it? Absolutely, but when it came to Nakul, cold was necessary for my sanity. I couldn’t let the line blur between us.
“Well, what I do remember is they were looking for someone to kill you in exchange for freedom. A new chance at life outside the prison. Every single one of my fellow inmates has been locked away for decades, even centuries.”
“Most have been there over three hundred years,” I corrected. In the eight hundred years since the Tribunal was established, they were the ones who couldn’t be executed. There were just over a dozen, but that was enough to send shivers down the spine of the general populace.
“Right. So, they promised freedom; however, we all knew there would be parties, yourself included, looking to take us back or kill us…if that was possible.” He had a point. There were a couple of the inmates at the prison who were truly invulnerable or immortal. They had to be handled in specific ways. One was a demigod. The other was just a nuisance who’d figured something out, but no one knew exactly what he’d done to become what he was, and he certainly never talked about.
“So, how does killing me play into this?”
“Whoever killed you got a new life, without being chased around, without the criminal history. A free pass without needing to hide.”
That made me a little ill.
“That’s not possible…That would involve crafting, not just fake human identities. We do that every day, but a new supernatural identity? Really?”
“If they wished to continue their crimes, they would be supported and covered up, so they could live whatever life they wished…under the rule of the benefactor.”
“Oh, fucking fantastic. I can make a bit of a list when it comes to people with that kind of pull.” The Tribunal, fae clan leaders, some werewolf Alphas if they had the right contacts. The list went on and on. The likelihood several people on that list would also want me dead? Probably only cut the list down by two-thirds, which wasn’t enough. I didn’t really go out of my way to piss most off, but I had a tendency of making enemies by breathing the same air as these people. “There are a hundred reasons why someone would try to kill me. From being the last nagini to my job and position. Do you know if this has anything to do with Raphael?”
“That…” He pointed back to the kitchen. “Human? When I saw him at the prison, he seemed perfectly human. What is he?”
“No one knows. Well, someone probably does, but we have no leads. Needless to say, I ran into a spot of trouble a few months ago, and he ended up my…charge, partner, roommate, whatever you want to call him.” I shrugged. “Look, Nakul, did they say anything about why they would want me dead?”
“No. You dying is just part of the plan, and some are going to take them up on that offer. Others are too paranoid to work for people and will go to ground, but some will come after you.”
“Some already have,” I muttered, thinking about Levi, Erline, and the werewolf twins. Now, I had to try to figure out who was next and how to stop them. Raphael came into view, and my fangs dropped when I saw him, his chest and his arms looking too large for their own good. The size he was, I wondered if he could even use the damn things like a normal person. Since I had met him, he’d beefed up even more, and every time he used his abilities, it was as if he got even bigger. I knew the last part was caused by his magic and would fade a bit, but I was still struck by just how damn big he was.
Thank the gods for Cassius getting him clothing from the fae, or we’d be buying him three sets of the same wardrobe to fit at any given point.
“Hold on one moment. Raphael, watch him but don’t get close—”
“You can trust me, Kaliya—”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I retorted, walking out of the room into the kitchen. I grabbed a plastic container, a bit of cloth, and a rubber band, putting it all together before walking out. I thrust it at my uncle. “Milk those.” He took it from me, which gave me a chance to go back and grab a syringe for him to get a blood sample and nullify the dangers of his venom. He