Chapter Seven

Kassian

He didn’t sleep.

The entire night was spent on the floor, staring at the yellowed popcorn ceiling, complete with water damage, and wondering what the hell he was going to do. Several times he came close to breaking down and talking to his brothers, to seek comfort with his family.

But he didn’t. This wasn’t their problem. As the oldest aside from Maximus, it was his job to provide for them, to guide them if he could, and in instances like this, protect them from the harshness of life. Perhaps he hadn’t done so great a job of it in the past, but then he’d always had Maximus to help him, or to do it for him. This was Kassian’s first taste of being the oldest.

And he’d fucked it up royally.

Not this time though. He was going to do what needed to be done, and he was going to do it without their help. They didn’t need this on their conscience. Not now that they’d just found happiness with their mates, and a realization that there could be a better life for them than the one he and Maximus had provided. No, if anyone was going to sacrifice themselves, it should be him. The others deserved better. As older brother, this was his job.

The others were still asleep, paired up on the bed and pullout couch. Gavin and Lena were back in their own room. He’d just been sleeping on the floor, though it was probably past time he got a room of his own. Still, the women had been paying for everything, since the all the brothers’ wealth was locked up back in Cadia. He’d had to ask Madison for money to get Rosie a room. That smarted enough. He wasn’t going to ask for himself.

A noise from the back of the room brought him straight up into a sitting position. It came again, which had him in a low crouch, making his way across the floor as quietly as he could. When he saw what was making it, Kassian stood up, relaxing from his combat-ready posture.

“What are you doing?” he asked quietly, pulling the fridge the rest of the way from the wall.

Rosie stood there, looking up at him. Her head tilted slightly to one side, then she stepped back away from the opening. The message was clear: come in. Knowing that this conversation was likely unavoidable, he stepped through.

They stood rooted to the ground, perhaps two feet of space between them, for more than thirty seconds before either of them said anything. Rosie was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry.”

He swallowed hard at the thickness of emotion in her voice. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one having a hard time with this, not anyone else? Why did it seem like she was just as torn up by what he had to do as he was?

“Kassian, there has to be a way,” she began, but he shook his head brusquely.

“No, there isn’t,” he told her. “The director thought of everything. If I don’t do this, Maximus dies. If I try and pull a fast one, I die, and quite likely Maximus does too. No, the only option is for the…target to die.”

Rosie’s hand came up so fast he barely saw the blur, even with his shifter senses. He rocked backward, his cheek stinging from the blow.

“Don’t you dare use that word again,” she hissed. “You are being sent to kill an innocent human, and they have a name, dammit. They are a living, breathing person, with a life, family, and friends. They deserve better than that from you.”

He nodded, shocked by her sudden change in personality.

“Now, sit,” she commanded. “Let’s find out how we’re going to make the director’s life a living hell.”

“I told you,” Kassian said, doing as he was told. “We can’t. Gregory will quite literally rip me apart if I try.”

“Okay, first things first.”

He watched as she paced back and forth in front of him, her short, thick legs carrying her body in a mesmerizing sway in front of his eyes. Her hair, looking impeccable despite the early hour, bounced crazily as she walked. Kassian wasn’t sure how she wasn’t completely irritated by it, but supposed that by now she was probably used to the movement.

“Who is Gregory?”

“He’s a gryphon shifter,” Kassian said, feeling himself sag with hopelessness.

“A what?”

“Gryphon. He has the body of a lion with the wings and head of an eagle. Powerful critter too,” he said unhappily. “Stupid mutt could probably crush all four of us.”

“Probably?”

“If we knew he was coming, and had prepared a trap of sorts and cornered him in small quarters, we could possibly hurt him enough to drive him off. Possibly. But not without casualties. A straight-up fistfight might be a better shot, but unlikely. They’re ridiculously strong.”

“I see. How many bears would you need to take him on?”

“Can I just have a dragon instead?” he retorted. “Taking on Gregory is not an option. We lose every time. Trust me. Next.”

Rosie glared at him, but she didn’t slap him again, so that was good.

Progress.

“Fine. We’ll deal with that later then.” She considered things for a minute. “Now, what did he mean when he said that this had to be carried out by a Cadian?”

Kassian regarded her. “You know what Cadia is?”

“Big shifter territory over thatta-way,” she said, pointing lazily to the west.

He was impressed that she knew which way west was so easily, despite being indoors. Rosie knew her stuff, that was for sure.

“Yes. It’s also our home,” he explained. “And the largest of the shifter territories.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why it has to be you. Gregory is a shifter too. Couldn’t he do it and just say he was from Cadia?”

“No. Cadia itself would be able to prove otherwise, fairly conclusively. It would deflect attention away from Cadia, and onto Kronum.”

Rosie’s eyes grew unfocused for a moment as she considered this new information. “Okay, and Kronum is the shifter territory that way, right?” she asked, pointing to the east.

“Yes. A small one, and one we think has already been overrun by the Institute. Director Burnatawiz will want absolutely no attention sent that way. Which is why he needs an actual Cadian to do this.” Kassian hated the way the director had boxed him in as the one necessary to carry out the killing. It was so neat and tidy.

Asshole.

“But why does it matter if a Cadian does it? I’m not picking up on that part.” Rosie lifted her hands in a confused gesture.

“A human killed by a Cadian will give him the opportunity he needs to send human troops into Cadia, to take it over. He’ll use political bullshit, like any government does when they want the territory or resources. The human populace will be scared of us big-bad shifters, and they’ll support the move wholeheartedly. It’s actually kinda brilliant, except for the part where he’ll murder thousands more shifters by doing so.”

Rosie was looking sick to her stomach. Had he been too blunt? “Sorry,” he said uncomfortably. “Didn’t mean to overdo it.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “It just makes me sick that he can think so casually like that.”

Kassian wasn’t sure what else to say, so he just nodded in agreement. He was feeling a little better now that he could talk to someone, even if he was just laying out the facts, and not working on a way around it. One step at a time. He had ten days before it all went to shit.

“And who is it you’re supposed to kill?” she asked at last, her lips twisting in disgust as she asked the question.

“I don’t know.” He reached into a pocket on the side of his leg near the knee and pulled out the envelope. Rosie took it and pulled the contents out from the already-opened flap. “It looks like some sort of human who works in Kronum.”

“Of course,” Rosie said, shaking her head. “It’s one of his own damn employees. Or someone indirectly working for him. It has to be. That way it makes it look like you’re attacking the Institute. It’ll give them more power to bring in more men, to ‘protect’ the workers. Damn,” she said, passing the envelope back. “He’s thought of everything.”

Kassian nodded. “I’m not sure how I’m going to get out of this one.” He almost broke as the words came out. There was a distinct waver in his voice that threatened to break him if he acknowledged it, or even gave so much as an inch. He didn’t. Instead Kassian doubled down on his self-control, locking it all away. Now was not the time to lose control. Later he would allow himself to do so. Maybe.

“So, what’s the plan?” Rosie asked, looking at him intently.

His jaw fell open in surprise. One of the joints popped, eliciting a curse from him as he rubbed the side of his face. “Ow. I hate when that happens. Stupid jaw, not liking being opened wide.”

“Yeah, well, be glad you aren’t a woman then,” Rosie said, tossing him a wink.

If his jaw could have dropped open wider, it would have. “Did you really just say what I think you did?” he asked, a small laugh bouncing his shoulders once or twice.

“Maybe,” she replied, and he could see a bit of a blush.

Were they flirting? He immediately decided no, no they weren’t. Rosie was just trying to help lighten the mood, to make him relax. She was doing a damn good job of it too. He was already feeling slightly more relaxed.

“I can’t believe after all that, that you still plan on sticking around,” he told her bluntly. “If I were you, I’d be running for the hills.”

Rosie gave him a long level stare, making him think that he’d said something wrong. Kassian was preparing to apologize when she spoke.

“Do I really look like the type that would go running for the hills?” Rosie asked, putting her hands on her waist, emphasizing the curve of them in a way that she probably didn’t realize was incredibly arousing.

Kassian was forced to clamp down on something else, to ensure he didn’t lose control in a different way. It was a close thing too, because as she waited for an answer Rosie took a deep breath in, and the rounded hint of her cleavage was exposed through the top of her shirt.

Not fair. Not fair at all!

“Umm, well, I don’t know,” he said defensively.

“Maybe if they had wine and chocolate,” she joked, letting him know that she wasn’t offended.

“Oh, okay,” he said, flashing her a smile.

“So, I’m here now,” she said emphatically. “What can I do to help?”