but…” I gave a one shoulder shrug and was greeted by a glare when I glanced his way. I watched him hit the call button.
For the rest of the drive home, Raphael and I had to listen to him argue with several humans who worked for the Phoenix vampire nest. All I could hope for was that come sunset, Carter would be in a secure location.
20
Chapter Twenty
Night was nearly upon us when I pulled into Cassius’s garage, and Leith came running in to meet us.
“Madam Sahni, the terrarium awaits. I contacted someone at the Phoenix zoo and a local snake expert for advice. Between the two of them, I was able to round up what you needed…” He stopped as I rose out of the car, and he could see the snake winding around me, searching for the most comfortable spot. She picked under my shirt at my back, absorbing the warmth that had built there while I was sitting in the car.
“It’s fine. Don’t freak out, Leith. She’s completely calm, and she’s going to stay with me until I can look at the tank.”
“Leith, you help her,” Cassius ordered. “Raphael, you and I will talk in the dining room while they work this out. We should stay out of the way.”
“Lord, I put the snake’s terrarium on the dining table…”
“We’ll go to the kitchens, then.” Cassius started walking away, and Raphael followed him, giving me a look I couldn’t discern as he left.
“Let’s go,” I said to Leith, and he led me to the dining room, not that I needed him to. I knew Cassius’s mansion like the back of my hand. Once in the dining room, I saw the enclosure Leith had put together on the fly.
“It’ll work, but I wouldn’t want to keep her here permanently,” I said, sighing. It was smaller than I liked, but it was appropriate. “You found good people to help you put this together.”
“Thank you. It cost a small fortune.”
“Bill me,” I said, knowing that’s what he intended to ask. Naksha wasn’t my snake, but Leith knew never to spend any of Cassius’s money on me without giving me the option to pay them back. I didn’t want to be financially beholden to anyone. “Speaking of, bill me for the clothing Cassius stocked my room with. I know I didn’t purchase any of it. It’s not stuff I accidentally left here.”
“Ah…”
“Leith…”
“Well, Lord Cassius is fine with you paying my household accounts back when it’s an emergency, but he bought those with his personal accounts. I don’t have access to those…”
“He’s getting married. He can’t be spending money on me,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“He cares about you. You have a long history, and his fiancée is fine with it. She knows he keeps a room for you here.”
“Just as long as neither of them gets the idea I’m some mistress he intends to tuck away.”
“Madam Sahni!” Leith gasped. “You know Lord Cassius would never.”
I gritted my teeth and looked at the butler.
“But most fae do, and I’m not willing to get that reputation, which would be easy, especially since he and I used to sleep together. Please let him know that all the money he’s spent on me needs to be billed to me. I don’t want to fight with him about it, but I’m not going to budge on this either.”
“What about expenses for Mister Alvarez?”
“Those too,” I mumbled. “All right, I need to focus.”
He didn’t respond, standing back from me and the cobra hanging on me. Singing a song of goodbye, telling Naksha her time with me was over, that she could go, I guided her gently into the temporary home. She found a fake log to hide under as I sang. Once she was completely inside the terrarium, I pulled my arm out and closed the door at the back.
“She doesn’t need to be fed. Just keep her here and check on her every so often to make sure she hasn’t squeezed out. I’ll replace her water dish nightly. Do not, under any circumstances, open her enclosure. Tell Annie-Lyn and Terry as well.”
“I shall. Is it okay if they come in and see her? She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, they can come look at her but no tapping the glass like a child at the zoo.” I ran a finger over the glass, her head following the movement. “You are beautiful, aren’t you?” I whispered before stepping back. “She should be willing to stay in there and find a good place to