17

“You almost died a few days ago,” I said, taking a step toward her. “There is no reason for you to be going on missions when you’re not fully healed. You need to recover physically…and mentally,” I added with a shrug.

Her eyes flashed. “What I do, and how I choose to recover, is not your business, Wyatt.”

“It is my business when I’m always running around and saving you from danger.”

Kira grabbed her sandwich and hurled it in my direction. I dodged, and the sandwich hit the wall with a sad little thump and slid to the floor, leaving a trail of peanut butter in its wake.

“I guess you haven’t heard the good news. You won’t have to worry about saving me anymore. I’ve just been terminated as a Tranquility Operative. Effective immediately. I’ve been fired.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. What? The council fired Kira? The words didn’t make sense. All the ribbing about having to be her white knight and swooping in to save her was mostly my way of getting under her skin. Kira was the best operative in our region. She’d had over a hundred successful operations and arrested countless perpetrators. There’d been the fiasco with the lion shifter, yes, but that was a blip. I was sure we’d eventually catch his trail again and bring him in. Surely it wasn’t because she’d been drugged. Any operative could have fallen prey to that. The guy had slipped the drug into her wine so swiftly and discreetly, I’d barely seen it. None of the others had seen it, either.

“Why would they fire you?” I asked incredulously.

Her eyes narrowed, her lip curling in disgust. “Think about it, Wyatt.”

My face must have looked ridiculous as my brain churned. Suddenly, something clicked into place. Something I’d never thought about because it wasn’t pertinent to my job. Tranquility’s district commander was mated to Jayson Fell’s aunt. That meant family ties, backroom deals, and dirty deeds.

“Son of a bitch,” I whispered.

Kira smiled at me bitterly. “Worked it out, did you?”

“What the hell’s going on?” Kolton asked.

I glanced at him. “Jayson Fell has family high up with the council. He got Kira fired. His fucking aunt and uncle pulled strings to have her terminated.”

“Shitheel,” Zoe muttered under her breath, but she didn’t look surprised. It was probably what she’d been railing about when we walked into the house.

Taking a few deep, angry breaths, I strode to the door. “I’m going to go have a word with the Fell family.”

I’d managed to get out the front door when Kira suddenly grabbed my arm and spun me around to face her.

“I don’t need you fighting my battles for me.”

“That’s not what this is about,” I snapped. “Someone has to do something. I can’t let them railroad you without repercussions.”

“Oh my gods,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re such a control freak.”

That comment hurt more than it should have because I could see through her false bravado, see the cracks showing in Kira’s legendary armor. She was truly hurt and falling apart inside, and there was nothing I could do to help her. She was too stubborn to let any of us in. Too angry and bitter to do more.

“Kira–”

“No, Wyatt. I’ll confront the Fells when I feel the time is right. But right now, I’m fucking tired. Okay?”

The conviction in that last word calmed me down a bit, even as shame cascaded over me. This was partly my fault. This had happened because Jayson had seen Kira all over me. If I’d been more adamant about calling off the operation, if I’d been quicker getting to Kira…if I’d done any of the hundred things I could have done, none of this would have happened. I had helped ruin Kira’s life.

The usual enmity between us wavered as we looked at each other. Her stony expression crumbled, and all I could see was a woman whose hopes and dreams had been ripped away. It took me back to that moment behind the restaurant. She’d been bleeding out and broken. Drugged out of her mind. Weak—the one thing she’d never wanted to be.

I stepped toward her, my arms open to hug her. We could bury the hatchet and move on. We could be friends and figure out where to go next. But as Kira saw what I was getting ready to do, all the old barriers sprang up. The angry fire in her eyes blazed back to life, and she stepped back, slapping my hands away.

“I don’t need your pity,” she spat, then stomped back inside, slamming the door behind her.

I stared at the door. All I’d wanted was a truce. For a fleeting moment, I’d really believed it could happen. With everything that had happened the last week, I’d thought it possible. After seeing her reaction, though? It was time to accept that things would probably never change. I needed to get over that idea once and for all.

Chapter 7

Kira

I lay in bed a few days later, doing what I’d been doing for the past week: assessing the world and trying to figure out whether the disaster my life had become was merely a nightmare. Invariably, the realization sank in that, yes, my life was a disaster. I debated staying in bed until I wasted away to nothing.

Unfortunately, my mind would never let me do that. Be it a blessing or a curse, I was too driven to ever sink into a pit of despair. As much as my body protested, I swung my legs to the side and heaved myself out of bed. One foot in front of the other. That’s all I could do. At least until I figured a way out of this catastrophe.