Page 130 of Kai
When he confirmed I’d hurt him, speckles of lighterbrown flashed against the darker background. When I asked him about the murdered woman and he lied to my face, obsidian fissures fractured his aura like cracks in dry mud.
I caught on quickly.
Kai was an excellent interrogator. The way he phrased his questions helped me establish how Levine’s pattern of truth and lies manifested in his aura. The merc’s energy spoke for him, giving us an advantage. It struck me that Kai had never doubted me. Not once did he question my assessments. He’d rolled with me as if he trusted my insights, the same insights I’d had so much trouble embracing myself.
He sat straight on the chair, wearing only his board shorts and the bandage I’d placed over his wound, and yet he channeled his royal ancestors, looking regal and strong. Hard lines etched his handsome face, and the steely stare he beamed on the merc projected the quiet strength and fierceness that had knocked me off my feet.
I’d tended to Kai’s wound. I understood the damage. Despite the meds, he had to be in pain. He looked exhausted after having to fight the beast who’d tried to murder him. With a start, I realized Kai hadn’t had anything to drink or eat since he’d returned to the boat. The IV had kept him hydrated, but he must be starving, not to mention he needed his strength.
I’d always left those jobs that required “caring” and “giving” to my sisters, but since he’d fetched me from the lighthouse, he’d looked after me—body, heart, and soul. It was my turn to care for him.
Keeping my eye on the merc and my attention on Kai’s interrogation, I took charge of the galley. I set the pan on the stove, turned on the burner, and moving aside the loaded syringe that Kai had left on the kitchen counter, dropped the halves of an English muffin in the toaster. After retrieving the egg carton from the fridge, I cracked the shells, whipped theircontents into a bowl, and added some salt and pepper.
A chunk of butter sizzled on the skillet when I dropped it in. I hesitated before I poured in the contents of the bowl, wishing that Nix or Affie were here. They were the chefs in the family. I was notoriously useless in the kitchen, but surely I could fry some eggs for Kai.
“If you can’t give me a physical description of Li, then the deal is dead,” Kai was saying to Levine. “Unless you can tell me something I don’t know about your fucker-in-chief, like, for example, where does he operate out of?”
“London.” The merc sang like the proverbial canary for Kai. “He operates a consortium under the name Lions Consolidated Group.”
Jackpot.
Brown speckles glinted in the merc’s static aura. Kai glanced at me. I confirmed with a chin dip. Levine was telling the truth. I was pretty sure this was information that Tracker Team could mine to locate Li Xao and his associates.
Outstanding job, Kai.
As I poured the coffees, he asked Levine, “How do you know this?”
“Li promoted an old friend, the fellow who recruited me into the NWO, to be one of his bodyguards,” Levine explained while I plated the scrambled eggs. “We go back a while. Whenever he calls to chat, his signal pings in London, near Piccadilly Circus.”
“You did your own reconnaissance?” Kai asked.
“I’m not stupid,” Levine bit out. “When I signed up, I wanted to make sure I knew where the boss was, you know, in case I had to take a complaint to the complaint department.”
“Right.” Kai considered that morsel of information, then turned to me.
“He’s not lying,” I chirped, buttering a muffin, franklysurprised I hadn’t burned it to a crisp.
“What is she?” Levine frowned and eyed me with slack lips. “A truth detector? A witch?”
“Witch, rich, bitch.” I grabbed a plate, a fork, and a napkin in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. “If it rhymes, it fits.”
“Jack,”Kai spat the name as if it were poisonous. “I’m the one asking the questions here. Why does Li want to kill the Astor sisters?”
“No clue,” the merc said.
“See? Not helpful.” Balancing my little load, I crossed the cabin. “We should feed his tiny dick to the fish.”
“It’s one of her recurrent fantasies,” Kai told Levine, a threat if I’d ever heard one. “She could very well realize it today.”
Levine’s eyes darted to me, betraying a glint of uncertainty.
I cackled for effect and handed the plate and mug to Kai. He accepted them from me, but I didn’t miss the astonishment that flashed in his eyes.
He looked up from the plate and at me. “Youmademebreakfast?”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t kill you,” I muttered before I returned to the galley and gave an order. “Eat.”
Setting his plate on his lap and keeping his gun at hand, Kai took a sip of my brew and let out a sigh. “Nice.” He tossed a genuine smile my way. “Excellent coffee, Sorceress.” Without trepidation, he chewed and swallowed a forkful of eggs. “These are delicious. Thanks.”
