Kick Back - Susi Hawke Page 0,6
not that I know of, anyway. But my gut has told me for several months that I'm on borrowed time. This was my last service, I’m now officially retired from this position. My things are packed and I'm ready to leave before my replacement arrives to take my place tomorrow."
Darius sucked in a breath. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? And what of our mission?"
Father Clarence sighed and began carefully removing his scarf. "I didn't want to tell you that the underground would no longer be running through Aurelia, or that I was leaving, when we last saw each other. You were so happy with your family, I couldn't bear the thought of you thinking it was necessary to stay here. The underground will continue, just without a stop in this country. There will still be sympathizers who can help any omegas who might need to escape in the future, I made sure of that."
My brothers and I remained quiet and let Darius lead the discussion. "Okay, I understand that, but I wish you'd confided in me. Your heart was in the right place, but I would’ve liked to be there for you and help celebrate your retirement. As for this contract, you really don't have any idea why somebody would want to kill you?"
"Umm… in all the rush of my retirement plans and closing our part of the underground, I might've gone too far."
We watched while he carefully hung his scarf and quietly removed his outer white robe. He was left in a black… I wasn't sure what to make of it, it wasn't a robe or a dress. But it covered him from neck to ankle like a, well… dress or robe. He looked longingly at a neatly folded set of clothes in the center of his table but apparently didn't want to finish changing in front of us.
Dammit. I wouldn't have complained about getting a better view of what appeared to be a rather muscular body. No sooner than that thought crossed my mind, I remembered my brothers and Darius were also watching. I shocked myself when a soft growl rumbled in my throat at the idea of anybody seeing my mate naked.
Gib shot me a look but my chest swelled when my mate smiled with approval, as if he understood my thoughts. The look in his eyes promised that we would be talking later, and I was interested to hear what he was about to say. But he was distracted when stupid Nash chose that moment to interrupt.
"Might have gone too far? What does that mean, Father Clarence? Care to clue us in? My brothers and I are sticking our necks out instead of doing what we were hired to do. In case you don't know what that is, allow me to clarify. We come from a family of assassins and normally we don't fail to complete a job. The only reason we took this one was to do the exact opposite of killing you and save your life instead. So how about you help us do that and tell us whatever you know that might enable us to make that happen?"
My mate's eyebrows shot up at the mention of us being assassins, but he didn't seem overly alarmed. Either he took Nash at his word, had faith that God would protect him, or trusted that I wouldn't kill my true mate. I wasn't sure which option was the truth, but I found it intriguing that I didn't scent even a whiff of fear from him.
Father Clarence looked directly at Darius. "I have three omegas here right now. They should have been moved days ago, but my gut told me to wait. One of them is a local boy who was recently contracted to an arranged mating with Saul Everly. I would imagine that Saul's unhappy with the fact that the omega he paid so dearly for has gone missing. Either he demanded his money back and the family—along with the palace, sorry, Darius—is fighting back and likely refusing to return it, or he's coming after me himself."
Gib frowned. "Who the hell is Saul Everly?"
I snorted and answered before Darius could. "He’s the leader of COME, Gib. Do you even pay attention to current events? You know, the Council of Magickal Entities that decides the laws that govern all shifters? Well, he's the one guy who rules it all. Now that I think about it, you should probably read the dossier your mate gave you if