Page 43 of I Regret Nothing
If the Aether Circle paid you to do something, they expected results because if it was a job they didn’t do themselves, they paid a lot of money, and there were perks offered. Venus should have been focused on just me instead of worrying about taking over the witch gang and mailroom. The Aether Circle would pay whoever took the job to kill me a little extra to take her out for failing. No witnesses, no one to spill their secrets.
“I got you something, but keep it a secret,” Faust said.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. Why was he buying me things? Faust opened his desk drawer and handed me a pink box. I just stared at it. What game was Faust playing? He let out a little grunt and opened the box. This absolutely gorgeous strawberry cupcake was sitting in the box. I fuckingadoredcupcakes, and strawberry cake was my favorite, but why?
Faust reached into his pocket and produced a candle. He stuck it in the cupcake and lit it.
“Happy birthday, Rei. I know it’s shitty celebrating it in prison. I got you this, and my gift to you is to let you make an unrecorded call from my cell to Hauser.”
What the shit? I’d been so wrapped up in prison drama, and I’d forgotten my own birthday. My parents always made this big deal about it, but I didn’t really celebrate that much after our fight. Hauser and I could never find out if the day we always celebrated was the day I was actually born or the day they adopted me. They really tried to make that day memorable for me, and it felt strange to do anything without them.
Hauser knew this and kept things low key. He’d make my favorite meal and give me a loaded gift card to my favorite bookstore. I could always be bribed with food and books. And, apparently, cupcakes and illegal prison phone calls, because there was this weird fucking feeling in my gut that Faust would do this for me.
“Hauser ratted you out strawberry was your favorite. I got it from this shifter bakery that makes my favorite cookies.”
I eyed Faust. He was solid, cut, and didn’t have a single ounce of fat on him. Even I could admit he was fucking hot as shit.
“You don’t look like you partake of cookies, Faust. You look like someone who doesn’t eat carbs, drinks kale, and gets up at some ungodly hour to run ten miles and lift weights.”
Faust broke into this huge grin, and I realized I liked it when he smiled at me.
“I’m a wolf, Rei. I can eat all the carbs I want, and Ilovesweets. I wouldn’t be caught dead drinking kale, though I like it as a side dish with steak. The only time I run ten miles is late at night when I shift and run as my wolf. It’s my time to think and be me. I don’t have a gym membership or a home gym. I look like this from being in the woods as my wolf.”
Should I say it? Would it make things weird? Shit was already odd if he brought me cupcakes, and I never had a problem shooting my mouth off and making things super awkward.
“You should keep doing that because you look amazing.”
I immediately blushed and shoved the cupcake in my mouth so I didn’t have to say anything else. Since when did I get embarrassed sexually objectifying someone to their face? Faust just threw back his head and laughed. I embarrassed myself even more because I finally got a taste of that cupcake. He said shifters made it and there had to be some sort of shifter sex magic baked into this cupcake. It was fluffy, light, and just the right amounts of strawberry to buttercream.
Faust let out a little growl, and his eyes flashed gold when I let out a huge moan. Was he getting turned on watching me enjoy this delicious birthday cupcake? He set his phone on the desk and turned his back to me.
“I’m going to make a show of locking you in and pretending to go to the shitter. I’ll try to make it last as long as I can, but I can’t be gone long.”
I caught his hand, and I felt those sparks again that I felt every time he touched me. I should have let go, but I liked it. I squeezed his hand.
“Thank you. This means a lot to me.”
I still didn’t knowwhyhe had done this for me, and maybe he would eventually tell me. But big, bad Faust, who the entire prison was afraid of, was a bit of a cookie-eating softie, and I dug it. I knew he killed people for money. I was sure the Aether Circle offered him alotto kill me in here. He didn’t take the job. He brought me cupcakes and offered me his phone to call Hauser instead. Maybe I’d eventually figure him out.
Faust shut the door, and I heard the lock click. I dialed Hauser’s number. Faust and Hauser must have been talking often. Why, though?
“Is this Faust or Rei?” he demanded when he picked up.
“Hi, you mangy old wolf! I miss you!”
“Rei, thank the gods. Ever since Faust called me out the blue, I’ve been worried sick.”
“You seem to talk to my CO a lot.”
“You’re lucky he called me instead of taking the job, Rei. He has his reasons. You stick to him like white on rice. You can trust him.”
I could feel that I could trust Faust in my gut, even if I didn’t entirely know why he was doing all this. If Hauser also said I could trust him, then Faust would be my new best friend in here. Still, I had a plan, and I couldn’t stay here. I needed to be somewhere the Aether Circle couldn’t find me. I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing, and I didn’t know if Faust’s office was bugged. I used our code. We worked this out so we could talk in public or on non-burner phones and still discuss business.
“What do you think about Belize when I get out?”
Belize was our code for running from the po-po or being in a shit situation and needing an extraction. We didn’t exactly have any code language for breaking out of a maximum-security prison, but he would understand.
“I think Belize is going to be fucking impossible, Rei.”
