be routine. In and out, and no dealing with prisoners for the most part. Tarak already assured me he’d up security for our visit, thanks to your presence.”
“I have to go?” he asked, frowning. He had one of those frowns that was too severe, but it, like every other expression, looked good on him.
I licked my lips, considering his question, and caught something in his scent I wasn’t expecting. I had been staring at him but hadn’t been looking for the right things. His cheeks were a little flushed, and his chest was moving a bit more than it normally did as if he had just exerted himself. The taste in the air was sexual arousal and sweat.
The questions raised were something I needed to come back to later because he was looking for an answer.
“Yeah, you do. I promised Hasan and the rest of the Tribunal you would stay with me, and this is something that will take longer than a couple of hours. I can fudge those rules in the building when we go to the gym at different times, or I let you sneak off into the grocery store while I wait in the car, but…”
“You can’t leave me for most of the day and night,” he said, his sigh punctuated with annoyance.
“Yeah. For practical reasons, it’s better that you’re seen with me. They’ll know we’re taking this protection detail and training seriously. Plus, the prison will tell the Tribunal about my visit, so they’ll note you aren’t with me for the eight hours a walkthrough could possibly take. On top of that, even driving fast, it can be a two-hour drive there and back…”
“I understand.”
With that, there was a heavy silence between us, and I watched his face as his eyes turned thoughtful.
“Is that why you came back from the gym early? To tell me that?” he asked, looking down at his hands on the kitchen counter.
“Yeah. Well, not all of it. If I’m taking you to the prison, there’s more you’ll need to quickly learn about how to stay out of trouble there. It’s not a great place to make enemies, believe me.”
Ooh. I did come back really early…no wonder I might have interrupted something he was doing, he probably doesn’t want me to bring up.
“Oh, I can only imagine,” he mumbled. “Teach away.”
“Really? You have no problem going with me?” I had expected more of a fight. Now that I didn’t have one, I was downright confused.
“I know we got off to a rocky start, but it’s been four months. I know you’re trying to help me and do your job outside of my…problems. Let’s get started, and hopefully I won’t be in your way.”
I watched him walk out of the kitchen into the living room. I spent a moment to be grateful. I had no idea what Raphael was thinking most of the time, but he was a sponge for new information, like when I had met him. His level of understanding was damn near touching.
Before I walked out to tell him more, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Cassius a quick text explaining the situation. I didn’t think I would get a response, but it was worth a try. Maybe Cassius could put off his visit to the fae lands for a few days.
I put the phone down and walked into the living room, glad to see Raphael was waiting on the couch, holding his stacks of dossiers on supernaturals.
“I’m going to teach you the protocol of the prison and how it’s run, then who to avoid,” I explained, taking them from him. “You might need these if you want to know more about someone’s species, but really? This is only in case we need to go into the yard.”
“Okay…” He seemed tentative, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him.
5
Chapter Five
“Okay, go through it again,” I said patiently, keeping my eyes on the road. Raphael groaned. I was asking him to talk through the planned evening ahead of us—for the fourth time in less than two hours.
“We’re going to be let in by a fae and a witch who monitor the magic they use to mark the border of the prison’s land.” He seemed bored, which I didn’t know if I liked. He was quietly confident about our visit to the prison as if he wasn’t worried about anyone there giving him a hard time. “If they don’t approve of us, we set off the alarms, and the werewolf