Page 36 of I Regret Nothing
Faust’s hand was warm and calloused in mine. That wasn’t the most fucked up part. Ilikedhis hand in mine. I felt this little jolt of electricity where our skin was touching. Our eyes met, and we didn’t let go for a minute. What the fuck was happening? Because I certainly imagined that if his hand felt this good, I wanted to know what his lips felt like on mine. And Icould notwish to kiss Faust.
I jerked my hand away and went back to the table with the files. Faust cleared his throat and went back to his desk. Neither of us spoke. I’d never had a spit swear to go this awkward before. Note to self—no more touching Faust.
Faust pulled his tablet out and started typing. Ireallywanted to send Hauser an email, but I wasn’t going to ask Faust to borrow his tablet and ruin whatever the Hell this was.
“I’m doing some digging, Rei. The coven you stole from put a hit on you. They have a lot of money. I’m trying to figure out if they greased some palms to put you and Venus together. It’s not unheard of. I’ve already tried speaking to the warden to get Venus away from you. She keeps saying there’s nothing she can do about getting her out of here. I’m not saying she’s as corrupt as the Warden of Scorchwood, but you don’t get a job at a prison unless you have a reason.”
Which was why everyone thought Faust was a serial killer. Whywashe working here? It had to be miserable for him as a wolf. There wasn’t a single window in the entire prison. Even his office was like a cage. Hauser didn’t even like elevators because he felt too boxed in.
“Yeah, I get that part. From what I’ve heard, the staff belongs in here with the inmates. What’s your reason? The entire prison is terrified of you.”
“You aren’t.”
“Oh, I’m fully aware you could kill me and make my life difficult. Hauser didn’t raise me to not go down without a fight. You changed the subject. Everyone here says you’re the only guard who can’t be bribed and is good at their job. They think you’re a serial killer.”
Faust just threw back his head and laughed.
“A bunch of criminals would think someone who does their job well is a serial killer. They don’t have a single shred of proof.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Are they going to get proof, eventually?”
Faust just winked at me.
“Even the great Silver Fox left a hair behind.”
“Be straight with me, Faust. Are you killing inmates? How did you find out I had a hit on me? I would imagine if everyone knows you’re good at your job and don’t take bribes, the coven wouldn’t have approached you to kill me?”
Ineededto know because Faust was fucking up my head. It terrified me when he was so gung-ho to find out what I was that he was making it this game. I was mostly just confused now. He was going out of his way to protect me, and there was this energy transfer the few times he touched me.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Rei. I’m keeping your secret and trying to protect you from other people getting curious. I hope you’ll keep mine. I’m guessing your mentor taught you a code if he’s a wolf. You don’t steal everything you get asked to steal. There’s a process behind what jobs you accept. Am I right?”
“Well, yeah. The coven who put the hit on me misused that Grimoire. I stole it and put it into safer hands.”
“That’s what I thought. I’m not here because I want to work in a prison. It’s miserable in here. I have to wash the smell of body odor and sadness out of my hair when I get home. I’m sure you had a cover job to cover your misdeeds. This is mine, and I have a code just like you do.”
I frowned. If he was a professional assassin, I could understand that. Hauser had one on speed dial, and he gave me her number just in case. In hindsight, Hauser probably should have given her a ring after Venus betrayed him for her instead of the Vampires who kept coming after her. If he was killing people as a job and he had a code about it, who was I to judge? I stole shit for money.
“But you’re in a prison full of criminals. How do you pick who you kill?”
“How did you pick who you stole for? They have asked me about new inmates and I’ve turned the job down. I don’t need to tell you our justice system is flawed. That coven you stole from put a lot of money into finding you and a lot of pressure on anyone who would listen. You’d be in here even if you weren’t really the Silver Fox. They found a silver fox hair at the scene and caught a silver fox at the scene of the crime. Even if your hair didn’t match, they would have fudged things, so it did. Some people in here had hits on them because people were angry with the wrong person. I dig into everyone. I can’t figure you out, but I can smell a frame job a mile away.”
“Figure me out? You know I did it, right?”
“Oh, you’re guilty as fuck. We can both agree with that. I meant I dug into you when I was on the hunt. For the life of me, I have no idea what you are or where you came from. Someone went througha lotof trouble to keep you a secret. You must be someone special.”
I’d never really thought of it that way. Every time Hauser and I hit a dead end, I always thought of it more that someone didn’t want me and never wanted me to find them. Someone was trying very hard to avoid me and keep me out of Hell with the rest of the demons.
“Or I’m defective, and someone doesn’t want me.”
“No, Rei. That’s not it at all. The only time I can’t find a paper trail on someone is when they are important, and the government is involved. People try to cover their tracks all the time. I can always find that. The only time I’ve ever hit a dead end is when it comes from the top. The supernatural and human government worked together on your adoption to keep you hidden. You lived in the bum fuck Midwest for gods’ sake. I’m betting you never ran into another supernatural until you moved away. Am I right? Let me guess. Your parents didn’t want you to leave for college.”
How the fuck was Faust reading me like an open book? The only other people who knew all this was Hauser. I grew up in a tiny town that didn’t even have a movie theater or mall. You had to drive forty minutes to the next city for both, and my parents never wanted me to go. I thought they were just trying to ruin my life at the time, but was the entire point of that to keep the risk of meeting other supernaturals to a minimum? Why couldn’t they just be honest with me?
“We got into this huge fight about me leaving for college. They only applied and would only pay for a college nearby. I was applying for scholarships and sending applications all over. It was pretty horrible. I was eighteen and wanted to see the world. I felt like they were trapping me, and they would never tell me anything about where I came from. I threw some things in their face, and they gave me an ultimatum. If I left, I was dead to them.
“I didn’t think they were serious. They wouldn’t speak to me while I was packing, and they wouldn’t help me move. I called them when I got there to tell them I’d arrived safely and how excited I was. I’ve tried calling them numerous times since then. I’ve tried emailing too. I really am dead to them because they haven’t spoken to me since.”
