prison outbreak happened because the fae were gone, which took players off the board,” I said, cutting in. “Cassius, one of the most powerful Investigators, works with me, and he has a lot of political sway. Alvina is one of the most compassionate of you, while Oisin is one of the most ruthless. I think the fae left to do their own thing, and it was a good time to get to me. Because that’s all this is, a massive attempt to kill me.”
“You are full of yourself,” Hasan mumbled. “But not wrong.”
“That’s why we all dislike Kaliya,” Callahan commented softly. “She’s not always right, but she’s just paranoid enough to make all of us look like fools on occasion.”
“It’s not hard to make you look like a fool, Callahan,” Hasan muttered.
“Sometimes, I miss the War. I was kicking your ass,” Callahan growled back.
“Moving on. Kaliya, you are set on this path, are you not?” The clear voice of the male vampire, Isaiah, cut into the call. He had been notably silent, and I realized so had the female vampire.
“I am,” I declared.
“I vote for, and so does Maria. I will also recommend since you have such a small species and the trust of the Tribunal and our facility, the prison, has been compromised, you keep Nakul under the care of your people. Send him back to your homeland and put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. After what we have done to him, I’m certain that might help make amends in some way.”
“You don’t get to make those decisions. She doesn’t get to make those decisions. Nakul is dangerous, and his crimes were—”
“I will not have abuses like this happening in that hell hole you have created,” Isaiah roared at the female witch who had just tried him. “Why do you think I don’t send many vampires to your prison? Do you think I should trust power-hungry supernaturals with the safety of my kind? What Eliphas and possibly Tarak have done is disgrace us in the eyes of another species, one that has supported the Tribunal since its inception. We all forget that Kaliya is the representative of the naga, not only our Executioner. She is due the respect of that, and we have broken a sacred trust to her.”
My personal dichotomy. I was in several different ranks of the social hierarchy, using each when needed. I was a representative of a species, a ruler in the eyes of the Tribunal. I was their employee, an Executioner who followed orders. I was also a scum bounty hunter, depending on how busy work was keeping me.
“My friend—” Hasan tried to break in to end the vicious words of the vampire, who sounded like he was going into a blood rage.
“No! Even if Kaliya has been kind enough not to say it, we all know Adhar will come to us before the week is out. This entire affair has been disgraceful, and every single one of you involved in the prison who choose the Wardens should be ashamed of yourselves, especially you fucking witches. You’re still trying to protect them, and I haven’t even begun to figure out why. Kaliya has never been wrong in her estimation by the time she comes to us with it. Never. She is one of our most intelligent Executioners, and we owe her our trust to do what is right, not only for the supernatural world we rule but our own reputations.”
I turned the volume down and glanced at Raphael, my eyes wide. His were too.
“I completely agree,” Hasan said softly. “Please sit down, old friend. Please.”
“Disgraceful children,” he growled softly. “Not you, Hasan. It’s good to have you back, my ancient friend. I forgot how much I appreciated your wisdom in times such as these.”
“Thank you for that.”
Things settled down on the other end. No one said a word, and after a few minutes of silence, I decided it was time to get this moving again.
“So…I’m going to kill Eliphas, then I’m going to send Nakul back to Adhar for safekeeping. Then I’m going on a vacation.” I nodded slowly. “Yeah, a vacation sounds good right now.”
“Of course,” Hasan said carefully. “We can discuss time off for you once this is said and done…” He didn’t sound very positive in the matter.
“No, I think I need a vacation. Most of you haven’t mentioned or realized it, but this entire time, I’ve also had to drag around and risk the life