main entrance and got out first, going around the front of the car. I fumbled with my seatbelt and got it off in time for him to open the door for me.
“You’ve got to stop with the cute stuff,” I told him as I gingerly slid out of the BMW.
“I’m a gentleman,” he reminded me. “I wasn’t when we met, but that’s because I was an angry prick. I’ve had time to get over that. You can say you’ve given me a new lease on life.”
“Ha.” Or a death sentence.
I let him run to the back of the BMW to get Nakul, watching the front door. Normally, Leith ran out to greet visitors. I walked up to the door and for the first time in a few decades, rang the doorbell.
Leith answered, peeking outside cautiously.
“Hey,” I greeted, trying to smile. Raphael came up behind me with the bag of deadly snake. Leith only had eyes for me, taking in every inch of me, then cursing.
“He’s going to be furious with you,” the butler finally said, opening the door farther. “Downright furious. You need to stop visiting looking like this. Come over for dinner, not half-dead or on the run from some great evil. Lord Cassius isn’t back, by the way. When you declared the Code Black, Mary Anne left to get him because we knew you would need help. She hasn’t returned, and neither have the Lord and Lady.”
“Do you have any word at all about what’s going on in the fae lands? I heard it was some clan challenges?”
He froze, and I took the chance to walk past him into the large entryway of the mansion.
“How?”
“I’m Kaliya Sahni, Tribunal Executioner and one of two leaders of the nagas. I have my ways.” I took a page out of Hasan’s book, giving myself a good private laugh.
Leith’s stare was unamused. He looked at Raphael as the big man passed him, then at the bag.
“Well, at least you’re in good shape. That healing factor you have is astounding. You should find a way to sell it, then charge Kaliya. If she’s not going to take care of her fragile form, you might as well make money off it.” He glared at me again, then walked out of the room.
“I always like seeing him,” Raphael said casually, following the butler. I glared at his back, then hobbled after them.
“You’ve got an attitude today, Leith, and I’m not sure I like it,” I said, limping all the way into a sitting room off the dining room and kitchen. I wasn’t in this space a lot, usually allowed to be much more casual and hang out in their kitchen. “When is everyone going to remember my literal job description is ‘kill people’? I have to maintain the power and authority of the Tribunal by delivering swift punishment for the crimes committed against them. Like, what about that sounds safe?”
“You’ll worry Lord Cassius if you keep showing up like this,” the butler said, pointing to a couch. “Sit down—”
“And why the hell should I care about that? Huh?” Anger took over the exasperation in one fell swoop. I sat down, though, not stupid enough to try to stay standing. “He knows me. He knows what I do. If he’s got a problem, that’s his problem, not mine.”
“People don’t like to watch their friends get hurt,” Raphael said, cutting in. I watched him put the bag with my uncle on the low center table. “It’s reasonable for them to worry.”
“Yeah, I know, but…” I trailed off as I realized what I was doing and sighed. “I get it, but there’s nothing I can do about it except quit my job, and I can’t do that. Asking me to fix this and stop getting hurt is the same as asking me to go back in time and never get the job to begin with. Once an Executioner, always an Executioner, with only a few, very rare exceptions. I’ve been doing the job too long to be able to walk away like those exceptions.” Like my semi-friend, Narumi, in the Pacific Northwest. The kitsune switched from Investigator to Executioner, then back again because they had needed someone for the job in her region. She hadn’t had the job long enough to make any real enemies.
“Forgive me, Lady Sahni,” Leith said, sighing heavily. “It’s been a stressful night.”
“No shit.” I looked over at him again, giving him the most exasperated look. “And I came here to rest and heal.