Es

I was nowhere near fully recovered. Oddly, that turned out to be something of an unexpected blessing, since Lysc had warned me that holding back would be a grave insult. Plus, it meant I could actually benefit from using the pack’s gym equipment.

I wasn’t trying to ‘max out’ or do anything overly strenuous the night before a fight, but even a basic workout would allow me to better judge my own strength, which seemed to change almost daily.

“You’re looking kind of lonely over here. Need a partner?”

I rolled my eyes and didn’t even bother to look back at him or stop hitting the punching bag. I hadn’t even been on Drassun for two days, and half the pack had already challenged me to a sparring match. It wasn’t until this morning that I finally realized they weren’t going to stop unless I started breaking bones. After that, they had left me alone to train. That is, until this guy.

“If you want to spar we can, but don’t plan on being able to walk for the next couple of hours, and no death matches. I don’t care what you have to prove. Me killing you isn’t going to help your reputation.”

“Sounds like I'm not the only one having trouble with the locals.” He chuckled, which got my attention. At least enough to pause my workout and turn to face him. Surprisingly, he wasn’t a shifter, or even one of the pack’s few humans. Instead, a dark-skinned elven man stood there with a shaved head and a cocky grin. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your training. It’s just that the pack alpha keeps dodging all my attempts to meet with her, so I figured I’d come down here to get some exercise in. Then, when I saw a demon fighting his way through the entire pack roster, I knew I had to meet him.”

“So, I’m a curiosity, is that it?” I smirked back at him. I probably should have been offended, but something about the elf just made that difficult.

“Nothing so mundane, I swear. A wonder, maybe? Or perhaps a marvel? Definitely a treasure, but that hardly describes your style of fighting.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re trying to flirt with me.” I crossed my arms and sized the man up. He was tall, but not particularly large. Although, what muscle he had was well defined and the tight tank top he was wearing definitely showed it off. Elves were usually Thea’s thing, but this one definitely had a certain appeal.

“Only if it’s working. Otherwise, I’m just passing time until the alpha realizes I’m not going away, and she either meets with me or kills me. Honestly, at this rate, I’m betting on the first, followed immediately by the second.”

“Do you know why she doesn’t want to meet with you?” I asked as I walked over to the nearby chair and pulled a towel off the ever-shrinking pile to wipe myself down with.

“Of course, it’s a reason as old as time. Government meddling. I’m an agent from the Federation, which means when I show up at someone’s door, they always assume the worst. But don’t worry, I promise I’m not nearly as boring as my job implies.”

“Well, I’d love to give you the opportunity to prove that, but it looks like your wait may already be over.” I nodded towards the other end of the gym, where Daria, Lysc’s vampire assistant, was quickly moving towards us.

“No, I don’t think so. It looks like she’s here for you. She just barely noticed me and seemed irritated when she did.” The elf shook his head before turning to me and speaking in a hushed tone. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to try to talk some sense into her, would you? She seems to think there’s some grand conspiracy at work, when really all I need to do is ask her boss a few questions about a missing person.”

“What do I get out of it?” I asked with a coy smile.

“I’ll buy you a drink?” He tried, but then made a new offer when all I did was cringe. “Okay, fine, dinner. You can even order dessert.”

“Dinner from wherever I want, and I can order whatever I want,” I countered, as Daria closed in on us.

“Deal,” he quickly agreed, just as she got into conversation range.

“Agent Silas, you’ve been told dozens of times that the boss will meet with you as soon as she is able. Bothering our guest won’t make that happen any sooner.”

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“It’s alright, Daria, he wasn’t bothering me. In fact, Agent Silas and I were just catching up.” I reached over and draped an arm around his shoulder to pull him in closer. “Hells, I can’t even remember the last time I saw him.”

It took him half a beat to catch on, but to his credit, he played along the moment he did. “Yeah, I mean, gods only know how long it’s been.”

Daria frowned at us, and for a moment I was worried that we had already been found out, but then she started tapping away at the data-pad that she always seemed to have with her. “That simplifies things somewhat, although I wish Agent Silas had told us earlier. It would have saved him a lot of trouble.” She finished tapping and looked back up at us. “The boss has invited you to dinner later tonight to discuss the fight. She was planning on offering to help you kill Agent Silas, but if you two know each other and are on friendly terms, then that’s likely not needed. You may bring him to the dinner instead, if you’d like.”

“Uh, yeah, let’s do that then,” I responded while a half-dozen questions raced through my mind.

“Excellent. Someone will be by your hotel to pick you up at seven tonight. Please meet them in the lobby.” Daria turned to leave, and once she was out of earshot, I let go of Agent Silas to glare at him.

“Who exactly are you looking for, and why would that make me want to kill you?”

He held up his hands to calm me down. “I’m looking for my little sister, and I have no idea why that’d make you want to kill me. Maybe Lysc just assumed demons like to kill elves and didn’t want to do it herself?”

I looked over at the tall, dark-skinned elf and had a sudden realization. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Silas, what’s your household name?”

“My household name?”

“Yeah, the name you share with your sister. Your, uh, family name.”

“Why?” He took a step back with his right foot and suddenly felt a lot more dangerous.

“Because I think your ‘little’ sister is dating mine.”

He frowned at me, and seemed to think for a moment before relaxing his stance, and finally answering my question. “It’s Virra, but please don’t go spreading it around. My family is serious about protecting our reputation, and the fact that I’m here right now is considered a state secret. The kind that people kill to protect.”

“Is that why you’re here? Protecting your family’s reputation?” I crossed my arms and glared at the elf. I was surprised by how protective I suddenly felt over Bryce, but she was a part of my household now. Plus, Thea loved her, and I had already seen firsthand how much it would hurt if something happened to her.

“No. I’m here to protect my baby sister from the rest of my family. I’ve given you my name, now you give me hers. Prove that we’re talking about the same person.”

“It’s Bryce, and yeah, she’s dating my baby sister, Thea. They’ve been together for about five months now.”

“Five months, and they’re already dating?” He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Never mind, that sounds like Bryce. She’s always been way too impulsive.”

“Actually, I'm pretty sure they started dating two days after they met.”

“Two days? Great. Definitely don’t tell my parents that. It’s going to be hard enough explaining that she’s in a relationship with a demon. If they ever find out that they only knew each other for two days, then they’re going to assume some sort of magic is at play.”

“For what it’s worth, Thea is a devil, not a demon.”

“A devil? I’m sorry, I don’t understand the difference.”

“Practically speaking, there’s not much of one, but a lot of people would consider that more prestigious. Of course, those people don’t know Thea. Still, it could buy you some points in the right crowd.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He switched to a hopeful grin, and as much as I hated to admit it, it looked good on him. “So, what now? Can you tell me where to find her?”

“She’ll be here tomorrow night, so just hang around me and you’ll see her then. Although, I should warn you, if you’re lying, then Thea will probably kill you. And if she doesn’t, then I definitely will.”

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m not lying then, isn't it? What about the dinner with Lysc? Are you taking me with you or am I going to see you at the fight?”

“We can go together, but there’s an errand I need to run first. So, you can either tag along and we can swap embarrassing stories about our sisters, or meet me in the hotel at a quarter to seven.”

“Is that even a choice?” Silas raised an eyebrow at me. “How about the time Bryce managed to wash out of basic five times in two months? Our dad refused to give up on the idea of her enlisting and kept pulling strings to get her back in. So, she tracked down the only admiral he didn’t have dirt on, and somehow managed to convince his daughter to post a dozen vids of them in bed together on the local feed. The vids went viral, and Bryce got blacklisted from the Federation navy just in time for college enrollment. Then, to rub it in, she had the discharge letter framed and sent it by emergency courier to our father’s office.”

“Oh gods. Please tell me all the other times were just as good.”

“Even better, and while I would love to tell you all about how she got her flight instructor to announce his affair with the base commander during a live PR broadcast, first you have to tell me about Thea. What’s she like?”

“Sure, but we don’t have long before we need to meet Lysc’s people back at the hotel. So, let’s walk and talk.”