weren’t allowed at all, something our kind did differently from humans.
I didn’t see Nakul, but I saw others I knew by name. Others I had tracked down and captured when I could have killed them. Others I knew were in because I had been at their Trials, waiting to kill them, only for their sentence to be the prison instead.
Tarak was right, I had enemies here, and for the first time in years, that sentiment hit home.
I should have tried to leave Raphael at home. This normally doesn’t bug me. I have enemies everywhere.
“Let’s start with a tour of the grounds around the fence,” Tarak said, heading back for his door. “You have an option to leave Raphael here with Korey, or they could both come with us.”
I looked at my charge, my partner in a way, asking him with just my facial expression if he wanted to join.
“I’ll come with you,” he said softly. As we walked out of the office together, he leaned over. “I’m not stupid enough to go anywhere alone or separate from you. I might disagree with it, but I know you can kill people, and I don’t know anyone else here.”
I almost chuckled. At least his Catholic guilt didn’t make him a complete fool.
6
Chapter Six
I followed Tarak back out of the building, nodding at the guards who manned several stations between the inner offices and the outside world. There were actually two fences around the entire compound, and surveying the grounds meant walking between the two. It was evening in the desert, which I would normally love, but it was winter. The afternoons rarely got into the seventies if I was lucky. Today, it was in the fifties.
“This is always the most boring exercise,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes at Raphael, who gave me the courtesy of chuckling.
“You don’t seem like the type of person who enjoys this sort of thing,” he commented. “You like action and getting things done. This does seem…routine and unnecessary.”
“It is,” I confirmed, sighing. I shrugged when Tarak shot a look over his shoulder.
“You never take this seriously,” the Warden accused.
“It’s boring. We’ve now been walking in the desert between two ineffective fences for forty-five minutes. You can’t deny it’s boring.”
“I normally run it with the pack. Maybe if you changed into a useful creature, this wouldn’t be boring.”
“Useful? I’m venomous. Try that again.” I laughed, shaking my head as we walked. I knew Tarak was trying to lighten the mood. He wasn’t a stick in the mud like the Alpha in Phoenix.
“What were you two talking about earlier?”
Before Tarak or I could, Korey answered. Damn female werewolf didn’t have any filter.
“Probably Nakul. They always talk about him.”
I turned to give her a scathing glare, and she went pale under my stare.
“If he didn’t know, why did you think he should?” I asked softly.
“Korey, why don’t we meet you back at the front door?” Tarak asked, stepping quickly in my way and blocking my view of his wolf.
“Yup.” She turned and started running faster than I could.
“Who’s Nakul?” Raphael asked quietly, drawing my attention.
I stared at him for a long time, debating if he deserved to know. He was a naga mate, even if he didn’t know it. If I ever claimed him, injected my venom into his bloodstream, and tied him to me forever, he would have to know. If others found out he could be my mate, he deserved to know for his own safety.
“Nakul is my uncle by marriage. The night my mother, father, and brothers were murdered, so were his wife and son, both nagas as well. He went on a killing spree afterward. He wanted other species who ignore the plight of our kind to feel the same pain. He’s unhinged. He killed…” I couldn’t finish. He’d done exactly what had been done to him. There were fae, witches, werewolves, vampires, and even humans associated with our world who were in the exact same position now—all men who once had a wife and son who would never have either again.
“Oh…” There was a green tint to Raphael’s normally tawny complexion. “And he’s here? I thought…I thought you executed people like him.” Raphael seemed uncomfortable, and I was glad he was. It was an uncomfortable topic.
“There are only nine nagas left,” I reminded him. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but he’ll be here for eternity. We couldn’t execute him.”
“It sounds like there’s a lot more to that story,” Raphael said softly, looking at his feet