighs and what little confidence I had deflates—“I know what's at stake if you two don't go. And that's why I'm going with you.”

“No.”

“Yes!” I square my gaze with Ashe, hoping she can't see the flush in my cheeks as I lift my chin a little higher. I felt safe with Marco around; he was like a big furry security blanket, my buffer to the supernatural. I hate to admit it, but I don't think I could trust Catalina around Ashe on my own. Or this Nadia person. “If Catalina goes then Marco goes, too.”

The redhead pinches the bridge of her nose and I can tell she's fighting back her anger. “He has a bar to run, Dani.”

“The Hidden Door will be fine without me for a few days.” Marco shrugs, although his lips curl upward and a mischievous glint twinkles in his eyes as he adds, “I made some arrangements of my own. One of the benefits of owning your own business is that you don't have to call in when you pay people to manage it for you.”

I quirk a brow. “You were already planning to leave with us, weren't you?” Perhaps he was more covert than I'd previously given him credit for. Who knew that lumberjack werebears could be sneaky?

“I wasn't about to let you go alone. Especially now that Catalina's traveling with you.” He glances cautiously at the redhead. “You know how . . . difficult, she can be. And Nadia—”

“Fine.” Ashe grabs the half-filled bottle of whiskey and packet of cigarettes from the coffee table, shards of glass crunching under her bare feet as she makes her way to the balcony. “Then start packing up her shit. All of it. Everything's going to your place, it's no longer safe to leave it here. But if anything gets left behind”—she flicks the lighter and holds the flame to the end of a cigarette, avoiding my gaze as she exhales a puff of smoke—“then I'll fucking burn it this time.”