“I’m certain we can get those sorts of answers at the meetings, which we will be in all night.”
“Fuck. I need to shower,” I said, pushing the sheet back. Looking down, I realized I was naked. Bruises covered my body, but nothing felt broken or maimed. I had feeling in my toes, and my head didn’t pound like someone was hitting it with a hammer.
“No, you don’t. The last healer did a cleaning spell on you,” he said gently. “A brownie with a bit of medical training.”
“Fantastic.” I really hated that. I licked my lips, wondering if the scents were still in the room. Sure enough, three fae, other than Cassius, had been through, along with a variety of other species. A werewolf and a werecat were the two that stood out. “Who all came in here?”
“A few of the Tribunal came to look in on you. They sent someone to make a door to their chambers in my house for this to go smoothly.”
“How long have I been out?” I demanded.
He concentrated for a moment, and I waited patiently on the answer.
“About twenty hours. It’s nine. You took the most damage. I just needed to sleep in my chambers to regain my strength.” I had figured as much. Cassius’s room was a pocket dimension that gave him access to his family home in one of the fae realms. For the few fae like him, it was important to have that connection. “Raphael ate through every red meat kept in my kitchen, much to Terry’s dismay, then he was back to normal. You were the one tossed around by Sinclair the most without the healing abilities to handle it.”
“I was also the most skilled. You decided to play footsie with the other fae. Tommen,” I bit out.
“We should have focused our forces sooner,” he agreed softly. “He made me upset and effectively kept me out of the more important fight, and I think he did so on purpose.”
“Probably, but he’s dead now,” I reminded Cassius with a grin. Something made me happy. Sinclair and both his little motherfuckers were all dead now, I was still fucking among the living, and no one was going to take that away from me…not yet, anyway. And so were Raphael and Cassius.
My heart wanted to split in two again for Carter, but Cassius had a very real point. There was still work to be done. Mygi and the Tribunal waited.
“Meet me outside,” I ordered him. “Are they expecting anything formal?”
“Would you wear it if they did?”
“No.”
“There’s your answer,” he said, chuckling softly as he walked out. I figured he was glad for the semi-normalness of the banter.
I’ll be okay. I’ll bury Carter and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. No one will ever know what Raphael’s blood does to vampires, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to take him. Carter won’t have died in vain.
Shit, I should have asked Cassius about Carter’s body.
I jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed, rushing out even though my knees hurt, and my back pulsated with a dull ache. I hurried to the kitchen, hoping to find him hanging around there since it was normal. I was lucky to see him accepting a drink from Leith.
“Carter’s body,” I said loudly, leaning on the counter. “What—”
“It was accidentally destroyed after you were unconscious,” he answered, giving me a look. He’d burned it, then. No one would ever know. “Imani already marked tonight as the official grieving period for him. There’s a small event going on at her home. We’re not invited.”
“Of course not. We should do something, then. Later, just us,” I said, my mouth a little dry. Cassius nodded solemnly. As if he could read my mind, Leith put a coffee down in front of me. I grabbed it and sipped, smiling to see Leith remembered how I liked it. “Which door did they steal to use to get into the Chambers?”
“Closet door across from the dining room in the hall,” he said, pointing in the direction.
I walked away, ready to handle this mess with the Tribunal. There was still paperwork and all that good work of being an employee for the supernatural governing body, and I was certain if any representative from Mygi was around, there was still a chance Raphael could end up with them.
“Kaliya, wait. They’re talking to—” Cassius tried to grab me as I drew close to the door.
“Don’t care,” I said, grabbing the door handle and yanking it open. They