Kai

 

“Are you sure you’re sure?” I asked again while asking myself why I was even bothering.

Isla nodded, plucking the blonde curly wig off her head. "I know it's silly, but this color looks too fake to me. So, me and Piper will stay here and have makeover fun – while you guys have a nice, quiet ride to the store.” She smiled at me and I forced myself to smile back.

Since the night before, I’d sensed a distance growing between us. I’d thought after Piper came, the air would clear and things would be easier. And for a second, it had.

But now, Isla seemed determined to respect some invisible boundary she’d erected.

And all I wanted to do was tear it down.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Just, please add anything you want. Cost isn’t an issue.” I tried to grin, but it felt like my cheeks were frozen. “It’s on Piper’s dime.”

“Okay, thanks,” Isla said, vanishing back inside.

I paced as I waited for Balt, listening to the birds and wanting to get this over with. Even though I’d been cooped up for over a week and we needed groceries, I suddenly felt a great reluctance to leave Isla. It’s not like I was leaving her alone. Piper will be here, calm yourself.

Finally, Balt came out and we headed around back. Beyond the house was an overgrown patio area that hadn’t been used in years and a slim trail snaking off into the woods. Single-file, with me in front, we walked for about ten minutes before the trail opened and ended at a dirt road. Two cars were there, an old school green Jeep that belonged to me and sleek silver SUV.

“No black?” I joked as I swung up into my Jeep.

“Piper thought this would blend in better.” Balt glanced at me. “Sure you don’t want me to drive?”

I shook my head. “Jeep acts up if I don’t run it at least once a week. I’m pushing it as is.”

Balt hopped in and I peeled out, the tires jolting over the bumpy road. It was long and narrow, twisting through the dense forest. The drive ended in a gate which opened by remote and I sped through, barely bothering to glance left or right. Not many people traveled on the one-lane 360 during the off-season.

Balt exclaimed in Greek as I did so and I gave him a guilty look. “Sorry.”

He raised an eyebrow at me and I looked away. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you, Kai Weslark, were in a bad mood today.” Balt paused. “And last night.”

“It’s nothing,” I said, gripping the wheel. Did Piper put him up to this? I’d given her the cold shoulder a little at dinner last night, annoyed that she clearly hadn’t told Isla everything.

“Oh no, you can’t pull that with me. It’s something. Or someone.” Balt rejoined. “Isla?”

My knuckles went white and I muttered. “Piper didn’t tell her I’m retired.” I couldn’t help but lay the sarcasm thickly on that last word.

“Why would she?” Balt asked calmly and with evident curiosity.

I glanced at him. “You don’t think Isla deserves to know? She clearly realizes I’m not exactly a by-the-book agent. In fact, she even said so.”

“Mm, I see,” he responded. “You’re worried Isla will think less of you because you’re not so clean-cut, maybe? And she’ll worry about her safety instead of knowing she’s in the best hands.”

A reluctant laugh escaped me. “No, it’s not a pride thing,” I retorted. “I’m not Piper.”

“Oh, you two are more alike than you realize, Kai. Have I not known you since you were a child?” I didn’t respond to that. “I think Isla feels very safe and comfortable with you, Kai.”

She almost did drown the other day because I was so busy trying to be professional, I thought. I don’t even know what that is anymore.

Balt began to speak again, thoughtfully and kindly. “I hate to break this to you, Kai, but you were never by the book. You were always a unique individual in the Shifters of Anubis. And that was an asset. We have enough soldiers. You were a man of empathy. A leader and thinker.”

“Oh, shut up, Balt,” I said, amused. “I was not.”

He let out a frustrated and affectionate sound. “Oh, Kai. I miss you.”

“So you think it’s alright that Isla doesn’t know she’s being housed off-books with well, me?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Balt rub his chin. “No, I don’t. I know why your sister chose that course of action, too. It wasn’t out of spite or malice, Kai.”

I snorted before I could help it.

Balt gently punched my shoulder. “It’s not. Think about it. Would Isla feel safer if she knew that you were retired? What the TLO did to you? And would it be prescient to invite those kinds of questions? Think of what she might find out.” He paused. “Everything. That would scare her.”

“So, I need to pretend to be active to keep a lid on it all?” I asked dully. “Great.”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t worry, Kai. Isla isn’t the kind to judge a man’s peccadillos and personality or hold those things against him. She won’t expect you to act any certain way but exactly as you have been. As you are.” Balt’s voice was light. “She’s already opened up a lot, too.”

“If you say so,” I muttered, mimicking his accent.

“You also don’t need to worry,” he said, the shit-eating grin on his face evident from his tone alone. “She likes you, Kai. I know that’s what this is really about.”

“What?” I said, trying hard not to jerk the wheel, as embarrassment and pleasure made my skin go hot and then cold. “Why does that matter?”

“Oh, it matters,” Balt said, now sounding like he was trying not laugh. “It matters.”

 

As usual, Piper had planned to stay a week and couldn’t. Three days after she’d appeared out of nowhere, she was having Balt bring the bags to the car and apologizing profusely to Isla.

“There’s only so much I can do remotely. I have to get back to LA,” she was explaining.

Isla was nodding, looking resolute and calm. But there was a slight tremor in her hands as she pushed back her hair. “You’ll be safe?” she asked.

Piper looked surprised and then played with her earring. “Honey, me? Oh, you’re precious.” Balt was coming around the corner and I saw him give Piper a look. “I mean, thanks. But don’t worry about me, please.” She took Isla’s hands and squeezed. “Hang in there and try to have fun.”

Isla looked around at the beach and cloudless blue sky. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

After hugging Isla, Piper came over to me. “Take care, Kai.”

“You too, sis,” I said as we briefly hugged. “Sleep, more, I beg of you.”

She gave me a quick smile, then Balt was coming over. He had a look on his face of martyred patience. The slight coolness between Piper and me the last few days had grown to a frost.

Balt had tried to convince me during both legs of the two-hour ride to Kahului to talk to her – clear the air. But I’d refused. That night, when Piper had demanded what was wrong with me, I’d deflected her off with jokes and cryptic hints. And her “patience” with me wore thin within a day.

Now she was leaving and guilt hit me hard. I shouldn’t have been such an ass. A memory of Piper, young and in pig-tails, trying not cry after she fell off her bike onto hot pavement.

After giving Balt a hug, I went over to Piper and hugged her for real. “Love you, sis.”

She patted my back, then reached up and ruffled my hair as I stepped back. “Love you.”

Isla came to stand by me as they walked away. Balt’s stride was loose and long but suggested a coiled energy. Piper was fierce and focused, her steps quick. Finally, they vanished into the trees and we were alone.

“Do you ever worry about them?” Piper asked. I glanced down at her. She had her arms folded as she bit at the inside of her cheek.

“I don’t, actually,” I said. “And neither should you. They know how to take care of themselves.”

“I can’t help it,” she said softly. “And now that I know they work in such a dangerous profession… Going after those terrible people at the TLO, too.”

"But they're never alone," I said before her fears could worm their way into me. "Balt and Piper are attached at the hip. They always have each other’s back. If I’d had that–” I stopped myself, horrified and backtracked. “I just mean, neither would let anything happen to the other. That’s why I don’t worry.” Isla didn’t answer. “That and worrying does nothing.”

“I know,” she confessed. “I just hate watching people leave and knowing they’re not safe out there. It’s an old anxiety.” She paused. “When I was a kid, my grandmother was sick a lot. And once, some callous neighbor said something like, ‘one of these times she won’t come back.’

“So that fear rooted itself in me and never left. I used to watch at the window for her, worrying today would be that day. But eventually my grandmother found out and she said the same thing you just did…”

“What a horrible thing to say a kid,” I growled, feeling absurdly protective. To the point where I wanted to go back and teach that guy a lesson.

“It’s okay,” Isla said quickly, sounding like she regretted sharing it. “And you’re right. As long and Piper and Balt are together, they’ll be okay.” Turning to me, she dropped her arms and smiled. “Can I ask you something?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“The group you all work for – you don’t have to tell me what it is or whatever – but do they have rules against their employees dating? Like stringent ones?”

My brain reeled in confusion. “Uh, what?” I thought about the many arcane, serious laws and rules surrounding the Shifters of Anubis. Yet, for all that, relationships weren’t forbidden. If anything, they were encouraged, since most members of the Shifters of Anubis had an ancestral component. New members weren’t unusual, but most people could trace back their lineage in SoA several generations.

“Well, now that I know the truth about where Piper and Balt work, I wondered if that might be the reason why,” Isla said as though she were explaining something.

“You’ve lost me, Isla,” I said.

“Piper and Balt,” she said, giving me a meaningful look.

“Piper and Balt, what?” I asked, nonplussed.

An amused, superior look crossed Isla’s face and she tossed her head. “You don’t see it?” When I held up my hands in helpless confusion, she laughed. “You’ve seriously never seen the way Balt looks at Piper? I mean, I could understand if it was the other way around. I only caught Piper once and only because she didn’t realize I’d arrived.” I was staring at her blankly and Isla swatted me. “Kai, hello, they have serious feelings for each other.”

“What?” I gasped out, then I began to laugh so hard, I bent over at the waist.

“I’ve seen it,” she said stubbornly.

“Sure you weren’t projecting?” I asked, rubbing my eyes as I straightened up. “Balt is a handsome and suave bear of a man.”

“I wasn’t,” Isla said defiantly. “And Balt is more like a lion if anything."

The laughter immediately died off my lips. “A lion? What makes you say that?”

Isla shrugged, eyeing me in surprise at my tone. “Just something that occurred to me when I first met him. He made me think of a lion – sunning on a big rock and appearing idle – but ready to explode into motion at any moment. Doesn’t he?”

“I guess,” I said and swallowed, trying to think of a way to steer the conversation away from this topic. “Balt and Piper are friends, Isla. Just old friends. That’s what you’re picking up on.”

“It’s more than that,” Isla insisted.

“It’s not, trust me,” I said. “I’ve known them forever.”

“Which makes you all the more blind to it.” Isla’s lower lip jutted out.

“No, I think I’d pick up on that. Trust me.” I laughed. “Piper showing a soft side?”

“Here, I’ll show you,” Isla said, sounding more impatient.

“What?” I asked, but she’d dragged me over to the picnic table and sat me down.

“Sit naturally,” she said.

I leaned back against the table, letting it settle against my shoulder blades. “Now what?”

“So, I was walking down the street and I saw them waiting for me. It was a quiet night and they were sitting on a bench. Piper had been standing up on the phone. I could see Balt relaxing and watching the street, but his eyes kept flicking back to Piper. I’m a visual person – I pick up on this stuff – and I know how to read body language.”

“And what makes you so sure I don’t?” I teased.

Isla rolled her eyes. “Be quiet and listen! So, I can see Balt keeping an eye on Piper and as I get closer, Piper kind of slumps onto the bench like this.” Isla demonstrated, sitting next to me so that our bodies were inches apart and I turned to her. “And Balt immediately…” she trailed off.

“He what now?” I asked.

“Um, he looked at her,” Isla said lamely.

“That’s it?” I asked, sitting back.

“No,” Isla said and I thought I saw her throat working, but when I looked back, her face was impassive. “They – well the way they faced each other – it enclosed them in their own space.”

Yawning, I let my head fall back. “They were just talking. I think this is wishful thinking on your part, Isla – you want Piper to demonstrate some normal human capacity for emotion.”

“No, I know what I saw,” Isla said, but she sounded distracted. “I think they’ll wind up together one of these days. Hopefully sooner than later.”

“How about this?” I asked, sitting back up and leaning in towards her. “Let’s make a bet. One-hundred bucks to whoever’s right.”

“Oh no,” Isla said shyly, twisting her hands into her hair. “I don’t make bets.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “Oh, come on, now you have to.”

Isla squinted at me, thinking hard. “Okay, how about two-hundred? I know I’m right.”

A burst of surprised laughter escaped me. "Sure, in that case, we have to have a timeline. Two years?"

Isla thought about it and then nodded, sticking out her hand. “Two years.”

I glanced down at her hand in surprise. “Sure this okay?” I asked solemnly, unable to resist teasing her. “Handshakes and bets?” The smile on her face faltered, but I’d already seized her hand.

“I bet they hook up within a year,” Isla said, tossing her head.

I squeezed her hand. “If they do, I’ll gladly throw in another hundred.”

“Can’t wait to see the look on your face,” Isla said. “Bet you’ll be Best Man, too.”

“Only if you’re Maid of Honor,” I said, not wanting to let her hand go.

Isla slipped it free and stood up. “I’ll need more incentive, then.” Her eyes twinkled as I made a face at her. “I’m kidding.”

Isla, standing in front of me with the morning sunlight warming her slowly darkening skin and lighting upon her hair, was causing reckless desires to chase through my head.

Hooking my fingers into the belt loops of her jean shorts and tugging her closer. Pulling her onto my lap and letting my head fall on her shoulder. Kissing her shoulder and making her laugh.

Forcing myself to look away, I stopped myself before I could fall deeper into that madness. I had to control this attraction better. Isla didn’t want friendship, she wanted a wall to keep us both allegedly safe. Maybe she sensed there were bottomless secrets on my side.

A hand squeezed my shoulder. “Swimming later?” Isla asked, her voice kind.

I nodded, answering, “Sure.”

Isla walked back into the house and I didn’t let myself look back once. Closing my eyes, I tried to think of anything else. But I could picture it. The way each of her steps was a light skip, her round curves bouncing and her hair cascading around her.

Balt saw right through you, I thought ruefully as I let my head fall and dug my fingers into my hair. Good thing I had extensive experience in both denying myself what I wanted and not getting it. Although Isla was proving she was going to test both of those things to the absolute limit.