Page 84 of Broken Wolf

I let out a shaky breath. “Sorry.”

He tucked some hair that had fallen out of my clip behind my ear. “You have nothing to be sorry for, and a lot of us want to kick someone’s ass. It’s complicated and scary on our side as well, and I’ve heard friends say that so—nothing is ever easy. But you’re more than our Mistress or boss—you’re our buddy. You’re our little sister and we love you too.

“So like Brian said, we’ll figure this out and handle it. Yes, audit it all with Mauro, but Carter should be involved to explain where things are at and answer questions, not sidelined because that just slows things down. Now, go give your present and then eat and do what you need to. Us old farts will handle the rest as we should.”

“Thanks, Sander.”

He kissed my forehead and let me go on my way.

After a moment, I wrote a quick note that I appreciated the save and I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was all real and not some setup of his to get a favor from me… Because if it was, he wouldn’t like being my enemy and I didn’t deal well with being manipulated.

However, if he wanted to give me any more information and maybe what he’d like as a gift of gratitude or something he might want in return to let me know. Also, where to leave the present because outside the packhouse apartment was a bit too visible. Which was why I’d given him my number and he could cloak a number or use an answering service so we could communicate.

I left it out front but not where someone would trip over it on the sidewalk.

“It’s gone,” Christos told me as I reached the elevator. “I didn’t even see a blur or anything pass the camera. It’s just gone.”

“Another reason to have trouble sleeping,” I grumbled, thanking him before I got on the elevator.

I showered and changed, comforted when Brian and the twins wanted to come to the office with me. I gave each of them a soft kiss and told them to stay with Topher and do what they knew best.

Be awesome. They were former military and now FBI or had FBI training.

We needed to use that to our advantage.

But that wasn’t all we had, so I made a call on the way back to my office.

“I felt you would be calling me and I’m worried why,” Nina greeted.

“Someone’s taken a hit out on me,” I told her, seeing no reason to dance around it. “A maybe-ally took out the first shooter and sent me the proof, but that doesn’t stop the money, so we’re stepping up everything. I wanted you to know, but also you said to always call you.” I told her the rest and sounded exhausted to my own ears.

Mostly because I was.

Shocking.

“Eva is in town, yes?” she checked when I was done.

“Yes.”

“Good, good. I will speak with her. I think there are a few spells that I can do, but over that area is a lot of power. Also, given she is your blood—yes, I can help if she will lend me power.”

“Whatever you need. Thanks, Nina.”

“I hate to bring this up when you are having issues, but there is a group of witches I would like removed from their situation. Nothing dangerous but old minds thinking they own daughters. They need to be escorted out.”

“We’ll handle it. We’re getting a team to solely handle that now, and now I have another plane,” I told her.

She thanked me and we hung up. I glanced at Dain and nodded, knowing who else he wanted me to call.

And I was glad to have him with me. I squeezed his hand as I called Laila.

She immediately said she was sending archers to me, which seemed silly and like a movie response, but Dain’s serious gaze gave away that it was no joke. I thanked her and told her that the support meant a lot because I was honestly a mess. The picture had me holding Topher, and that was just a level of evil that shook me.

“Your instincts are good, Seraphine,” she said gently. “Who do you think it is? When you calm yourself, think about it, and I bet you know the answer. I would think that is why this person circling you did not tell you. He wouldn’t want to start trouble in his own life when you undoubtedly know the answer.”

“I knew you were always more than a pretty face,” I teased. And she was right. I almost immediately had an answer. “Igwe.”

“I wouldn’t think any of the council would be so stupid after you took out the last councilman,” she hedged. “It cost him everything and the council took a hit.”

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