“I’ve never seen Rowan do that.”

Kiera smiled. “That’s because Rowan doesn’t have as much power as I do. Mine is…immense, and if I don’t use it, I could explode.”

“Literally?”

Kiera shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been told. I’ve never tested the theory. I’ve had quite a few fights since coming here, but it’s best to let a little of it off before we leave tonight.” Kiera tilted her head. “Are you ready to be doing this again?”

Stacy sat, slipping on one boot at a time. “I don’t have a choice. I hope we have better results this time around.”

A pause followed in which Kiera selected her favorite blades and began sharpening them.

“Last night, you told me I have a home and family to fight for. You’re right,” Stacy commented. “But what made you think to say that?”

Kiera considered the question. “The story of my life is long and complicated, but maybe it’s time I let you in on some of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Rowan and Miles already know most of it. You are part of our team, or we are part of yours. Either way, it may help you understand me better.”

Stacy waited. She had wanted to hear about Kiera’s past since the first night she and Miles visited the estate but didn’t think she ever would. Not from Kiera’s lips, anyway.

The fae female continued sharpening her knives as the tale spilled from her tongue. “I am from a secret, hidden world of fae. I cannot say the name of the world because of the enchantments woven over me when I was born.

“I can remember it and describe it in great detail. Every part remains stamped in my mind, as vivid as if I was still there. I cannot, however, tell anyone how someone might get there. Not that it matters. I won’t be going back anytime soon, if ever.”

Bitterness entered her voice.

“I was a fae royal. A princess, if you can believe that.” Kiera snorted. “Miles laughed his ass off when he first heard that. I was trained as an assassin starting at the age of sixteen. Many fae royals learn a combative art. Our world is vicious and competitive, especially if you aren’t fully fae.”

“And you are not fully fae,” Stacy prompted.

“My father was the king of the world I come from. He might still be, for all I know. If not him, one of my asshole brothers. However, my mother was a sidhe servant in his halls. He impregnated her, and I am the result of that union. Half fae and half sidhe. I would have been thrown out at an early age if I hadn’t shown a great propensity for power.” Shadows rippled around her as if to demonstrate. “I never knew my mother. She died while I was young. My father might have killed her. I don’t know.”

Kiera’s voice was flat, but Stacy sensed pain behind it.

“I poured my whole self into training as an assassin. I failed to show up for royal events. Balls, weddings, even my own fucking birthday. It didn’t get bad until my father wanted to marry me off to form an alliance, but I never attended the events where my suitors would meet me. I’ll spare you the details of how he punished me.”

Stacy didn’t want to consider the extent of Kiera’s pain.

“I was friends with those inside the assassins’ guild. They became what I considered to be my true family. Still, I never quite fit in. Not with them because I was a royal and not with my family because I wasn’t fully fae. To the guild, I was a spoiled royal wanting to blow off steam. To my family, I was a rebellious brat who would not learn her place.

“Over time, I became more aware of the moral failings of family. Again, I’ll spare you the details of the shit they did. Long story short, I joined a rebellion. Some in my world say I started it, but the rebellion began forming long before I threw in. The whole guild joined, and I was the one who gave them the inside information they needed. I sold out my family.”

Several emotions crossed Kiera’s face. Grief was among them. Stacy wondered if regret was, too. She was hardly breathing. Anticipation built within her to hear the rest of the story.

“Our rebellion failed. I saw many of my friends murdered. Brutally. And me? I was not to join them. No, as much as I begged to suffer a death I thought I deserved, my father banished me. I have lived in the human world ever since. It’s been centuries.”

Centuries to carry that pain, those awful memories Kiera could not undo. Stacy could hardly imagine the weight of it.

The barest hint of a smile came to Kiera’s lips. “I found Miles, Rowan, and…another friend. I felt they’d saved me. They were all outcasts in their own ways. They became my new family. I was with them for years until…well, things fell apart. That’s a story for another time.”

One Rowan and Miles may not want told, Stacy suspected. She respected Kiera for leaving that part out. “Relationship ties were severed, and we separated,” Kiera finished.

“But not forever, surely,” Stacy inserted. “I mean, you are here. Rowan reached out to you, and you came.” She burned with questions about her relationship with Rowan, but Kiera had told her a lot already. Stacy wouldn’t push.

Kiera turned to meet her gaze. Her eyes were amber, warm and glowing. “I suppose so. Working with you has given me a new sense of purpose. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I am glad to have something to work toward.”

Stacy stood. “I’m grateful you came here. One, because Amy and I could always need another girl around and two, because you belong here. I can feel it. We all do.”

Kiera’s smile was sharp, but Stacy felt better for saying something. The sidhe fae checked her array of poisons after her knives were ready, then seemed to think of something. “I need to check the kitchen before we go.”

“Food? Now?” Stacy asked, following Kiera upstairs.

“Just some ingredients I need,” the fae woman replied lightly as she rummaged in drawers and cabinets.

Stacy didn’t ask Kiera to elaborate. Fifteen minutes later, the team assembled outside, prepared to depart. Rowan and Miles were busy putting their things into the van while Kiera investigated a holding place none of them had noticed before. She shot a look at Stacy. “Did you know there are hidden weapons back here?”

Stacy rounded the van, and a secret compartment opened to reveal a row of guns, crossbows, and ammo.

Miles whistled. “How the hell did you miss these before?”

Stacy shook her head. “I have to get Dad’s personal car salesman on the line.”

Rowan chuckled, commenting that he thought Khan was his own personal car salesman. Stacy said this was quite possible. After loading up, she added, “This van can hold at least three more people.”

Rowan glanced around. “I’ll look into it. We could always use more team members.”

Kiera groaned. “Not soon, please. I was starting to get used to being part of this one.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Victor stood at his desk, rifling through papers. He glanced up when the door swung open with an unceremonious bang. He recognized the werewolf sauntering in. He didn’t appreciate the irreverence, but at least he was here. “Fucking finally,” he snapped.

Garth, his most trusted lieutenant and the strongest warrior he had, normally wore a broad, grisly smile. This morning, he was grim-faced. His steel gray eyes swept through the office, then landed on the man behind the desk, narrowing slightly. Garth always posed casually, but a gleam in his eyes told the boss he had questions. He’d been taken off a mission, and he wanted to know why.

Victor surveyed the wolf’s attire. The leathers and plated armor he wore, the guns holstered at his sides, and the fur bristling along his skin, though he was not fully in wolf form. Garth was taller than Victor and had the broad chest and shoulders of a seasoned fighter.

“Why didn’t you find Voss?” Victor asked coolly.

Garth grunted. “Hello to you, too, Vic. I’ve had a great journey, thank you for asking.”

Victor glared at the use of the shorter name.

Garth dropped into an armchair despite the filth caking his clothes and skin. “I was hot on her trail in Istanbul when you told me to come back. Voss has been hiding for most of her life. The bitch was always going to take a long-ass time to find.” He fluttered a hand, and Victor noticed the edges of his claws poking through his knuckles. “Alas, you’ve called me here, and I came. Tell me about this witch problem you’ve been dealing with.”

Garth had heard things about Stacy regarding Leonard Dolos but had not been put on the job before. He had more important tasks to handle, like Project Pack 013. Since Voss’ disappearance, he’d been out of the country.

Victor half-wondered if Garth had spent his time ambling around ancient cities, drinking whatever the hell he wanted and getting into whichever beds he pleased. In the end, he knew Garth was the only one who could find Voss. He was the most skilled hunter and tracker, and he was the only person as angry as Victor that the vampire had vanished.