tried to have the Tribunal execute him. Adhar had to go and save him. From you. Now, I’m willing to forgive a lot of things when it comes to you. You had a rough childhood, Kaliya, but having one of your own kind killed is not something I’m going to help you with. You’re supposed to be our female species’ representative, a leader.”
I put the phone down and let him rant. Raphael stepped closer, concern on his face, and leaned over to listen to Mahavir.
As Mahavir continued to berate me, I watched my roommate’s eyes go wide.
“His brother. This is Nakul’s brother,” I explained softly, hoping the phone didn’t pick it up. Raphael nodded sharply, then took a seat near me, supportive with his very presence. As Mahavir continued about how terrible I was, I reached out and hit the button to turn on speakerphone.
“Stop,” I ordered. The rant ended in a split second. I wasn’t a young teen at the beck and call of all the adults. I was an unknown to the other nagas as much as they were an unknown to me. The difference was they knew I could be threatening, and I knew they weren’t. “Please listen carefully, Mahavir. I’m not going to kill Nakul. There was a breakout at the prison, and he’s already in my custody, very much alive.”
“Not that she couldn’t,” Raphael added, speaking loudly enough to be heard. “He did murder innocent women and children from what I’ve heard.”
The silence from Mahavir said volumes.
“I need to know if Nakul knows where you live. If he ever visited before he…before he was incarcerated.”
I couldn’t say ‘before he started killing people’ because Cassius had often wondered if Mahavir had secretly kept his brother safe between kills, not knowing what Nakul had been doing. What Mahavir would never know was I stonewalled Cassius on that front. I played both sides to stop a killer and to protect my people. It wasn’t my fault Nakul had done everything in his power to get himself killed, but I hadn’t let him take down anyone else. Adhar had told me Nakul never showed himself to the other nagas or him, and I used that to protect them. I had believed Adhar, not the fae noble, who was being a pushy ass at the time. I still believed Adhar, but I made sure to ask Mahavir the right question to cover my bases.
“And if he did, you need to move and get into a different secure location,” I finished.
“We’ve all moved since you left—”
“That doesn’t answer the question, Mahavir. Give me the respect of not treating me like an idiot. I work with and for some of the most intelligent people in the world, and I spend my days tracking and killing the most dangerous. I’m not a fool.” Now I knew either Mahavir had lied to Adhar…or worse, Adhar had lied to me.
“He…he stopped by my home a couple of times.”
Since that wasn’t surprising information anymore, I pushed for more, suppressing the hot anger that tried to come to the surface. I didn’t want to yell at him, even though the urge was strong.
“And you never told me or Adhar.”
“I told Adhar.”
That filled me with cold rage, that sort of anger that makes people want to kill. In all the years Nakul had been killing, I had been led to believe Nakul had been missing until I started helping Cassius on the case.
“Did he go to Adhar’s home?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck. You’ll make immediate arrangements to move, Mahavir. That’s an order.”
“Why?” For the first time in the entire conversation, I caught a note of fear in the old naga’s voice. Mahavir was six hundred years old. Nakul was his older brother by a long shot. At least he finally remembered what was at stake.
“Nakul’s memory was violated, and I don’t know what all they played with or looked at. Tell your family it’s time to pack up because your location is no longer secure. I need to call Adhar.”
“Of course. Thank you for this warning, Kaliya.”
“Anything for my people,” I whispered, reaching out to hang up.
“Well, he’s a fucking piece of work,” Raphael growled. “Are they really all like that?”
“The first thousand nagas were male, the sons of Kadru,” I reminded him. “It gives them…a big fucking head sometimes, and they think they make the rules. My mother was the female representative before she died, but I was too young to remember that time. I know she fought against the old