I’ve been in a few hard fucking fights since this started, and I need to get off my feet before I fall off them.”
“Have a seat while I get a medical kit. Raphael, what’s in the bag?”
“A snake,” he answered. I watched the butler frown, confused.
“Another one? Kaliya—”
“He hitched a ride out of the prison without me catching him. He’s been following me around since,” I explained, meeting the butler’s confused gaze, watching the realization dawn on him, watching him remember the very snake that would be in the prison. “I need him for information, then he’s going back. I need a secure room to hold him until I’m ready to talk to him.”
“We kept the enclosure from the last time,” Leith informed me quickly, taking several steps away from the bag toward an archway. “It’s down in the basement.”
“I’ll take him.” Raphael grabbed the bag again. I wanted to say no, that I would, but once my ass hit the couch, there was no moving it. I was too tired, too hurt, too fucking dizzy, and there was no way I was going to manage more stairs.
“Nakul, if you leave that enclosure, I’ll kill you on sight,” I promised as they walked out of the room, knowing my uncle could hear me. Raphael held the bag uncomfortably as if he expected Nakul to pop out and argue with me, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. “No questions asked, no conversation to be had. You’ll just be dead. You can leave it when I come down to talk to you.”
I nodded at Raphael and let them walk out of the room. While they were gone, I considered the idea that Cassius and Sorcha had kept the temporary habitat. I didn’t even want to ask because it reeked of a private joke aimed at me.
I really hope Cassius didn’t tell her I sometimes like to sunbathe under my own heat lamp. That would be weird.
When they walked back in, my eyes were fighting to stay open.
“She needs to rest,” Leith whispered. “I trust you to wake her up. She needs those injuries cleaned and treated before she passes out.”
“I’m awake,” I informed him when he was done. “But thank you for the concern.”
“Of course, Lady Sahni,” he said gently, sitting on the small table in the center of the room, facing me. “Now, let’s see what’s wrong.”
“Who’s all here right now?”
“Just me and Terry,” he answered. “Hopefully, Lord Cassius and Lady Sorcha will be back soon.”
“Why don’t you just call them Cassius and Sorcha?” I was tired of the Lord and Lady business tonight. “You’ve worked for him forever, and you know he probably doesn’t care. I do it.”
“I’m not the leader of the nagas,” Leith reminded me.
“Ah, yeah. I am that, aren’t I?” I snorted. “Not that I really talk to any of them…”
“You okay?” Raphael sat next to me.
“Let’s just do this and let me get some sleep. It’s too cold.” As if on cue, I shivered.
Leith worked fast, patching up what he could. I winced as he stitched up some of the deeper cuts.
“Does she come here like this often?” my roommate asked, the nosy prick.
“Often enough,” the butler said ominously.
“Please, it’s only been a few times.”
“It’s always when you look bad. This is by far the worst I’ve seen you, and I saw how you looked when Lord Cassius brought you back from the fight with Sinclair,” Leith snapped. “You know I’m honored to work for a leader of my people. Lord Cassius, even though he passed up the throne, is a respected member of our community. He’s built bridges with different species and within our own since his father granted him title at his majority. He’s the only fae who claims to be a friend with the nagas, and you are the leader of them. I’ve been asked how it feels to work in a household that sees so many important people.” He gave me a hard stare, putting aside the needle he’d been using on my ribs. “I can’t tell them the leader of the nagas is constantly trying to get herself killed.”
“What is your deal tonight?” I demanded. “Shit, Leith, you normally aren’t such a fucking asshole.”
“He looks out for you, he worries about you, and when everything started happening, you didn’t come here straight away. He’s your ally, and I say you consider each other friends, but we were obviously the last option. You know he’ll be upset about it too. Locking down