“I don’t care what others need of us,” he ground out. “My only thoughts are of you.”
“Kyden…” I began.
Shocking me completely, he rested his hand against my stomach. “One day I want my youngling to rest in here,” he said softly, a dream of the future laying in his eyes. “And I fear that will never happen if we stay here.”
My heart clenched a little. We have never discussed a family. I put my hand over his, held him as close as I could. “I want that too, but what would the world be if we don’t stay to make it a better place. What world would we be bringing that youngling into?”
He rested his forehead against mine. I wrapped my arms around him. Nothing needed to be said. We both knew how true my words were. No matter how much Kyden might wish our life was different—safer—we couldn’t leave. This was our life. No matter how dangerous it was. It was ours.
“Come on you two,” Talon called to us in the distance.
I glanced over my shoulder, then met Kyden’s gaze again. “We have to go,” I whispered.
Just because this event with Magnus was over, didn’t mean our problems were. There was still the whole situation with the Black Witches that needed dealing with.
He nodded, stood, then helped me to my feet. “What’s up?” he asked Talon as we approached him.
“I got in touch with the FBI,”
The FBI?
Kyden laughed softly as I glanced up at him in blatant confusion. “Remember, Supes are infiltrated in all high levels of government.”
“Just how high?” I asked, suspiciously.
He winked. “As high as it goes.”
I suddenly had an urge to take a little trip to the White House just to see if the President of the United States was indeed human. Actually, now thinking of it, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Lately, anything shocking was normally supernatural related.
Hurriedly, I followed Talon and Kyden through the grounds of the Otherworld and back into the castle.
The moment we stepped through the Council’s Hall, Haven bounced over. “Yikes, that was emotional.”
“You betcha.” The whole conversation with Kyden stirred many emotions.
My gaze then lingered to the vampire talking with Zia. She was one tough chick—exactly what you would expect to see involved with the FBI. Her long black hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and her suit looked designer. She had the body of an all-American athlete, but the face of a Victoria Secret model.
“Nexi, this is Hadley,” Zia introduced.
I reached my hand out and she shook it. “Hi.”
“Pleasure is mine,” Hadley responded. “You have become a conversational piece within the Bureau.”
“Yeah, I tend to do that,” I admitted, not too happily.
Kyden laughed, giving me a little smack on the ass then looked to Hadley. “Are you doing well, Hadley?”
She gave him a smile that was pure sexual. “I am.”
I glanced between them, instantly annoyed. They had slept together. It was written all over her face. Kyden, of course was unreadable, but a hint of amusement lifted the corners of his mouth. He knew that I knew.
I sighed deeply, not wanting to let my jealous radar creep up any higher. “Moving on.”
Kyden gave me a wink.
I shot him a dirty look.
“Tell us what you know,” Talon said to Hadley.
“A week ago, a couple new recruits joined the Bureau and told us of murders that had happened in their jurisdiction. After a bit of digging, we discovered numerous murders with the exact same M.O. have taken place within the United States.”
“How bad is it?” Talon asked.
She gave him a knowing look. “As bad as it gets. Once we started connecting them together, the number of killings is a staggering amount.”
“Why didn’t we know about it?” I piped up, asking the obvious question. If a supernatural creature killed a human, the Council should have known it immediately.
“In many of the cases, it appeared that either an animal did it or it was committed by a human,” Hadley said. “Now we know different, of course.”
This just confused me. One case I could see being overlooked, but a staggering number… It seemed odd, but I kept any questions to myself. There was no need to look stupid in front of one of Kyden’s ex-lovers.
“What have you discovered so far?” Kyden asked.
She glanced at him, her eyes twinkling. “We have our files at the Bureau. I suggest you come and have a look at them. It may help you here, and whatever helps you, helps us. We have come to a dead halt on these cases.”
“Are we allowed to come to the FBI?” I asked. “I mean come on, it’s the FBI for frig sakes. I doubt we’re allowed to just walk in.”
Hadley nodded with a grin. “I have passes for four of you to join me, and Caliana has helped with regards to the humans and assures me that we will not have a problem once you are there.”
“Caliana?” I repeated.
Kyden arched a brow. “She’s a vampire.”
“Oh, right.” I gave my hand a wave. “The whole glamour thingy-mi-jiggy.”
“Yes, the glamour thingy-mi-jiggy.” Hadley laughed.
I noticed she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were quickly scanning Kyden’s body—slowly ran over every curve of his muscles. My teeth ground together and my muscles flexed with jealously. “Ahem,” I said loudly.
She met my gaze, and the desire running through her eyes was fierce. “Yes,” she purred.
“Please keep your mouth shut,” Zia said sternly.
Okay so maybe I put my foot in my mouth a few times and Zia knew it. Resolved, I swallowed back my remark and looked at Kyden, who had a barely contained smirk on his face. I quickly punched his arm. “It’s not funny.”
He laughed loudly and flinched. “Oh, but I think it is.”
Hadley looked confused. “Sorry, have I missed something?”
I shook my head, sighing deeply. “No, nothing. Please continue.”
She studied me, then her eyes widened with understanding. “Are you two together?”
Kyden nodded. I remained silent, afraid if I did anything, Zia was going to be very unhappy with me.
“I hadn’t heard,” Hadley said. Then, surprising me, she took my hand in hers. “I apologize. If I had known then I would have kept my eyes to myself.” She glanced at Kyden. “One has finally stolen your heart. I never thought I’d see the day.” Her gaze met mine again as she smiled softly. “I meant no disrespect.”
My smile in return was unencumbered. It was nice to finally meet someone from Kyden’s past that wasn’t a complete bitch and didn’t rub it in my face that they had been together. “It’s fine. Sorry, I…”
She raised her hand to stop me. “Think nothing of it. I would do the same. Trust me.”
“Can we go?” Ryker grumbled off to the side. “I am about to be sick.”
Ryker’s your G.I. Joe type, rockin’ bod, handsome face. To me, though, he was just Ryker. A tough-ass Guardian. Apparently, now that this situation had upped the ante, Talon felt the need to bring Ryker onboard to help.
Fine with me! The more help, the better.
“Ryker!” Hadley exclaimed, her face lighting up. Obviously, Kyden wasn’t the only one Hadley had a fancy for.
Ryker pushed forward and stopped just a few inches away from her. “Been a while, Hadley. You are looking…” his gaze lingered on her body, “…well.”
She laughed flirtatiously. “Working for the FBI is a cushy job. It leaves the body in good form.”
“That it does,” he purred.
Now I was on the verge of being sick. “Okay, let’s go.”
“I’m going with you,” Ryker said, staring heavily at Hadley.
“I will join you also,” Zia added.
“You all need to change. You can’t go in looking like that,” Hadley told us firmly.
“What? You mean walking into the FBI half na**d is inappropriate?” I said sarcastically.
She laughed and gave me a knowing look. “Nexi, if you walked in looking like that, I am pretty sure Kyden here would see just how lucky he really is, he’d spend an hour fighting off half our squad.”
* * * *
When thinking of the FBI, I think scary, dangerous. Not, your everyday white-collar business suits. Not that the building didn’t look fantastic sitting along America’s Main Street—it did. It was just your typical commercial building. The only thing that made it awe-inspiring at all was its sheer size. We think supernaturals are a problem—the fact that a government needs a building of this magnitude to control their criminals is mindboggling.
“This is the J. Edgar Hoover building?” I asked, staring at a large cement building with hundreds upon hundreds of windows.
“You were expecting something different?” Hadley asked, a hint of amusement lit her tone.
“Actually, yeah. Considering what goes on here, I was expecting something a little more brilliant.”