one naga who looks quite old, right?” Cassius looked over his shoulder at me.
“Yeah, and he is. He’s second generation, one of the first true born naga. He’s been through a lot, and if you ever see him, you’ll assume he’s a fifty-five-year-old Indian gentleman. He’s just as spry as he was when he looked twenty-five, though, so don’t toy with a supernatural just because they look old.”
“Age is power,” Cassius said. “You’ll notice a lot of supernaturals won’t tell you their exact age, but you can begin learning how to guess, based on things they keep around them. A ten-year-old vampire is much less powerful than a five hundred-year-old vampire.”
“Carter is a young vampire, and Sinclair is a…middle-aged one?” I figured, mulling over the numbers. “Sinclair can wipe the floor with Carter’s face, and there would be nothing Carter could do about it.”
“Okay. Older supernaturals are more powerful.” Raphael nodded slowly. “I think I’m starting to figure this out.”
“Give it a few years of actively trying to learn, and you’ll know what you need to live day to day in the supernatural world,” I said, thumping his shoulder. “Now get back to practicing. I want to see you try something a bit more powerful than that Glock.”
“Okay.” He jumped up, and I watched him grab an M4. He loaded it with practiced skill as Cassius moved a target into position for him. Once the target was in position, he began firing in bursts of three. He hadn’t had any military training when he was taken, but he obviously had some practice, some idea about how to handle the weapon. When he lowered it, I nodded in appreciation for his aim.
“Did you ever practice with these?” I asked.
“Yeah, had a couple over the years. Bought them illegally and lost them every time I had to run, but if I had the cash at any point, I tried to keep one in my place. Didn’t have enough time to settle in Phoenix to find out where I could get one without the paperwork,” he explained.
“Good. Well, I think you’re going to be as ready as you can be for tonight. We don’t need to teach you how to fire a gun. Cassius? Anything you want to go over with him?”
“No. I think we should all get some sleep.”
Leith cleaned up the mess we made, even breaking down and cleaning the firearms.
“I’ll leave several of these out for you to choose from later,” the butler promised as we walked out.
“Thanks, Leith,” I said, waving as Cassius closed the door. “Well, now we just get some sleep.”
“Wait…do we have any sort of plan?” Raphael asked.
“Yeah. We’re not going to let Sinclair take you. We’ll show up and lay down the Law,” I answered. Cassius caught my eye, and I quickly looked away. I wasn’t going to betray anyone here. I’d made my choice. The possible intel would have to wait. If Sinclair lived through the night, I could get someone else to interrogate him for whatever he thought he had.
“So, we get there and open fire? Talk it out? That doesn’t tell me anything,” Raphael huffed as we walked up the stairs to the main floor.
“We’ll probably talk to him for a moment, see if he really wants things to get bloody. He’ll probably try to taunt us—Sinclair likes to push people to the edge. We open fire once we have taken in the situation and figured out a way of freeing Carter without getting him killed. The best thing for you to do is stay not dead and shoot at the bad guys.” I smiled and started toward my room. Cassius disappeared to his suite, but Raphael was on my heels.
“Wait, Kaliya. Really, that’s it?”
“That’s it. Cassius and I have done this before. It’s not fun, and no, it isn’t easy, but it’s…procedure. We know the steps to the dance. The only trick is pulling them off at that moment and knowing how to adjust for different possibilities. Go get some sleep.”
He nodded slowly and stepped back from me. I noted the door he entered was my neighbor to the left. They put him in the friends’ wing of the mansion. Cassius had two wings—one for friends he liked and another for guests he didn’t really want there but had to entertain. His personal suite was most of the top floor above us.
I went inside and picked out my clothing for the evening, wanting to look over what I had. I noticed